Green tea linked to stronger bones

A Taiwan survey has found that drinking tea helps prevent osteoporosis in elderly women.

The National Cheng Kung University Hospital surveyed 368 women above the age of 65 to try to find out if their lifestyles had an impact on their bone density.

Out of the 368 women, whose average age was 74, 60 women drank tea regularly while 308 women seldom drank tea.

Among those who drank tea, 28 women (46.7 percent) had osteoporosis compared to 195 (63.3 percent) of the non-tea drinkers.

The study corroborates findings by Chinese and Western scientists that drinking green tea is good for health and helps prevent many illnesses.

According to the study, certain ingredients in green tea play a role in reducing the incidence of osteoporosis.

"Fluoride slows the loss of bone mass while flavonoid improves bone mass. Two other substances of green tea, polyphenol and tannin, also help improve bone mass," says Chang Yin-fan, one of the five doctors who conducted the survey.

Chang refutes some doctors' warnings that drinking tea, like drinking coffee, could cause osteoporosis as caffeine promotes the excretion of calcium through urine.

"We think polyphenol and tannin in green tea offset the effect of caffeine," he says.

Osteoporosis, or porous bone, is the most common type of bone disease. It is caused by the loss of bone density, making it easier for elderly people to have hip, wrist or vertebral fractures.

'Good' carbs fend off hunger attacks

Hunger attacks are a weight-watcher's worst enemy. To prevent them, nutritionist Michaela Baensch recommends eating the right foods, which include sources of "good" carbohydrates such as vegetables, fruit and whole-grain products.

Sources of "bad" carbohydrates such as sweets, sugared sodas, processed foods and products made with white flour should be eaten in small quantities only or not at all, says Baensch, who lectures at the BSA Academy in Saarbruecken, a German higher education institution responsible for health management and illness prevention.

Hunger attacks are often caused by a low blood sugar level after a meal. As Baensch explains, eating "bad" carbohydrates raises the blood sugar level rapidly and prompts the body to release insulin. "This, in turn, causes the blood sugar level to drop. If it drops steeply, a craving for sweets is the result," she says.

Baensch recommends eating regularly and not skipping main meals. Someone feeling mild hunger should snack on "good" carbs, she says, adding that hunger-attack prevention can start in the store: Foods triggering them should be bought in small quantities only or not at all.

Tai chi can help heart attack survivors

People with chronic heart failure may be able to boost their quality of life by doing tai chi, the ancient Chinese exercise regimen, a US study suggests.

Two group sessions of one hour each per week were enough to show significant improvements in mood and confidence, says the Boston-based study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a journal of the American Medical Association.

The study compared 50 US heart patients who enrolled in tai chi classes - sessions led by an instructor who guided the class in a series of fluid motions - to 50 who took classroom study in heart education.

Physical responses were similar in both groups, but those who did tai chi showed "significant" improvements according to their answers in a questionnaire to assess their emotional state.

The tai chi group also reported better "exercise self-efficacy (confidence to perform certain exercise-related activities), with increased daily activity, and related feelings of well-being compared with the education group," the study says.

While experts admit they do not fully understand the science behind the findings, the study offers a positive option for complementing standard medical care of people with chronic heart failure, a debilitating and progressive disease that limits a person's ability to breathe and move.

"Tai chi appears to be a safe alternative to low-to-moderate intensity conventional exercise training," says lead author Gloria Yeh of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Tai chi is safe and has a good rate of adherence and may provide value in improving daily exercise, quality of life, self-efficacy and mood in frail, deconditioned patients with systolic heart failure."

DPA-AFP