carotenoids tagged posts

Some of pharmacologically active constituents of avocado.

A new review investigates the effects of avocados on different components of metabolic syndrome, which is a clustering of risk factors including high blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index. These risk factors lead to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

According to studies reported in the literature, avocados have the most beneficial effects on lipid profiles, with changes to LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and phospholipids. The peel, seed, flesh, and leaves of avocados have differing effects on components of metabolic syndrome.

“Avocado is a well-known source of carotenoids, minerals, phenolics, vitamins, and fatty acids,” wrote the authors of ...

Researchers find BCX—red pigment abundant in sweet red peppers, paprika, winter and butternut squash, oranges, and tangerines, among other foods—appears to counteract nicotine’s ability to accelerate the growth of lung tumors. Photo: Ingimage

Xiang-Dong Wang, a cancer researcher at Tufts, has spent a long time trying to figure out why carotenoids, the main pigments providing colors that range from yellow and pink to deep orange and red in most fruits and vegetables, seem to keep chronic diseases at bay. When a 2004 study by other researchers showed that eating foods containing beta-cryptoxanthin (BCX)—a red pigment abundant in sweet red peppers, paprika, winter and butternut squash, oranges...

Cutter Lindbergh, left, a doctoral candidate in the psychology department, and Stephen Miller, director of the Bio-Imaging Research Center, used fMRI technology to see how different levels of carotenoids, chemical compounds derived from fruits and vegetables, affected brain functioning in older adults. Credit: UGA

The same compounds that give plants and vegetables their vibrant colors might be able to bolster brain functioning in older adults, according to a recent study from University of Georgia. The research is the first to use fMRI technology to investigate how levels of those compounds affect brain activity and showed that study participants with lower levels had to rely on more brain power to complete memory-oriented tasks...