Better Nutrition July 2020

NEWS*BITES
GINGER
FIGHTS
GESTATIONAL
DIABETES
Ginger supplements can
reduce elevated blood
sugar and insulin in women
with gestational diabetes,
a condition that can endanger
both mother and baby.
That’s the conclusion of
a study published in BMC
Complementary Medicine
and Therapies that compared
ginger supplements
with a placebo in a group of
70 women with gestational
diabetes. The supplements
contained 1,500 mg of a
ginger extract daily, split into
three doses and taken with
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
8 • JULY 2020
Does Extreme Exercise
Enhance Immune Defenses?
It’s well known that moderate exercise enhances the performance of the
immune system and improves resistance to infection. But because athletes
can suffer more respiratory infections after events such as marathons, it isn’t
clear whether extreme competitive exercise helps or harms immunity. A recent
debate among American, British, Australian, and German scientists, published in
Exercise Immunology Review, tried to resolve this issue. The group concluded that
disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms, poor diet, stress, exposure to pathogens,
and an individual’s history of vaccination and infection may all contribute
to post-competition infections among athletes. For the rest of us, moderateto-vigorous
exercise has beneficial effects on immune function and enhances
resistance to disease.
1–4 CUPS = LESS DEATH
According to a Swedish study of more than a half-million men and women, drinking 1 to 4 cups of filtered coffee reduced risk
of death from any cause by 15 percent when compared to drinking no coffee at all. For example, risk of death from heart disease
dropped by 12 percent among men and by 20 percent among women. However, coffee that wasn’t filtered didn’t decrease or
increase the death rate. Paper coffee filters, rather than those made of mesh or metal, produced the health benefits.
Photos: adobestock.com