Chicken legs — a soup staple in certain cultures — may be packed with proteins that help ease high blood pressure, according to new research from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Working with rats, scientists found that collagen sourced from chicken legs had effects similar to ACE inhibitors (medications commonly used to treat hypertension) and delivered a significant, prolonged reduction in blood pressure.
Bottled Water Woes
Your bottled water might be brimming with bacteria and cancer-causing chemicals, a new report from the Environmental Working Group reveals. Testing 10 popular bottled water brands, researchers found that every product contained contaminants at levels no different from what’s typically detected in tap water. In Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Choice bottled water, the EWG even discovered disinfection byproducts at levels that surpass the legal limit. Known as trihalomethanes, such byproducts have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems in a number of studies.
“For years the bottled water industry has marketed their product with the message that it is somehow safer or purer than tap water,” notes Wenonah Hauter, executive director of consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch. “This new report provides even more evidence that the purity of bottled water is nothing more than a myth propagated to trick consumers into paying thousands of times more for a product than what it is actually worth.”
Lift Your Spirits
Spirituality may shield you from depression, recent research from Temple University suggests. In a study of 918 people, scientists found that those with high levels of “existential wellbeing” (or a solid sense of purpose in life) were 70 percent less likely to have had depression than those who lacked existential wellbeing. On the other hand, people who attended religious services were only 30 percent less likely to have experienced depression than those who didn’t go to church.
“People with high levels of existential wellbeing tend to have a good base, which makes them very centered emotionally,” explains study author Joanna Maselko, Sc.D. “People who don’t have those things are at a greater risk for depression, and those same people might also turn to religion to cope.” Indeed, the study also showed that participants with higher levels of “religious wellbeing” (characterized as a strong relationship with a higher power) were 1.5 times more likely to have had depression than those with lower levels.
Acai’s Antioxidant Power
After years of being touted as an anti-aging and cancer-fighting natural remedy, acai has proven successful at pumping up antioxidant activity in humans. In a study recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry scientists showed for the first time that, when consumed in pulp or juice form, the Brazilian berry can raise blood levels of anthocyanins (pigments with powerful antioxidant effects).
— Elizabeth Barker