Fruits & veggies beat disease

Want to live longer? Think orange and green.

Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that fruits and vegetables rich in a key antioxidant can lower your risk for cancer and heart disease--and even shrink your death risk.

And that means, for once, I have some news from the CDC that doesn't involve a flu panic or a new push for vaccinations.

The antioxidant is the carotenoid alpha-carotene, the lesser-known sibling of beta-carotene, and researchers believe it has the power to protect your DNA from oxidative damage.

And since alpha-carotene tends to be found in yellow-orange and dark green fruits and vegetables, it might be time to consider a good winter stew of pumpkin, squash, broccoli, green beans and peas.

CDC researchers examined data on 15,318 adult participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Follow-up Study. These volunteers were given regular examinations and blood tests between 1988 and 1994, and then participated in a follow-up study in 2006.

In that time, nearly a quarter of the patients--3,810, to be exact--died.

The researchers wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine that those with the highest blood levels of alpha-carotene had the lowest risk of being among them--they were almost 40 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with the lowest levels.

Those with medium levels were 27 percent less likely to die.

What's more, those with higher levels of alpha-carotene were less likely to die of heart disease and cancer in particular.

The researchers say that while alpha-carotene is very similar to beta-carotene--both are converted into vitamin A inside the body--the alpha appears to be better at stopping and reversing the cell damage that leads to cancer, and may even block the formation of tumors.

Another new study finds that garlic--or at least a garlic extract--can help lower blood pressure.

Researchers randomly assigned 50 high blood pressure patients to either a placebo, or 4 capsules of aged garlic extract each day. Each 960-mg capsule contained 2.4 mg of S-allylcysteine, the compound in garlic that's been linked to blood pressure benefits in the past.

After 12 weeks, those taking the garlic capsules lowered their systolic blood pressure levels by an average of 10.2 mmHg more than those who took the placebo, according to the study in Maturitas.

There was no impact on diastolic blood pressure, and no benefit for patients who started out with systolic levels below 140 mmHg.

Since garlic can also thin the blood, talk to your doctor before you add a supplement or increase the amount in your diet.

And you might want to stock up on breath mints as well.

On a mission for your health,
Ed Martin
Editor, House Calls

p.s. Your local farmer's market almost certainly has the best selection of seasonal produce--just watch out for phony farmers selling imports.