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Does black tea improve heart health?

<p>Tea is full of flavonoids: a class of substances thought to have a range of health benefits.</p> <p>They also appear in fruits and vegetables like berries, oranges and apples – as well as red wine and dark chocolate.</p> <p>An international team of researchers, based in Western Australia, has found a link between flavonoids and better arterial health.</p> <p>The study, which looked at the diets of 881 women aged between 78 and 82, found that those who consumed a lot of flavonoids – which in this group, mainly came from black tea – were less likely to have an extensive build-up of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC).</p> <p>AAC is a process in the body’s biggest artery (the aorta), and it’s a predictor of a range of health conditions including heart attacks, strokes and late-life dementia.</p> <p>“This research is really exciting because it’s the first time we have seen in humans, that higher long-term dietary flavonoid intake appears to protect against vascular calcification,” says lead researcher Ben Parmenter, a researcher at Edith Cowan University’s Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute.</p> <p>“While several studies have shown a potential link in rodents, ours is the first human study, linking total dietary flavonoid consumption with a lower propensity of the abdominal aorta to calcify.”</p> <p>The researchers examined data from the Perth Longitudinal Study of Ageing Women, a long-term study done on older, white Western Australian women to investigate bone health and calcium intake.</p> <p>“Recruitment for this study took place in 1998—back when I was in primary school!” says Parmenter.</p> <p>“It was at this time that the medical examinations and participant questionnaires were collected.”</p> <p>The researchers compared the diets each woman reported to their AAC.</p> <p>Black tea was the biggest source of flavonoids in the study, accounting for 76% of total flavonoid intake.</p> <p>Those who drank between two and six cups daily had a 16-42% lower chance of having extensive AAC.</p> <p>“Out of the women who don’t drink black tea, higher total non-tea flavonoid intake also appears to protect against extensive calcification of the arteries,” says Parmenter.</p> <p>Participants who had higher flavonoid intake in total had a 36-39% lower chance of extensive AAC.</p> <p>But some specific flavonoid sources – red wine, fruit juice and chocolate – weren’t associated with better AAC.</p> <p>Parmenter says that, since this study was done on a fairly select demographic, it’s hard to tell if the results would be similar younger people, males, or other ethnicities.</p> <p>“Although we hypothesis that the benefits are likely to extend to these demographics – ultimately, further research is needed to investigate this.”</p> <p>Next, the researchers are interested in looking at the relationship between flavonoids and stroke.</p> <p>“We previously released findings showing that higher habitual dietary flavonoid consumption associates with lower long-term risk of stroke, but we have now gone further, to investigate specific mechanisms,” says Parmenter.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/flavonoids-black-tea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Ellen Phiddian.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

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5 surprising silent symptoms of clogged arteries

<p><strong>How common are clogged arteries?</strong></p> <p>Each year in Australia, according to the Heart Research institute, about 75,000 people have a heart attack and 17,500 people die of coronary heart disease (CHD). Preventing heart disease in patients is a physician’s main goal, but early detection is the next best thing. This can lead to changes in lifestyle and medical therapies that can delay or deny the onset of a heart attack; almost 80 per cent of heart disease is preventable with lifestyle changes. Many of my patients are shocked to learn about the following unexpected symptoms of clogged arteries and heart disease.</p> <p><strong>Erectile dysfunction (ED)</strong></p> <p>Men have a built-in warning system for silent CHD. When achieving an erection is difficult or impossible, it can be one of the symptoms of clogged arteries in the pelvis that presents before a heart attack hits. There are, on average, three to five years between the onset of erectile dysfunction (ED) and the finding of CHD, which is plenty of time to detect and work on preventing heart issues. If you and your partner are worried about sexual performance,  it’s smart to look for and treat the root causes of diseased arteries before automatically turning to a blue pill for ED.</p> <p><strong>Calf pain when you walk</strong></p> <p>This is known as claudication (from the Latin for ‘to limp’). Atherosclerosis can block leg arteries, particularly in smokers, before CHD is diagnosed. This symptom requires an evaluation without delay. Your doctor will examine the pulses in your legs and perform simple measurements of leg blood pressure and blood flow to confirm a diagnosis of poor circulation. It is crucial that heart disease be diagnosed as early as possible because there are many dietary and medical treatments that can help reverse the problem. I advise my patients to eat more plant-based foods and fewer animal products and to start a walking program.</p> <p>Their calf pain completely resolved within weeks and has not recurred for years. Anyone with any of the above signs of silent CHD should know his or her numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol and fasting glucose). Ask your doctor if you should be checked for heart disease with electrocardiography, or EKG, a coronary calcium CT imaging, or exercise stress testing.</p> <p><strong>Tight jaw</strong></p> <p>A tight jaw, one of the symptoms of clogged arteries, occurs more often in women, but men should be aware of it, too. Aches and pains in the jaw and neck are common symptom of angina, which is the discomfort that results from poor blood flow to part of the heart. The pain occurs because the vagus nerve (the main nerve that carries pain signals from the heart) is in constant contact with the neck, jaw, head, and left arm. Visit your doctor to find out if your jaw pain is the result of something benign, such as teeth grinding, or if it’s something you’ll want to monitor with caution.</p> <p><strong>Lower back pain</strong></p> <p>Your lower back pain might not be a simple sign of ageing muscles. According to the <em>Physicians Community for Responsible Medicine</em>, the lower back is also often one of the first parts of the body to accumulate plaque. You’ll feel pain because the reduced blood flow to the area can weaken the discs that cushion the vertebrae.</p> <p><strong>Smoking habit</strong></p> <p>The chemicals in tobacco damage the structure and function of your blood vessels and damage the function of your heart. This damage increases your risk of atherosclerosis,  according to the Heart Foundation. One of the best things you can do to decrease your risk of CHD is to quit.</p> <p><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-93f22e5c-7fff-7102-6fec-48e249fff874">Written by Dr Joel K. Kahn. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/5-surprising-silent-symptoms-of-clogged-arteries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=articles&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here’s our best subscription offer.</a></span></em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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7 silent signs you may have clogged arteries

<p><span>Preventing heart disease in patients is my main goal, but early detection is the next best thing.<br /></span></p> <p><span>This can lead to changes in lifestyle and medical therapies that can delay or deny the onset of a heart attack; almost 80 percent of heart disease is preventable with lifestyle changes.</span><br /><br /><span>Many of my patients are shocked to learn about the following clues to underlying clogged arteries and heart disease.</span></p> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-title field-type-text field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><strong>1. Erectile dysfunction (ED)</strong></div> <div class="field-item even"> <p>Men have a built-in warning system for silent CHD.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-slide-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"> <div class="field-items"> <p>When achieving an erection is difficult or impossible, it can be a sign of clogged arteries in the pelvis that presents before a heart attack hits.</p> <p>There are, on average, three to five years between the onset of ED and the finding of CHD, which is plenty of time to detect and to work on preventing heart issues.</p> <p>If you and your partner are worried about sexual performance, look for and treat root causes of diseased arteries before just popping a blue pill.</p> <p><strong>2. Baldness</strong></p> <p>In a comprehensive new study of almost 37,000 men, severe baldness at the crown of the head strongly predicted the presence of silent CHD at any age.</p> <p>In a separate study of more than 7,000 people (including over 4,000 women), moderate to severe baldness doubled the risk of dying from heart disease in both sexes.</p> <p><strong>3. Ear crease</strong></p> <p>One of the stranger markers, a crease in your earlobe (specifically, an angled crease in the ear that runs diagonally from the canal to the lower edge of the earlobe) has been mentioned in medical research reports as a sign of silent CHD for decades.</p> <p>The ear crease may result from poor circulation, including in arteries in the heart.</p> <p>Although some medical professionals have argued that a crease is just a general sign of aging, researchers used the most sophisticated CT scan method to measure silent CHD and found that ear crease predicted heart disease even after the authors accounted for other risk factors, such as age and smoking.</p> <p><strong>4. Calf pain when you walk</strong></p> <p>This is known as claudication (from the Latin for “to limp”).</p> <p>Atherosclerosis can block leg arteries, particularly in smokers, before CHD is diagnosed.</p> <p>This symptom requires an evaluation without delay. Your doctor will examine the pulses in your legs and perform simple measurements of leg blood pressure and blood flow to confirm a diagnosis of poor circulation.</p> <p>It is critical that heart disease be diagnosed as early as possible because there are many dietary and medical treatments that can help reverse the issue.</p> <p>Some of my patients took these early clues to heart. I advised them to eat more plant-based foods and fewer animal products and to start a walking program.</p> <p>Their calf pain completely resolved within weeks and has not recurred for years.</p> <p>Anyone with any of the above signs of silent CHD should know his or her numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose). Ask your doctor if you should be checked for heart disease with an EKG, a coronary calcium CT imaging, or an exercise stress testing.</p> <p>To borrow from Ben Franklin, an ounce of prevention (plus a bowl of kale) is worth a pound of cure.</p> <p>High blood pressure damages your blood vessels, heart and eyes while also increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia and kidney disease.</p> <p><strong>5. A tight jaw</strong></p> <p>This symptom of clogged arteries occurs more often in women, but men should be aware of it, too.</p> <p>ccording to the Harvard Medical School, aches and pains in the jaw and neck are common symptoms of angina, which is the discomfort that comes as a result of poor blood flow to part of the heart.</p> <p>The pain occurs because the main nerve that carries pain signals from the heart, the vagus nerve, is in constant contact with the neck, jaw, head, and left arm.</p> <p>Visit your doctor to find out if your jaw pain is the result of something benign, such are teeth grinding, or if it’s something you’ll want to monitor with caution. </p> <p><strong>6. Lower back pain</strong></p> <p>Your lower back pain might not be a simple sign of ageing muscles.</p> <p>According to the Physicians Community for Responsible Medicine, the lower back is also often one of the first parts of the body to accumulate plaque.</p> <p>You’ll feel pain because the reduced blood flow to the area can weaken the disks that cushion the vertebrae.</p> <p><strong>7. A smoking habit</strong></p> <p>As we all know by now, smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your health.</p> <p>And according to WebMD, quitting is one of the best things you can do to decrease your chance of CHD.</p> <p><em>Written by Joel K. Kahn, MD. This article first appeared in<span> </span><a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/7-silent-signs-you-may-have-clogged-arteries">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine,<span> </span><a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=articles&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;keycode=WRN87V">here’s our best subscription offer</a>.</em></p> <p><img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" /></p> </div> </div>

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