As part of the study, her team prepared meals on two separate days for six men between the ages of 30 and 65. The men were overweight, but healthy. The researchers added about 30 milliliters of spices to each serving of the test meal, which included chicken curry, Italian herb bread and a cinnamon biscuit. The meal for the control group was the same, but it did not include any spices.
Ann Skulas-Ray also served on the research team. She said the team used paprika, rosemary, oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, cloves and garlic powder. She said these spices were chosen because they had demonstrated strong antioxidant activity under controlled conditions in a laboratory.
During the experiment, the researchers removed blood from the men every 30 minutes for three hours. They found that antioxidant activity in the blood of the men who ate the spicy meal was 13 percent higher than it was for the men who did not. In addition, insulin activity dropped by about 20 percent in the men who ate the spicy food.
Sheila West says many scientists think that oxidative stress leads to heart disease, arthritis and diabetes. And what exactly is oxidative stress? Think of an apple that has been cut in half and set aside for half an hour or so. The cut side of the apple turns brown. That is a simple explanation of what happens when oxidative stress comes in contact with the inside and outside of our bodies.
Professor West says, “Antioxidants, like spices, may be important in reducing oxidative stress and thus reducing the risk of chronic disease.” She adds that the level of spices used in the study provided the same amount of antioxidants found in 150 milliliters of red wine or about 38 grams of dark chocolate.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25