Cardio Food for Menopause?

ladyonbeachsmall.jpgTwo of the key ingredients of Cardio Food are cayenne and hawthorn berry. While both are known to support blood vessel dilation, researchers have found that this unique plant is also beneficial to menopausal patients.

“Menopausal women are at relatively high risk for memory loss, high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes. A decade ago, the standard treatment for these problems was long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Since then, studies have shown that extensive use of HRT is associated with significant adverse effects. As a result, alternatives have been sought. Certain naturally occurring edible compounds found in plants – dietary polyphenols – have been shown to have some beneficial effects similar to HRT but without the appreciable adverse effects. Grape, soy and kudzu are dietary polyphenols. One research lab investigating them through several studies has found they can blunt cognitive loss, hypertension and insulin resistance in an experimental model.”2 And…

The National Institutes of Health reports, “Hawthorn extract has been used for cardiovascular diseases for centuries. Recent trials have demonstrated its efficacy for the treatment of heart failure, and the results of several small trials suggest it may lower blood pressure…The blood pressure lowering effect of hawthorn has been linked to nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation.”

Additional nutritional support for menopausal women comes in the form of polyphenols, plant substances that can act as antioxidants and thus may protect the body’s cells against age-related damage. One of the best sources of polyphenols is from grapes. “Grapes contain an abundance of powerful antioxidants that appear to inhibit an array of critical factors that can cause atherosclerosis,” said principal investigator Bianca Fuhrman, senior scientist at the Lipid Research Laboratory.

A team from the Lipid Research Laboratory at the Rambam Medical Center in Israel standardized freeze-dried powder made from fresh California grapes.Thirty mice bred to develop the condition were assigned to consume either water alone (control), 150 mug total polyphenols per day in the form of grape powder or the equivalent amount of glucose and fructose (placebo) in drinking water for 10 weeks.

Consumption of grape powder reduced the atherosclerotic lesion area by 41 per cent compared to the control or placebo mice, report the researchers in the April issue of the Journal of Nutrition(vol 135, issue 4, pp722-8).

They said that the antiatherosclerotic effect was at least partly due to a significant 8 per cent reduction in serum oxidative stress, an up to 22 per cent increase in serum antioxidant capacity, and significant reduction in macrophage uptake of oxidized LDL4

As we’ve seen over the past year or so of research, Cardio Food is not just a formula to add to your cardiovascular adjunctive schedules, but also for pain, disc problems and, now, menopause.

Sources:

  1. HealthNotes, 2007
  2. Medical News Today; “Grapes, Soy And Kudzu Blunt Some Menopausal Side Effects.”
  3. Tosca L. Zern2, Kristy L. West and Maria Luz Fernandez, “Grape Polyphenols Decrease Plasma Triglycerides and Cholesterol Accumulation in the Aorta of Ovariectomized Guinea Pigs,” Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
  4. Grape powder cuts atherosclerosis in animal study; beveragedaily, May 2005