Fruit reduces heart disease risk

Eating three apples a day can significantly cut the risk of death from coronary heart disease, say scientists.

The fibre in apples and other fruits helps prevent heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels.

The findings are part of a US study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

It reinforces other research which has shown the health benefits of a diet rich in fibre.

Scientists, who carried out the research, said people who eat 10 grams of fibre daily, reduce their risk of heart attack by 14% and their risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 27%.

Source BBC News

Anise

I am starting a series of articles giving interesting information about a variety of herbs. Having decided to start alphabetically I am starting with that interesting herb Anise. Often used as a flavouring it also has medical and magical properties.

Missing ingredients in herb tests

Tests on St John's Wort tablets showed huge variations in how much active ingredient different brands contain.

Some people buying the popular herbal medicine may be getting virtually none, reveals the study by Taiwanese experts.

St John's Wort, or Hypericum, can have mild antidepressant effects, although doctors warn it can interfere with the effects of other medicines.

None of the tablets tested had as much of the active ingredient as claimed, said the researchers.
Two chemicals are thought to be responsible for the psychoactive effects of St John's Wort.

These are hypericin - the chemical ingredient normally named on the label - and a related chemical called pseudohypericin.

None of the five products tested by researchers from the National Chung-Hsing University claimed to contain any pseudohypericin.

Source BBC News