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A useful side-benefit - eating oranges keeps your digestion regular. Since I took to eating 3-5 clementines (little oranges) a day, I've been like clockwork. Trivial but convenient. Quoting rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>: > CU study: Eating fruit may help stave off brain disease > By Topher Sanders > Journal Staff > > ITHACA - A study by a Cornell University professor shows that adding apples, > bananas and oranges to your diet may help guard against diseases like > Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. > Chang Lee, professor and chairman of the food science and technology > department at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in > Geneva, used rat cells to examine the protective effect the antioxidant > quercetin had in preventing neurological diseases in 2004. > Lee found that quercetin, which is in apples, could protect rat brain cells > and might be able to protect human brain cells. Lee's most recent study, > published online in the Journal of Food Sciences, compares the protective > effects of apples to bananas and oranges. > Apples with the skin contained the highest amount of protective > antioxidants, followed by bananas and then oranges. Onions were the > vegetable containing the most quercetin. > But it's still too early to say whether eating apples, oranges and bananas > can prevent Alzheimer's disease. > "I cannot answer that question because we haven't done human studies," Lee > said. "Only based on these in-vitro laboratory studies can we say that they > have good potential." > One major question that remains is how the human body absorbs and > distributes quercetin after a person eats an apple, banana or orange. > "We don't know that part, because that involves some chemistry, and not all > chemicals are equally absorbed in our body," Lee said. > Lee's work is just another verification of the power of antioxidants, said > Dr. Maria Carrillo, director of medical and scientific relations for the > Alzheimer's Association, a national Alzheimer's support organization. > "Basically what this boils down to is the importance of an antioxidant-rich > diet," Carrillo said. "This study points out very accurately that an apple > eaten with the core is very high in antioxidants, and that old adage that an > apple a day keeps the doctor away certainly seems to be true." > While human trials are the next phase of Lee's work, he is comfortable in > endorsing the positive health benefits of fruits and vegetables. > "Large consumption of different kinds of fruits and vegetables, more than > five portions a day, I think definitely provides good health," he said. "Not > only in terms of Alzheimer's, but for cancers, diabetes, etc. I strongly > recommend that we should consume enough fruits and vegetables." > Carrillo agreed. > "A heart-healthy diet is a brain-healthy diet," she said. > [log in to unmask] > > Rayilyn Brown > Board Member AZNPF > Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation > [log in to unmask] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------- This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn