Switching to a healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables, whole grains and low in unhealthy fat and refined sugars for as little as three months or 12 weeks can boost your lifespan and protect against killer diseases.

For the first time a new study has shown the beneficial effects of healthy eating on the ageing process within the body. They believe that along with taking a daily vitamin and mineral and fish oil supplements, regular exercise and stress management people can reduce their cancer risk and the delay the ageing process. And the research team have called for urgent further research to discover just how powerful a factor diet and lifestyle is on overall health.

 

It is estimated that one in four women will develop cancer and rates are thought to increase with age. Although cancer risk can be linked to genes and the environment, researchers are now convinced that diet and exercise also play a crucial part. According to Cancer research, UK, approximately one in four of the 15,000 cancer deaths each year are connected to poor diet and resulting weight gain, but until now the link has been unclear. Previous studies that compared what people ate with their risk of illness were notoriously unreliable because most people can’t recall exactly or reliably what they eat. The latest research, however, from the Preventative Medicine Research Institute in California, published in The Lancet Oncology, looked at a new part of the human system that was not based on dietary surveys. It showed that cancer sufferers who switched to healthy eating saw a significant increase in an enzyme, called telomerase, which protects cells from damage.

 

The research supports existing studies that show there is a clear link between cell ageing and factors such as diet and stress.  In my opinion the findings of this latest study are of enormous significance and will help take science even closer to discovering exactly why and how diet is so important for our health and wellbeing.

Camomile tea is often recommended for frayed nerves and to encourage a good night’s sleep but now researchers believe it may also help to manage diabetes and help prevent complications arising from the condition, such as blindness, kidney damage and nerve and circulatory damage.

The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, looked at the effects of chamomile tea on the health of rats with type 2 diabetes. The rats given an extract similar to chamomile tea saw the amount of sugar in their blood fall by a quarter. The researchers from Aberystwyth University in Wales and the University of Toyama in Japan believe that taken with meals each day, the tea may also protect against hyperglycemia – a potentially fatal condition that is caused by high blood sugar levels.

 

As a cup or two of camomile tea a day can be relaxing anyway, it is worth seeing whether it may also help to balance blood sugar levels. Balanced blood sugar levels are crucial for weight management and hormone balance.

 

Chamomile tea is made from fragrant flowers and leaves of the camomile plant which was used for medicinal purposes by the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans. Today it is often used for relaxation purposes but other studies show that it can also help fight off colds and ease menstrual cramps. Scientists think that the herbal tea can boost the immune system, making it easer to ward off infection.

Australian research published in the Journal Ophthalmology has found that children who spend the most time outdoors have better eyesight than those who stay indoors. It seems that regular exposure to natural light for up to two or three hours a day can have the risk of short sightedness or myopia in some children. The scientists believe that chemicals released by the eye in bright light can somehow protect it, whether a child is playing in the park, sitting at the beach or running around in the garden.

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