What’s in Your Food? Editor: Maureen Pryatel

Anthocyanins in Action Anthocyanins are found in many

different food products and studies have shown that they can

decrease risk of heart disease! Read more below.

Issue 9, November 20, 2014

What Are Anthocyanins? Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments that are blue, red, and violet in color. Some common food items that contain anthocyanins are berries, grapes, eggplant, and red onions! They can be found in the actual food product or in their juices. Anthocyanins are made up of one or two sugar molecules, and are usually present in foods in groups of 20 or 30. They are unstable to changes in heating, pH, oxygen, minerals, and enzymes, and therefore change colors easily. Did you ever wonder why strawberry jam is not bright red like a strawberry but has a rather brown tint to it? This is due to the anthocyanins combining with minerals, which causes a color change. Anthocyanins have antioxidant properties, which means they protect against unwanted compounds in the body. They have been shown to protect against unwanted oxidation in the body, in addition to reducing blood pressure, inflammation biomarkers, LDL-cholesterol, and increasing HDL-cholesterol; all factors that can help reduce heart disease!

What food item do you think can have up to 750 mg of anthocyanins per

100 g?

A. Cherries B. Blueberries C. Eggplant D. Radishes (Continue to page 5 for the answer!)

Terms to define: LDL-

cholesterol

HDL-cholesterol

Inflammation Biomarkers

Oxidative Stress

Biomarkers

The “bad” cholesterol that carries fat away from the

liver and into the blood.

The “good” cholesterol that carries fat to the liver so it

can be broken down.

Used to assess the amount of inflammation in the

body; the lower the better.

Time For Some Trivia!

http://www.superfoods-scientificresearch.com/superfoods/anthocyanins-benefits.html

http://www.uamshealth.com/?id=5788&sid

Used to assess the levels of oxidative stress in the body; the lower the better.

What’s in Your Food? Issue 9, November 20, 2014

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All About Heart Disease

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Every one in four deaths in the United States is due to heart disease. Heart disease can include heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and heart valve problems. Coronary artery disease is the most common type of heart disease, which kills 380,000 people each year. Ethnicity can play a part in heart disease; 25.1% of deaths are caused by heart disease in Caucasians, and 24.9% in African Americans. Heart disease is more common in certain areas on the map. For example,

Heart Disease is the most common cause of death in both men and women in the world!

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it is highly concentrated in the Southeast rather than in the West. Heart disease is caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries. Plaque causes the artery to narrow, which allows less blood to flow through. Plaque is caused when there is a build up of LDL-cholesterol in the arteries. It can start off as a small plaque, but it can eventually grow into a larger plaque blocking almost the entire artery. LDL-cholesterol can be small or big. The smaller it is, the more that can fit into

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the artery and cause damage. Once LDL-cholesterol is in the artery in the formation of plaque, it can rupture and travel throughout the artery. Once it travels throughout the artery, it can cause a blood clot that can lead to heart disease. Some factors that increase heart disease include an increase in LDL-cholesterol, a decrease in HDL-cholesterol, high blood pressure, high fat in the diet, and an increase in inflammation and oxidative biomarkers.

http://healthpictures.com/disease/images/Cardiovascular-Disease.jpg

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/images/atherosclerosis_2011.jpg

http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/maps_statistics.htm

http://higherperspective.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/heart.jpg

What’s in Your Food? Issue 9, November 20, 2014

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Basu et al. conducted a study titled, “Blueberries decrease cardiovascular risk factors in obese men and women with metabolic syndrome.” The purpose of this study was to see if supplementing blueberries in the diet would have an effect on reducing factors of metabolic syndrome, which are also factors that increase heart disease. 66 obese men and women around the age of 50 participated in the randomized, controlled study for eight weeks. A blueberry drink was prepared using 50 g of freeze-dried blueberries mixed with 480 ml of water. Subjects drank 240 ml (1 cup) of the blueberry

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drink in the morning, and another 240 ml (1 cup) at night. Results determined that there was a significant decrease in blood pressure, as well as a significant decrease in oxidative biomarkers. The authors concluded that blueberries have ways to protect the heart after the results were analyzed.

Another study was conducted by Ruel et al. titled, “ Low-calorie cranberry juice supplementation reduces plasma oxidized LDL and cell adhesion molecule concentrations in men.” The objective of this study was to test the effects of increasing cranberry juice cocktail concentrations

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(CJC) on oxidized LDL-cholesterol concentrations in the blood. 31 sedentary men participated in this study that lasted twelve weeks. OceanSpray® low-calorie, no sugar added CJC was used in the study. The participants drank 125 ml of CJC combined with 375 ml of placebo cranberry juice cocktail for 4 weeks. For the next four weeks, subjects drank

(Continued on pg. 4)

Scientific Evidence

Three clinical studies have been reported in this article. Each study supports a decreased risk of heart disease when

anthocyanins are consumed in the diet.

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/g/e/N/n/k/Q/test-tubes.svg

http://www.berryman.com.au/images/DATA/products/frozen_blueberries_05.jpg

http://www.impressionsinflight.com/images/OS100CRAN.jpg

What’s in Your Food? Issue 9, November 20, 2014

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250 ml of CJC combined with 250 ml of placebo juice cranberry cocktail. The last four weeks consisted of the participants drinking 500 ml of only CJC. Oxidized LDL- cholesterol was significantly decreased as stated in the results. In addition, there was a decrease in inflammation biomarkers and an increase in total HDL-cholesterol of the subjects. Though not all variables that influence heart disease were altered, Ruel et al. concluded that consuming about 500 ml a day of CJC could decrease some risks for heart disease.

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The third study was done by Zhu and his colleagues, which was titled “Anti-inflammatory effect of purified dietary anthocyanin in adults with hypercholesterolemia: A randomized controlled study.” The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of anthocyanin capsules on both men and women, in regards to decreasing heart disease risk. 150 subjects between the ages of 40 and 65 participated. Anthocyanin capsules were provided to half the participants. The capsules contained anthocyanins from two different sources: bilberries and black currants. Half of

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the participants took two 80-mg capsules in the morning, and two more 80-mg capsules at night. The other half of the participants took a placebo capsule twice in the morning and twice at night. The results had very significant results. Almost all of the inflammation biomarkers that were looked at decreased. LDL-cholesterol was significantly decreased and HDL-cholesterol was significantly increased. The authors concluded that anthocyanin capsules had a large effect on reducing variables that contribute to heart disease, when consuming 380 mg a day.

Take Home Messages • Anthocyanins can be found to have heart-healthy roles in the body. • Anthocyanins in different forms (food, juice, or capsules) can be beneficial. • Anthocyanins are not the only source of decreasing heart disease risk. • Further research needs to be done to be able to validate these studies.

Americans consume an average of 12.5 mg of anthocyanins per day, with blueberries being the biggest contributor!

There is not yet a recommended amount of anthocyanins to consume to contribute to health benefits: the more the merrier!

Fun Facts About Anthocyanins

http://www.berryman.com.au/images/DATA/products/frozen_blueberries_05.jpg

What’s in Your Food? Issue 9, November 20, 2014

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Word Search: How many anthocyanins can you find?

Word List:

1. Bilberries 2. Blackberries

3. Black Currants 4. Blueberries

5. Cherries 6. Cranberries

7. Eggplant 8. Grapes

9. Radishes 10. Raspberries 11. Red onions 12. Red wine

12. Strawberries

References:

1. Centers for disease control and prevention. Heart disease facts. MMWR. 2013;51(6):123– 126.

2. McWilliams M. Foods experimental perspectives. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012.

3. Lauro G, Francis F. Anthocyanins and anthocyanidins. Natural Food colours. Science and technology. 2000: 237-252.

4. Takanori T. Dietary anthocyanin-rich plants: Biochemical basis and recent progress in health benefits studies. Molecular Nutrition and Food Science. 2012; 56: 159-170.

5. Arpita Basu, Mei Du, Misti J. Leyva, Karah Sanchez, Nancy M. Betts, Mingyuan Wu, Christopher E. Aston, and Timothy J. Lyons. Blueberries decrease cardiovascular risk factors in obese men and women with metabolic syndrome. The Journal of Nutrition. 2010;140: 1582-1587.

6. Guillaume Ruel, Sonia Pomerleau, Patrick Couture, Simone Lemieux, Benoˆıt Lamarche and Charles Couillard. Low-calorie cranberry juice supplementation reduces plasma oxidized LDL and cell adhesion molecule concentrations in men. British Journal of Nutrition. 2008;99: 352-359.

7. Y. Zhu, W. Ling, H. Guo, F. Song, Q. Ye, T. Zou, D. Li, Y. Zhang, G. Li, Y. Xiao, F. Liu, Z. Li, Z. Shi, and Y. Yang.Anti-inflammatory effect of purified dietary anthocyanin in adults with hypercholesterolemia: A randomized controlled trial. Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases. 2013;23(9):843-849.

Answer to Trivia: C. Eggplant