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Who says we have to suffer...to live a healthy happy vibrant life?

Red wine and dark chocolate... might seem decadent...but these guilty pleasures also might help us live longer...and healthier lives. Red wine and dark chocolate definitely improve an evening..but they also contain resveratrol..which lowers blood sugar. Red wine is a great source of catechins..which boost protective HDL cholesterol. Green tea? Protects your brain..helps you live longer..and soothes your spirit.

Food for Thought, the blog, is about living the good life...a life we create with our thoughts and our choices...and having fun the whole while!

I say lets make the thoughts good ones..and let the choices be healthy...exciting...and delicious! Bon Appetit!

Friday, May 2, 2014

Brain saving Tocotrienol: Vitamin E supplement helps 'redirect' blood during stroke.


Strokes are a leading cause of death and long term disability in the US. With the failure of more than 1,000 experimental neuroprotective drugs, one scientist has stopped trying to discover the next new stroke treatment, and instead is trying to prevent strokes from happening in the first place. Dr Cameron Rink thinks he may have found the answer in a little known member of the vitamin E family, which appears to remodel the brain’s circulatory system and provide protection the instant a stroke strikes.

During a stroke part of the brain is not getting blood or oxygen and the cells are dying. There’s not much we can do for a patient at this point and that’s frustrating,” says Rink, a professor of surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

The blood vessel "redirect" is the result of 10 weeks' worth of supplementation with a little-known type of vitamin E called tocotrienol. Tocotrienol appears to stimulate arteriogenesis -- or the remodeling of existing blood vessels that can instantaneously expand in response to a demand for oxygen-rich blood. This collateral blood supply can make a major difference in stroke outcomes.


Tocotrienol, found naturally in palm oil, is a vitamin E variant and currently available in stores as an oral nutritional supplement. Because it doesn't appear to interfere with other stroke therapies like blood thinners, or have any other side effects, Rink thinks that the vitamin could someday become a common stroke prevention strategy, much like low-dose aspirin is currently recommended for cardiac patients.

How does your state plan to expand (or ignore) renewable energy?

Big oil interests are trying to stop the expansion of renewable energy. Does your state have a goal to expand the use of solar and wind energy?