At the University at Buffalo, researchers are working on genetically engineering microorganisms to synthesize compounds such as flavonoids as an economical and efficient solution for ageing, cancer and even obesity. They are manipulating E. coli into tiny, cellular factories.
“Ultimately, we want to be able to take a designed E. coli off of the shelf and [...]

The benefits of antioxidant vitamins include neutralizing free radicals. These free radicals are responsible for many degenerative diseases and disorders, not least of which is various types of cancer. The neutralizing effect and benefits of antioxidant vitamins also help boost the body’s immune system, thereby reducing the likelihood of developing cancer.
Deficiencies in the benefits of [...]

Using a new analytical method, ARS plant geneticist Roy Navarre and colleagues in Washington State and Oregon have identified 60 different kinds of phytochemicals and vitamins in the skins and flesh of 100 wild and commercially grown potatoes.
The team’s analysis of Red and Norkotah potatoes, for example, revealed that the spuds’ total dietary-phenolics content rivaled [...]

Recent research indicates there’s little benefit from taking diet supplements. A better way, according to a report in the September issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, is eating a diet rich in antioxidant-containing foods.
Antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, carotene, lycopene, lutein and many other substances may play a role in helping to prevent [...]

Israeli scientists have developed a new method for fighting skin wrinkles.
Scientists at the Hebrew University and the Bar-Ilan University succeeded in isolating a plant-based antioxidant that delays the aging process by countering the breakdown of collagen fibers in the skin, according to a report Thursday on the science news website of [...]

Cocoa reduces high blood pressure but tea does not, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers from the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany compared the results of 10 different studies, five examining the effects of cocoa on blood pressure, and five examining the effects of tea. Both cocoa and [...]

A diet rich in cocoa flavonoids could boost one’s antioxidant defenses, particularly in the thymus, suggests a new Spanish study on rats.
Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, lead author Emma Ramiro-Puig and co-workers from the University of Barcelona report that feeding young Wistar rats cocoa-enriched diets resulted in increased activity of the [...]