Here’s another reason to enjoy your coffee. A recent study in the July edition of the Journal Hepatology found a significant inverse association (meaning opposingly related; an increase in one variable results in a decrease in another) between coffee drinking and the risk of primary liver cancer [1]. The study also found that serum levels of an antioxidant enzyme, elevated in people with low coffee consumption, were associated with an increased risk of developing the disease.

Have you ever wondered if those healthy fast food meals are really any better for you? McDonald’s has the Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait, Wendy’s offers Garden Sensations salads and at Burger King you can even get a veggie burger.

Yogurt, salad, veggie burger … these are all healthy foods.

However, new research suggests that healthy fast food meals have the same effect on your cardiovascular system as a burger, fries and a soda.

I love my coffee. Who doesn’t want (or need for all you coffee addicts out there) a cup of freshly brewed java to start their day? However, the bitterness of coffee is something most of us could do without.

Now chemists in Germany and the U.S. say they have identified the chemicals that are largely responsible for coffee’s bitterness. Their study, one of the most detailed chemical analyses of coffee bitterness to date, was presented this week at the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society [1].

In February 2007, researchers at Appalachian State University announced the results of a clinical study on the flavonoid quercetin at the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, held in Charlotte, N.C. Their results showed that quercetin may help reduce illness and maintain mental performance in physcially stressed test subjects. I’ve written about the antioxidant quercetin in a previous article as an alternative to dichloroacetate (DCA), a chemotherapeutic agent that was recently shown to selectively inhibit cancer cell growth in lung, breast and brain tumor cells grown in culture and lung tumors grown in immunocompromisted rats.

Quercetin is a polyphenol, one of a number of water-soluble plant pigments called flavonoids (meaning class of plant secondary metabolites known for their antioxidant activity) that are largely responsible for the color of many flowers, fruits and vegetables. High concentrations of quercetin are found in apples, onions, tea and red wine [1]. Other sources of quercetin include olive oil, grapes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, dark cherries and dark berries such as blueberries, blackberries and bilberries. The average U.S. citizen eating a normal, healthy diet including fruits and vegetables consumes approximately 25-50 mg of quercetin/day. Quercetin and other flavonoids (also referred to as bioflavonoids) cannot be produced in the human body.