Heart Health

Chemically known as D-ribose, ribose is a 5-carbon sugar (pentose) that is found in every cell in the body. Due to its chemical structure, it is not used by the body as a typical sugar, such as glucose (6-carbons)-meaning it is not metabolized via glycolysis, the biochemical pathway in which sugar is converted into energy. Ribose serves as the carbohydrate backbone of ribonucleic acid/RNA (as ribose) and of deoxyribonucleic acid/DNA (as deoxyribose), both of which are involved in cell growth and function.

GreenPower Health Products will launch heart-health dietary supplements based on VESIsorb bioavailability technology.

The study has been published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.

Dietary supplements brand Nathans Natural announced that its Levodyn supplement will begin a Phase II clinical trial.

Of note, numerous health claims submitted for soy isoflavones were rejected.

Ingredient broker New Products Plus will represent ingredients by Stratum Nutrition and ESM Technologies in the Utah health and nutrition market.

A new preclinical mouse liver study published in Frontiers in Nutrigenomics showed that krill oil better regulated the genes involved in glucose, lipid, and cholesterol metabolism than did fish oil.

Researchers claim a combination of high sodium and low potassium is worse for heart health than either factor alone.

Stepan Company (Northfield, IL) has extended its line of lipid-based ingredients with acquisitions of Marinol, Clarinol, and PinnoThin from Lipid Nutrition BV (Wormerveer, The Netherlands).

In Cyvex Nutrition’s newest Vine newsletter, the company highlights a lesser-known omega-3 fatty acid, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and its newest weight management ingredient, SolaThin.

A combination of Pycnogenol and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) appears to improve blood pressure and heart and respiratory rates, according to research published in the journal Panminerva Medica.

Following the Israeli Health Ministry’s recommendation of omega-3 fatty acids and phytosterols for cardiovascular health, dietary supplement marketer Ta’am Teva Altman has launched No-Sterol, a supplement formulated by Soft Gel Technologies.

A meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Nutrition suggests that omega-3’s could influence heart health by reducing stiffness of the arteries.

The agency’s has weighed in on 536 new claims.

"Therefore, dietary supplementation of DHA in food is an effective method for reducing the risk of CHD in people who do not frequently eat fish,” the researchers stated.

Two scientific posters by Metagenics Inc. suggest that nutritional supplementation can improve on the benefits of a Mediterranean diet.

In a new review of eight studies published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers say that a 250-mg dose of omega-3 fatty acids can help lower the risk of fatal coronary heart disease.

Benolea EFLA 943 olive leaf extract was shown to be as effective as the hypertension drug Captopril in lowering blood pressure.

The study was stopped because the niacin treatment allegedly did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and stroke.

Researchers took blood pressure readings from more than 14,000 men and women between the ages of 24 and 32.

The extract is now undergoing preliminary clinical trials at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, UK.

The study found that participants who consumed double-strength cranberry juice cocktail experienced “significant reduction” in arterial stiffness.

Can dairy play a role?

Carotech Inc. (Edison, NJ) has announced the results of a new study linking its tocopherol-tocotrienol complex to significant reductions in total and bad cholesterol levels.

The pine-derived phytosterols are the result of a new partnership between Danisco (Copenhagen) and Arbois (Savannah, GA).