Leading nutrition scientists from around the world convened at the United States Department of Agriculture to present the latest research supporting the role of tea in promoting good health.

Numerous studies suggest tea supports heart health and healthy blood pressure, and appears to be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart attack.

“There is now an overwhelming body of research from around the world indicating that drinking tea can enhance human health,” said meeting chair, Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Director, Antioxidants Research Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston.

A study in Acta Paediatrica suggests that supplementation of vitamin C, zinc, and omega 3 fatty acids helps asthma patients.

Bronchial asthma is caused by chronic inflammation in airways and nutritional intervention is known to decrease the severity of many chronic inflammatory disease including asthma, according to researchers at Mohammed Al Biltagi of Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.

The researchers found supplementation of vitamin C, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids supplements improved childhood asthma control test, pulmonary function tests, and sputum inflammatory markers in children with moderately persistent asthma.

The study involved 70 asthma patients who took supplements of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C and Zinc either singly or in combination in a series of continuous dietary intervention phases with each followed by a washout phase. Evaluated at baseline and at the end of the study were childhood asthma control test, pulmonary function tests and sputum inflammatory markers.

Combined supplementation of vitamin C, omega-3 fatty acids and zinc was found more effective in improving asthma condition than each individual supplement.

Now a large review of research shows no overall heart benefit to taking Omega-3 fatty acid, or fish oil supplements.

There was a small reduced risk for heart-related deaths, but researchers said it wasn’t significant.

Other forms of heart disease prevention have been well documented.

“Eating healthfully, exercising is really so much more important than supplement,” said Elisabetta Politi, a registered dietitian with the Duke Diet and Fitness center.

According to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, nearly a quarter of all U.S. adults take fish oil pills.

Juliana de Aguiar Pastore Silvaa of Departamet of Nutrition, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil and colleagues conducted the study and found colorectal cancer patients taking 2 grams of fish oil per day during chemotherapy maintained baseline weight and improved the C-reactive protein/albumin ratio, which are desirable.

The clinical trial involved 23 patients with colorectal cancer in two groups were assigned to taking either a placebo or 2 grams of fish oil containing 600 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for 9 weeks during which all patients were using chemotherapy.

Published in the PloS journal, researchers from Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention found DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) supplementation a “safe and effective way to improve reading and behaviour in healthy but underperforming children”.

The independent study was funded by health and nutrition giant DSM Nutritional Products and used the firm’s algal DHA omega-3 oil in the research.

Findings showed that supplementation has a robust impact in aiding ‘underperforming’ children – those with a reading ability two years behind the expected level (≤20th centile) and lower at ≤10th centile.

Children in the ≤20th centile sub-group taking DHA saw an 8 month improvement in reading age and those in the ≤10th centile group gained 1.9 months.

The results show some people who have symptoms of both autism and epilepsy have a rare genetic mutation that causes them to have abnormally low levels of essential nutrients called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs).

When the researchers fed a diet enriched with BCAAs to mice that were engineered to have that same genetic mutation, the diet completely reversed the symptoms, the researchers said. The mice not fed the enriched diet showed the symptoms of epilepsy and other neurological problems.

However, it’s not clear whether the findings will translate to people. Because the mutation is so rare, the researchers have not yet studied the effects of adding BCAA supplements to the diet of people with this particular form of autism, and it’s possible a change in diet may only be beneficial if started early in life (the patients currently known to have the mutation are no longer young children).

Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) infusions have been demonstrated to reduce plasma glucose in animals and serum lipids in humans. The current study was intended to evaluate the effect of roasted mate tea consumption on the glycemic and lipid profiles of men and women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or pre-diabetes.

Involved in the study were 29 people with diabetes mellitus type 2 and 29 with pre-diabetes who were divided into 3 groups, subject to different interventions: mate tea regimen, dietary intervention, and mate tea and dietary intervention. The mate tea regimen required subjects to drink 330 mL of roasted mate tea 3 times a day for over 60 days and the dietary intervention meant nutritional counseling also over 60 days. Food intake was assessed and blood samples were analysed at baseline, and 20, 40, and 60 days of treatments.

1. It is low on the glycemic index, preventing rapid spikes in blood sugar which causes inflammation, mood swings, and weight gain.

2. Buckwheat has more protein than corn, millet, rice, or wheat and is high in the amino acids lysine and arginine, both of which tend to be deficient in grains and are essential for a healthy heart and strong immunity to illness.

3. It is naturally gluten-free, making it an excellent option for celiacs, those with gluten allergies, or anyone trying to avoid gluten.

4. Because of its amino acid content, it can boost the protein content of beans and grains eaten in the same day.

5. Buckwheat is unsurpassed in its ability to normalize cholesterol levels.

The study – published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition – analyses data from almost half a million people, finding that drinking several cups of coffee a day could help protect against colon cancer by between 15% and 25%.

Led by Rashmi Sinha from the US National Cancer Research Institute in Rockville, the team evaluated coffee and tea intakes of participants from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study included – taking into account both caffeinated and decaffeinated consumption – in relation to colon (proximal and distal) and rectal cancers.

“In this large US cohort, coffee was inversely associated with colon cancer, particularly proximal tumors,” said Sinha and her team. “Additional investigations of coffee intake and its components in the prevention of colorectal cancer by sub-sites are warranted.”

Commenting on the research, the UK’s NHS Choices service noted that the study was ‘well conducted’ and “does suggest a link between coffee consumption and reduced bowel cancer risk.”

Now comes word that a cuppa joe reduces physical pain.

The surprising finding is based on a study involving 48 volunteers who agreed to spend 90 minutes performing fake computer tasks meant to mimic office work. The tasks were known to cause pain in the shoulders, neck, forearms and wrists, and the researchers wanted to compare how people with chronic pain and those who were pain-free tolerated the tasks.