Health Matters: Blackcurrants and dementia

The Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) is working on a European Union-funded project that is trying to identify bio-active compounds in blackcurrants that are thought to be capable of reducing the advancement of Alzheimer's. The SCRI is one of the UK's leading institutes for research on plants and their interactions with the environment, particularly in managed eco-systems as well as a leader in the elucidation of the chemical, biochemical and genetic bases of quality and bioactivity in plant-derived foods and products.

The three-year initiative is looking at the natural compounds present in whole blackcurrant fruit as well as blackcurrant extracts obtained throughout the processing chain. It is these natural compounds which are thought to possess properties that protect the brain and aid in the treatment of dementia.

The project is examining cost-effective methods of extracting the compounds and how they can be developed into new functional food ingredients. The SCRI's role will be to use their expertise in blackcurrant research to identify the active components and to aid in optimising their extraction from the fruit. The consortium will also help to formulate the best-performing blackcurrant components in

to products suitable for

human use.

Going against the grain

Wholegrain bread is good for you, as most people know. But it is not only the fibre-rich bran, the outer shell of the grain, that is healthy. Research at the Lund University Faculty of Engineering shows that bread baked with white rye flour, made from the inner, part of the rye kernel, leads to better insulin and blood sugar levels compared with wheat bread with rye bran. White rye flour thus leads to much better values than both regular wheat flour and rye bran. At the same time, much of the bread that is sold in stores today in most countries is in fact baked with wheat flour and bran from various grains.

Conflict over sun benefits

Researchers looking into the health benefits of vitamin D are recommending people expose their skin to the sun without sunscreen for limited periods of time.

Getting enough vitamin D can cut your chance of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43 per cent,

say experts.

Researchers at Warwick Medical School found that exposure to the sun, along with a healthy diet rich in oily fish can provide protection against these diseases.

They say exposing the face and arms without sunscreen for 30 minutes, twice a week would provide the body with adequate amounts of vitamin D. However, cancer charities warn the sun rays increase the risk of skin cancer.