[Anti-aging with healthy nutrition. This you can recommend!]

For a dietary anti-aging concept that "gives life to years and adds years to life" we recommend a low-fat, carbohydrate and fiber-rich diet containing plenty of fruits and vegetables and moderate amounts of protein (in particular of vegetable origin). Prolonging the fasting state by cancelling dinner is also of benefit. Five servings of fruits and vegetables (preferentially red, yellow and green) daily and whole-grain products provide sufficient amounts of vitamins C and E and the provitamin A beta-carotene, as well as secondary phytochemicals. Also to be recommended are low-fat dairy products, fish once or twice a week, little meat and eggs, and a maximum of 4-8 fl oz (1/8 to 1/4 liter) of red wine per day.

Chromium determinations in blood cells: clinical relevance demonstrated in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2

As an essential nutrient involved in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, chromium is of extraordinary importance for patients with diabetes. Plasma concentrations do not reflect the chromium supply; thus, we determined the element's content in blood cells in order to evaluate the body status. We investigated 86 blood donors (C) and 35 diabetics type 2 (Dm2). After the isolation of the blood cells by using a density centrifugation, the chromium concentrations were determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Compared to C, Dm2 had higher values in plasma, erythrocytes, and platelets (248%, 61%, and 91%, respectively) and lower contents in polymorphonuclear and mononuclear leukocytes (each -35%, age- and sex-matched groups with n=35, each p<0.01). The poorer the metabolic control assessed by HbA1c, the higher were the chromium concentrations in plasma (r=+0.46, n=33, p=0.007, increase 11.1% per %HbA1c) and the lower were the values in mononuclear leukocytes (r=-0.45, n=33, p=0.008, decrease 17.8% per %HbA1c). The changed amounts in plasma and in mononuclear cells in increasing hyperglycemia could be the result of an intracellular/extracellular redistribution of the element. High plasma levels might explain the renal chromium losses of diabetics, whereas the lymphocytes could reflect a decreasing chromium body state.

Isolation of corpuscular components of whole blood for the determination of selenium in blood cells

Currently, the determination of trace elements in plasma or whole blood for the evaluation of adequate supply is unsatisfactory as it does not reflect exactly the biochemical processes in the human organism. A method of isolating cell fractions was developed in order to be able to analyze these elements in the corpuscular components of the blood. The separation, which is simple to perform, makes possible a high yield of erythrocytes, thrombocytes, and polymorphnuclear and mononuclear leucocytes, as well as a high purity of the cell fractions. For the first time a precise determination of trace elements in leucocytes has become possible. The concentration in erythrocytes was not calculated but measured directly, avoiding the danger of a compounding of errors by the combination of many steps. The highest relative selenium content of an investigated reference group (n = 25) was found in the erythrocytes (39.7%), followed by the plasma (29.9%) and the thrombocytes (24.9%). The leucocytes had the lowest concentration with < 1.9% in the polymorphonuclear and < 3.7% in the mononuclear cells. A comparison of these results with the distribution of selenium in the blood compartments will show whether the use of erythrocytes resp. thrombocytes for the analysis of this element is of greater value for diagnosis and therapy than currently employed procedures.