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Nutrition:
The following information is a collection of advice, suggestions, experiences, and even wives tales on what our community of Glanzmann’s patients have learned about diet and nutrition. You should consult with your doctor before changing your diet.

To contribute to this page please contact Helen Smith at Helen@Glanzmanns.Com

Daily tomato juice eases diabetic symptoms

20/08/2004 - Drinking tomato juice everday reduced the blood’s clotting ability in people with type 2 diabetes, report Australian researchers this week, reports Dominique Patton.

They found significant lowering of platelet aggregation – the blood's ability to clot – after a daily dose of juice for three weeks, according to the research letter in this week's JAMA (Aug 18;292(7):805-6).

Diabetic patients are more prone to blood clots, which contributes to their increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications, according to the authors. Blood clots can cause strokes, heart attacks and other life-threatening problems.

In the trial, 20 patients (aged 43-82) with type 2 diabetes drank either 250 ml of tomato juice or a placebo – tomato-flavoured drink - everyday for three weeks. They had no prior history of clotting problems and were not taking aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or other medications that might influence clotting.

Platelet aggregation turned out to be significantly lower at the end of the trial for the group drinking tomato juice. There was no significant difference in platelet aggregation in the placebo group.

The researchers from the University of Newcastle in Australia do not yet understand why tomato juice reduces platelet aggregation, although other groups have reported similar results.

In the UK, nutraceutical firm Provexis is currently developing a water-soluble, concentrated tomato extract that can be added to drinks to make them beneficial for heart health. Trials on the extract, which contains none of the antioxidant lycopene, also reported to improve heart health, suggest that its different compounds inhibit blood platelet aggregation. Nobody at the company was available to comment on the Australian research.

Diabetes has already increased by one-third during the 1990s, due to the prevalence of obesity and an ageing population. There are currently more than 194 million people with diabetes worldwide but if nothing is done to slow the epidemic, the number will exceed 333 million by 2025, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

If the Australian research is corroborated by larger studies, it may also help other people with increased clotting tendency such as smokers and long-distance travellers, as well as those with heart disease, one of the most widely occurring chronic diseases in the world.
(Original article here)

Thread: UPDATE ON FOODS | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: jmlee | Date: May 24th, 2004 08:26 PM

Hi Everyone,
As some of you may know, I have always been interested in foods and the effects of what they do for the human body. In addition to what I have already said, I have a further list of foods to avoid from some research I have been doing. Some of these foods I have already known about and forgot to mention earlier. This list may seem extensive but I STRONGLY believe in this and feel that if I avoid giving my kids these things then I can only be helping them. Some people may say, "Then what CAN they eat?" Well, if you really think about it, there are still MANY, MANY things they can consume. Please do take a look and give it some thought. At the end of the list, I'll give you some personal examples from my experiences.

Chili Peppers: dissolves blood clots
Dates: natural aspirin qualities
Skins of Grapes: inhibit blood platelet clumping (may be why our kids need to avoid alcohol)
Melon (cantoloupe, honeydew, watermelon): anti-coagulants
Onions (chives, shallots, scallions, leeks): thins blood
Pineapple: dissolves blood clots
Tumeric: hinders platelet aggregation
Seaweed & Kelp: natural clot-buster
Prune: natural aspirin quality
Raspberry (and other berries): natural aspirin quality

From my own experiences, I used to give my kids the Japanese seaweed (sushi type). My daughter used to get a nosebleed each time after eating it. This also happened to my kids when they ate grapes. Now I peel the skin off of the grapes to give it to them. There is something about the skin. I know that each person reacts to foods differently and it's not to say that each time you eat these, you're going to bleed. I mean, my kids REALLY enjoy eating the melons and the berries. I still give them some but just not A LOT.
Take from this list what you want. Do your own research. I'd LOVE to hear from others and what you think. I may be overprotective or anal to some degree, but like I said, there are still so many other food options. I don't think my kids are missing out in the diet department.
Looking forward to some good conversations!
Janet
p.s. Anyone ever heard anything about chocolate? I haven't read anything but have heard it's not that great either. Just in case, my kids avoid it like the plague. And why not? It's helping their teeth!

Thread: UPDATE ON FOODS | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: mary beth hahn | Date: September 1st, 2004 05:41 PM

Hello all!

I read an article a long time ago that said that food coloring has something in in that is not good for people with bleeding conditions. I can't remember the source or how long ago it was. I tried to research it on the net to no avail. Has anyone else heard anything about food coloring?

Hope all is well with everyone!

Mary Beth Hahn
Aidana and Aidan Plummer's aunt and Gretchen's sister

Thread: UPDATE ON FOODS | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: Helen Smith | Date: May 25th, 2004 12:18 PM

Janet,
Thank you for the information! I had not put much thought into what types of food would inhibit clotting, I was only thinking along the lines of hard or scratchy foods that could cause problems traveling through the body. I'm going to also see how much information I can find on this subject, surely there have been studies done!

Janet, maybe you could be the collector of information and then we could jointly (several of us) get a book together. Actually, there would be no way one person could write a book like this it could only be a group project!

Helen

UPDATE ON FOODS | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: Helen Smith | Date: May 26th, 2004 09:27 AM

I've ordered some books that I think may be of use as far as expanding on the foods/herbs/vitamins to either eat or steer clear of. I'm sure that most any food will be OK to consume in moderation unless of course you have a current bleed or have frequent bleeds. Janet's smart to teach her children early on to stay away from certain kind of foods. I'll start working on teaching Julia. So far none of the foods mentioned are going to cause a drastic change in Julia's quality of life if she stops eating them!

In my very limited research yesterday I've already come across more items to avoid; Ginger root makes platelets less sticky, Gingko biloba inhibits clotting by promoting vasodilation and blood flow, Vitamin E slows down coagulation. Vitamin K (found in leafy vegetables) is good it helps to promote clotting.

Thank you Janet for opening up a whole other avenue to explore!

Thread: Iron supplements | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: maram | Date: March 10th, 2005 02:50 AM

. thanks for the new information . the truth is i rarely listen to my doctor I HATE IRON PILLS what I sometimes do is try to eat food that are high iron supplement such as parsley & liver & green pepper & grape juice . we have a Mediterranean dish called (taboleh) its some how a salad lots of parsley and tomato and onion with lemon juice and green mint and olive oil very tasty and very healthy . I think we know our selves better than doctors we know what we need and when we need it .

Thread: FOODS TO STAY AWAY FROM | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: gtgirl | Date: March 14th, 2005 07:38 AM

Janet,
Why is Garlic so bad? Garlic is in everything. I ate a ton of it this past weekend Lebanese food.

Thread: UPDATE ON FOODS | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: Blaze | Date: March 14th, 2005 10:16 AM

After reading Jyll's post earlier and looking up Janet's post, I thought I'd post some links on a couple food items I found while doing a little research this morning:

Kiwi:
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=54644

Tomato Juice:
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=54257

[EDIT]
I was looking for other foods and stumbled upon this information about Vitamin K (deficiency). It had some info regarding blood clotting benefits of Vitamin K.

* http://www.healthatoz.com/healthato..._deficiency.jsp

Hope that helps,

Thread: UPDATE ON FOODS | Forum: General Discussion | Posted by: Joy | Date: March 14th, 2005 07:12 PM

An American haematologist friend who has carried out much research into platelet aggregation recently wrote me:
"Fish oil and garlic have constituents that inhibit platelets, you are very unlikely to ingest
enough of these to constitute a real problem. So my advice would be similar to what my mother always told me: 'Eat a balanced diet with everything in moderation'."