Superveggies, Treadmill Multitasking, Lifesaving Undies

It’s safe to say that most people have the desire to live a long, healthy life. Along those lines, Newscripts has come across some intriguing research and two newfangled contraptions designed to help people attain that goal.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but beets might keep chronic diseases at bay, according to new research by Rui Hai Liu and coworkers at Cornell University. The researchers measured the cellular ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY of 27 common vegetables—including such childhood favorites as brussels sprouts and green beans—to establish which of them had the most potential for health benefits.

“Increased fruit and vegetable consumption is an effective strategy to increase antioxidant intake and decrease oxidative stress and may lead to reduced risk of developing chronic diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease,” the researchers write.

Using a fluorescence-based cellular assay, the Cornell team found that beets, broccoli, and red peppers had the highest amount of cellular antioxidant activity, and veggies such as cucumbers, spinach, and lettuce ranked lowest. So if you want a leg up in the fight against diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and cataracts, don’t forget to eat your beets. The findings were published in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry (2010, 58, 6621).

Now that Newscripts has passed along its best diet advice, let’s tackle the other key component to living well: exercise. For working men and women, finding time during the day to get the recommended hour of exertion can be difficult, especially when you consider how long some people are trapped behind a desk.

Enter the TREKDESK, a computer table designed to fit over any basic treadmill that lets you walk while you tap away on your keyboard, check your e-mail, or surf the Internet.

“Chairs are the enemy,” the TrekDesk website declares under a list of 52 supposed benefits of the product. The list promises perks that vary widely in grandeur, such as improvements in blood lipid profiles, decreases in the incidence of impotence, and reduction in the risk of colon cancer.

The walking-while-working concept sounds rather difficult to juggle, but if you’d like to try out this fitness miracle for yourself, you can find the TrekDesk online at Amazon.com.

The final item in our health roundup is a handy article of clothing out of the University of California, San Diego. Reuters is reporting that nanoengineering professor Joseph Wang and colleagues have developed and designed new MEN’S BRIEFS that are more than just an undergarment.

The waistband, which remains in constant contact with the skin, comes equipped with an electrochemical biosensor that is designed to measure blood pressure, heart rate, and other general vital signs. The sensor is an array of carbon electrodes screen-printed directly onto the fabric.

Wang’s research is being sponsored by the U.S. military with the intention that the technology might one day be used on the battlefield to monitor soldiers’ health and well-being. However, the technology’s application extends well beyond the military, Wang tells Reuters. For example, the biosensor could be programmed to monitor various cardiac markers in the elderly, alerting the user to any potential for stroke.