Newswise — Chicago, IL., July 11, 2018 … Nathan Bryan, Ph.D., one of the top researchers in the world on nitric oxide (NO), will tell attendees of the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting that “a significant body of evidence exists for beneficial cardiovascular effects such as blood pressure, platelets and endothelial function, which are directly associated with NO production in the body. Despite this evidence, too many healthcare providers, food scientists and nutritionists have very little familiarity with these important discoveries, and consumers also have little or no knowledge of this ‘miracle molecule.’”
“As nutrition and health leaders we need to inform and educate ourselves and then speak out about the beneficial physiological role of dietary nitrate and nitrite in maintaining adequate NO levels and the health benefits of diets high in nitrate-rich vegetables and fruits. While these discoveries are well known to researchers and experts in the field, most food scientists and technologists have very little familiarity with these important discoveries. These novel findings are important to recognize because of the broad array of food/beverage products that naturally contain nitrate and nitrite. Instead of trying to minimize the dietary content of both substances because of past, unwarranted concerns about potential toxicological risks, food scientists in industry will get a better understanding of the health benefits that can be achieved by exposure to these natural dietary constituents of vegetables, fruits and other products.”
Bryan will summarize the ground-breaking human health benefits of nitrate and nitrite that have been discovered over the past decade. These discoveries are based on the importance of nitrate and nitrite as dietary precursors of NO, an important signaling molecule in humans, whose discovery by three eminent scientists was recognized with the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine just 20 years ago.
Bryan said, “There are now indisputable health benefits of nitrate and nitrite when administered in a clinical setting for specific diseases. We know NO levels in the human body decrease with age but can be restored by sufficient dietary intakes of nitrate and nitrite-rich foods. I hope the critical importance of taking these known health benefits into consideration will help lead healthcare providers to encourage their patients to consume nitrate-rich foods, such as beets, spinach, celery, eggplant, carrots and broccoli.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Bryan is available for interviews.
Dr. Bryan is credited with a multitude of significant discoveries in Nitric Oxide function, production and metabolism, which he has published extensively in peer-reviewed scientific journals in this field. He’s also an inventor who has been awarded more than a dozen U.S. and International patents related to his discoveries on Nitric Oxide. Dr. Bryan is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics and has authored or edited 6 books on NO and health, the most recent being Functional Nitric Oxide Nutrition: Dietary Strategies to Prevent and Treat Chronic Disease and the landmark Second Edition (2017) of Nitrite and Nitrate in Human Health and Disease. This expert monograph opens with a Foreword by one of the 1998 Nitric Oxide Nobel Prize winners, Dr. Louis J. Ignarro, who declares that “This body of work may have revolutionary implications in terms of developing strategies to combat heart disease and many other contemporary diseases associated with a NO deficiency.”
Since 1939, IFT has been advancing the science of food and its application across the global food system by creating a dynamic forum where individuals from more than 90 countries can collaborate, learn, and grow, transforming scientific knowledge into innovative solutions for the benefit of people around the world.
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