Health
Health benefits of rhubarb and how to uniquely include the vegetable in your diet, as shared by an expert
Rhubarb is a vegetable that visually appears to resemble celery in texture — but its color and taste are differentiating factors between the two.
Rhubarb has an extremely tart flavor, and it is very rarely eaten on its own due to its sour notes. It’s often combined with sugar in sweet treats like pie or jam.
Even though rhubarb is often used in desserts, it’s actually full of health benefits.
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While combining rhubarb with sugar may not be the healthiest approach to take, there are plenty of other healthy ways to counteract rhubarb’s sour flavor.
Find out more about the health benefits of rhubarb and how you can easily incorporate it into your diet below.
Rhubarb is packed with health benefits. The vegetable is often used in desserts, but can also be used in healthier ways for its benefits to take full effect. (Getty Images)
- Improves bone health
- Is rich in antioxidants
- Aids digestion
- Can help regulate blood pressure
- Has the potential to lower bad cholesterol levels
1. Improves bone health
There are many different vitamins present in rhubarb.
One of these is vitamin K, an important contributor to overall bone health as well as blood clotting.
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“Just one cup of rhubarb has almost half of your vitamin K needs,” Lauri Wright, associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at the University of South Florida and registered dietitian nutritionist, told Fox News Digital.
Wright added that though most people don’t take Coumadin anymore for blood thinning, those who are on medication should be extra cautious of rhubarb consumption since vitamin K and Coumadin don’t interact well.
Even though rhubarb is a vegetable, it has a tart flavor — which is why it’s often paired with fruits such as strawberries in desserts like pie. (Natasha Breen/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Calcium is also apparent in rhubarb, another contributor to bone health, as well as vitamin C, great for a nice immune boost.
“It’s also rich in calcium, which helps with bone health, and vitamin C, which boosts your immunity and is involved in collagen production for healthy skin and tissues,” Wright said.
2. Is rich in antioxidants
Rhubarb is full of antioxidants.
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The antioxidants in rhubarb do far more than just give the vegetable its color.
“Rhubarb is really high in antioxidants, and those are kind of these compounds that give the rhubarb its reddish color, but those compounds in the body help take down inflammation and protect the cells from damage… some of the damage that could eventually lead to cancer cells,” Wright explained.
Rhubarb does resemble celery in its texture, but its color and taste make the vegetables very different. (Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images)
3. Aids digestion
Rhubarb is a vegetable high in fiber.
“[Rhubarb is] rich in fiber, so it really helps with digestion. [It] has a pretty good source of fiber per serving,” Wright told Fox News Digital.
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That said, the amount of fiber in rhubarb shouldn’t lead to any GI issues, Wright added.
The part of the vegetable to be mindful of is the leaves. While rhubarb stalks boast impressive health benefits, the leaves should be left alone.
“The leaves actually contain oxalic acid, which, if you eat a lot of it, can be toxic, and it also, for some people, can build stones in the kidneys. So you always want to trim the leaves before you cook the rhubarb,” Wright noted.
Rhubarb has just the right amount of fiber; it can aid digestion but shouldn’t cause any digestive issues. (Rey Lopez for The Washington Post via Getty Images; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
4. Can help regulate blood pressure
Rhubarb has the potential to regulate blood pressure.
The high potassium content in the vegetable is what strongly contributes to this potential health benefit, Wright told Fox News Digital.
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“It’s high in potassium,” Wright said. “Potassium helps regulate blood pressure [and] helps with better blood pressure control.”
5. Has the potential to lower bad cholesterol levels
Rhubarb stalks may have the capability to lower bad cholesterol levels.
“Studies have actually shown that rhubarb stalks can help lower the LDL cholesterol, or the bad cholesterol … just a few, but there’s some promise there,” Wright said.
If you want to begin to incorporate rhubarb into your diet in a healthy way to see all of its potential benefits, one easy way to do so is by using it as an ingredient in salsa.
Rhubarb can be one of many ingredients blended into a delicious and nutritious smoothie. (iStock)
“One really fun idea is [to] add rhubarb to your salsa,” Wright said. “Dice up rhubarb along with mango, red onion, lime juice, cilantro. That makes a really tangy salsa, and it’s perfect to put on top of grilled fish or chicken.”
Another easy way to incorporate pretty much any fruit or vegetable into a diet is by blending it into a smoothie.
“Add rhubarb to your smoothie with strawberries, Greek yogurt, a little drizzle of honey and maybe some spinach, and that’s going to be like a really fun mix of flavors that is packed with nutrition,” Wright explained.
A nutrient-rich smoothie is a super simple way for those who have a hard time meeting daily recommended intakes of fruits and vegetables to get the vitamins and minerals they need.
Health
Scientists May Be Able to Make Grapefruits Compatible With Medications They Currently Interfere With
You may be among the millions of people who have seen a surprisingly specific warning like this on the labels of drugs you take:
Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while using this medication.
Such warnings are issued for dozens of substances, including docetaxel, a cancer drug; erythromycin, an antibiotic; and some statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs prescribed to more than a third of American adults over 40.
The problem is a set of molecules, furanocoumarins. High levels of furanocoumarins interfere with human liver enzymes, among other processes. In their presence, medications can build up to unhealthy levels in the body. And grapefruits and some related citrus fruits are full of them.
But there is no such warning for other kinds of citrus, such as mandarins and other oranges. Citrus researchers at the Volcani Center in Israel reported Wednesday in the journal The New Phytologist that, by crossing mandarins and grapefruit, they’ve uncovered genes that produce furanocoumarins in some citrus fruits. It’s a finding that opens the possibility of creating grapefruit that doesn’t require a warning label.
Scientists had worked out the compounds’ structures and pieced together a basic flowchart of how they are made years ago, said Yoram Eyal, a professor at the Volcani Center. But the precise identities of enzymes catalyzing the process — the proteins that snip off a branch here, or add a piece there — remained mysterious. He and his colleagues knew that one way to identify them was to breed citrus high in furanocoumarins with those without. If the offspring of such a cross had varying levels of the substances, it should be possible, by digging into their genetics, to pinpoint the genes for the proteins.
“We were afraid to approach it, because it’s very time-consuming and it takes many years,” he said, noting how involved it can be to grow new trees from seeds and assess their genetics. “But finally, we decided we have to dive in.”
When they examined the offspring of a mandarin and a grapefruit, the researchers saw something remarkable. Fifty percent of the young plants had high levels of furanocourmains, and 50 percent had none. That particular signature meant something very specific, in terms of how the ability to make these substances is inherited.
“We saw there was only one gene that could have controlled it,” said Livnat Goldenberg, a Volcani Center researcher who is the lead author of the new study.
The researchers soon identified the gene controlling the production of furanocoumarins in leaves and fruit, which produces an enzyme called 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase, or 2OGD for short. Mandarins, it turns out, have a mutated form of this gene that keeps the enzyme from functioning properly. This version cropped up in all the mandarin and orange varieties the researchers checked, explaining why they do not cause the same problems as grapefruit in people taking prescription medications. In these plants, furanocoumarin production is paused.
With gene editing technology, it should be possible to alter the gene in grapefruit as well, Dr. Eyal suggests. The team at the Volcani Center is now exploring that project.
Looking at how widespread this mutated version is in mandarins and some other citrus, the scientists speculate that some gene nearby on the genome must play an important role in a highly prized trait. A long-ago citrus breeder, selecting for some unknown quality, must have unwittingly spread this furanocoumarin-busting version of the gene to an ancestor of modern varieties of mandarins and oranges.
All these years later, that person’s work is coming to light, under the gaze of geneticists, who may, someday, put grapefruit back on the menu.
Cases of tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” are on the rise in the U.S., according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Caused by the bacteria Francisella tularensis, the disease commonly infects rabbits, hares and rodents. However, it is zoonotic, which means it can spread from animals to humans.
The bacteria is a “tier-1 select agent,” a classification given to agents and toxins that “present the greatest risk of deliberate misuse with significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effects to the economy, critical infrastructure or public confidence, and pose a severe threat to public health and safety,” per the CDC.
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Although tularemia is relatively rare, with only 2,462 diagnoses between 2011 and 2022, cases have risen 56% compared to the prior decade (2001 to 2010), as reported in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Cases of tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” are on the rise in the U.S., according to a new report from the CDC. (iStock)
“Increased reporting of probable cases might be associated with an actual increase in human infection, improved tularemia detection or both,” the report states.
Millions of new cases of diabetes and heart disease every year are caused by sugary drinks, according to newly published research.
Tufts University in Boston led the study, which found that about 2.2 million new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease were attributed to sugar-sweetened sodas and juices each year, according to a press release.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine this week.
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The highest rates were found in Colombia, where 48% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary drinks, and in Mexico, where nearly a third of cases were attributed to them.
Meanwhile, in Latin America, more than 24% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary beverages, and 21% in sub-Saharan Africa, the study found.
About 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease occur each year worldwide due to consuming sugar-sweetened soda and juices, according to the findings of a new study. (iStock)
In South Africa, 27.6% of new diabetes cases and 14.6% of cardiovascular disease cases were attributed to sugary drinks.
Sugary drinks are rapidly digested, causing a spike in blood sugar levels with little nutritional value.
Sugary drinks cause blood sugar to spike because they are “rapidly digested,” the research team said.
When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages, in addition to increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, the researchers added.
Men are more likely than women to suffer the consequences of sugary drink consumption, as are younger adults compared to their older counterparts, a new study asserts. (iStock)
Professor Dariush Mozaffarian, the study’s senior author, said in a university press release, “Sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed and sold in low- and middle-income nations.”
He added, “Not only are these communities consuming harmful products, but they are also often less well-equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences.”
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Certain groups are more likely to experience negative health effects from sugary drinks, including men and younger adults, the researchers noted, as news agency SWNS also noted.
New Jersey-based registered dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade, who was not involved in the research, said the findings were to be expected, as diets rich in added sugars are more likely to increase the risk of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes.
When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, experts say. (iStock)
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major cause of added sugar in the diet and easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness,” she told Fox News Digital.
“The high calorie content and lack of satisfaction due to little protein, fat or fiber in these drinks can lead to excess calorie consumption, which can lead to weight gain — especially gains in visceral fat (belly fat), which has been found to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes,” she went on.
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness.”
Palinski-Wade pointed out that there were some limitations to the new research.
“This was an observational study, not a causation study, and shows only an association between diets containing sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes,” she noted.
“It does not prove that those drinks alone trigger an onset of type 2 diabetes.”
What needs to change?
To remedy the issue, the study authors called for a “multi-pronged approach,” including public health campaigns, regulations on advertising and taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, the release stated.
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“We need urgent, evidence-based interventions to curb consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages globally, before even more lives are shortened by their effects on diabetes and heart disease,” first author Laura Lara-Castor, now at the University of Washington, said in the release.
Approximately 65% of adults in the U.S. consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily. (iStock)
Mexico implemented a sugary drinks tax in 2014, which has shown to be effective in reducing consumption, the researchers stated.
“Much more needs to be done, especially in countries in Latin America and Africa, where consumption is high and the health consequences severe,” wrote Mozaffarian.
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“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
Many different factors are involved in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, Palinski-Wade noted.
“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
“However, reducing your intake of sugar-sweetened beverages can go a long way toward improving overall blood sugar regulation and future health.”
The new research was supported by the Gates Foundation, the American Heart Association and Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for further comment.
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