research

Chinese Medicine has long seen walnuts as a yang tonic, capable of promoting male sexual health. BBC News reports on research suggesting that walnuts can improve sperm quality, possibly due to their content of a-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid.
Walnuts 'improve sperm health' (BBC News)

Eating around two handfuls of walnuts a day improves sperm health in young men, a study in the journal Biology of Reproduction suggests.

Sperm shape, movement and vitality improved in men who added walnuts to their diet over 12 weeks.

The fatty acids found in these nuts are thought to have helped sperm development. It is not known if this would help improve male fertility.
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A paper published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine looks at how shiatsu practitioners help promote healthier lifestyle choices to their clients:
The potential of complementary and alternative medicine in promoting well-being and critical health literacy: a prospective, observational study of shiatsu

Examining these findings from a health literacy perspective suggests a valuable role for shiatsu in promoting healthier behaviours. At a basic, functional level, developing awareness and knowledge arose within advice-giving (diet, exercise, how to use your body and self-care) occurring in the baseline treatment session. It raised the possibility for the client to utilise this information in their everyday life. Such advice-giving occurred in the context of a client-practitioner consultation which was positively perceived by clients as involving 'listening' and 'accepting' the client and treatment by a skilful, warm and trusted practitioner. The fact that, six months later, around four-fifths of clients reported making substantial changes in their lifestyle 'as a result of having the shiatsu treatments' is indicative of their acting on the knowledge (interactive health literacy) and onto critical health literacy. Clients reported changes in exercise and diet, enhanced confidence about their health, being 'more able to help myself' and having a changed understanding and experience of their body. Overall, the lifestyle changes were suggestive of a tendency to adopt a more relaxed, healthier and more balanced approach to life.

In his blog at NutritionFacts.org, Dr. Michael Greger reports on the link between plant-based diets and eysight: how just one serving of collard greens or kale per month can decrease the risk of glaucoma by 69%, and how cutting out meat can prevent cataracts:

The researchers conclude: “Overall, compared with meat eaters who consumed 100g meat and meat products/d[ay], fish eaters, vegetarians, and vegans had approximately 20%, 30%, and 40% lower risk of cataract, respectively.”

"You are what you eat" is a well-worn cliche -- but it turns out to be true in a more direct way than most of us ever suspected. 80 beats reports on research showing that micro-RNA (miRNA) from the plants that we eat can enter the bloodstrean and affect the expression of our genes. It's yet another example of how epigenetics is shattering notions of genetic determinism and showing that inheritance is not destiny.