Current Health News and Studies Concerning Nutrition & Exercise

June 16, 2010: Study after study has shown conclusively that microwave radiation from cell phones is dangerous to your long-term health. Studies have shown that cell phone radiation cooks your brain like a microwave oven cooks meat.

One German study discovered that using your cell phone for as little as flour minutes heats up the side of your head the phone is held to by as much as 7 degrees.

L. Lloyd Morgan, author, lecturer, and engineer said the following: "Exposure to cell phone radiation is the largest human health experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some 4 billion participants enrolled."

But a breakthrough to combat this deadly radiation has been found. And it doesn't involve a tube-like headset or any other contraption that you have to wear. As a matter of fact, it is completely invisible.

The graph above shows the percentage of cell phone users being affected by radiation from their phones. The middle line shows that 38 percent of people experience a temperature rise of 2 to 2.9 degrees celsius from radiation exposure.

The new breakthrough invention does a remarkable job of neutralizing cancer-inducing cell phone radiation. It converts the man-made radiation into natural radiation. The fix sends out small pulses of energy changing the wave pattern your phone emits.

Natural electromagnetic energy surrounds us. As a matter of fact, your body uses electromagnetic energy for communication purposes every moment.

In contrast, cell phone waves are not natural. They have a fixed, repeating pattern. It is that fixed pattern which fries your brain.

The new device changes that fixed energy into harmless, natural energy--the kind your body uses every day.

This graph shows just how effective this technological breakthrough is. The first image shows a representation of a normal person who is not using a cell phone. Image 2 shows a person who has used a cell phone for 4 minutes. Notice the excessive heat pattern. The third image shows a person who has utilized this new technology to neutralize cell phone radiation. There has been a remarkable improvement.

This technological breakthrough is called a bio-shield. It is as thin as a piece of tape, and you simply place it onto your cell phone's battery. That's it.

To purchase your very own bio-shield, go to this site.

June 18, 2010: Contrary to what you may think, scientific evidence suggests that alcohol only contributes 6 percent to liver damage; the lion's share of liver damage (52 percent) comes from obesity!

An overweight individual has a 200 percent greater risk of incurring liver damage. A person with a body mass index over 30 has a 400 percent more likely risk of developing liver damage than a person who is of normal weight.

A normal-weight individual who consumes two or more drinks a day has a two-fold risk of liver damage. An obese person with the same drinking habits has a 5.9-fold increase.

The liver is one of the most important organs your body has. It is responsible for:

• filtering toxins and other harmful substances from your blood every day
• producing over 13,000 crucial chemicals and hormones, including cholesterol, testosterone, and estrogen
• managing over 50,000 enzymes necessary for a healthy body
• regulating blood sugar levels
• storing essential vitamins and minerals
• detoxifying all internal and external environmental pollutants
• manufacturing a quart of bile every day to metabolize fat; bile is yellowish-green in color and stored in your gallbladder

June 20, 2010: Contrary to what mainstream medicine and sunscreen commercials have been telling the public, there is no evidence that melanoma or skin cancer is caused by sun exposure. As a matter of fact, the overwhelming evidence points to the contrary.

Studies over the past few years show that appropriate sun exposure actually decreases the risk of melanoma. The rates of development of melanoma seem to rise with sunscreen use, and decrease with sun exposure without the use of sunscreens.

One such study discovered that melanoma patients that had higher levels of sun exposure were less likely to die than other melanoma patients, and patients who already had melanoma and got a lot of sun exposure were prone to a less aggressive tumor type.

Another fact that many people are not aware of is that melanoma afflicts people who work indoors more often than it does people who work outdoors. It also occurs more often on parts of the body that are not exposed to the sun than parts that are.

What is actually happening is that melanoma rates are skyrocketing as sun exposure and vitamin D rates are declining.

Although the sun does increase genetic damage in your skin, and can cause skin cancer, your body has a cleverly designed system to avert cancer growth. But when you avoid sun exposure entirely, you also circumvent your body's built-in system that helps prevent skin cancer naturally, because the key to unlock this mechanism is vitamin D.
(See also...)

June 21, 2010: There exists a nutrient that protects your DNA and lowers CRP (C-reactive protein.) CRP is an important marker for inflammation which itself contributes to diseases like cancer and heart disease.

This nutrient is known as astaxanthin. It is what gives salmon its pink color.

In a study conducted 4 years ago, volunteers were given 4 mg of astaxanthin, 3 times daily. CRP dropped almost 21 percent while the control group's level continued to grow.

In a newer study, volunteers were given either a placebo or 2 mg or 8 mg of astaxanthin. After a period of 8 weeks, the marker that determines DNA damage dropped by 1/3 in the 2 mg group and a whopping 43 percent in the 8 mg group.

Astaxanthin is 6,000 times more effective than vitamin C, 800 times more effective than CoQ10, and 550 times more effective than vitamin E.

But all salmon is not created equal. Farmed salmon has only 0.5 to 1.1 mg of astaxanthin while wild sockeye salmon contains 4.5 mg.

June 23, 2010: The heavy metals arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury have been discovered in several protein powders and drinks. Consumer Reports purchased and tested 15 of these protein products, and tested multiple samples of each.

According to the report, levels of heavy metals in several of the products could exceed the USP (United States Pharmacopoeia) limits with only three daily servings.

ABC 6 Action News says, "Cadmium raises special concern because it accumulates in and can damage the kidneys, the same organs that can be damaged by excessive protein consumption. And it can take 20 years for the body to eliminate even half the cadmium absorbed today."

As you may or may not be aware, bodybuilders and other strength athletes use protein powders and drinks extensively. However, some pregnant women also use these products as meal replacements to assist in weight loss and increase lean body tissue (muscle.)

One of the products tested was EAS Myoplex Original Rich Dark Chocolate Shake. Three servings contained an average of 16.9 micrograms of arsenic and 5.1 micrograms of cadmium. The proposed United States Pharmacopoeia's (USP) limits for these two toxins are 15 and 5 micrograms respectively.

Muscle Milk Chocolate powder proved to be the worst of the 15 products tested. It contained all four of the heavy metals. Three daily servings of this products had:

• 5.6 micrograms cadmium
• 13.5 micrograms of lead
• 12.2 micrograms of arsenic
• 0.7 micrograms of mercury

Exposure to low levels of arsenic can cause nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, damage to blood vessels, and a sensation of "pins and needles" in your hands and feet. Long-term exposure has been linked to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver and prostate.

Cadmium is a known carcinogen (cancer-causing agent.) It also damages your DNA and disrupts a DNA repair system that helps to prevent cancer.

ABC NEWS states concerning cadmium: "raises special concern because it accumulates in and can damage the kidneys...and it can take 20 years for your body to eliminate even half the cadmium absorbed today."

Cadmium can also be found in conventionally grown foods like potatoes, rice, and leafy greens. This is due to the fact that the fertilizers used contain this heavy metal. You should buy as much of your produce organically grown as possible. These toxic fertilizers are not allowed.

The use of protein as meal replacements for weight loss and control is highly advisable. However, most products on the market are not organic. This whey protein powder is derived from grass-fed cows and is organic.

Read this article about a natural substance which will detox your body of heavy metals and other harmful substances.

July 8, 2010: There exists a little known herb which boosts failing memories better than ginkgo biloba. This herb does the same thing that pharmaceutical drugs like Aricept and Cognex do without the side effects.

This phenomenal memory strengthener is an extract of Chinese club moss known as huperzine. The active ingredient is huperzine A (HupA.)

Huperzine A does its work by magnifying your levels of a brain chemical known as acetylcholine. Doctors have long recognized acetylcholine's role in the functioning of the brain.

Aricept and Cognex are Alzheimer's drugs. These drugs can cause gastric disturbances, liver problems, and mental confusion. HupA has no such side effects. As a matter of fact, a study showed that when HupA is pitted head-to-head against Alzheimer's drugs, it worked better.

The effects of HupA were stronger, happened faster, and lasted longer than those produced by the pharmaceuticals.

Studies also discovered that HupA:

• protects the brain from free radical damage
• increases blood flow
• reduces the formation of beta-amyloid, a protein that builds the brain plaque scientists think is responsible for Alzheimer's disease

July 8, 2010: There are now three medical options for clearing clogged arteries: (1) bypass surgery (2) angioplasty and (3) chelation.

Bypass surgery is expensive and many times results in strokes, seizures, and brain damage. Although angioplasty is a lot safer, it is less effective than bypass surgery. Studies show that as many as 40 percent of angioplasty patients end up with their arteries clogging up again within 6 months.

Chelation therapy (intravenous) performed by alternative medicine doctors is expensive, unpleasant, and takes a long time to work. Usually you'll have to pay the doctor a visit every week for IV treatments that can take an hour or more to complete. The entire procedure can take a year or longer.

Pomegranate juice avoids all of these problems. Pomegranate juice not only prevents arterial plaque from forming, but it dissolves existing plaque!

In a placebo-controlled study, doctors gave half of a group of patients with clogged arteries a shot glass full of pomegranate juice (1.7 ounces) a day; the other half received the same amount of pomeganate-flavored water. Neither existing diets or lifestyles were changed.

The patients who were given pomegranate-flavored water experienced a slight increase in plaque; those who were given 100 percent pomegranate juice experienced a dramatic decrease in plaque.

In a matter of 3 months, the pomegranate patients had their plaque measurements decrease by 13 percent; the reduction was 35 percent after a year. As a bonus these same patients had an increase in the antioxidant content of their blood, a decrease in LDL levels, and a reduction in blood pressure levels.

July 8, 2010: There is a natural sweetener that is low in calories and has no effect whatsoever on blood sugar levels. This sweetener is the extract of a rare Chinese fruit known as Luo Han Guo or simply Lo Han.

Lo Han has advantages over stevia in that it has no aftertaste, and over xylitol and maltitol in that it will not trigger diarrhea if you consume a lot of it. Lo Han also has a long safety record unlike artificial sweeteners NutraSweet or Splenda.

When Lo Han is processed into a powder, it is 250 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. It can be used in baking or frozen desserts, or in hot coffee and tea because it is heat stable.

And that's not all. Lo Han is packed with amino acids, vitamins, and powerful antioxidants.

The Chinese have used Lo Han for hundreds of years for healing purposes. They use it to treat coughs, sore throats, nasal congestion, stomach distress, diarrhea, constipation, and other conditions.

Many health food stores carry Lo Han.

July 10, 2010: Do you love eggs, and want to the ones with the greatest amount of nutrients possible? Researchers at Pennsylvania State University discovered that pasture-fed hens produce eggs with higher levels of important nutrients than do caged hens.

Free-ranged or pastured eggs contain twice the vitamin E and 2-1/2 times the omega-3 fatty acids of eggs from caged hens. Vitamin E bolsters your imune system while omega-3 fatty acids are good for your vision, brain functioning, and heart.

You can locate a farm near you that sells pastured eggs by going to eatwild.com.

July 10, 2010: In these economically troubled times families are looking for ways to save money in all areas of life. One essential area in which it is important to cut costs is food.

Going organic and free-ranged is essential in our 21st century society. This however can be pricey.

Thankfully, not all fruits and vegetables have to be eaten organic. Fifteen non-organic fruit and vegetables can be purchased and safely eaten while twelve are so toxic that they should be purchased organic.

Conventionally raised produce is literally saturated with a toxic mix of chemicals and pesticides. This toxic soup can cause the development of cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Farmers who use conventional means to raise crops have to contend with insects and other pests, weeds, fungal attacks, and rot. Their army consists literally of dozens of chemicals to combat these destructive forces.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) publishes a list of produce that should be purchased organic and those that can be purchased non-organically. The rankings are based on USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) tested levels of chemical residues that remain on conventionally raised fruits and vegetables after washing.

The following produce should be purchased organic:

celery about 75 percent of celery is grown around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays; rain and wind in these fall/winter seasons promote the growth of bacteria and fungal diseases. Since the entire stalk is eaten, it must be chemically sprayed often.

peaches the juiciness and sweetness of peaches attracts insects; farmers may spray these fruit every week or two. The fuzz traps pesticides.

strawberries due to their delicate structure, strawberries are prone to disease.

apples apples can fall prey to over 30 insects and at least 10 diseases; fungicides and other chemicals are added after picking to prevent tiny blemishes that can accumulate during a storage period of up to 9 months.

blueberries this fruit is targeted by blueberry maggots and bagworms.

nectarines this fruit is like a peach without the fuzz; both are susceptible to many of the same pests.

bell peppers technically a fruit, bell peppers do not have bitter compounds to repel insects; the creases at their crowns may nooks and crannies for pesticides and other chemicals to accumulate.

spinach spinach tends to pull DDT residues from the soil and into the leaf.

kale all kale, the good as well as the bad, are sprayed for bugs.

cherries cherries do not have a peel for protection; they are vulnerable to the western cherry fruit fly and other insects. If just one of the western cherry fruit flies maggots is found in a shipment of cherries, the entire load must be trashed. Farmers spray this fruit as a hedge against losing the crop.

potatoes potatoes are sprayed 5 or more times throughout the growing season; after they are harvested, potatoes undergo another round spaying to prevent molds and sprouting.

imported grapes imported grapes are susceptible to Botrytis cinerea rot during their long transit from the southern hemisphere. This rot causes the potato to split and leak. To prevent this potatoes are sprayed aggressively with fungicides. (botrytis does not thrive in the dry desert climate of Southern California where most potatoes are grown.)

The following produce can be purchased conventionally-grown thus saving you money:

onions onions manufacture protective natural chemicals that discourage insects from eating them; the chemicals which are sprayed early in the growing season are removed when the dry outer layer of the onion bulb is shed during harvest.

avocado almost all of the pesticides used accumulate on the peel.

sweet corn sweet corn is husked before eating.

pineapple the thick rind which is not eaten protects this fruit.

mangoes mangoes are grown in Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America where the dry climate discourages fungus; hand weeding is the alternative to pesticide use. Mangoes are also peeled before eating.

sweet peas protected by their pods.

asparagus the spears spring up so fast that there is little time for insects to attack.

kiwifruit Lacewings and parasitic wasps help control the insects that feed on this fruit.

cabbage although cabbage is sprayed, the outer leaves are thrown away before being sold.

eggplant the eggplant's non-stick surface sheds chemicals.

cantaloupe cantaloupe is protected by its thick rind.

watermelon same as the cantaloupe above.

grapefruit pesticides do not penetrate the peel.

sweet potato if a sweet potato is bitten by an insect, it secretes a milky-white sap that gums up its mouthparts; they are also cured at warm temperatures and high humidity which makes the skin thicken, protecting against damage and disease.

honeydew melon protected by its rind.

July 13, 2010: Chemotherapy drugs have a warning label which says that one of the side effects is cancer. Naturally this warning is in small print.

This is not a joke. The very drugs thousands of cancer patients are given to treat their disease results in the development of the disease.

It turns out that pharmacists who handle these extremely toxic drugs are themselves developing cancer. Chemotherapy drugs are absorbed through the skin, and goes into the bloodstream.

The Seattle Times printed the story of a veteran pharmacist named Sue Crump who died recently from pancreatic cancer. She spent much of two decades giving out chemotherapy drugs. One of Sue's dying wishes was that the public would know how her daily exposure to these drugs contributed to her contracting cancer.

Chemotherapy drugs are derived from the deadly mustard gas used against the enemy in World War I.

These drugs are not even regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA.) This seems ridiculous because they regulate far less harmful drugs.

Chemotherapy is and has been a common treatment for different forms of cancer. Thus its almost universal use has legitimzied it among mainstream medicine.

"A just-completed study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) -- 10 years in the making and the largest to date -- confirms that chemo continues to contaminate the work spaces where it's used and in some cases is still being found in the urine of those who handle it..." (The Seattle Times.)

The death of Sue Crump from exposure to chemo drugs is not an isolated incident. Neither is it a coincidence.

The Seattle Times article went on to report of other pharmacists, nurses, and veterinarians who have died or contracted cancer.

• Bruce Harrison of St. Louis (cancer in his 50's, now dead)
• Karen Lewis of Baltimore (cancer in her 50's, still living)
• Brett Cordes of Scottsdale, Arizona (cancer at age 35, still living)
• Sally Giles of Vancouver, B.C. (cancer in her 40's, now dead)

Look at this quote from this Seattle Times article:

"Danish epidemiologists used cancer-registry data from the 1940s through the late 1980s to first report a significantly increased risk of leukemia among oncology nurses and, later, physicians. Last year, another Danish study of more than 92,000 nurses found an elevated risk for breast, thyroid, nervous-system and brain cancers."

Question. If chemo drugs are so toxic that merely handling them is enough to cause cancer, what must it be doing to the cancer patient who has these drugs pumped directly into their bodies?

Using cancer-causing chemo drugs to treat patients who have cancer is like giving an alcoholic an alcoholic beverage to cure his alcoholism!

July 13, 2010: The days of being held captive to the belief that we are prisoners of our genes regarding disease and weight gain are past. Scientific studies have shown that we can control disease and weight gain.

It is now known that certain foods have nutrients which release hormones that control disease and weight gain. These hormones turn genes on and off.

Nutrients in low glycemic foods turn off genes to weight gain, and disease that may follow.

This groundbreaking information was discovered when the response to the glycemic index was studied in people who have metabolic syndrome.

The glycemic index measures just how fast your body breaks down food into blood sugar (glucose.) Metabolic syndrome is the term used to describe overweight people whose cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels are out of control.

In one study, participants were given low glycemic index foods (40 through 60) and another group were given high glycemic index foods (80 through 100.) After twelve weeks, the high glycemic index group had 62 genes that lead to disease increase in activity. These genes activate your stress response. It puts your body in a constant "fight or flight" mode. This lowers your immunity and causes damage to your cells.

The group given low glycemic index foods experienced just the opposite. The activity of 71 disease-causing genes was decreased. This included hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL.)

High hormone-sensitive lipase is what causes fat to settle around your midsection. When scientists studied animals who were bred to have little HSL, they had bcome resistant to obesity whether from heredity (genes) or diet.

The take home message for weight control is to eat a low glycemic index diet. Avoid high glycemic index foods such as white potatoes, white bread and rice, cereals, etc.

July 15, 2010: Millions of people are wasting their money on multivitamins and you may be one of them.

It is virtually impossible for manufacturers to pack all the vitamins and minerals in the potency needed to support good health into one solitary tablet. Added to that, the vast majority of multivitamins on the market are synthetic.

The one-a-day tablets are one of the worse offenders. Many of these manufacturers don't even include essential minerals like potassium and magnesium.

Many name brand multis and those that can be purchased at discount stores are synthetics. Synthetic vitamins are made from chemicals and not from whole foods. Your body cannot process these synthetics and thus you are merely flushing your hard-earned money down the toilet.

Look at the problems that synthetics pose:

• Nature intended for you to consume food in WHOLE form because all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes are together in one package. They work synergistically to give your body the nutrition it requires for optimal health.
• Your body only absorbs a small percentage of an isolate form of vitamins and minerals – and it utilizes even less. You get the best bioavailability in whole food form.
• Synthetic vitamins often give you massive quantities of some nutrients (usually the most inexpensive ones) and insufficient quantities of others, not balance.
• You can experience side effects of synthetic isolates from the additives and the unnatural state of the synthetic supplement.

The timing of multivitamins is important too. A few should be taken first thing in the morning and with lunch or early dinner. This will ensure optimal nutrient absorption.
Whole food multivitamins

July 15, 2010: What can heal cuts, scrapes, burns, and large wounds without leaving a noiceable scar? What can kill germs and repair tissue better than any antiseptic or disinfectant currently on the market?

The answer may surprise you. It is sugar!

Everyone knows and loves the sweetness of sugar. But hardly anyone in our high tech society realizes its healing qualities.

The healing power of sugar is not a recent discovery. Man has known about it for thousands of years -- since the early Egyptians. It fell out of favor when antibiotics were discovered.

Africa and Asia use sugar while Australia and New Zealand and other countries use honey instead.

Sugar and honey both contain high levels of glucose which your body uses for energy. The food you consume is converted into glucose.

A review of seven studies of 264 patients who were treated with honey was encouraging. Honey produced better patient outcomes, shorter healing times, and almost no infection than other treatments.

After seven days, 58 percent of patients were healed with honey versus 19% with conventional antibiotics and unconventional treatments such as silver, amniotic membrane, and potato peelings. And 85 percent of patients treated with honey had the infection in their wound vanish compared to 30% with the other treatments.

After 21 days, 99 percent of patients were healed with honey versus 75% with other treatments. Only one study gave the infection rate at 21 days. It was 96 percent for honey versus 76% for a silver treatment.

Just how does sugar and honey prevent the formation of scars? Researchers think that they encourage the production of hyaluronic acid (HA.) Hyaluronic acid fills out your skin by absorbing 3,000 times its weight of water. At the same time, sugar and honey prevent the buildup of the stringy kind of collagen that creates scar tissue. Instead, it forms a different type. A delicate, mesh-like collagen structure that brings the skin's surface back to normal and allows it to heal.

Follow these steps to use sugar or honey next time you injure yourself:

• Make a paste using filtered water and sugar, or use straight honey.
• Apply to your wound and cover with gauze or a Band-Aid.
• Change the dressing throughout the day to prevent the gauze from sticking to the wound.

July 20, 2010: Studies abound concerning the many health threatening side effects of statin drugs. Despite the medical establishment's all out push to try to get more Americans --including children-- on these drugs, only about 1 out of 100 may actually need them.

This means that 99 out of every 100 people do not need statins. The only subgroup that might possibly benefit from statins are those born with a genetic defect known as familial percholesterolemia which makes them resistant to traditional measures of normalizing cholesterol.

Did you know that your standard cholesterol test will tell you virtually nothing about your risk of developing heart disease unless it is 330 or more?

What is a significant factor concerning your likelihood of developing heart disease centers on your HDL level. These ratios are critical:

• HDL/Total cholesterol (should be greater than 24%; if it is under 10% you have a higher risk for heart disease)
• Triglyceride/HDL (should be below 2)

Statin drugs currently available in America are:

• Advicor (Abbott)
• Altoprev (Shionogi Pharma)
• Caduet (Pfizer)
• Crestor (AstraZeneca)
• Lescol (Novartis)
• Lipitor (Pfizer)
• Meracor (Merck)
• Pravachol (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
• Simcor (Abbott)
• Vytorin (Merck/Schering-Plough)
• Zocor (Merck)

July 23, 2010: Currently, mainstream medicine has Acyclovir ointment or other topical medications to treat an outbreak of herpes. New research reveals that there is a better solution.

As is the case with almost all medical alternatives, a natural treatment is better than a pharmaceutical one. Research confirms that honey works faster and with fewer if any side effects than standard medications.

It has long been realized that honey is an effective solution for wounds and infections. A medical researcher treated one set of patients who had contracted herpes with Acyclovir; another set was treated with honey.

Overall healing times for the patients treated with honey was 43 percent better for sores on the lips and 59 percent better for genital sores.

"None of the volunteers experienced any side effects with repeated applications of honey, although three patients developed local itching with the Acyclovir," according to Nutrition and Healing.

July 23, 2010: Because of the constant media blitz originating from the government and cancer societies, many people are under the delusion that the sun is the cause of melanoma (skin cancer), and should be avoided at all costs. However scientists from the United Kingdom have published a condemnation of that popular belief in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Compelling research shows that sun exposure can lead to a decrease in the risk of developing melanomas.

The vast majority of the melanomas or skin cancers that develop every year are harmless! As a matter of fact, malignant melanomas tend to shrink from sun exposure as do many other types of cancer.

The myth that the sun causes malignant cancers continues to persist, even though it is patently false. Excess sun exposure, especially if you lack proper nutrients and fail to let your body grow accustomed to the sun, can cause harmful sunburns. But gradually and regularly exposing your skin to the sun without burning it will only help you, not hurt you.
Source: NaturalNews.com.

July 28, 2010: According to records kept by the U.S. House of Representatives, Accutane is Roche Pharmaceutical's second-most profitable drug, with sales of over $800 million since its FDA approval in 1982. During that time, an estimated 18,000 pregnancies were exposed to the drug with 1,100 resulting in major birth defects. Additionally, 235 suicides have been attributed to the acne drug as of 2004.

DrugWatch.com aims to educate consumers about the risks associated with Accutane and the options available for those who have been affected by the drug in the last 28 years.
Source: Mickey Colon, National Awareness Coordinator for DrugWatch.com

July 29, 2010: You may or may not know that what you eat and when will greatly influence your success -- or lack thereof -- in regards to weight loss. For successful weight loss, the what is fat and protein and the when is breakfast.

A high fat/high protein breakfast will rev up your fat-burning metabolism that will set the pace for the rest of the day.

The typical high carbohydrate breakfast will do the exact opposite. High carbohydrate breakfast cereals and low fat intake will force your body to stubbornly cling to its fat reserves. It will increase your appetite too.

High carbohydrate and low fat will cause your LDL (bad) cholesterol to skyrocket along with triglycerides and blood sugar. This bad combination will increase your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Even exercise and calorie-counting is powerless to offset this negative health impact.

What should you be eating to get the sustained energy and fat burning effect you long for? How about steak and eggs?

Just make sure your meat comes from grass-fed cattle and your eggs from grass-fed chickens. Grass-fed meat is high in CLA, a natural form of trans fat. CLA or conjugated linoleic acid is a proven muscle-builder and fat-burner.

If your breakfast includes cheese and butter, make certain that it is organic and sourced from grass-fed cows.

August 2, 2010: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a toxic compound used to line cans and manufacture plastic. BPA use is widespread in American manufacturing.

Eden Foods produces beans which are not only organic, but are placed in BPA-free cans too. You can find a complete line of healthy products at Eden Foods.

August 5, 2010: Recent studies show that drugs classed as anticholinergic drugs negatively affect your brain. They literally block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from circulating.

Anticholinergic drugs cause long-term cognitive impairment! People who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease typically are dramatically low in acetylcholine.

Anticholinergics include OTC (over the counter) as well as prescription drugs. The OTC drugs include Benadryl, Dramamine, Excedrin PM, Nytol, Sominex, Tylenol PM, and Unisom. Prescription drugs include Paxil, Detrol, Demerol and Elavil.

According to Physorg: "Researchers ... conducted a six-year observational study, evaluating 1,652 Indianapolis area African-Americans over the age of 70 who had normal cognitive function when the study began ... '[T]aking one anticholinergic significantly increased an individual's risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and taking two of these drugs doubled this risk."

Many people are under the impression that simply because a drug can be purchased OTC, it must be safe. This is far from the truth. As a matter of fact, many OTC drugs had at one time undergone monitoring because they were prescription drugs.

Although I believe that everyone should avoid anticholiergic drugs, it is paramount that seniors avoid them. Brand Benadryl whose generic form is known as diphenhydramine can be found in virtually all sleeping medications.

OTC medications with anticholiergic effects include night-time pain relievers, antihistamines, and other sleep aids. Some popular brands are:

• Excedrin PM
• Tylenol PM
• Nytol
• Sominex
• Unisom
• Benadryl
• Dramamine

Examples of anticholinergic pescription drugs are:

• Paxil
• Detrol
• Demerol
• Elavil

The sharp rise in dementia and cognitive decline may be due to anticholinergic drugs. Studies conducted by the University of Michigan show that dementia cripples 50 percent of the elderly who reach 85 years of age. And of that number, almost 60 percent will develop Alzheimer's disease.

In the University of Michigan study anticholinergic effects were monitored in 1,652 African-Americans 70 and over. The study lasted six years, and all participants showed normal cognitive function at the study's onset.

Fifty-three percent of the participants used a 'possible anticholinergic,' and 11 percent used a 'definitive anticholinergic' drug.

The results of the study were that those who took drugs classified as 'definite anticholinergics' had a four times higher incidence of cognitive impairment.

PhysOrg observed, "Simply put, we have confirmed that anticholinergics, something as seemingly benign as a medication for inability to get a good night's sleep or for motion sickness, can cause or worsen cognitive impairment, specifically long-term mild cognitive impairment which involves gradual memory loss."

Geriatrician Malaz Boustani, M.D., IU School of Medicine associate professor of medicine, Regenstrief Institute investigator and IU Center for Aging Research center scientist says the following:

"As a geriatrician I tell my Wishard Healthy Aging Brain Center patients not to take these drugs and I encourage all older adults to talk with their physicians about each and every one of the medications they take."
Source: Mercola.com.

August 6, 2010: In relationship to cancer, research recently conducted by scientists at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) show that cancer cells respond more to fructose than to glucose or other types of sugar.

The fructose in question is refined and not the type naturally found in fruit. In the UCLA tests, pancreatic cancer cells hungrily fed on refined fructose and quickly divided and spread throughout the body.

One of the study's author, Dr. Anthony Heaney of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, stated, "These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation..."

Mainstream medicine believes that the body processes all sugar the same way. This study which was published in the journal Cancer Research shows that they are not. Fructose directly causes cancer cells to reproduce and spread in a way that glucose does not.

The research team concluded that fructose and glucose metabolism differs quite differently.

High fructose corn syrup is a highly processed form of refined fructose. Because it is so cheap, food manufacturers use it in a wide variety of foods and condiments.

In terms of cancer development and growth, refined fructose is much worse than refined sugar cane.

The pancreas has to work much harder to metabolize fructose than it does glucose and other sugars. It therefore makes sense that fructose consumption is implicated more seriously in contributing to pancreatic cancer growth.

Fructose is a monosaccharide, a simple sugar. Refined cane sugar is essentially half fructose and half glucose. High fructose corn syrup is about 55 percent fructose.

I mentioned earlier that the body metabolizes fructose and glucose differently. Glucose is absorbed by the body's cells and used almost entirely for energy. Glucose is your body's preferred energy source. Fructose on the other hand is processed by the liver and generally is converted into very low density lipoprotein (VLDL.)

August 10, 2010: Recently CSPI (Centers for Science in the Public Interest) filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola accusing it of false and deceptive advertising for its Vitaminwater. CSPI's lawyers also point out unsubstantiated claims made by Coca-Cola.

Even Coca-Cola's own attorneys don't believe the implied claims made for Vitaminwater. The attorney's reply in court briefings state in part, "...no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage..."

Sadly though, many consumers are led to believe that Vitaminwater is a health product. The ingredient list on any product is in order of the quantity of those ingredients from high to low. The first two ingredients listed for Vitaminwater are sugar and water!

Although Vitaminwater does contain vitamins, they are of the synthetic kind. That means they are chemical concoctions made in a laboratory. Your body though seeks vitamins from whole, natural food.

Of course Coca-Cola's attorneys tried to have CSPI's lawsuit of deceptive and unsubstantiated claims dismissed. That motion was denied by the judge.

The Centers for Science in the Public Interest have the following posted on their website, "A federal judge has denied Coca-Cola's motion to dismiss a lawsuit over what the CSPI says are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on the company's "vitaminwater" line of soft drinks..." (www.cspinet.org/new/20100723...)

Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York says of Vitaminwater's advertisment, "The names of the drinks, along with other statements on the label have the potential to reinforce a consumer's mistaken belief that the product is comprised of only vitamins and water."

CSPI's litigation director Steve Gardner adds, "For too long, Coca-Cola has been exploiting Americans' desire to eat and drink more healthfully by deceiving them into thinking that vitaminwater can actually prevent disease. In fact, vitaminwater is no more than non-carbonated soda, providing unnecessary added sugar and contributing to weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases. We look forward to representing all Americans whom Coke has deceived."

August 10, 2010: Researchers from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana found that prayer does indeed help bring about physical healing. Specifically, these researchers conducted a study on intercessory prayer.

Candy Gunther Brown, an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University and lead author of the study examined the intercessory prayers of two charismatic Christian groups--one from Africa and the other from South America.

The team measured the hearing and vision capabilities of impaired people both before and after they received proximal intercessory prayer, and discovered a "statistically significant" improvement in many of them after they had received prayer.

Three study participants with visions of 20/400 or worse improved to 20/80 or better after having received prayer; a woman who was blind for all intents and purposes was actually able to see a person's hand, and count the fingers after prayer.

Commenting on this phenomenon, Brown stated, "If [people] feel that a particular religious or spiritual practice healed them, they are much more likely to become an adherent. This phenomenon, more than any other, accounts for the growth of these Christian subgroups globally..."

August 22, 2010: A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that there may be a better way to treat fibromyalgia than the conventional means currently being used.

There is evidence that fibromyalgia may be caused by a heightened sensitivity to pain. Symptoms include pain, fatigue, stiffness and sleep difficulties. Fibromyalgia is thought to afflict some 200 million people globally. It is very difficult to diagnose and hard to treat.

The study showed that tai chi betters relieves the pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia. Tai chi consists of slow, flowing movements. It originated in China as a form of martial arts.

Tai chi is distinguished from other forms of martial arts by its slow, graceful movements. It also teaches breathing and relaxation in an effort to move hypothetical energy throughout the body.

The tai chi study for fibromyalgia relief was conducted by Dr. Chenchen Wang of the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He based it on 33 volunteers who practiced tai chi for three months.

"Week by week they changed. The pain and depression improved, and a lot of people were depressed...They feel better. People said it changed their life. Only two or three feel it didn't help," said Dr. Wang.

August 24, 2010:

(Photo: AP)

According to researchers, Huang Qin Tang, a mixture of plant extracts, roots and fruit is not only effective for upset stomachs and nausea, but could increase the power of standard chemotherapy.

Researchers from Yale University used laboratory mice in testing Huang Qin Tang. The mixture protected the intestinal lining of the mice and helped it to recover much quicker. It also reduced inflammation and allowed the chemotherapy to kill tumors.

The precise components used in the study were extract of peonies, a purple flower called skullcap, together with liquorice and fruit from a buckthorn tree.

The laboratory mice had colon and rectal cancers. The chemotherapy did shrink the tumors, but also caused massive cell destruction in the intestinal lining of the mice.

The Huang Qin Tang (PHY906) restored the intestinal lining after only a few days treatment.

Chemotherapy causes great distress for millions of patients, but PHY-906 has multiple biologically active compounds which can act on multiple sources of discomfort...," commented lead author Professor Yung-Chi Cheng.

August 24, 2010: A study conducted by researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) has found that over one million children may have been misdiagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.) This may have happened because the children were younger and thus more immature than other children in their grade.

The study details that children who are born just before the cutoff date to enter kindergarten are far more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children born just after the cutoff date. Those born before the cutoff date are the oldest in their class that same year, while those born after the cutoff date end up being the youngest in their grade when they start the following year.

Todd Elder, assistant professor of economics at MSU and author of this study, said:

"If a child is behaving poorly, if he's inattentive, if he can't sit still, it may simply be because he's five and the other kids are six. There's a big difference between a five-year-old and a six-year-old, and teachers and medical practitioners need to take that into account when evaluating whether children have ADHD."

ADHD has its share of critics when it comes to diagnosis. There doesn't exist any cut and dry protocol to definitively detect it.

A ADHD assessment by parents and teachers is based entirely on observation. This frequently fails to take varying maturity levels into account.

According to the report, ADHD misdiagnoses result in cost waste of anywhere between $320 and $500 million a year on needless medications. These same medications are also likely causing untold damage to childhood development due to their serious side effects.

The Michigan State University study isn't alone in its conclusion. Studies by North Carolina State University, Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota have reached similar conclusions.
Source: http://news.msu.edu/story/8160

August 25, 2010: Up to now anecdotal evidence seemed to point in the direction of water as an effective weight loss strategy. However now there has been a randomized, controlled clinical trial proving it.

This 'gold standard' clinical trial was performed by scientists at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The lead author of the study was Dr. Brenda Davy, Ph.D.

The new study involved 48 adult participants between the ages of 55 and 75. The study lasted 12 weeks. Both groups ate a low calorie diet. But one group drank two cups of water before their meals while the other group did not.

At the end of the trial, the water group lost an average of 15.5 pounds while the non-water drinking group lost an average of 11 pounds.

Why does drinking water affect weight loss? Dr. Davy says that water may simply fill the stomach with a calorie-less substance. And when people feel full they usually eat less calorie-laden food during their meal. Also according to Dr. Davy, drinking plain, ordinary water instead of sweet beverages like sugar may assist people in losing weight.

In a media statement, Dr. Davy stated:

"We are presenting results of the first randomized controlled intervention trial demonstrating that increased water consumption is an effective weight loss strategy...We found in earlier studies that middle aged and older people who drank two cups of water right before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during that meal. In this recent study, we found that over the course of 12 weeks, dieters who drank water before meals, three times per day, lost about 5 pounds more than dieters who did not increase their water intake."

A previous study by researchers from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Harvard School of Public Health found that children and teens who substituted water for soft drinks could help fight teen obesity. Water could save about 235 extra calories a day for both teens and children.

August 26, 2010: The increase in girls reaching early puberty is so alarming that mainstream news media like CNN is reporting it:

"Experts aren't sure what's behind the increase in earlier puberty, but it's likely due to a combination of factors, including the childhood obesity epidemic and substances in the environment.

"Early puberty in girls is a growing public health concern because studies have shown that girls who start puberty earlier are more likely to develop breast and uterine cancer later in life ...

"Early development in girls has been linked with poor self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression, as well as cigarette and alcohol use and earlier sexual activity" (CNN.com; August 10, 2010.)

According to a study that was performed in the mid-2000s, over 10 percent of white 7-year old girls showed breast changes which indicates the beginning of puberty. In the early 1990s it was just 5 percent.

The average age of a girl experiencing her first period used to be 14 to 15 years old; now it is about 12 years old.

Early puberty is a dangerous trend. The earlier puberty is reached, the longer girls are exposed to the female hormone estrogen. Estrogen is a risk factor for breast cancer.

Although the rate of white girls reaching puberty is alarming, it is even more so for African-American and Hispanic girls. The rate of African-American girls reaching puberty by age 7 is 25 percent while the rate for Hispanic girls is 15 percent!

Although scientists are not able to pin-point the reason for this precocious puberty, they believe it is a combination of the following factors:

• Hormones in food
• Pesticides in produce
• Obesity (which exposes girls to more estrogen because estrogen is stored in fat tissue)
• Phthalates in plastics and cosmetics

There is growing evidence that chemicals such as bisphenol-A and phthalates disrupt the human endocrine-system and affect hormones which control development and function in your body.

There's also evidence that these chemicals can cause developmental harm in fetuses and children, either through active exposure during pregnancy and/or while nursing, or due to the preexisting toxic load of the mother.

Diet may be one of the driving factors behind early puberty in girls. Our meat and dairy products is literally teeming with synthetic hormones. In addition to hormones, estrogen-mimicing pesticides may be a contributing factor.

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) allows the following steroid hormones to be used for cattle and sheep (but not for pigs or poultry.) Pigs and poultry are heavily contaminated with pesticide-laced corn and grain though.

• Estradiol- natural female sex hormone
• Progesterone- natural female sex hormone
• Testosterone- natural male sex hormone
• Zeranol- synthetic growth promoter
• Trenbolone acetate- synthetic growth promoter
• Melengestrol acetate- synthetic growth promoter

A recent study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition for example found that 49 percent of girls who ate meat 12 times a week at the age of 7 had reached puberty by the age of 12-1/2, compared with 35 percent of those who ate meat four times a week or less.

This statistic only applies to conventionally-raised, factory farmed meat. Buy and eat organic and grass-fed meat only.

Besides eating organic, grass-fed meat, you can reduce your chance of ingesting synthetic hormones by avoiding dairy products and unfermented soy. Cows are given bovine growth hormone in order increase milk production. Over 95 percent of soy is genetically-modified. Soy is also loaded with estrogen.