Current Health News and Studies Concerning Nutrition & Exercise

April 4, 2009: currently, some 20 million Americans suffer from asthma; this affliction has grown some 300 percent over the past 20 years. What is asthma? It is an inflammatory condition which can cause chest tightness, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

There are two standard treatments for asthma attacks, a non-steroidal bronchodilator and an inhaled steroid. When the non-steroidal bronchodilator is inhaled, it relaxes the smooth muscle cells of the lungs making breathing easier. The inhaled steroid is a powerful anti-inflammatory.

Both are not without serious side-effects. The non-steroidal bronchodilator doubles the risk of having a heart attack. Inhaled steroids can lead to: cardiovascular disease, impaired bodily growth as well as that of the internal organs, infections, cataracts, osteoporosis, diabetes, weight gain, high blood pressure, and other serious illnesses. But since an asthma attack can be fatal (my niece at age 5 died of such an attack in 1982), these risks were tolerated.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to taking these standard medical asthma treatments. One alternative is by optimizing your vitamin D levels. Medical science has found a strong link between developing asthma and low vitamin D levels. Another nutritional means of weaning oneself off conventional asthma treatments is by increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids. At the same time, drastically reduce your intake of omega-6 fatty acids primarily found in vegetable oils and snack and junk foods. Lastly, regular exercise is important.

April 5, 2009: a connection between autism and vinyl floors has been accidentally discovered by researchers. Vinyl flooring can give off chemicals known as phthalates. Phthalates are mainly used in plastics to give them flexibility and to soften polyvinyl chloride.

The study in which this link to autism was discovered was initiated to investigate allergies and indoor air pollutants. Families were given questions concerning flooring as part of the research. The researchers found that four environmental factors were associated with autism-vinyl flooring, smoking on part of the mother, economic concerns, and window condensation (which could indicate poor ventilation.)

Babies who lived in bedrooms which had vinyl flooring were twice as likely to develop autism five years down the road than babies who lived in bedrooms with other types of flooring.

April 11, 2009: Do you want to increase your strength gains even more when you lift weights? Wayne L. Westcott, PhD, a Prevention magazine advisor has found out how. After conducting three studies on adults who weight trained, he discovered that those who incorporated static stretching into their routine developed 20 percent more strength than those who didn't.

The static stretching could be performed between or after the weight lifting session. The stretch should be held between 10 and 30 seconds. For instance, if you've just performed a set of leg extensions, grab your ankle and pull it up towards your buttocks.

Constipation can be easily solved by making a change in your lifestyle. Common causes are:

April 12, 2009: baby fat, that soft, cuddly fat that we so admire in infants, does not go away entirely when we reach adulthood. Recent studies show that this fat, known in medical terms as brown fat, survives into adulthood.

Studies have shown that brown fat is different from white fat. Whereas white fat stores calories, brown fat burns them. In fact, brown fat burns a large amount of calories. According to the study's author C. Ronald Kahn, MD, “Brown fat is filled with mitochondria, which are the part of the cell that burns energy.” Dr. Kahn is the head of the section on obesity and hormone at the Joslin Diabetes Center located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Brown fat's fat burning mechanism is activated by the cold. This fat helps keep infants warm; they don't have the shivering body effect that grownups have that automatically comes into play when it is cold. Shivering helps keep adults warm.

Although adults do not need brown fat to insulate them against the cold, the cold nevertheless activates it. Studies have shown that temperatures as mild as 61 degrees fahrenheit will stimulate brown fat. “It’s been estimated that as little as 50 grams can burn up to 20 percent of the calories taken in by a lean person if it’s maximally stimulated,” says Kahn.

Thin people and those with lower glucose levels have a greater amount of brown fat than heavy people.

Some drugs such as epherda stimulates brown fat. But these drugs may cause unwanted side effects. The only safe way to experience the calorie-burning action of brown fat is to go out into colder temperatures.

April 16, 2009: like anything else, there are many competing products on the market for any service or process; this is likewise true of juicers. It is important for a good juicer to operate at a low enough speed so that the fruits and vegetables that are being juiced won't be damaged, or that the juice will not be too foamy.

The less expensive juicers operate at very high speeds creating heat which can damage some of the fragile nutrients in fruits and vegetables. Juicers and blenders which operate at speeds ranging from 1,000 RPM to 24,000 RPM generate nutrient-destroying heat.

The Omega 8003 juicer however operates at a low speed of 80 RPM. It is a single gear machine which protects delicate nutrients in fruits and vegetables. There are no long, drawn-out clean up times with the Omega 8003 either. It can be cleaned in as little as 5 minutes with a rinse under running tap water.

There are two types of juicers on the market: masticating and centrifugal. Both have a difficult time juicing wheat grass and leafy green vegetables. The Omega 8003/8005 is designed to easily extract these difficult vegetables. These juicers are recommended by Dr. Joseph Mercola.

April 16, 2009: the March 30 issue of Cancer Letter reported on the cancer fighting property of bromelain, an important enzyme in pineapples. Bromelain has proven to be anti-inflammatory, anti-invasive, and anti-metastatic.

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research in India pointed out the anti-inflammatory, anti-invasive, and anti-metastatic properties of bromelain.

April 18, 2009: according to an article written in the April 15, 2009 edition of the New York Times, pregnant women who took the epilepsy drug Valproate gave birth to children whose IQs were much lower than normal. Valproate is also used to treat migraine headaches, pain and psychiatric disorders.

Valproate is sold generically and under the brand name Depakote. It is the second most popular antiseizure drug for epilepsy. There is further distressing news. Earlier studies associate this drug with child developmental delays and major malformations.

April 22, 2009: women who have psoriasis run a greater risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure than women who don't have the skin disorder; Dr. Abrar Qureshi of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and his associates scanned data from thousands of American nurses who enrolled in a health study in 1991. One thousand eight hundred and thirteen of these nurses developed psoriasis over a fourteen year period.

The nurses who developed psoriasis were 63 percent more likely to develop diabetes and 17 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure than women who didn't have psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease which causes the skin to develop patches of itchy red splotches. It affects nearly 7.5 million people in the United States.

"Inflammation could be a biologically plausible mechanism" underlying the association with diabetes, the researchers said. "Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and inflammation is a risk factor for hypertension."

The nurses study upon which these findings are based included white women only. According to the authors of this study, the conclusions may not be applicable to other races or to men either.

April 24, 2009: a study presented by Dr. Elaine Hardman, Ph.D suggests that eating walnuts can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute says that 50,000 women fell victim to breast cancer last year.

Dr. Hartman is associate professor of medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine. She and her research team drew their conclusions based on a study of mice bred to to develop breast tumors. They were divided into two groups. One group was fed a diet of the human equivalent of two ounces of walnuts. The other group was not.

"These laboratory mice typically have 100 percent tumor incidence at five months; walnut consumption delayed those tumors by at least three weeks" says Dr. Hartman. When the mice ate walnuts on a regular basis, there was a significant decrease in the incidence of breast tumors, the number of glands with a tumor and the size of tumors.

A molecular analysis showed that the omega-3 content of walnuts influenced the decrease in tumor incidence and size. But the researchers stated that other parts of the walnut contributed to the cancer-fighting properties. Besides omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts fight cancer with antioxidants and phytosterols.

"It is clear that walnuts contribute to a healthy diet that can reduce breast cancer."

Besides fighting cancer, other research suggests that walnuts have other disease fighting abilities. Eating walnuts is able to reduce artery and keep them flexible. Also polyphenols can prevent liver damage caused by toxic chemicals.

April 25, 2009: in cats that were fed irradiated food, severe neurological disorders such as vision loss, paralysis, and movement disorders developed (Read this article...)

Right now, U.S. food processors are allowed to irradiate beef, eggs, poultry, oysters, fresh spinach, iceberg lettuce and spices. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) insists that irradiated food is safe. That assertion contradicts this 1968 FDA report on the effects of irradiated food on animals:

Also consider the results from these studies:

This outbreak of the swine flu is a new strain. It cannot be transferred by eating any form of pork. And up to now, this particular virus hasn't been seen in pigs. Influenza A(H1N1) shares features with the bird flu.

Government agencies and the media have predicted flu pandemics in the past. The swine flu outbreak in 1976 was predicted to be a pandemic. The reality was far different. And as recently as 2005, the news was touting a bird flu pandemic. This too turned out to be false.

What do we know so far of this current swine flu outbreak? As of May 1, 2009, 11 countries have officially reported 363 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection and only ten deaths in the entire world from this illness. At this time ALL of the deaths are from people born in Mexico. The deaths in Mexico were undoubtably due to overcrowding, substandard nutrition, and weak immune systems in its citizens.

As far as the United States is concerned, there have been 141 confirmed cases and one death. But according to CNN, this death was an unfortunate child from Mexico who died in Texas.

This strain of the swine flu seems to respond only to the drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate.) The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has authorized Tamiflu to be used as a treatment against mild cases of influenza A and B in children one year old and up, and as a preventative against the flu in children thirteen years and older.

One financial analyst has forecast sales of Tamiflu reaching $388 million-and this is not counting the predicted swine flu pandemic. Many drug companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffman LaRoche, and Gilead Sciences Inc., are positioned to rake in millions upon millions of dollars if Americans are scared into getting Tamiflu shots against the swine flu pandemic.

Swine flu is extremely convenient for governments that would have very soon have to dispose of billions of dollars of Tamiflu stock, which they bought to counter avian flu, or H5N1. The US government ordered 20 million doses, costing $2 billion, in October, 2005, and around that time the UK government ordered 14.6 million doses. Tamiflu’s manufacturer, Roche, has confirmed that the shelf life of its anti-viral is three years.

Like many pharmaceutical drugs, Tamiflu is not without serious side effects. So serious as a matter of fact that Japan has banned its use for children in 2007. These side effects include delirium, convulsions, and delusions. Fourteen children and teenagers died as a result of neuropsychiatric problems and brain infections. In addition, these side effects are common:

When deciding if you should listen to the media and government in buying 'protection' in Tamiflu, consider this. Some patients with influenza are at higher risk for secondary bacterial infections when on Tamiflu. Directions for Tamiflu use is twice daily for 5 days. It costs over $100.00. And the benefits of Tamiflu? It will only reduce the length of flu symptoms by 1 to 1 and a half days! Dr. Joseph Mercola who wrote the New York Times bestseller The Bird Flu Hoax, says that taking the shot "...just doesn't make any sense..."

Here's what you can do to optimize your immune system against the swine flu, or any flu:

(Additional important information...)

May 5, 2009: does your child seek to lose weight by skipping breakfast? If so, it is a big mistake (this is a mistake for adults too.) According to a study by the University of Minnesota researchers, teenagers who skip breakfast increase their risk of obesity.

The university's researchers looked at how often 2,216 adolescent boys and girls ate breakfast and any increases in body mass index (BMI.) Over a five year period, the children who claimed they never ate breakfast gained 40% more weight than those who ate breakfast daily. Children who ate breakfast once in a while,gained 25% more weight.

May 6, 2009: up to now, the mechanism by which turmeric heals the body has been a mystery; but now science and technology has come to the rescue. With the aid of a solid-state NMR spectroscopy, scientists found out that the molecules of curcumin (the main component of turmeric) insert themselves into cell membranes and makes them more stable and orderly. The effect is that the curcumin increases the cells resistance to disease-causing microbes.

May 7, 2009: a weakened immune system puts you at risk for chronic diseases such as cancer to viruses such as influenza-more commonly known as the flu. It stands to reason then that a strong immune system will protect you against these and other devastating illnesses.

Although there are many natural immune system boosters, here are three great ones:

Unfortunately, the smoker doesn’t just endanger his health. The second-hand smoke that he creates puts others at risk too.

The person who is exposed to second-hand smoke is just as much at risk from chronic diseases as the smoker. Second-hand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer, and SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome.)

Tobacco smoke contains 250 chemicals which have been shown to be toxic. This includes over 50 chemicals which are carcinogenic.

Second-hand smoke increases your risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent, lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent, and it increases your risk of heart attack.

Children are especially victimized by second-hand smoke. It causes respiratory symptoms, slows lung growth, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks (See also...)

US cigarettes more dangerous than other cigarettes

May 11, 2009: according to the research performed by scientists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, a greater intake of natural vitamin E reduces the risk of developing lung cancer.

The study was performed by researchers using the National Cancer Institute's Health Habits and History Questionnaire and Food Frequency Questionnaire to learn the dietary habits of the participants-1,088 lung cancer patients and 1,414 healthy men and women. These study participants were also asked about their personal lifestyles-such as smoking.

The researchers stated, "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to compare dietary intakes of the different forms of tocopherols (alpha-, beta-, gamma and delta-tocopherol) and lung cancer risk."

Participants who took the highest amount of tocopherols reduced their risk of developing lung cancer by 55 percent over those who took the least. The group who took the most averaged over 12.95 milligrams (mg) of vitamin E (tocopherol) per day; those who took the least averaged less than 6.68 mg.

Foods high in vitamin E include asparagus, avocado, green leafy vegetables, nuts, olives, seeds and wheat germ. A variety of vegetable oils, including canola, corn, cottonseed, red palm, sunflower and soybean are also high in the vitamin.

May 11, 2009: Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland stated that their research indicated belly fat in women may be kept under control after pregnancy with the addition of probiotics to the diet. The researchers chose 256 women to assist in their study on weight gain during pregnancy. These women were divided into three groups during their first trimester.

Women in the first group were given nutrition counseling consistent with healthy weight gain and child development; they were also given spreads and salad dressings with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and fiber enriched pasta and breakfast cereal to take home. In addition, these women were given capsules containing lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, the most commonly used probiotics, to take daily.

The second group of women was identical to the first with the exception that they were given dummy capsules and counseling. The third group of women received dummy capsules but didn't get the counseling.

All groups of women were weighed at the start of the study; at 12 months after giving birth, they were weighed again. They had their waists and skin fold thickness measured then too.

Twenty-five percent of the first group had central obesity (defined as a body mass index of 30 or more and a waist circumference over 80 centimeters [31.5 inches].) Central obesity occurred in 43 percent of group two and 40 percent of group three.

Average body fat was 28 percent for group one, 29 percent in group 2 and 30 percent in group 3.

Kirsi Laitinen, a nutritionist and senior lecturer at Turku, commented, "...The women who got the probiotics fared best. One year after childbirth, they had the lowest levels of central obesity as well as the lowest body fat percentage."

May 14, 2009: scientists from Harvard and Tufts Universities and the pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKlein R&D, teamed up to conduct a study on vitamin B-6 and the risk of colorectal (colon) cancer. Over the years there have been studies looking at preventing colon cancer by using vitamin B-6.

Vitamin B-6 is a part of the B-complex, a group of water soluble vitamins. Water soluble means that any excess of the B vitamins taken into the body is excreted through the urine. There is no risk of an overload as there is with fat soluble vitamins. Water soluble also means these vitamins have to be replaced daily. Eight vitamins form the B complex (See folic acid (B-9), B-12.)

Duties of vitamin B-6 include helping to metabolize protein, assuring that the body's blood sugar is at the right level, and strengthening the immune system. More recently, scientists now recognize B-6's role in maintaining cell DNA.

When supplemental vitamin B-6 is taken, or foods containing B vitamins are eaten, the body converts it into pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (or PLP). Several studies suggest that PLP protects the cells' DNA from cancerous mutations. Last year Scottish scientists discovered that colon cancer risk could be slashed by 20 percent by taking vitamin B-6.

In their study, the scientists from GlaxoSmithKline and Tufts and Harvard universities reviewed data from the Physicians Health Study looking at over 15,000 men. They specifically looked at the amount of B-6 in the men's blood and its relationship to the risk of developing colon cancer.

Controlling for known colon cancer risk factors such as eating red meat, drinking alcohol, BMI (body mass index), and exercise, the scientists found that the greater the B-6 the men had in their blood, the lower the risk of them developing colon cancer. The men who had the highest amount of PLP had up to 58 percent reduced risk of colon cancer.

Vitamin B-6 can be gotten through the diet by eating whole grains, bananas, sweet potatoes (with their skins), carrots, spinach, peas, poultry, and nuts.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin B-6 is:

The men who reduced their colon cancer risk by up to 58 percent were taking at least twice the RDA. Several studies on protecting against colon cancer suggests at least 3 mg of B vitamins daily. One medical doctor recommends 50 to 100 mg of B complex a day.

May 14, 2009: a recent study has shown that drinking vegetable juice enhances weight loss. Adults who drank 8 ounces of vegetable juice at minimum as part of a weight loss program lost 4 pounds in 12 weeks; those who followed the same weight loss program but without the juice lost only 1 pound.

Our western diet is highly acidic. Acids are normally stored in fat cells. Since vegetables are largely alkaline, drinking vegetable juice allows the body to balance its pH. The body then sheds those fat cells along with their acids.

However, commercial vegetable juices are pasteurized. This process destroys many vital nutrients. It is best to juice vegetables at home. Be careful of high-sugar content vegetables such as carrots and beets. With that exception, it is best to juice vegetables that you like.

May 19, 2009: the older you become, the greater the likelihood of becoming vitamin B-12 deficient. One reason is that hydrochloric acid production by the stomach decreases. (Hydrochloric acid breaks down food particles allowing the body to digest vitamin B-12.) The standard American diet (SAD) greatly influences the weakening of hydrochloric acid production.

Prescription drugs and other medications can also interfere with vitamin B-12 absorption. Antacids and anti-ulcer medications can decrease hydrochloric acid production. The following drugs may also block B-12 absorption:

The diabetes drug Metformin© (brand names Glucophage, Glucophage XR, Fortamet, Riomet, Glumetza, and others) may reduce your B12 absorption through interference with the metabolism of calcium in your body. Calcium is a necessary mineral to allow your body to absorb B12.

A recent study indicates that the longer a person with Type 2 diabetes takes Metformin© and the higher the dose, the greater the risk for vitamin B12 deficiency.

May 20, 2009: a number of physicians and researchers are in agreement that wearing the wrong type of bra can set the stage for the development of breast cancer; wearing a tight-fitting bra will not allow all the toxins that are accumulated on a daily basis to be excreted. Bras which fit too snugly prevent lymph drainage.

An example of a toxin which may not drain properly is aluminum. Almost all antiperspirants contain it. Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. A lymph drainage system which is blocked from removing this toxin will allow it to build up in the body.

"Over 85 percent of the lymph fluid flowing from the breast drains to the armpit lymph nodes. Most of the rest drains to the nodes along the breast bone. Bras and other external tight clothing can impede flow.

The nature of the bra, the tightness, and the length of time worn, will all influence the degree of blockage of lymphatic drainage. Thus, wearing a bra might contribute to the development of breast cancer as a result of cutting off lymphatic drainage, so that toxic chemicals are trapped in the breast," says Dr. Michael Schacter, M.D. in his article, The Prevention and Complementary Treatment of Breast Cancer.

In his book entitled The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart, Dr. John McDougall, M.D. says, "Constricting bras have also been implicated in the rise of benign (non-cancerous) but often painful breast cysts and lumps."

"After repeated bouts of inflammation, the breasts develop scar tissue in many places, and some of the milk ducts become plugged, forming cysts. Fibrocystic breast disease, not surprisingly, is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer."

A properly fitted bra is essential in order to avoid or dramatically reduce the risk of breast cancer. This website, Linda's Bra School, is an excellent resource towards gaining an understanding of how to select the correct bra for your body.

A study of women who wear bras versus those who don't was conducted by medical anthropologists and authors Sydney Singer and Soma Grismaijer. They collaborated on the book Dressed to Kill: The Link Between Breast Cancer and Bras. With over 4,000 women participating, they found that women who do not wear bras have a much lower risk of developing breast cancer.

Following are detailed results of Sydney's and Soma's study:

May 21, 2009: ABC news ran a story recently which says that smoking cigarettes in the United States may be more dangerous to your health than they were decades ago; time was when smokers developed a form of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. This form of lung cancer attacked the cells in the large air tubes.

Nowadays doctors have noticed a spike in another form of lung cancer called adenocarcinoma. This cancer grows in small air sacs much deeper in the lungs. It is believed that new cigarette designs may be to blame. Adenocarcinoma comprises 65 to 70 percent of new lung cancer cases in the United States.

Cigarette manufacturers (Big Tobacco) introduced filtered, low-tar cigarettes to the public. This was in response to the 1960s public outcry for lower-tar products. In order to get the same level of nicotine as they did when they smoked regular cigarettes, smokers inhale more deeply. This has the effect of pushing the nicotine further into the lungs.

Another factor is that American cigarette manufacturers include a greater measure of a known carcinogen known as nitrosamine into their products. Nitrosamines are a by-product of cigarette processing.

This new cigarette study was undertaken by University of California professor Dr. David Burns. He says that cigarettes sold in Australia contain lower levels of nitrosamines than those sold in the United States.

May 30, 2009: Contrary to what many practice, a healthy head of hair begins on the inside, not the outside. According to Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD (registered dietitian), "ients we eat," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, a Chicago-based dietitian, "if you eat a healthy diet, you will grow stronger and healthier cells throughout your entire body -- inside and out.

The average person's hair grows anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 an inch every month. But hair and nutrition experts caution that a person born with fine, thin hair will never have thick locks despite an impeccable diet. Basic genetics cannot be thwarted. But with good nutrition, a person can have the healthiest hair possible.

Hair experts also warn of supplements advertised to make hair grow faster or thicker. Good food should be the basis for the nutrients needed for healthy hair. Dermatologist Paradi Mirmirani, MD says, "even though you can find beauty supplements on the shelves of most stores, try to get the nutrients you need from foods whenever possible...In rare instances, excess supplementation of certain nutrients, such as vitamin A, has been linked to hair loss."

Listed below are the ten must-have foods needed to support healthy hair:

June 1, 2009: asthma affects every 1 in 10 American children; Researchers from the University of Crete studied 460 Spanish children with respect to their diet and respiratory health. These children were monitored from birth to 6 years of age.

For the children who ate fruity vegetables such as cucumber, tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini, the researchers discovered that asthmatic symptoms were reduced 62 to 81 percent. Past research has found that children who eat a banana a day have a 34 percent reduced chance of developing symptoms associated with asthma.

A New Zealand study found that 75 percent of children who ate as little as one hamburger a week were 100 percent more likely to experience 'wheezing' problems.