Current Health News and Studies Concerning Nutrition & Exercise

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December 2, 2009: When it comes to bone health, the mineral that comes to most minds is calcium. But, vitamin D is necessary in order for your body to absorb calcium. A new Japanese study has found that beta-carotene greatly enhances bone health.

One hundred college females were recruited for the Japanese bone study. The girls who included beta-carotene laden vegetables in their diet (carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, cantaloupe, and pumpkin) were 500% less likely to have low bone mass.

The dairy intake was fairly consistent among the girls who ate a daily regimen of beta-carotene-rich vegetables and those who didn't. This led researchers to conclude that beta-carotene accounted for increased bone health.

The researchers also concluded that nutrient-dense fruit and vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants needed for overall bone health.

Cantaloupe provides 60 percent of the daily vitamin C necessary to form collagen, a component of strong bones. Leafy greens are rich in beta-carotene. They also are a good source of vitamin K which is linked to a 65 percent lower risk of fractures in seniors.

Tomatoes are a good source of lycopene. Lycopene is associated with a 66 percent reduced risk of bone loss according to another recent study.

A colorful and varied daily diet of plenty of fruits and vegetables is necessary for overall health. And as this Japanese study pointed out, beta-carotene will contribute to bone strength.

December 2, 2009: What snack food is sweet and actually healthy for you? Raisins! Raisins are grapes which are dried in sunlight or driers.

A few of the health benefits associated with raisins are relief from constipation, acidosis, anemia, fever, and sexual dysfunction. Though not needed by the majority of people, raisins can assist in gaining weight. They also contribute to eye, bone, and dental health.

Raisins contain the phytochemical oleanolic acid which is beneficial in fighting tooth decay, cavities, and brittleness. Contrary to intuition, the longer raisins stick to your teeth the better because oleanolic acid prevents the growth of tooth-destroying bacteria.

Raisins also contain an anti-cancer substance. Catechin is a phenolic antioxidant which prevents the growth of tumors and is effective against colon cancer.

The nutrient content of raisins is great. They are a good source of potassium and magnesium. Raisins also have iron, boron, and the amino acid arginine.
Source: www.organicfacts.net

December 5, 2009: A health revolution is occurring in Sweden. Open dialog among health practitioners and the public have questioned the entire theory of high cholesterol, heart disease, and statin drugs.

A general practitioner has successfully lost weight by self-prescribing a low carbohydrate and high animal fat diet. She advised her overweight and obese patients to do likewise.

This doctor subsequently was charged with malpractice. After a long two-year investigation, she was acquitted because her therapy was found to be in line with scientific evidence.

The widespread belief that high cholesterol is the cause of heart disease is firmly anchored in the United States where the pharmaceutical companies are making billions of dollars with their cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins.)

However this is not true in Sweden. There is an open dialog between conventional beliefs and alternative beliefs. A number of radio and television shows have broadcast discussions between experts who question the belief that high cholesterol causes heart disease and those who hold with that traditional view.

The result is that many Swedish people have refused statins and gone on low carb/high fat diets. And they have been successful. After many years of declining sales, butter, cream, and full fat milk has experienced a resurgence in sales.

A recent poll shows that the majority of Swedish people believe that the ideal way of losing weight is by going on a low-carb/high fat diet.

A recent report by health experts chosen by WHO and FAO was published. In it the authors reported that there was no credible evidence that supported the belief that saturated fat causes heart disease, diabetes, or obesity.

World renowned expert Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD. debunks high cholesterol causes heart disease myth. Visit Dr. Ravnskov's website.

December 9, 2009: The dangers of conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are many. Some of the risks include osteoporosis, blood clots, weight gain, and vaginal bleeding.

Researchers have found that resveratrol, an antioxidant found in the skins of red grapes, is a side effect free alternative to HRT.

Resveratrol is a phytoestrogen which is highly destructive of tumors. It increases cancer cell death more than any other phytoestrogens studied.

Importantly, resveratrol lowers the Bc1-2/Bax ratio which determines the susceptibility of cancer cells to apoptosis, i.e., cell death.

Researchers state that resveratrol is "...most promising candidate as an HRT alternative and chemo-preventative reagent for breast cancer."

One doctor recommends taking 200mg to 300mg of resveratrol daily.

December 10, 2009: It now seems that some of these folks are taking their show on the road. Two key UK players, Michael Baum and Edzard Ernst have published a commentary in the November 2009 issue of the American Journal of Medicine [2] in which they state, "a belief in homeopathy exceeds the tolerance of an open mind. We should start from the premise that homeopathy cannot work and that positive evidence reflects publication bias or design flaws until proved otherwise."

Not surprisingly, their commentary also reflects a complete ignorance of homeopathy and the range of studies that support its effectiveness. For example, their article incorrectly uses the term “potentation” instead of “potentization” for the method used to create homeopathic remedies (more on this later). The authors also insist on citing a single negative meta-analysis study that has already been shown to be methodologically flawed [3], while ignoring many positive studies in respected publications, including two other meta-analyses that showed positive results.

So why do the skeptics love to hate homeopathy? Perhaps because it is one of the most threatening alternative modalities -- financially, philosophically, and therapeutically. Actually, homeopathy has been a threat to allopathy ever since the 1800s, when German physician Samuel Hahnemann developed the homeopathic system.

Founder of Homeopathy
Hahnemann, a respected doctor and chemist who helped to pioneer the importance of hygiene as well as homeopathy, was forced to move frequently during his life because the local German apothecaries objected to the fact that he created his own medicines rather than use theirs. A fierce battle was also waged against homeopathy in the United States during the 1800s, where homeopathy had achieved a strong presence by 1840. In fact, in 1847, the American Medical Association (AMA) was formed specifically to fight the battle against homeopathy.

Most homeopaths of the 1800s were former allopaths who had abandoned their brethren because they found Hahnemann’s system to be more successful in battling cholera, typhus, yellow fever, diptheria, influenza, and other epidemics of the 1800s. In retaliation, the preamble to the AMA’s charter forbade its members to associate with homeopaths or to use their medicines, and many doctors were expelled for failing to comply.

But does homeopathy really pose such a threat to conventional medicine today? To see how the little David of homeopathy could take down the Goliath of big pharma, we need to take a closer look at what homeopathy is all about.

Like Cures Like
Homeopathic practice is based on a single law of therapeutics called the Law of Similars. This law states that a substance that can cause the symptoms of a disease can also cure it. In fact, that’s exactly what word “homeopathy” means: similar (“homeo”) suffering (“pathy”). For example, one reason that the remedy Coffea Cruda (made from coffee) can be curative for insomnia is that coffee can cause sleeplessness. Interestingly, allopaths sometimes utilize the Law of Similars, but are unaware of it when they do and are perplexed by the phenomenon.

Ask any conventional doctor why Ritalin (a substance that would normally cause hyperactivity) can treat hyperactivity in children, and they’ll scratch their heads in confusion. Ask a homeopath, and it’s a no-brainer: the Law of Similars.

The reason why homeopaths run into trouble with the skeptics, though, revolves around how homeopathic remedies are prepared. Obviously, many of the substances that can cause the symptoms of disease are toxic. This inherent toxicity poses a challenge if you want to administer these substances safely. In an effort to deal with this problem, Hahnemann tried various methods of diluting his medicines so that they would become less harmful to his patients. This proved unsuccessful until he also incorporated vigorous shaking or succussion into the process. The result was a method that he called potentization, in which a substance is serially diluted and succussed over and over.

Much to Hahnemann’s own surprise, these ultradilutions -- so dilute that they cannot possibly contain a single molecule of the original substance -- were still potent therapeutically. In fact, they were even more potent than low levels of dilution.

Of course, this was and still is too much for the skeptics to bear. It turns much of accepted science on its head!

What the skeptics keep ignoring, however, are an increasing number of scientific studies that indicate that some kind of signature of the original substance is embedded in a potentized ultradilution. In a 2007 paper by Professor Rustom Roy, the founding director of the Materials Research Laboratory at Penn State and one of the world's leading experts on the structure of water, it was demonstrated that lab instruments could pick up energetic signatures in ultradilutions that were not only specific to individual homeopathic remedies, but to specific potencies of these remedies.

Indeed, science has backed up the phenomenon of potentization for over 20 years. In 1988, Nobel Prize nominee and medical researcher Jacques Benveniste turned the course of his life upside down when he discovered that ultradilutions could retain substance-specific properties. In particular, he found that a certain antibody could be serially diluted and succussed beyond the point where a single molecule could remain, but still cause the same effects.

Naturally, the skeptics quickly attacked Benveniste. But he continued his work and further demonstrated that the electromagnetic signature of an ultradilution could be recorded electronically, transmitted via Email, replayed into water, and still achieve the same substance-specific effects in the laboratory [12]. Eventually, Benveniste’s results were replicated [13]. Most recently, a 2009 paper by Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier underscored the power of ultradilutions too.

Drug Companies Are Running Scared
Now think about it. This is what big pharma is scared of.

What if an expensive drug could be potentized to create billions of effective doses at essentially no cost? It would destroy big pharma entirely. Medicines that cost essentially nothing? Nontoxic ultradiluted medicines that cause fewer side effects? How could the coffers of big pharma be sustained? Forget about the Law of Similars. It’s potentization -- the process of creating effective ultradilutions -- that big pharma is scared of! No wonder Baum and Ernst got the word “potentization” wrong. This one word is the small stone that could take Goliath down.

Of course, homeopaths add fuel to the fire. The fundamental philosophy of homeopathy implies that the primary tools of allopathy are harmful. In particular, homeopaths believe that suppressing symptoms with anti-pathic drugs -- drugs that oppose the symptoms of a disease rather than mimic them -- cannot cure and can even do harm. If a symptom is suppressed -- for example, if a seasonal allergy is suppressed by an antihistamine -- it is only temporarily palliated.

A patient still has allergic tendencies and his or her symptoms will eventually return. That’s why suppressive drugs must be taken again and again. And of course, big pharma loves that! It’s good for business.

Deceptive Cures
Unfortunately, if a substance succeeds in completely suppressing a symptom, there may be an illusion of “cure,” but the real result is more sinister. Another key tenet of homeopathy is that the true result of suppression is a deepening of the underlying disease state -- because the energy of the disease is now forced to manifest in a more serious way. That’s why repeated application of cortisone cream to eczema can lead to asthma.

That’s why the suppression of arthritis pain can lead to heart disease. That’s why teenagers who take acne drugs sometimes develop suicidal depression. Doctors call this phenomenon a “side effect” or a “natural disease progression.” But that’s because they don’t understand the effects of suppression or the signs of true cure.

Over the past two hundred years, homeopaths have discovered that homeopathic medicines -- drugs that mimic a person’s symptoms rather than oppose them -- can lead to genuine cure of chronic disease, not mere palliation or suppression. Rather than creating a deeper disease, a homeopathic medicine that is similar to a patient’s disease can not only cure it, but reveal previously suppressed layers of disease that can be treated too.

That’s why good homeopathic treatment can often cure asthma -- and also reveal and treat previously suppressed eczema. That’s why it has the potential to cure arthritis and chronic bladder infections, not simply palliate them with endless medications. Indeed, homeopathy can effectively treat acute diseases like influenza and bacterial infections too. With its ability to successfully treat both chronic and acute disease with low-cost medicines, homeopathy really could be a threat to big pharma, given half a chance.

Ideal for Poor Countries or Rich Ones with Declining Economies
Poor countries with less access to expensive drugs have already discovered this. That’s why homeopathy is the second most widespread form of medicine in the world. In India, homeopathy is a full-fledged medical system with its own medical schools and hospitals. Homeopaths in India successfully treat the full range of diseases, including AIDS, cancer, and malaria.

In Cuba, a poor country with a health care system that often does better than our own, homeopathy is being used more and more. In 2008, 2.5 million Cubans were given a homeopathic remedy to prevent Leptospirosis, an infectious disease also known as swamp fever. This disease has plagued the country for several years in the aftermath of flooding, but the year in which homeopathy was used, in contrast to previous years, there were no fatalities and very few cases of the disease.

But here’s the rub. Homeopathy is harder to practice than allopathy. There are no cookie-cutter cures, especially for chronic disease. (Luckily, however, effective treatment of epidemic diseases like the flu is easier; see Resources.) Each patient’s health pattern is unique, so each patient must be treated as an individual.

A homeopath must find a single remedy (among thousands of possible homeopathic remedies) whose associated symptoms match those of the patient -- not just their main complaint, but their entire symptom picture that includes emotional, mental, behavioral, as well as the physical symptoms of the entire body. It’s a daunting task. A practitioner who practices classical homeopathy (the kind of homeopathy I advocate) typically needs at least two hours for an initial case interview and may spend just as long deciding upon a remedy.

And sometimes it takes a homeopath several tries to find just the right remedy -- the one that homeopaths call the simillimum. This process also requires patients to engage in their own treatment, because symptoms are gathered not by machines or by using tests, but through direct communication between patient and homeopath.

Of course, this is not something big pharma, conventional doctors, or insurance companies would be happy about. No expensive medicines or tests or equipment needed? No five-minute appointments reimbursed at $300 a shot? A medical system that requires long appointments, time for case analysis, and patients who must participate in the healing process? Not very lucrative.

How I Broke Out of the Mold and Reliance on Failed Medical Therapies
Of course, I used to be a lover of conventional medicine like most people. Back in the early 1990s, my husband Steve Rubin and I were both computer researchers in Silicon Valley and followed our doctors’ instructions obediently, loading our kids up with every recommended vaccine on schedule. Our allopathic trance began to break in 1994 when our 3-year-old son Max began to show signs of autism.

I first read about homeopathy in the January 1995 issue of Mothering Magazine, which contained an article about the successful homeopathic treatment of ADD and other children’s behavioral problems [16]. Steve and I decided to give it a try and found a practitioner in our area. Within a week we began to see small and subtle improvement in Max -- improvement that became a slow and steady trend. After two years of treatment, he was testing normally and was released from eligibility for special education benefits.

His speech and language therapist told the county representative that she had never seen an autistic child recover like Max had, and she fully credited homeopathy for his recovery. By the time he was eight, nearly all signs of Max’s autism were gone. Today he is 18, a freshman at a leading university, completely autism free, and without restrictions of any kind.

Needless to say, this experience was both mind-boggling and life-transforming. I began to study homeopathy myself and ultimately wrote what became the best-selling patient education book in the USA -- Impossible Cure: The Promise of Homeopathy [17] -- a comprehensive introduction to homeopathic history, philosophy, science, and experience, sprinkled with dozens first-person cure stories for a variety of ailments, along with a chapter about Max’s cure.

In the end, I left my work in computer science and devoted myself to letting others know about the healing powers of homeopathy. I got involved in the successful campaign for health freedom legislation in California too [18]. Steve also got involved and developed the National Vaccine Information Center’s online interface to the VAERS database [19] (the CDC’s public record of vaccine injuries). I guess Max’s healing led us both to become alternative medicine activists, and we haven’t looked back.

Conclusion
So why not take a look at homeopathy for yourself? Make it your New Year’s resolution to find a good classical practitioner and to learn more about this amazing medical modality. The skeptics manage to create a lot of smoke in an effort to hide homeopathy from public view. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Find out about how this powerful healing system -- a system that packs a lot of firepower into an infinitesimal punch -- can help you and your family.

Amy L. Lansky, PhD was a Silicon Valley computer scientist when her life was transformed by the miraculous homeopathic cure of her son’s autism. In April 2003 she published Impossible Cure: The Promise of Homeopathy, one of the best-selling books on homeopathy in the USA (www.impossiblecure.com). Amy is an executive board member of the National Center for Homeopathy (www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org). She speaks and writes internationally about homeopathy and hosts a monthly radio show on Autism One Radio (www.autismone.org).

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December 10, 2009: A new study just released concludes that eating pistachios on a daily basis could reduce your risk of developing certain cancers. Pistachios are a good source of vitamin E as are other nuts such as peanuts, pecans, and walnuts.

The type of vitamin E identified in the pistachios is known as gamma-tocopherol. Vitamin E is an antioxidant.

"It is known that vitamin E provides a degree of protection against certain forms of cancer. Higher intakes of gamma-tocopherol ... may reduce the risk of lung cancer," says Ladia M. Hernandez, a senior research dietitian at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and a doctoral candidate at Texas Women's University."

The pistachio study consisted of thirty-six participants--18 in a control group who did not eat pistachios, and 18 who did. The pistachio-eating group consumed 68 grams, about 2 ounces, every day for 4 weeks.

As the study went along, higher blood levels of gamma-tocopherol was measured in the group who ate the pistachios.
Source: U.S. News & World Report (web)

December 11, 2009: This new study showed that older adults did better on cognitive tests after having eaten small portions of dark chocolate.

The cocoa from which chocolate is made grows on plants. As such, it has all the benefits of dark vegetables. The nutrients in the cocoa are classified as flavonoids.

Flavonoids are a class of water-soluble plant pigments. They are also known as bioflavonoids. These nutrients are also antioxidants.

The number of flavonoids in cocoa is almost eight times those found in strawberries. A 2003 study which was published in the Journal of Agriculture & Food Chemistry found that a cup of hot cocoa (pure cocoa powder) contained twice the amount of antioxidants as a glass of red wine and twice that of a cup of green tea. The hot cocoa also had four to five times the antioxidants of dark tea.

Dark chocolate helps to lower blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide. It also balances certain body hormones.

Studies show that individuals with high blood pressure can lower that pressure by eating a small portion of dark chocolate every day. Dark chocolate also:

stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure

contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant

contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are stimulants

Although dark chocolate contains a lot of fat, some of it is beneficial. One-third of the fat is oleic acid, one-third is stearic acid, and one-third is palmitic acid.

Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fat that is found in olive oil. Although stearic acid is a saturated fat, research shows that it doesn't raise cholesterol levels. Palmitic acid is a saturated acid too. However, contrary to popular belief, some saturated fat is good for you. Read this eye-opening article.

Because dark chocolate is good for you doesn't give you a license to eat it uncontrollably. It is still high in calories. One of Europe's largest epidemiological studies was an Italian study to determine the ideal amount of dark chocolate that should be consumed for maximum health benefits.

The Italian study took into consideration the complex mechanism of inflammation--a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD.) The results of this study were that people who ate dark chocolate experienced a 17 percent drop in C-reactive protein (CRP.)

Based of those factors, the Italian study concluded that the maximum amount of chocolate that should be consumed on a daily basis is 6.7 grams!

The studies performed on dark chocolate are for dark chocolate only. They don't apply to milk or white chocolate. Dark chocolate has 65 percent more cocoa and a higher antioxidant content than either milk or white.

Most commercially produced chocolate products contain artificial ingredients and are non-organic. And this is not to mention too much sugar. I recommend nothing but organic dark chocolate that will not only satisfy your taste buds, but your health requirements too.

In order to fully enjoy living a healthy lifestyle, buying organic whenever possible is a must. Enjoy dark chocolate without having to worry about a guilty conscience.

December 12, 2009: Researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that by applying curcumin (from turmeric) and piperine (from black pepper) to animal breast cells, the number of stem cells grew smaller. These spices however did not have any effect on normal cells.

Lead researcher Dr. Madhuri Kakarala says, "Women at high risk of breast cancer right now can choose to take the drugs tamoxifen or raloxifene for prevention, but most women won't take these drugs because there is too much toxicity...The concept that dietary compounds can help is attractive, and curcumin and piperine appear to have very low toxicity."

December 13, 2009: Restless leg syndrome or RLS is defined as a form of insomnia; it is characterized by an intense compulsion to move the legs especially while sleeping. Sufferers of RLS describe sensations ranging from tingling, crawling, and creeping to pulling and painful.

Restless leg syndrome affects approximately 10% of the American population. It runs in families and may have a genetic component.

Current research has pinpointed low magnesium levels in people diagnosed with RLS.

"Magnesium plays a key role in the body's chemistry that regulates sleep. This may be why persons with long-term lack of sleep, or abnormal brain waves during deep sleep, often have low magnesium in their blood….Magnesium treatment increased deep sleep and improved brain waves during sleep in 12 elderly subjects. Magnesium treatment also decreased time to fall asleep and improved sleep quality of 11 alcoholic patients who often have a low magnesium status," says the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota.

Certain nutritional aids have been found to be effective in combating RLS. The 1935 issue of Journal of Physiological Reviews recommended a mineral ratio of 2:1 of calcium to magnesium for effectiveness. This ratio is based on long term metabolic studies of men and women. Calcium assists the body in assimilating magnesium.

One especially promising product in fighting restless leg syndrome is Sleep Minerals II manufactured by Nutrition Breakthroughs located in Glendale, CA. This sleep aid contains six types of calcium, three forms of magnesium, boron, Vitamin D, Vitamin K and horsetail herb.

Restless leg syndrome sufferer Ali of Istanbul, Turkey says of Sleep Mineral II, "I have been a pharmacist in Istanbul Turkey for almost 40 years and I also work as a consultant in food supplements. I suffer from restless leg syndrome at night. I recently tried your Sleep Minerals II and it had an astonishing beneficial result. My youngest brother, who is also a pharmacist, also suffers from restless leg syndrome. He tried the Sleep Minerals II with the same result. My mother aged 92 was complaining of sleep problems and insomnia. She also tried it and the result was again successful. If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I would have found it hard to believe."
Source: www.PR-USA.net

December 13, 2009: Bad news concerning the typical Western diet, also known as the standard American diet (SAD) continues to pop up. Now researchers say that the Western diet turns on genes which cause the body to store fat.

The Western diet is abundant in sugar, fat, and sodium. New research recently published in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) indicates that in response to huge amounts of energy dense food, the body activates the kappa opioid receptor which tells the body to increase its fat storage.

These findings seems to bare out the hypothesis held by many researchers--namely, that the kappa opioid receptor may be responsible for the global obesity epidemic.

Study researchers used laboratory rats in their experiment. One group had their kappa opioid receptors genetically turned off while the control group had theirs kept intact. Both groups were fed high sugar and fat diets for a period of 16 weeks.

At the end of 16 weeks, the group which had their receptors deactivated stayed lean. The control group gained a noticeable amount of weight.

December 15, 2009: Italian researcher Dr. Paolo Zamboni has a radical new theory about multiple sclerosis (MS) which is a departure from what mainstream medicine has accepted for decades. He believes MS to be primarily a vascular rather than autoimmune disease.

Led by Dr. Zamboni, researchers imaged the veins coming from the brain and spinal cord of hundreds of patients who have been diagnosed with MS. Almost all without exception showed evidence of a narrowing or complete blockage of the vascular pathways. In particular, the researchers discovered blockages in the jugular and/or azygos veins of the patients.

Amazingly, these results were not seen in healthy people, nor in patients with other vascular or neurological conditions.

Examining the work of other researchers who had studied the brains of MS patients, Dr. Zamboni found that they had higher iron levels in their brains which cannot be accounted for by age. The iron deposits formed in the core of the brain, clustered around the veins that normally drain blood from the head.

Iron that attacks your organs rusts. The iron in your body creates destructive free radicals. The more iron you have, the more free radicals are created, and the quicker you die.

As a person ages, iron accumulates in the body. There is a blood test which reveals iron blood levels. The test is called serum ferritin. A healthy iron range is 20 ng/ml through 80 ng/ml. If the level is below 20, you are iron deficient; above 80 and you have excess iron.

December 15, 2009: In addition to chlorella, another powerful detoxification substance is spirulina. Like chlorella, spirulina is a micro-algae organism.

Spirulina is a blue-green algae which can remove mercury and radioactive substances from the body. It is a natural chelating agent.

This algae is also a superfood. It is 65 to 71 percent complete protein. (By comparison, beef is only 22 percent protein.) Spirulina contains all essential amino acids in perfect balance.

Spirulina is more digestible than chlorella.

December 16, 2009: In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that low leptin levels may result in a 25 percent greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Conversely, high levels of leptin may protect against Alzheimer's.

Leptin is a hormone that regulates the appetite.

The study was undertaken because there are indications that a person's weight is linked to Alzheimer's disease risk. Animal studies showed that leptin not only signaled fullness, but influenced the hippocampus too. The hippocampus has a significant role in memory.

Studies of people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease found that low leptin accompanied it. The study's researchers also incorporated the Framingham Heart Study into their current study. High leptin levels were linked to a 25 percent reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

Lower leptin levels were linked to a 25 percent increased risk of Alzheimer's over a 12 year period. Study participants with higher leptin levels had only a 6 percent risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Reduced leptin levels were associated with a decrease in brain volume too.
Source: Yahoo.com News.

December 16, 2009: The video shows a man gulping a can of fat. Maybe this is what is needed to drive home the point that the empty calories from sweetened beverages are like drinking pure, unadulterated fat.

In a press release, New York City (NYC) health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said, "Sugary drinks shouldn't be a part of our everyday diets" Cathy Nonas, director of the New York City Health Department's Physical Activity and Nutrition program, added, "Half or more of those calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks...The Health Department is doing a lot to reduce obesity, including our calorie posting and access to healthy foods in under-served areas. We're working to consistently make the healthiest choice the easiest choice for New Yorkers."

NYC's anti-obesity campaign began this past summer with subway posters and educational brochures. I am in complete agreement with the NYC Health Commission. The American public needs to be educated to the dangers of soft drinks. Study after study has linked them to obesity and its associated health problems.

Along with soda, sweetened beverages--which are nothing more than liquid candy--include fruit and sports drinks. They are almost 100 percent sugar--mainly in the form of artificial sweeteners such as high fructose corn sugar.

Sad to say, with many, soft drink consumption is an addiction. This addiction is no different from cigarettes or alcohol. Sodas and other sweetened beverages have no health benefits whatsoever. They don't even quench your thirst. Unfortunately they are the major driving force behind our global obesity epidemic.
Source: that's fit.com.

December 17, 2009: "Now, using SPLENDA is twice as good. SPLENDA with fiber gives you the great sweet taste you want and a little boost of fiber." So goes the marketing line from the company's own website for SPLENDA with fiber added.

I was eating lunch while catching the news on CNN when I saw the commercial. Although not surprised, I endeavored to write about the dangers of SPLENDA even with the added fiber.

Knowing that more and more Americans are seeking to add more nutritious foods to their diet, manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon to grab some of the billions of dollars being spent on healthier foods and food products.

SPLENDA is an artificial sweetener which is manufactured with chlorine, an extremely dangerous toxin. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies chlorine as a class-one carcinogen in humans.

It is true that most Americans are not getting nearly enough fiber in their diets. The remedy though is not adding synthetic fiber to dangerous food products, but eating more fiber-rich foods such as vegetables, nuts, and beans.

Fiber or any other nutrient added to an artificial sweetener or any other processed food product does not make it good for you. All artificial sweeteners should be avoided. I advise using a natural sweetener like stevia.

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Nature Chemical Biology carried an article about a study involving green tea. The results of the study point to EGCG, a powerful catechin in green tea, is effective in stopping and treating such brain disorders as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases.

When EGCG is mixed with another isolated component, they get rid of the protein amyloids which are believed to be at the source of brain disorders like Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid plaques are tightly-bound structures that travel to the brain to occupy nerve cells. They sometimes bind themselves around the brain tissue. The brain cells subsequently lose their oxygen source and die. Their death leads to memory and speech loss, a lessening of motor skills, and eventually, death.

The study was performed by a collaboration of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Boston Biomedical Research Institute. They found out that EGCG in green tea and the other isolated compound were able to break up the amyloid plaques and restore normal cell function in sample tissues similar to what would be found in patients with brain disorders.

Normal Brain	Alzheimer's Brain

(Above images courtesy of alzheimers.about.com)

December 18, 2009: Human waste which is flushed down the toilet, along with industrial and hospital waste, all end up in sewage treatment facilities. The muck that remains after treatment is called sludge. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the material remaining after processing includes nuclear waste, heavy metals (such as mercury, lead, cadmum,) and industrial solvents.

For years this toxic sludge has been dumped into our oceans. It was then realized that this practice caused an environmental hazard.

The federal government proposed another solution to the sludge problem. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came up with the idea of using the toxic sludge as cheap fertilizer for farm lands.

Where's the logic in this choice? It was determined to be environmentally unsafe to continue to dump the sludge in our oceans and waterways, but safe to use as fertilizer on our farmlands. There is no way of preventing carcinogenic and other toxins from ending up in our food supply.

But this is what is currently happening.

However, in order to keep the American public mislead and ignorant, the sludge used as fertilizer isn't being called 'sludge'--it is being called biosolids. This is just a public relations spin.

The government is making it economically feasible for farmers and gardeners to have access to this 'fertilizer.' Many cities throughout the United States are giving it away free. These innocent farmers and gardeners are unknowingly spreading heavy metals and other toxic chemicals on their land.

A federal court in Georgia ruled against the free compost made from sewage treatment plant sludge. In addition the court found that the EPA, a federal program designed to protect American citizens, misrepresented data in order to hide the truth.

The Georgia federal court concluded, "The administrative record contains evidence that senior EPA officials took extraordinary steps to quash scientific dissent, and any questioning of the EPA's biosolids program" (Huffingtonpost.com.)

The city of San Francisco calls toxic sludge organic. While it is true that human waste breaks down in the soil and provides nutrients for it, heavy metals and industrial waste remain. These toxins could potentially contaminate fruit and vegetables grown in soil 'fertilized' with sewage waste. This sludge would also affect animals fed grain grown in contaminated soil and eventually ending up on dinner tables across America.

Don't be misled. Toxic sewage sludge is neither organic, compost, harmless, nor safe. While cheap financially, we will pay the price through the harm it poses to our health.

A way has to be found to dispose of this toxic sewage sludge. But having it masquerade as compost or fertilizer and applying it to farmland is not it.

This is another reason to buy as much of your food organic as possible. It is advisable to buy locally grown fruit and vegetables. That goes for your eggs, milk (raw), and meat too. Get to know your local farmer, and make sure he is not unwittingly using sludge as fertilizer.

December 19, 2009: a study published in the International Journal of Andrology indicates that elevated levels of two plastic-softening chemicals in a pregnant woman's urine are associated with reduced masculine play behavior by boys years later.

The chemicals, both forms of phthalates, can be found in products ranging from vinyl floors to plastic tubing to soaps and lotions.

Phthalates have more and more become associated with changes in the development of the male brain, and genital defects, metabolic abnormalities, and lower levels of testosterone in babies and adults.

Researchers from the United States and Britain gave a standard 'play' questionnaire to parents of 145 preschool-age children. The researchers ranked types of play on a scale from more masculine to more feminine.

Sons of women with higher concentrations of di(2-ethyhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in their prenatal urine had observable effects. These boys scored on average 8 percent further away from the masculine end of the scale than the other boys.
Source: The Washington Post article Mothers' Exposure to Chemicals May Affect Boys (11/24/2009)

December 20, 2009: "Americans follow 'diets of avoidance' because of the myths of nutrition that encourage too much consumption of the wrong nutrients and too little consumption of proteins," contends Dr. Don Layman, director of research at the Egg Nutrition Center.

Dr. Layman therefore concludes that America's escalating chronic disease rate is based in part on inadequate protein intake. Low consumption of protein contributes to heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, and sarcopenia (age-related muscle wasting.)

One example of the myths that are being publicized is the food pyramid chart by the government agency, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Dr. Layman says that according to this chart, 2 - 4 servings of fruit, 3 - 5 servings of vegetables, 6 - 11 servings of bread, cereal, ice, pasta, and only 2 - 3 servings of dairy, fish, meat, and eggs are recommended daily to the American public [emphasis mine.]

Comments Dr. Layman, "There is no question why we're fat."

Dr. Layman makes a valid point. One reason that diabetes is an escalating problem for Americans is the emphasis on carbohydrates such as breads, cereals, rice, and pasta. Even carbohydrates from whole grain like brown rice and 100 percent whole wheat should be avoided by people who are diabetic or who are prediabetic.

Foods should be eaten according to your metabolic type. A 'carb' type should be consuming 15 to 20 percent of his nutrients from protein on a daily basis. This protein should come from chicken and turkey breasts, lean pork, ham, and eggs. A protein type should be eating 45 to 50 percent of his nutrients from protein while a 'mixed' type should be getting 40 to 45 percent of his nutrients from protein.

Your major source of carbohydrates should be vegetables. See metabolic typing for the particular fruits and vegetables for your metabolic type.

Dr. Layman says that the recommended daily allowance of protein is a minimum requirement. However what is necessary is an optimum amount of protein intake. Minimum protein intake is inadequate to prevent age-related losses and diseases.

As a person ages, protein consumption to meet physical requirements becomes increasingly necessary. Protein intake coupled with weight training is an effective muscle building combination. Without this, sarcopenia will take over.

Your source of protein is just as important as getting enough of it. In terms of bioavaliability, the best sources of protein are whey and eggs. Red meat such as grass-fed, organic beef and ostrich, wild fish like salmon, and grass-fed poultry follows.
Source: Stock & Land

December 21, 2009: CEO John Mackey of Whole Foods announced that the natural foods giant will be returning to its roots beginning in 2010. Over the years Whole Foods has been driven by two competing philosphies-- food as health and food as indulgence.

According to Mackey, the first half of Whole Foods existence was based on healthy foods. It then shifted to food as indulgence, riding the back of a gourmet revolution.

Whole Foods return to healthier products is fueled in part on America's burgeoning obesity epidemic. Add to that young people and baby boomers who are interested in healthier choices.
Source: The Herald News

December 22, 2009: A British study has found that our modern lifestyle has made children less fit than their counterparts ten years ago. The surprise is that the children in this study were not obese, and were from an affluent neighborhood.

The study was conducted by Essex University which tested 600 ten year olds from an area with low obesity levels. Begun in 1998, the study found that ten year olds in 2008 trailed 1998 ten year olds by a considerable amount. The average 1998 ten year was able to beat 95 percent of the 2008 ten year olds in running.

Although I have no statistics to back me up, I suspect that the United States has a similar if not identical problem. Techonological advances have taken over the hearts and minds of our youth (as well as adults.)

Along with the internet, 24/7 television, video games, and cell phones, children don't take time to play. A sedentary lifestyle affects everyone. Obesity may have focused everyones attention on just that segment of the population, but, as this study has amply demonstrated, it is possible to be lean and unfit.

As far as severity is concerned, obesity is the graver problem. But being unfit has its consequences too. Strength, agility, and strength suffers. A physically weak body is detrimental to good health.

Many studies have shown that exercise is just as important to fight chronic disease such as cancer as is maintaining a healthy body weight and eating whole, nutritious food. It is difficult for a physically weak body to fight any kind of illness.

As a baby boomer growing up, physical exercise at school was mandatory. Not so nowadays. Schools don't offer physical education due to budget cuts. America's foundation--its future--is our youth. A poor foundation will make America weak and non-competitive. Physical preparedness is just as important as education.

December 24, 2009: In a study involving nearly 87,000 women over a period of 26 years, it was found that those who had underlying coronary heart disease were three times more likely to die of sudden cardiac arrest when they consumed too much trans fats daily. According to the study, the women who died consumed on averge 2.5 percent of daily calories from trans fatty acids. These women were a part of the Nurses' Health Study which was begun in 1980.

Trans fatty acids have been found to be very dangerous. They have been linked to cancer because they interfere with the enzymes the body uses to fight the disease. Trans fats have been associated with diabetes because they interfere with insulin receptors in cell membranes. They also cause a reduced immune response and interfere with the enzymes needed to create sex hormones.

The alarming increase in asthma has been linked in part to trans fats; trans fats can even interfere with your body's processing of omega-3 fatty acids.

Trans fatty acids can be found in commercially produced baked and fried goods. These include but are not limited to french fries, donuts, and potato chips.

Although many food manufacturers have been reducing trans fatty acids in their products, or removing them altogether, they can still be found in thousands of food products. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) allows a manufacturer to claim 0 trans fats or contains no trans fats for their products if the amount is less than 1/2 gram per serving. Most food products contain more than 1 serving and over the course of a day, they add up considerably.

In order to avoid trans fats, especially on products which claim they contain none, you have to become a food detective. Look at the ingredient list. If you see partially hydrogenated, it contains trans fats.

Despite what the government and food manufacturers may allow, all trans fats should be eliminated from your diet. They are that dangerous. ( Here are some common food products and the amounts of trans fats they contain.)

In the push to eliminate trans fats from their products, some food manufacturers are replacing them with interesterified fat. This fat is just as unnatural as trans fats. Your body doesn't know how to process it. This always leads to complications.

You can easily avoid trans fats, interesterified fats, and all other dangerous food ingredients by avoiding processed food. Include raw nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and pecans in your diet. Buy only grass-fed meat and raw milk and butter.