by Mike Adams
A compound found in blueberries shows promise of preventing colon cancer, according to a new study. Scientists at Rutgers University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted a joint study on animals, and found that the compound -- called pterostilbene -- lessened pre-cancerous lesions and inhibited genes involved in inflammation. Researchers presented the study at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in March.
"This study underscores the need to include more berries in the diet, especially blueberries," said study leader Bandaru Reddy, Ph.D., a professor in the chemical biology department at Rutgers. Although the blueberry compound won't cure colon cancer, it represents a strategy for preventing the disease naturally, said Reddy, who specializes in studying the relationship between nutrition and colon cancer.
The researchers studied 18 rats in which colon cancer had been induced in a manner similar to human colon cancer development. All of the animals were placed on a balanced diet, with half of the animals' diets supplemented with pterostilbene. After eight weeks, the rats fed pterostilbene had 57 percent fewer pre-cancerous colon lesions compared to the control group. The researchers also noted that pterostilbene inhibited certain genes involved in inflammation, considered a colon cancer risk factor.
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. It has been linked to a high intake of saturated fats and calories common in Western diets. Pterostilbene may be able to reverse this process, possibly by lowering lipids, Reddy said.
Colon Cleanse Your Way To Better Health
Reddy cited a recent study by co-author Agnes Rimando of the Department of Agriculture. Rimando demonstrated that blueberries, particularly their skins, can lower cholesterol when fed to animals.
Some thirty different species of blueberries are native to North America. The berries are rich in anthocyanins, widely recognized for their antioxidant qualities. Blueberries are also a good source of ellagic acid, which blocks metabolic pathways that can lead to cancer.
Source: Natural News
Eating blueberries slashes colon cancer risk by 57 percent, animal study finds
Milk Destroys Antioxidant Benefits in Blueberries
by: Barbara L. Minton
Not much is better than a bowl of fresh blueberries. Bursting with flavor and sweetness, low in calories, and packed with nutrients and antioxidants, these tiny fruits are anti-aging superstars. There is however one word of caution. Blueberries lose their power when eaten with milk.
Blueberries have a high affinity for milk protein
A new study reported in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine investigated whether antioxidant properties of blueberries were reduced because of their affinity for protein. They assessed the bioavailability of phenolics after consumption of blueberries with and without milk. Phenolics are the active compounds in plants that give blueberries their antioxidant potential.
Volunteers consumed 200 g of blueberries with 200 ml of either water or whole milk. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at intervals following consumption. The samples revealed that ingestion of blueberries with water increased plasma levels and concentrations of caffeic and ferulic acids. When blueberries and milk were ingested together, there was no increase in plasma antioxidant capacity. There was a reduction in the peak plasma concentrations of caffeic and ferulic acids as well as the overall absorption of caffeic acid.
Ferulic acid provides rigidity to cell walls and protects the nervous system. It has a normalizing effect on blood pressure. Caffeic acid is also a powerful protector of neurons. Other research has shown caffeic acid has the potential to prevent neurodegenerative disease.
This study suggests that the best way to gain maximum benefits from blueberries and other fruits eaten for their polyphenol content is to consume them either one hour before protein is consumed, or two hours after.
The effects of ferulic and caffeic acids on neurons may be what give blueberries their ability to influence cognition and learning. A study reported in the August, 2008 journal Nutrition and Neuroscience looked at cognitive impairment in age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's as being due to long-term exposure and increased susceptibility to inflammatory insults. They investigated whether polyphenols in blueberries could reduce the deleterious effects of induced inflammation.
Rats were fed a diet that included a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), or a 2 percent blueberry diet. After two weeks and behavioral evaluation, the rats were examined and total RNA from the hippocampus was extracted to analyze the expression of inflammation-related genes. The researchers found the blueberry diet was able to improve cognitive performance to a much greater degree than was the NSAID diet. Blueberry eaters showed a reduction in several factors influencing the inflammatory response. They concluded that blueberry polyphenols can lessen learning impairments resulting from neurotoxic insult and exert anti-inflammatory actions, perhaps by alteration of gene expression.
Other studies have found that diets rich in blueberries significantly improved both the learning capacity and motor skills of aging animals, making them mentally equivalent to animals much younger.
Blueberries are antioxidant powerhouses
Researchers at Tufts University recently analyzed 60 fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capabilities. Blueberries were tops among all that were studied, ranking highest in the capacity to destroy free radicals. Antioxidants in blueberries neutralize free radical damage to the collagen matrix of cells and tissues that can lead to cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease and cancer.
The pigments that give blueberries their color improve the structure of veins and the vascular system. They enhance the effects of vitamin C and inhibit enzymes from cleaving the collagen matrix. Maintaining a stable collagen matrix is essential for health of bones, tendons, cartilage and connective tissue. The collagen matrix is what keeps skin from wrinkling and sagging.
Eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day including blueberries lowers risk of age-related macular degeneration, the primary cause of vision loss in older adults. Blueberries are loaded with eye healthy and vision preserving carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin, and flavonoids like rutin, resveratrol and quercitin. And they contain a wealth of minerals needed for vision and overall health, like selenium and zinc.
Blueberries are high in the soluble fiber pectin, which has been shown to lower cholesterol. They provide greater cardio-protective antioxidant capability than red wine.
Blueberries' cancer fighting properties are legendary. Ellagitannins is probably the most highly prized compound in blueberries because of its ability to block metabolic pathways that can lead to the initiation and promotion of cancer. A study reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that blueberries inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation and induce programmed cell death. Blueberries contain kaempferol. This compound was shown in the Women's Health Study to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by 40 percent in women who diets provided the greatest amounts. Blueberries also contain pterostilbene, another powerful cancer fighting compound.
Both diarrhea and constipation can be relieved with blueberries. Their tannin concentration helps reduce inflammation in the digestive tract as well as in the urinary tract. They provide safety form the bacteria that cause food borne illnesses.
Blueberries are terrific anti-depressants and mood elevators.
Choosing and using blueberries
For many people seeing the price tag for fresh organic blueberries is a real jolt. Some of the cost can be minimized by buying wild blueberries. These are often the same quality as those certified organic. Frozen blueberries provide all the antioxidant potential and other nutrients found in fresh ones. If you are looking for frozen berries, check the bag to make sure the berries move around freely and are not stuck together, indicating they have been thawed and refrozen. If you like some juice with your blueberries, frozen is the way to go.
As a general rule, the riper the fruit the greater its antioxidant content.
Organic dried blueberries are also a good choice, especially for snacking since the sweetness is accentuated by the drying process. The antioxidant potential of dried blueberries can be as much as four times greater than that of fresh. Organic dried berries will have been dried at temperatures low enough to protect their antioxidant capabilities.
Heat is a destroyer of the antioxidant potential of blueberries, making canned or other processed berries a poor choice. Fresh or frozen blueberries can be pureed and fed to babies. Blueberries in baby food jars will have lost most of their nutritional value.
Sources:
US Highbush Blueberry Council, blueberry.org.
Organic Facts, Health Benefits of Blueberries, organicfacts.net.
Blueberries, WHFoods, whfoods.com.
Natural News
Blueberries, cranberries, strawberries all contain powerful phytochemicals that fight cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol and more
by Mike Adams
Here's more good news on how nature can help you prevent and reverse chronic disease. Berries such as blueberries, cranberries, strawberries and raspberries are rich in disease-fighting phytochemicals that prevent and even reverse serious diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stomach ulcers and even help lower cholesterol levels. The key is to be eating these berries in their raw, whole fruit form rather than trying to eat processed berries or drink fruit drinks made from berries. In order to get the healing phytonutrients, you must get the berries in the freshest form possible -- that means no processed berries, just raw berries, right off the bush or straight from the grocery store.
What is so interesting about these berries is why are they such powerful disease fighters. Berries contain a variety of phytochemicals and antioxidants -- many of these are what give the plants their color but they also add a sense of flavor to the berries. These phytonutrients are extremely powerful compounds for supporting optimum human health; in fact they are far more powerful than any pharmaceutical in terms of providing healthy benefits without dangerous side effects.
Plants are pharmaceutical factories, but unlike human-built pharmaceutical factories, when edible plants create healing phytochemicals they are precisely the compounds that your body needs to be healthy, and they are available without the negative side effects that are frequently associated with prescription drugs. Compared to other fruit sources, berries offer the highest content of antioxidants and phytochemicals for fighting disease. Berries are also rich in many vitamins and minerals, including calcium, magnesium and zinc -- minerals that are frequently deficient in the diets of most Americans.
Now let's take a closer look at the different berries and discuss what's so good about them. Blueberries are perhaps the most powerful berries in terms of antioxidant content: they are high in flavonoids and are known to help protect against prostate cancer, urinary tract infections and cataracts. They are also known to protect against brain damage from strokes and heart disease.
Cranberries are perhaps best known for preventing urinary tract infections, but they have also been shown to prevent breast cancer and reduce stomach ulcers. Cranberries can also be used to help decrease LDL cholesterol levels.
Strawberries are high in antioxidants and vitamin C. They are known to fight heart disease and provide a number of vitamins and minerals that support overall human health.
Raspberries are known for their ability to fight cancer thanks to the phytochemical content and abundant supply of vitamins and minerals. The bottom line is that berries can be an extremely powerful disease-fighting part of your daily diet. Simply choose a variety of berries -- blue, red, and purple -- and be sure to get them into your body on a frequent basis (at least a couple of times each week.) Remember, nature provides everything that your body needs in order to be healthy and prevent chronic disease, but you have to trust nature in order to experience a disease-free life. To do that it's important to give your body the optimum nutrition provided by the fruits and vegetables found in nature... these include not only the berries that have been discussed in this article but also vegetables like broccoli, garlic, ginger, carrots, cabbage and onions.
There exists a dietary system that suggests we should eat a variety of food colors, and this makes a lot of sense from a nutritional standpoint -- as long as you are eating foods that are colored naturally and not colored with artificial colors. It's a fantastic idea to eat a little bit of orange, a little bit of green, a little bit of blue and so on in order to get all of the phytochemicals and antioxidants that your body needs. Attention to the color of foods is especially noted in Asian cultures, where foods are prepared with particular attention to their color content and sometimes food ingredients are added merely for their colors.
In the American diet, however, we tend to eat foods primarily based on their taste, not necessarily on their color. And when we choose foods based on colors, it's typically the colors provided by chemical additives such as sodium nitrite or artificial colors such as FD&C yellow number 2. In reality, these colors are only added by food manufacturers in an effort to trick human consumers into believing their foods are fresh or healthy. In fact there is a strong correlation between the perceived colors of foods and drinks and your body's desire for them. That's because in nature, foods with strong saturated colors such as berries are extremely good for you, so the body possesses a built in wisdom to choose foods that have deep, rich, saturated colors.
Yes, I Want To Lower My Cholesterol And Revitalise My Health!
Pay attention to this innate desire by choosing foods with these colors (and that includes berries and vegetables I have already discussed), but don't let food manufacturing companies fool you into purchasing their products by simply adding artificial colors or printing pretty packaging that shows highly saturated colors for a food item. That's a deception. One of the best examples of this is the sports drinks that look neon red or neon green. This is a consumer deception: the color is simply added as a chemical and has nothing whatsoever to do with the nutritional content of such drinks.
Source: Natural News
Diesel Exhaust Causes Cancer to Grow
By: S.L. Baker
Diesel exhaust smells nasty, looks filthy and can make you cough. But there's an even more important reason to avoid the pollutant that's spouted from countless buses and cars: diesel exhaust is linked to the growth of cancerous tumors. Now researchers at Ohio State University have discovered how diesel fumes can spur on malignancies -- diesel exhaust causes new blood vessels to grow that serve as a food supply for cancerous tumors.
The scientists experimented with mice by creating two conditions that mimic conditions in a human body exposed to diesel fumes. One group of lab rodents was implanted with tiny platforms seeded with normal endothelial cells (the cells that line blood vessels) under their skin. The mice in another group were manipulated so there was ischemia (a loss of blood flow) to their hind limbs and that generated an area of severe hypoxia (lack of oxygen), a condition found in many diseases.
Then, for six hours per day five days a week, both groups of mice were exposed to either diesel exhaust or filtered outdoor air. The rest of the time the animals breathed filtered indoor air. The scientists measured the effects of these these exposures after two weeks, five weeks and eight weeks.
The results of the experiment, which were just published online and are slated to be included in the upcoming print edition of the journal Toxicology Letters, show diesel fumes act like a kind of fuel for blood vessels. Compared to mice breathing filtered air, an eight week exposure to diesel exhaust caused a six-fold increase in new blood vessel formation in the ischemic hind limbs and a four-fold increase in vessel formation in the mice with normal hind legs. The scientists also found more blood vessel growth in the implanted normal cells.
In all, the research team discovered that three types of blood vessel development had taken place areas after exposure to the diesel exhaust: angiogenesis, the development of new capillaries; arteriogenesis, the maturation or re-started growth of existing vessels; and vasculogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. These findings are significant -- and worrisome -- because all of these processes are associated with the growth of cancerous tumors. And it is runaway angiogenesis that especially wreaks havoc in the human body, helping malignancies spread.
What's more, the exhaust exposure levels in the study were designed to mimic the diesel fume exposure that humans regularly receive if they reside in cities and/or commute in heavy traffic. In a statement to the media, the research team pointed out that the tiny size of inhaled diesel particles (most are less than 0.1 microns in diameter) allow the material to penetrate into the human circulatory system, organs and tissues, potentially causing damage anywhere in the body.
"The message from our study is that exposure to diesel exhaust for just a short time period of two months could give even normal tissue the potential to develop a tumor," Qinghua Sun, senior author of the study and an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Ohio State University, said in the media release.
"We need to raise public awareness so people give more thought to how they drive and how they live so they can pursue ways to protect themselves and improve their health. And we still have a lot of work to do to improve diesel engines so they generate fewer particles and exhaust that can be released into the ambient air."
NaturalNews previously reported on additional research that shows diesel fumes could trigger cardiovascular problems, too. Diesel toxins interact with fatty acids found in LDL ("bad") cholesterol to raise the risk of heart disease, according to a study published in the online journal Genome Biology
Source: Natural News
New Threat: Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria Causes Deadly Pneumonia
by: S. L. Baker, features writer
While the talking heads on TV have recently reported that thousands of people in the U.S. are now infected with the new "swine flu", or H1N1, there's another infectious disease problem brewing that has received little attention. The over-use and abuse of antibiotics has produced antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to the National Institutes of Health, over the past forty years, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has changed from a usually controllable nuisance into a serious public health problem.
At first, it was primarily one of the most common hospital-acquired infections. But in recent years, new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, often dubbed "super bugs", have popped up in communities and caused severe, even life-threatening infections in otherwise healthy people, involving the skin, heart, blood or bones.
Now a paper just published in the June edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases discusses an emerging and potentially deadly threat from community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) -- necrotizing, i.e. "flesh eating", pneumonia. And according to previous research published in Nature News, this type of pneumonia is fatal in 75 percent of cases.
Healthy patients hit by flesh-eating bacteria
Doctors at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta write in The Lancet Infectious Diseases article that CA-MRSA has become well known for causing skin and soft-tissue infections that are transmitted by person-to-person contact or contact with contaminated objects. However, now there are increasing cases of CA-MRSA caused pneumonia that kills lung tissue. And those becoming sick with the disease aren't necessarily the old and/or physically weak. In fact, according to the report from the Emory team led by Alicia Hidron, MD, an infectious diseases fellow and Henry Blumberg, MD, professor of medicine and epidemiology at Emory, CA-MRSA pneumonia appears to most commonly affect young and previously healthy patients.
Dr. Hidron and Dr. Blumberg also noted in their paper that, besides causing a high fever, CA-MRSA pneumonia can sometimes cause low blood pressure that progresses to septic shock and requires patients to be placed on mechanical respirators in order to breathe. Another important point discussed in the article may turn out to have special relevance due to the emergence of H1N1 influenza, especially by the time flu season rolls around this fall: potentially deadly CA-MRSA pneumonia appears to occur most commonly following a flu-type illness.
Serious MRSA disease can strike anyone, regardless of age, health or where they live. Outbreaks have occurred among young athletes who play contact sports and among people living in close quarters, such as nursing homes, military facilities, nursing homes, and childcare centers.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases advises using these precautions to help prevent CA-MRSA infections:
• Practice good hygiene.
• Keep cuts and scrapes clean and bandage until healed.
• Avoid contact with other people's wounds or bandages.
• Don't share soiled or used personal items, such as towels, washcloths, razors, or clothes.
• Use hot water and bleach to wash soiled sheets, towels and clothes.
Source: Natural News
Reference:
A.I. Hidron, C.E. Low, E.G. Honig, and H.M. Blumberg
Emergence of community-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain USA300 as a cause of necrotizing community-onset pneumonia. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 9, (2009)
The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance
A NaturalNews Special Report
by Jack Challem
Welcome to "The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance" by Jack Challem, the Nutrition Reporter. In this exclusive report, you'll learn one of the most important health secrets found in nutritional science: the pH secret to good health! Here's what's covered:
• How acidic foods strip your body of minerals.
• Why osteoporosis is actually promoted by the consumption of acidic foods.
• How eating lots of potassium-rich fruits creates a chemical buffer against the ravages of acidic foods.
• The important of your potassium-to-sodium ratio, and how the American diet radically imbalances this all-important nutrient ratio.
• Chloride warning: The average American diet has way too much chloride. Here's how it harms your health.
• Why muscle cramps are actually caused primarily by mineral deficiencies (and how to solve the problem without using dangerous prescription medications).
• How the mass consumption of meat and grains causes the body to become overly acidic.
• Which four foods in the average American diet are the most acidic and lead to the greatest loss of bone mineral density and lean muscle mass.
• Why consuming large amounts of dairy products does nothing to prevent osteoporosis.
• The real cause of osteoporosis, and how to reverse the condition through dietary changes.
• Why your diet is far more important to overall pH level than supplements alone.
• What the Hunter-Gatherer diet can teach us about health in the modern world.
• How to accurately test your own pH levels.
• A list of which foods are the most acidic vs. most alkaline.
• Scientific references supporting the information presented here.
The basic chemistry of pH balance
Back in high school chemistry, we learned about pH: acids had low numbers, alkalines had high numbers, and a pH of 7.0 was neutral. And it all meant absolutely nothing in terms of day-to-day life.
It now turns out that we have a better shot at long-term health if our body's pH is neutral or slightly alkaline. When we tilt toward greater acidity, which can be measured easily, we have a greater risk of developing osteoporosis, weak muscles, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and a host of other health problems.
The solution, according to scientists who have researched "chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis," is eating a diet that yields more alkaline and less acid. Just what kind of diet is that? One that's high in fruits and vegetables. That might not seem like a big surprise, except for a few unexpected twists and turns.
Acid-yielding foods deplete minerals
If the idea of balancing acid and alkaline foods seems a bit off the wall, it does have a somewhat checkered past. Most people, including physicians, aren't familiar with the dangers of acidosis, except in the most extreme situations. Those include lactic acidosis, from overexercise; ketoacidosis, when diabetes start burning their own fat; and renal acidosis, which can be a sign of kidney failure.
The original scientific research on acid-yielding and alkaline-yielding foods dates back to 1914 and was remarkably accurate, according to Loren Cordain, Ph.D., a professor and researcher in the department of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, Fort Collins. Then, in the 1930s and 1940s, the acid-alkaline concept was hijacked by early health food "nuts." Among them, William Hay, M.D., proposed an almost ritualistic eating habit based on food acidity or alkalinity. Since then, most doctors have viewed any discussion of acid and alkaline diets with a skeptical eye.
But the problem with acid-producing eating habits is very real, contends Cordain, a leading expert on the Paleolithic, or Stone Age diet. "After digestion, all foods report to the kidneys as being either acidic or alkaline," he says. "The kidneys are responsible for fluid balance and maintaining a relatively neutral pH in the body."
That's where things get interesting. When acid-yielding foods lower the body's pH, the kidneys coordinate efforts to buffer that acidity. Bones release calcium and magnesium to reestablish alkalinity, and muscles are broken down to produce ammonia, which is strongly alkaline. By the time the response is all over, your bone minerals and broken down muscle get excreted in urine.
Long term, excess acidity leads to thinner bones and lower muscle mass, points out Anthony Sebastian, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco. These problems are compounded by normal aging, which increases acidosis, bone loss, and muscle wasting. Along the way, calcium and magnesium losses can equate to deficiencies, with many ramifications. Both minerals play essential roles in bone formation and normal heart rhythm. Low magnesium levels can cause muscle cramps, arrhythmias, and anxiety.
The four cases of dietary acidosis
Sebastian, regarded at the top researcher in the field of diet-related acidosis, admits that some of the science, at first glance, appears counter-intuitive. For example, acidic and alkaline foods don't usually translate into acid- and alkaline-yielding foods. The distinction is subtle but significant. An acid-yielding food is one that creates a lower, or more acidic, pH. Citrus fruits and tomatoes are acidic, but they have a net alkaline yield once their constituents get to the kidneys.
So if acid foods don't necessarily make for an acid pH, what then happens? Sebastian points to four big issues.
- First, fruits and vegetables are rich in potassium salts, a natural buffer. Eating few of these foods deprives us of potassium, a mineral that protects against hypertension and stroke. According to Cordain's research, humans evolved eating a 10:1 ratio of potassium to sodium, and he regards this ratio as our biological baseline. Today, because of heavily salted processed and fast foods, combined with a low intake of fruits and vegetables, the ratio is now 3:1 in favor of sodium. That reversal, he says, wreaks havoc with pH and our dependency on potassium.
- Second, there has also been a similar reversal in the consumption of naturally occurring bicarbonate (such as potassium bicarbonate) in foods and added chloride (mostly in the form of sodium chloride, or table salt). Bicarbonate is alkaline, where as chloride is acid-yielding. Chloride also constricts blood vessels, and narrows blood vessels reduce circulation, Sebastian says. Because the whole body depends on healthy circulation, vasoconstriction contributes to heart disease, stroke, dementia, and probably every other degenerative disease.
- Third, eating large amounts of animal protein (including meat, fowl, and seafood) releases sulfuric acid though the metabolism of sulfur-containing amino acids, also contributing to greater acidity. This acidic shift can be offset with greater consumption of fruits and vegetables (rich in potassium bicarbonate), but again, most Americans eat these foods sparingly.
- Fourth, grains, such as wheat, rye, and corn, have a net acid-yielding effect, regardless of whether they are in the form of white bread, breakfast cereal, pasta or whole grains. "Grains are the most frequently consumed plant food in the United States," says Sebastian, and account for 65 percent of the plant foods eaten by Americans. "In addition to their acid yield, grains displace more nutritious fruits and vegetables," he adds.
pH, acidosis and osteoporosis
The strongest evidence in support of maintaining an acid-alkaline balance relates to osteoporosis. "Consider that Americans consume more calcium-rich dairy foods than almost every other nation, and we have one of the highest rates of osteoporosis," says Cordain. "There's a disconnect here. Dairy may be rich in calcium, but most dairy foods also produce an acid yield."
Susan Brown, Ph.D., who heads the nonprofit Osteoporosis Education Project in East Syracuse, N.Y., frames the acid-alkaline issue as one of mineral adequacy and depletion. "It's a little like over-farming and depleting mineral levels in soil," she says. "If we eat foods that create an acidic pH in the body, we will deplete our bones of minerals and our muscles of protein.
Brown described a client named Janet whose doctor diagnosed her at age 52 with osteopenia, a demineralizing of bone that often foreshadows osteoporosis. At 55, Janet began following Brown's recommendations for eating more fruits and vegetables, taking supplements, and exercising. Three years later, Janet was clearly building bone mass in her spine and hip, even while going through menopause.
Meanwhile, Sebastian acknowledges that he may have only scratched the surface when it comes to the health problems related to mild life-long acidosis. He says low-grade acidosis increases insulin resistance, the hallmark of both prediabetes and full-blown type-2 diabetes. It increases the risk of kidney stones and kidney failure. And one study suggests that it might even alter gene activity and raise the risk of breast cancer. He admits that no one yet knows all the consequences of a fundamental shift in the body's acid-alkaline balance, but he suspects it's far reaching.
Can supplements help?
Millions of women dutifully take calcium supplements to help maintain their bone mass and reduce their chances of developing severe osteoporosis with age. But do supplements have any real benefit in alkalizing the body?
Brown does see a benefit from supplements, but she says it's important to stem calcium and magnesium losses from acid-yielding eating habits. "Acid-alkaline balance is overwhelmingly a food issue," she emphasizes. "Your pH is really a sign of how your body is managing your mineral reserves."
Potassium has turned out to be a crucial mineral for maintaining bone. High-potassium diets -- that is, those rich in fruits and vegetables -- slow bone loss, mainly by promoting alkalinity. So do supplements, such as potassium citrate and bicarbonate. While potassium citrate is commonly sold, the bicarbonate form is available only on prescription. Still, it's hard for supplements to compete with the potassium in foods. A handful of raisins, two dates, or a small banana each provide more than 300 mg of potassium.
FREE ALKALINE DIET GUIDE & RECIPES ACCESS
If you take supplements, opt for the citrate form, such as calcium citrate and magnesium citrate. (Potassium supplements must by law be under 99 mg because of a risk of arrhythmias at high doses.) Fumarate, aspartate, and succinate forms of minerals also have an alkalizing effect, and all get Brown's blessing. In one study, Sebastian found that potassium citrate supplements protected against calcium losses, even when people ate a high salt diet. Buffered vitamin C, which is ascorbic acid formulated with the carbonate forms of calcium, magnesium, and potassium, might also have a slight alkalizing effect.
Some supplements, such as coral calcium, have been promoted as a way to restore an alkaline pH. But coral calcium is largely calcium carbonate, which is far less expensive as a generic supplement. It's also not as well absorbed as the citrate form.
What should you eat for proper pH levels?
Nutritional recommendations are as varied as political and religious beliefs and, sometimes, held to just as stridently. Cordain tries to rise about the controversies by looking to our biological and genetic heritage.
He points out that people, until relatively recently, were hunter-gatherers whose diets consisted of a combination of lean animal foods (including fish) and uncultivated vegetables and fruits. Based on his analyses of the diets of 229 pre-modern cultures, Cordain has calculated that the "average" ancient diet consisted of 55 percent animal foods and 45 percent plant foods. The animal foods included healthy fats as well as protein, and the plant foods consisted of leaves, stalks, fruit, seeds, tubers, and roots. Grains and cow's milk didn't enter the picture until about 7,000 to 10,000 years ago, too short a time for genetic adaptation.
Cordain's recommendations, found in The Paleo Diet and The Paleo Diet for Athletes include too many veggies to be a knockoff of the Atkins' high-protein diet. (Eating very lean meats, he adds, reduces saturated fats amount to only 10 percent of calories.) Nor do you have to be a vegetarian to gain the alkalizing benefits of fruits and vegetables. "It takes about 35 percent of total calories as fruits and veggies to produce a net alkaline load," he explains. "What's so hard about one-third of your plate being veggies?"
Still, if you have visions of veggies coming out of your ears, the answer is really simple. Cordain, Sebastian, and Brown suggest cutting back on breads, pastas, and other grain-based foods, as well as "high-glycemic" foods such as potatoes. They're all nutrient-poor foods, compared with protein and veggies.
"It's all another scientific justification for what your mother always told you," notes Brown. "Eat your fruits and veggies."
How to test your own pH
You can test your own pH simply and inexpensively. All you need are some pH test strips. Tear off two three-inch strips. As you as you awaken, before you drink or eat anything, put some saliva on the test strip. Compare the color to a pH color chart that comes with the test strips. Next, measure the pH of your second urination of the morning. To do this, urinate on the strip or collect the urine in a plastic or glass (not paper) cup and dip the test strip. Again, compare the color to the pH color chart.
Decker Weiss, N.M.D., of Scottsdale, Arizona, recommends doing the saliva and urine tests for 10 mornings in a row. "Ignore the top three and bottom three tests because they're extremes. Average the remaining four to determine your pH," he says. Weiss aims for a pH of 6.8 to 7 in his heart patients, and 7.2 to 7.4 in his osteoporosis patients. You can retest a few weeks after changing your eating habits.
You can order the test strips from www.alkalineforlife.com or by calling 888.206.7119. One roll, which is good for a few dozen tests, is $13.95.
The pH of common substances
14.0 Sodium Hydroxide: Alkaline
13.0 Lye
11.0 Ammonia
10.5 Milk of Magnesia
8.3 Baking Soda
7.4 Human Blood
7.0 Pure Water: Neutral
6.6 Milk: Acid
4.5 Tomatoes
4.0 Wine and Beer
3.0 Apples
2.2 Vinegar
2.0 Lemon Juice
1.0 Battery Acid
0.0 Hydrochloric acid
Acid-Yielding Foods
Spaghetti
Corn flakes
While rice
Rye bread
White bread
Whole milk
Lentils
Beef
Pork
Very Acid-Yielding Foods
Parmesan cheese
Processed (soft) cheeses
Hard cheeses
Gouda cheese
Cottage cheese
Brown rice
Rolled oats
Whole wheat bread
Peanuts
Walnuts
Salami
Luncheon meat, canned
Liver sausage
Chicken
Cod
Herring
Trout
Eggs
Alkaline-Yielding Foods
Apricots
Kiwifruit
Cherries
Bananas
Strawberries
Peaches
Oranges
Lemon juice
Pears
Pineapple
Peaches
Apples
Watermelon
Celery
Carrots
Zucchini
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Green peppers
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Lettuce
Green beans
Onions
Mushrooms
Mineral water
Very Alkaline-Yielding Foods
Spinach
Raisins
Dates
Note: All fruits and vegetables are alkaline yielding, unless they have been pickled or marinated.
About the author
Jack Challem, known as The Nutrition Reporter(tm), is a personal nutrition coach based in Tucson, Arizona. Jack is one of America's most trusted nutrition and health writers, and has written about research on nutrition, vitamins, minerals, and herbs for more than 30 years.
Common Spices Work Better than Aspirin to Stop Blood Clots
by: Barbara Minton, Natural Health Editor
Spices do a whole lot more than liven up food. New research has found that the active ingredients in several common spices prevent platelet aggregation and blood clot formation up to 29 times better than aspirin, and without the side effects.
Scientists in India have done extensive testing to determine the health benefits of spices traditionally used in Indian cuisine. In the latest research to come from the Central Food Technological Research Institute, they evaluated the effect of the principle spice active compounds eugenol, capsaicin, piperine, quercetin, curcumin, cinnamaldehyde, and allyl sulphide on human platelet aggregation. They demonstrated that each compound evaluated was able to significantly inhibit blood clotting. Furthermore, the compounds performed their anti-platelet aggregation activity against several different factors that promote the clotting of blood.
Eugenol and capsaicin were found to be the most potent inhibitors of arachidonic acid induced platelet aggregation. This ability was shown by the other tested compounds in the declining order of curcumin, cinnamaldehyde, piperine, allyl sulphide, and quercetin. Eugenol was found to be 29-fold more potent than aspirin in inhibiting ararachidonic acid induced human platelet aggregation. Both eugenol and capsaicin inhibited production of clotting factors in a dose-dependent manner. Eugenol-mediated inhibition of platelet aggregation was further confirmed by dose-dependent decrease in malondialdehyde in platelets. Platelet formation induced by collagen and calcium were also inhibited by eugenol and capsaicin, although to a lesser degree. (Prostaglandins Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids, June 4)
Cardiovascular disease and inflammation often go hand in hand. Earlier research by this team of scientists found that eugenol was highly effective at inhibiting inflammatory conditions in humans. (Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, January, 2006)
Spices are powerful medicines
Eugenol is the active compound that gives cloves their aroma. It can also be extracted from cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon balm. Eugenol appears as a clear or pale yellow oily liquid that is slightly water soluble. It is used medicinally as a local antiseptic and analgesic. It has antioxidant properties and is often used in lotions and perfumes, as well as in artificial vanilla flavoring.
Spicing up food with cloves is one way to get this active compound. Eugenol is also available as essential oil for use in lotion and massage oil, or as aromatherapy in diffusers. Some clove oil products for internal use are also available. Drops are generally placed under the tongue.
It is possible to consume too much eugenol with serious consequences. The suggested amount on the bottle should not be exceeded.
Capsaicin is the active compound in hot peppers and the one that creates the heat. It is found in hot sauce, chili peppers, or as cayenne pepper. Aside from reducing platelet aggregation, capsaicin has a distinguished history as a cancer fighter through its ability to make cancer cells die. It is particularly effective against prostate and other hormone dependent cancers. Capsaicin sooths the digestive tract and may be a cure for inflammatory bowel disease. Eating chili peppers has been shown to protect against the effects of aspirin on the stomach.
Capsaicin protects the heart through other mechanisms besides inhibition of platelet aggregation. It reduces cholesterol and triglycerides, and has been shown able to dissolve fibrin, another action through which it can protect against blood clots. Cultures around the world that use hot peppers liberally have significantly lower rates of heart attack and stroke than cultures that do not.
Getting red pepper into the diet is easy. It is often kept on kitchen tables in the form of hot sauce, and sprinkled on meat, fish, side dishes, and snacks. Hot sauce is a natural accompaniment to Mexican foods. Chili made with fresh tomatoes and hot peppers offers the two major players against prostate cancer in one meal. Even a simple bowl of beans gets up to dance when hot sauce is added.
For anyone wanting a quantifiable amount of capsaicin, there are capsules available.
Curcumin is one of the best known herbal healers. It is the active ingredient in turmeric, one of the staples of Indian cooking. Turmeric has been used for centuries to help treat health conditions and is also a tradition in Chinese medicine. It has recently been shown to strengthen and order cell membranes, making cells more resistant to infection and malignancy. Turmeric treats digestive issues, arthritis, menstrual problems, and liver and gallbladder issues. It is one of the best natural pain relievers and has shown to be more effective at relieving pain that NSAIDS such as ibuprofen, without side effects. Turmeric also offers strong defense against colitis.
While curcumin is preventing blood clot formation, it is also preventing the oxidation of cholesterol, offering protection against blood vessel damage and plaque build up that can lead to heart attack and cancer. There is even mounting evidence that curcumin can keep away neurogenerative disease through its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and act as an antioxidant.
Turmeric can spice up anything from baked potatoes to elaborate curries. It is a highly tasty addition to lentils. Both turmeric and curcumin are widely available in capsule form.
Cinnamaldehyde comes from cinnamon and provides that heavenly fragrance and spicy taste loved by almost everyone from childhood on. Cinnamon has been a popular healer for more than 2000 years, and is a powerful regulator of blood sugar levels. Taking one half teaspoon a day can completely normalize blood sugar for many people. Cinnamon has a beneficial impact on cholesterol, lowering LDL levels. It is a digestive aid and antibacterial.
Piperine is what gives black pepper its kick. It provides an overall health boost and is effective against colon cancer and inflammation. Sprinkling black pepper on food increases the bioavailability of its nutrients. Piperine can be ordered in capsule or tablet form from online retailers, and is a great addition to other supplements, increasing their bioavailability.
Allyl sulfide is found in the oil of garlic and is one of the compounds that gives it such a unique odor. The health benefits of garlic are legendary. Allyl sulfide is not available as a supplement and must be obtained by eating garlic or buying garlic supplements. Crush a clove of fresh organic garlic just before eating and add it to your food. The taste will be sensational, and you will get all the benefits garlic has to offer. Many of these benefits are lost if garlic is added to food while it is cooking.
Buy traditional spices from a spice shop
Cloves, red pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, and garlic are all sold at traditional supermarkets and discount stores, often in ground form. These products may add a small amount of flavor to food, but they are deficient for anyone trying to get their health benefits.
To buy high quality herbs, visit a local spice shop or order them from a spice retailer online. This way you can get organic herbs that have their full range of nutrients and are not irradiated or sprayed with pesticide.
When you order herbs as tablets or capsules, unless the product states it is organic, it is not. Organic herbs sold in capsule form are difficult to find and are quite expensive. It is much more economical to purchase from a spice shop. The top spice shops package their spices in glass bottles that assure of a tight seal with no air seepage. They can be kept in the freezer for many months.
Taking a quantified dose of a whole herb that is not encapsulated may seem like a chore, but it can be quickly gotten used to. Remember that these are herbs, not drugs, so there is not the need to be overly precise about the amount taken. Once you have established the amount you wish to take, put it in a 1/8 or 1/4 sized teaspoon, open your mouth, place it on the back of your tongue, and swallow with water or tea. A teaspoon of bee pollen makes a wonderful chaser, providing all the nutrients needed for synergy with the herbs.
Source: Natural News
Chinese Herbal Medicine: The Longevity Factor and on Living to 197 Years
By: Christopher Gussa, citizen journalist
With all of the marvelous inner-workings of the herbal TCM system (Traditional Chinese Medicine system) and its powerful and complex systematic energy formulas for healing practically anything, it is still the longevity factors of a few single tonic herbs that amaze me the most.
Of about 9,000 TCM herbs (officially used in TCM and fully understood in their energy factors) there are about 100 that can truly contribute to a long healthy life. (These are in the "Superior Tonic Herb" classification.) About 40 of these herbs are quite remarkable in there abilities to prolong life with very little signs of ageing.
If I were to narrow it down a bit further, at least on a personal level, I would say the most important herbs for longevity would come down to about fifteen with He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) being the most important. Followed by Jiao Gu Lan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum), Go Qi Zi (Lycium), Ci Wu Jai (Siberian Ginseng Root), Ren Shen (Panax Ginseng root), Peng Da Wan (Gota Kola), Wu Wei Zi (Schizandrae), San Zhu yu (Cornus Fruit), Tien Men Dong, Yin Yang Hou and others. However many people will have different balances of yin and yang in their bodies so there is not one set group of herbs that would truly be the absolute best for everybody.
There is simply not enough room here to go into all these but below are links with photos and an in-depth look at each of these herbs.
* He Shou Wu: A blood, kidney, and liver tonic - (http://plantcures.com/foti.html)
* Jiao Gu Lan: Tonifies Qi, and blood - (http://plantcures.com/jiaogulan.html)
* Go Qi Zi: A kidney and liver yin tonic - (http://plantcures.com/berries.html)
* Siberian Ginseng: A powerful Adaptogenic Root - (http://plantcures.com/sibgin.html)
* Ren Shen: Tonic to digestive Qi and all Qi - (http://plantcures.com/Ginseng.html)
* Ping Da Wan: Brain and CNS Tonic - (http://plantcures.com/gotukola.html)
* Wu Wei Zi: An Adaptogenic herb - (http://plantcures.com//wuweizi.html)
* Shan Zho Yu: Yin and Yang Tonic - (http://plantcures.com/herbsforbladder.html)
* Tien Men Dong: Lungs, Jing, and Shen - (http://plantcures.com/asparagus.html)
* Yin Yang Huo: Yang/Jing Tonic - (http://plantcures.com/Epimedium.html)
Many of the conclusions that I have come to about these herbs as used for longevity are based on the findings and personal applications of Master Li Ching Yuen who lived to the incredible age of at least 197! (Some sources say the records show he lived to be 256 as you will read, however I personally think this is the Chinese government "pushing it" a bit but who knows!)
In 1933, newspapers all over the world reported Li Ching Yuen's death. You can read the New York Times article exactly as it appeared by going to this link: - (http://plantcures.com/Lichingyun.html) .
Modern science has a very hard time admitting anyone ever lived past 122. This is due in part to lack of legal birth records but also, I believe, because they really do not want to admit that some very natural nutritional energy factors derived from nothing more than carefully planned eating and exercise could far surpass anything all of science has to offer when it comes to the longevity factor.
According to all the data I could find (I have been fascinated with this and have researched this over the last 20 years or so) It seems that Li Ching Yuen consumed mostly a diet of plants and fruit. There is evidence that he ate fish sometimes and wild meat only about twice a year.
The herbs that he consumed regularly were He Shou Wu, Ginseng, and Gou Qi Zi (Wolfberries). He ate the Wolfberries raw and cooked the He Shou Wu with the Ginseng.
There is evidence that he also consumed Ping Da Wan (Gotu Kola leaves) regularly both fresh as a salad and brewed as a tea. There is even some evidence that he may have also put these four herbs (along with Dang Gui and Gan Cao (Chinese Licorice Root) in strong liquor as a tincture and drank one swallow every day.
According to Chinese records, Li Ching Yuen was born in Chyi Jiang Hsie, Szechuan province in 1677. He spent most of his life in the mountain ranges gathering herbs and learning the knowledge of longevity methods.
In 1748, when he was 71 years old, he moved to Kai Hsien to join the Chinese army as a teacher of the martial arts and as a tactical advisor.
In 1927, Li Ching Yuen was invited by General Yang Sen to visit him in Wann Hsien, Szechuan. The general was fascinated by his youthfulness, strength and prowess in spite of his extremely advanced age. His famous portrait, seen in the New York Times article, was photographed there.
Returning home, he died a year later of natural causes. Many claim that he told friends, "I have done all I have to do in this world. I will now go home," before he died and then sat back with a smile and simply died without one sign of stress.
After Li's death, General Yang Sen investigated the truth about his claimed background and age. He wrote a report that was later published. In 1933, people interviewed from his home province remembered seeing him when they were children, and that he hadn't aged much during their lifetime. Others reported that he had been friends with their grandfathers
One of his disciples, the Taiji Quan Master Da Liu told of Master Li's story: At 130 years old Master Li encountered an older hermit in the mountains who taught him Baguazhang and a set of Qigong exercises with breathing instructions, movements training coordinated with specific sounds, and dietary recommendations. (This is where he was told of the importance of eating the Go Qi Zi berry.) Da Liu reports that his master said that his longevity "is mostly due to the fact that I performed the exercises every day -- regularly, correctly, and with sincerity -- for 120 years."
While we can all greatly benefit from the herbal knowledge that Master Li has given us which can perhaps help most anyone to live a longer healthier life, I still believe the greatest wisdom that can be gained for our health's sake from this remarkable man is something he often said about living a long happy life: "Sit like a tortoise, sleep like a dog, Walk up right and sprightly like a pigeon and most importantly, always keep a quiet heart"
Rest in peace Master Li and thanks for all you taught us.
Source: NaturalNews
Papaya is Tasty Way to Fight Cancer and Poor Digestion
by: Barbara Minton, Natural Health Editor
Sweet and succulent with a satiny consistency, papaya was referred to as the "fruit of the angels" by Christopher Columbus. Slice open a papaya and see hundreds of shiny black seeds that all need to get their start in life from the nutrition found in the fruit. This implies that fruit must be power-packed. Scientists have documented this common sense observation by finding that papaya promotes digestive health and intestinal cleansing, fights inflammation, and supports the immune system. It protects lung and joint health, revitalizes the body, and boosts energy levels. Papaya is a potent cancer fighter that is highly effective against hormone related cancers as well as other cancers. New research shows papaya can stop the growth of breast cancer cells, halt metastasis, and normalize the cell cycle.
Papaya was the only studied food found to halt breast cancer
Scientists studied 14 plant foods commonly consumed in Mexico to determine their ability to halt breast cancer cell growth. These included avocado, black sapote, fuava, mango, prickly pear cactus (nopal), pineapple, grapes, tomato, and papaya. They also evaluated beta-carotene, total plant phenolics, and gallic acid contents and antioxidant capacity. They found that only papaya had a significant effect on stopping breast cancer cell growth. (International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, May)
Papaya is a store-house of cancer fighting lycopene
The intense orangey-pink color of papaya means it is chock full of cancer fighting carotenoids. Not only beta carotene, but lycopene is found in abundance. The construction of lycopene makes it highly reactive toward oxygen and free radicals. Scientists at the University of Illinois think this anti-oxidant activity contributes to its effectiveness as a cancer fighting agent. Epidemiological studies have indicated an inverse relationship between lycopene intake and prostate cancer risk. They showed that oral lycopene is highly bioavailable, accumulates in prostate tissue, and is localized in the nucleus of prostate epithelial cells.
In addition to antioxidant activity, other experiments have indicated that lycopene induces cancer cell death, anti-metastatic activity, and the up-regulation of protective enzymes. Phase I and II studies have established the safety of lycopene supplementation. (Cancer Letter, October 8, 2008)
Prostate cancer was the subject of a study in Australia that looked at 130 prostate cancer patients and 274 hospitalized controls. The scientists found that men who consumed the most lycopene-rich fruits and vegetables such as papaya were 82% less likely to have prostate cancer. In this study, green tea also exerted a powerful anti-cancer effect. When lycopene-rich foods were consumed with green tea, the combination was even more effective, an outcome the researchers credited to their synergy. (Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007)
Isothiocyanates found in papaya restore the cell cycle to eliminate cancer
Organo-sulfur compounds called isothiocyanates are found in papaya. In animal experiments, isothiocyanates protected against cancers of the breast, lung, colon pancreas, and prostate, as well as leukemia, and they have the potential to prevent cancer in humans. Isothiocyanates have shown themselves capable of inhibiting both the formation and development of cancer cells through multiple pathways and mechanisms. (International Journal of Oncology), October, 2008)
Researchers in Japan clarified the mechanisms of action in a type of isothiocyanate found in papaya known as BITC, that underlies the relationship between cell cycle regulation and appropriate cell death. When cancerous cells die on schedule, they are no longer a problem. The researchers established that BITC exerted cancer cell killing effects that were greater in the proliferating cells than in the quiescent cells. Cancer cells that are proliferating are much more dangerous than cancer cells that are in a state of dormancy. (Forum of Nutrition, 2009)
Enzymes from papaya digest proteins including those that protect tumors
The fruit and other parts of the papaya tree, also known as the paw paw tree, contain papain and chymopapain, powerful proteolytic enzymes that facilitate chemical reactions in the body. They promote digestion by helping to break down proteins from food into amino acids that can be recombined to produce protein useable by humans. Proteolytic enzymes protect the body from inflammation and help heal burns. They do a good job of digesting unwanted scar tissue both on the skin and under its surface.
Research has shown that the physical and mental health of people is highly dependent on their ability to produce proteins they can use effectively. However, as people age, they produce less of the enzymes needed to effectively digest proteins from food and free needed amino acids. They are left with excessive amounts of undigested protein which can lead to overgrowth of unwanted bacteria in the intestinal tract, and a lack of available amino acids.
Eating papaya after a meal promotes digestion, and helps prevent bloating, gas production, and indigestion. It is quite helpful after antibiotic use to replenish friendly intestinal bacteria that were the casualties in the war against the unwanted bacteria. When the intestinal tract is well populated with friendly bacteria, the immune system is strengthened, and can better protect against flu and cancer.
Being a proteolytic enzyme, papain is able to destroy intestinal parasites, which are composed mostly of protein. To rid the body of intestinal parasites, half a cup of papaya juice can be alternated each hour for twelve consecutive hours with the same amount of cucumber or green bean juice.
Papaya contains fibrin, another useful compound not readily found in the plant kingdom. Fibrin reduces the risk of blood clots and improves the quality of blood cells, optimizing the ability of blood to flow through the circulatory system. Fibrin is also important in preventing stokes. Proteolytic enzymes containing fibrin are a good idea for long plane rides to minimize the potential of blood clots in the legs. People who sit at a desk all day might want to use proteolytic enzymes too.
Proteolytic enzymes are able to digest and destroy the defense shields of viruses, tumors, allergens, yeasts, and various forms of fungus. Once the shield is destroyed, tumors and invading organisms are extremely vulnerable and easily taken care of by the immune system.
Undigested proteins can penetrate the gut and wind up in the bloodstream where they are treated by the immune system as invaders. If too many undigested proteins are floating around, the immune system becomes overburdened and unable to attend to the other tasks it was meant to do. Proteolytic enzymes can digest these rogue proteins, freeing up the immune system.
Papaya offers luscious taste and super nutrition
Papayas are native to Central America. They were disbursed by Spanish and Portuguese explorers who journeyed to India, the Philippines and Africa. Today, most commercially available papaya is produced in the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Papaya adds the sunlight of the tropics to summer drinks while flooding the body with high class antioxidants such as carotenes, vitamin C and flavonoids. It is rich in several B vitamins including folate and pantothenic acid. It contains ample amounts of potassium, and plenty of magnesium, the mineral most deficient in Americans. It is also a good source of fiber.
Try getting some of these nutrients with a Papaya-Banana Smoothie
Ingredients
1 cup of whatever kind of milk pleases you
1/4 cup Greek style yogurt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 ripe papaya, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 banana, peeled and sliced
1 cup ice cubes
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a large glass and garnish with lime.
Source : Natural News
Eye Floaters and Spots
By Judith Lee and Gretchyn Bailey; reviewed by Vance Thompson, MD
You may sometimes see small specks or clouds moving in your field of vision; they are called floaters. You can often see them when looking at a plain background, like a blank wall or blue sky.
Floaters are actually tiny clumps of gel or cells inside the vitreous, the clear jelly-like fluid that fills the inside of your eye.
Floaters may look like specks, strands, webs or other shapes. Actually, what you are seeing are the shadows of floaters cast on the retina, the light-sensitive part of the eye.
Eye Floaters and Spots: Symptoms and Signs
If a spot or shadowy shape passes in front of your field of vision or to the side, you are seeing a floater. Because they are inside your eye, floaters move with your eyes when you try to see them.
You may also see flashes of light. These flashes occur more often in older people and usually are caused by mechanical stimulation of photoreceptors when the gel-like vitreous occasionally tugs on the light-sensitive retina. They may be a warning sign of a detached retina.
Flashes also occur after a blow to the head, often called "seeing stars."
Some people experience flashes of light that appear as jagged lines or "heat waves" in both eyes, often lasting 10-20 minutes. These types of flashes are usually caused by a spasm of blood vessels in the brain, which is called a migraine.
If a headache follows the flashes, it is called a migraine headache. However, jagged lines or "heat waves" can occur without a headache. In this case, the light flashes are called an ophthalmic migraine, or a migraine without a headache.
Vitreous detachment
Clumps can occur when the vitreous gel begins to liquefy or shrink, usually with aging, and detaches from the retina.
Spots and eye floaters
If you have floaters, they'll likely look like this when you peer up at a bright, blue sky. What you see is actually the shadows cast by clumps of vitreous gel when light shines past them onto the retina, where vision processing occurs.
What Causes Eye Floaters and Spots?
When people reach middle age, the gel-like vitreous begins to liquefy and contract. Some parts of the vitreous form clumps or strands inside the eye.
The vitreous gel pulls away from the back wall of the eye, causing a posterior vitreous detachment.
It is a common cause of floaters, and it is more common for people who:
* have had inflammation inside the eye;
* are nearsighted;
* have undergone cataract surgery;
* have had YAG laser surgery of the eye.
Treatment for Spots and Floaters
Most spots and floaters in the eye are harmless and merely annoying. Many will fade over time and become less bothersome.
Sometimes people are interested in surgery to remove floaters, but doctors are willing to perform such surgery only in rare instances.
However, the sudden appearance of a significant number of floaters, especially if they are accompanied by flashes of light or other vision disturbances, could indicate a retinal detachment or other serious problem in the eye.
If you suddenly see new floaters, visit your eye doctor immediately.
Source: All About Vision
Soy Protein Used in "Natural" Foods Bathed in Toxic Solvent Hexane
by: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Virtually all "protein bars" on the market today are made with soy protein. Many infant formula products are also made with soy protein, and thousands of vegetarian products (veggie burgers, veggie cheese, "natural" food bars, etc.) are made with soy protein. That soy protein is almost always described as safe and "natural" by the companies using it. But there's a dirty little secret the soy product industry doesn't want you to know: Much of the "natural" soy protein used in foods today is bathed in a toxic, explosive chemical solvent known as hexane.
To determine the true extent of this hexane contamination, NaturalNews joined forces with the Cornucopia Institute (www.Cornucopia.org) to conduct testing of hexane residues in soy meal and soy grits using FDA-approved and USDA-approved laboratories. The Cornucopia Institute performed the bulk of this effort, and NaturalNews provided funding to help cover laboratory costs.
The results proved to be worrisome: Hexane residues of 21ppm were discovered in soy meal commonly used to produce soy protein for infant formula, protein bars and vegetarian food products.
These laboratory results appear to indicate that consumers who purchase common soy products might be exposing themselves (and their children) to residues of the toxic chemical HEXANE -- a neurotoxic substance produced as a byproduct of gasoline refining.
But how dangerous is hexane, exactly? Is it something that could be dangerous at a few parts per million? And which soy-based products on the market right now might be contaminated with hexane?
To answer these questions, NaturalNews looked into public documents surrounding Martek Biosciences Corporation, a company that manufactures DHA for infant formula, using hexane for extraction.
We found disturbing details about Martek, including a documented explosion in the wastewater treatment system downstream from the manufacturing plant. This explosion was caused by hexane pollution.
We also found documents revealing Martek's application for permission to pollute hexane into the environment, as well as a planned emission cap that would put the company just under the limit for being considered a "major polluter" of Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Additional documents reveal concerning information about the safety of Martek's oils used in infant formula. All this information is being released in tomorrow's feature story on NaturalNews, so be sure to check back to read that. The remainder of this story focuses on the use of hexane in soy products.
What you probably never knew about Hexane extraction
To learn more about the use of hexane in the health industry -- and in soy products in particular -- we turn to the Cornucopia Institute's recently-published report called Behind the Bean (http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/05/s...)
This report contains some of the most shocking information you've probably ever read about the possible dangers of this chemical solvent used in the processing of soy. Here are some highlights of what it explains about hexane: (Quotation marks indicate exact verbiage from the Behind the Bean report.)
• Hexane is a petroleum chemical produced as a by-product of gasoline refining.
• "Hexane is used to process nearly all conventional soy protein ingredients and edible oils and is prohibited when processing organic foods."
• Soybeans are bathed in hexane as part of their processing by food manufacturers.
• "Hexane is a neurotoxic chemical that poses serious occupational hazards to workers, is an environmental air pollutant, and can contaminate food."
• Hexane has been detected as a chemical contaminant in soy-based foods.
• There is no requirement that food companies test their products for hexane residues (including soy-based infant formula).
• Soy protein isolate and texturized soy protein (TVP) are made using hexane baths.
• "The soy protein ingredients in most nonorganic foods such as vegetarian burgers and nutrition bars are processed with the use of hexane."
• Shocker: "Products such as Clif Bars with the label "made with organic oats and soybeans" are required by law to have 70% organic ingredients -- the remaining 30%, however, can legally be hexane extracted."
Soybean processing releases hexane into the environment
Perhaps one of the most shocking realizations in all this is that soybean processing facilities release huge amounts of hexane chemicals into the environment. It is an unavoidable part of the hexane extraction process, and right now tens of millions of pounds of hexane are being released into the atmosphere each year by soy processing companies like Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill.
Here are more startling facts about the release of hexane chemicals by soybean processing facilities: (cited from Behind the Bean by the Cornucopia Institute) (http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/05/s...) (Quotation marks indicate a direct quotation from the Cornucopia Institute's report. Non-quotation marks indicate paraphrasing of this source.)
• Soybean processing plants release hexane into both the air and water.
• Hexane is considered by the EPA to be a hazardous air pollutant. It defines this as airborne compounds "that cause or may cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental and ecological effects."
• "In 2007, the last year for which data is available from the EPA Toxics Release Inventory, grain processors were responsible for more than two-thirds of all hexane emissions in the United States, releasing 21 million pounds of this hazardous air pollutants."
• A soy processing facility owned by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in Decatur Illinois reportedly released almost 2 million pounds of hexane into the environment in a single year! Each year in Illinois, ADM, Cargill, Bunge and other companies release nearly 5 million pounds of hexane into the environment.
• "Solae, a major supplier of soy protein ingredients found in vegetarian burgers, energy bars, and other "all-natural" foods, emitted nearly one million pounds of hexane, as a pollutant, from its factories in Ohio and Illinois. Its plant in Bellevue, Ohio, is the nation's seventh largest emitter of hexane, releasing more of this hazardous air pollutant than other major sources such as Exxon Mobil's oil refinery plant in Baytow, Texas, and Firestone's tire factory in Orange, Texas."
• "On August 29, 2003, two workers died when hexane gas in a Sioux City, Iowa, soybean processing plant ignited."
• Hexane explosions have occurred in Italy, Mexico (200 dead) and South Africa, often killing or injuring chemical plant workers.
• In 2001, a truck carrying 4,500 gallons of hexane caught fire and exploded, injuring the truck driver and setting fire to nearby homes.
• Hexane also poses a serious health danger to workers: "Workers who come in dermal (skin) contact with hexane experience immediate irritation characterized by erythema and hyperemia, and they develop blisters after several hours."
• According to The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the permissible exposure level of hexane is 500 parts per million (ppm) for workers with 8-hour exposures. Exposures of 800 ppm for 15 minutes can cause respiratory tract and eye irritation, as well as symptoms of carnosis. At higher exposure levels, workers can develop symptoms of nausea, vertigo and headaches.
• "Workers who are chronically exposed to hexane levels ranging from 400 to 600 ppm, with occasional exposures of up to 2,500 ppm, have developed polyneuropathy, a neurological disorder. In these cases, distal symmetrical muscle weakness is common, and nerve biopsies show nerve damage. A recently published peer-reviewed article in Environmental Health Perspectives hypothesizes that occupational exposure to hexane may contribute to the development of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, a disease that causes loss of vision. Chronic exposure may also lead to blurred vision, restricted visual field, and optic nerve atrophy."
• Almost no research has been done to test the toxicity of hexane residues in foods -- not on adults, nor infants.
• "According to EPA reports, small quantities of solvent (up to 0.2 percent by volume of oil) can be present in oil after extraction, even after solvent recovery by film evaporators and a distillation stripper. A Swiss team of scientists tested various oils and found hexane residues in some of the tested oils."
• Test results from the Cornucopia Institute's lab tests (funded in part by NaturalNews): < 10 ppm hexane residues in soy oil. Soy meal: 21 ppm hexane residues. Soy grits: 14 ppm hexane residues.
• "Most soy-based infant formulas contain ingredients that have been hexane extracted. In fact, nearly every major ingredient in conventional soy-based infant formula is hexane extracted."
How can you protect yourself and your children from hexane?
As these laboratory tests reveal, hexane residues may be alarmingly widespread across the "natural" foods industry. In fact, as the Cornucopia Institute reports:
"...hexane-extracted soy protein is found in the vast majority of nonorganic foods with soy ingredients that appeal to health-conscious, environmentally conscious, and vegetarian consumers. For example, Gardein™ is a Canadian company that produces meat analogs -- soy-based "chicken" and soy-based "beef" -- for brands and private labels including Yves Cuisine®, Morningstar Farms®, Trader Joe's, and It's All Good Foods®, and for grocery store prepared foods departments such as Whole Foods. While the company describe its process for making these meat analogs as "pure and simple," it does not mention that it starts with hexane-extracted soy protein."
In the United States, there is currently only one way of knowing for sure that the soy-based foods you purchase is free of hexane contaminants: Look for the green USDA Organic seal on the package:
• Beware of claims of "natural" soy -- Even hexane-extracted soy can be called "natural."
• Beware of claims of "made with organic soy" -- Such products may still contain non-organic soy-based ingredients extracted with hexane.
• Beware of "veggie" products containing texturized vegetable protein. Many of these products not only likely contain hexane chemical residues; they also are usually made with yeast extract, a flavoring ingredient that contains MSG, a neurotoxin. (Imagine the impact of these two neurotoxins in combination...)
• Don't feed your infant soy protein. Instead, opt for human breast milk (the best option), or goat's milk formulas such as Genesis Organics (www.GenesisOrganics.com).
The bottom line - the Health Ranger's opinion
From my point of view, these highly disturbing findings about hexane residues appearing in processed soy products just confirm what we've known about these food conglomerates for a long time: Big food companies are serving up poison to infants, teens, adults and senior citizens.
Not only are these food companies bathing their soy products in a neurotoxic chemical, the FDA is once again asleep at the wheel, allowing dangerous chemicals to remain prevalent in the food supply while doing virtually nothing to warn consumers or ban the toxic chemical from soy product processing.
Thus, We the People once again find ourselves in the position of being poisoned by the food companies and betrayed by the FDA. If that sounds familiar, it's because this has happened again and again with toxic ingredients ranging from monosodium glutamate and aspartame to sodium nitrite and petrochemical food colorings.
Big Food and the FDA, in fact, almost appear to be conspiring to poison the population... which just happens to create a windfall of profits for Big Pharma -- the other corporate master of the FDA.
It's a clever scam: Poison the people with hidden chemicals in the food supply, then when their organs start to fail, drug them on monopoly-priced pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, the FDA enforces the whole thing by outlawing real food (like raw almonds or raw organic cow's milk), thereby forcing people to eat chemically-contaminated processed food.
To put icing on the (processed) cake, the FDA allows these companies using toxic chemicals to claim their products are "natural." They even allow some health claims for companies using soy in their formulas -- even when that soy has been bathed in hexane!
Protect yourself from the toxicity of processed foods
There is no limit to the insanity of what goes into the food supply when profits are at stake, it seems. And this use of the toxic solvent hexane to process soy that's used in infant formula, protein bars and "veggie" products is yet another example of why it's smart to avoid nearly ALL factory-made foods, regardless of their health claims.
When you grow your own food (or just buy fresh produce and food staples) and prepare it in your own kitchen, you know what goes into it. You also know what's NOT in it (such as hexane or melamine). It's the only sure way to protect yourself and your family from the dangers of processed foods made by food commodity giants that are motivated by money, not concern for your health. In fact, the attitude about chemical contaminants by many U.S. food giants mirrors the attitude about melamine in infant formula as demonstrated by China's powdered milk manufacturers: "Ah, what's a little melamine gonna hurt anyway?"
But it does hurt. It hurts your health and harms your children. There are 10,000 children on dialysis machines in China who can prove it to you. And that's why, in my opinion, these companies using hexane-contaminated soy protein in their products deserve to be publicly exposed, heavily fined and perhaps even shut down and run out of business.
Why modern society looks the other way on chemical contamination of foods
Why are companies run out of business when salmonella is found in their peanut butter (for example), but when toxic chemical solvents are found in their soy proteins, the mainstream media says nothing, the FDA does nothing, and the whole world pretends it's all just business as usual?
I'll tell you why. There is an irrational, false belief that continues to permeate society today, and it's founded in the lies of Scientism and the reductionist approach to western thinking. That false belief is that chemicals are good for you, but bacteria are bad for you.
This is the whole thinking behind the widespread use of antibiotics (which actually promote hospital superbugs) and the mass fumigation of California almonds (just to make sure they're no longer RAW). It's the reason why raw milk is outlawed, but chemically-contaminated soy milk is legal. It's the reason why the FDA views the food supply as safe only if it's sterile. It's the big lie about food safety, and virtually every mainstream newspaper, TV station and journalist buys into it.
They think salmonella is deadly dangerous, but MSG, aspartame and sodium nitrite are just fine. They believe in the lie that chemicals are safe as long as the FDA doesn't say anything against them!
But it's hogwash. A sterile food supply is a dead food supply. And dead foods don't keep people alive for very long. Hence the slow, torturous death of our aging population. Our people are not living longer; they're dying longer!
In the mean time, avoid all soy products that are not labeled USDA Organic, and don't feed yourself or your babies processed soy protein bathed in toxic hexane.
Source: Natural News
Dry Eye Syndrome
Tears keep your eyes moist, lubricate the surface of the eye for eyelid closure and guard against infection. They also wash away allergens and protect the eye. Without tears, good vision is impossible. Dry eye syndrome is a group of disorders affecting the film of tears over the eye. In the United States, nearly five million people age 50 or older have dry eye syndrome. Of these, more than three million are women and more than one and a half million are men. In addition, tens of millions of Americans experience less severe symptoms of dry eye.
Dry eye syndrome is one of the most common reasons people visit an eye health professional. It occurs most often in the elderly.
The cause of dry eye syndrome is unknown. External factors may aggravate dry eye symptoms, including conditions common in many workplace environments such as prolonged computer use and exposure to air conditioning, heating, dust and allergens. But dry eye syndrome should not be confused with eye allergies, an even more pervasive problem that affects an estimated 20 percent of the U.S. population. Eye allergies are reactions to substances in the environment that can result in some of the same types of discomforts associated with eye dryness.
When you have dry eye syndrome, either you don't produce enough tears, or you have unstable tears or excessive tear evaporation. Both problems cause your eyes to sting or burn, feel scratchy, become irritated and tear excessively. It most commonly occurs in both eyes, but may affect one eye more than the other. People with dry eyes have difficulty wearing contact lenses. They also may develop mucus in or around their eyes. There can be pain and redness in the eye, a feeling of heavy eyelids or blurred, changing or decreased vision. People with more severe cases of dry eye often are also sensitive to light.
Although eye infections are more common in people with dry eye syndrome, irreversible vision loss from dry eye is rare. More commonly, people with dry eye have fluctuating vision and experience problems with tasks requiring visual concentration such as reading, using a computer and driving. Most people with dry eye find the condition to be an uncomfortable nuisance, with many characteristics of a "chronic pain" type of syndrome.
The tear film on your eyes actually consists of the following three major components:
- Lipid. The outer layer of the tear film is covered by an oily layer produced by meibomian glands in the lower and upper eyelids. This layer smoothes the eye's surface and keeps tears from evaporating too fast and helps them stay on the eye.
- Aqueous. The aqueous component is a watery layer that is produced by the lacrimal glands. This layer makes up most of what we normally consider tears. It nourishes the cornea (the clear tissue of the outer protective layer of the eye that transmits light) and the conjunctiva (a thin, clear layer of tissue that covers the white outer surface of the eye). This tear layer also cleanses the eye and washes away foreign particles or irritants that are wrapped up by the other major component—mucin.
- Mucin. The goblet cells of the conjunctiva, as well as the surface cells of the cornea and the conjunctiva, produce this protective lubricant of tears. It helps spread the watery layer of tears across the eye to keep the eye wet, and it traps and wraps up foreign pathogens and debris so they do not damage the ocular surface.
Dry eye occurs most often in older women. Information gathered from the Women's Health Study, a large cohort study in which 25,665 postmenopausal women provided information about the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), suggests that those who use HRT, particularly estrogen alone, are at increased risk of dry eye syndrome. A relatively uncommon but often more serious form of the disorder is associated with rheumatoid arthritis or dry mouth and is called Sjögren's syndrome. Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that attacks the body's lubricating glands, such as the tear and salivary glands. Allergies can also contribute to eye dryness, causing additional eye discomforts such as itchiness, redness, swelling and wateriness.
Although dry eye syndrome has no cure, its symptoms can be treated. Over-the-counter artificial tears that lubricate the eye are the main treatment. Other treatments include eye ointments, antibiotics (both oral and drops) and avoiding environmental triggers such as hair dryers and rooms with low humidity. And in 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription treatment for dry eyes, called Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.5%). This treatment increases the body's ability to produce its own natural tears by treating one of the underlying causes of the disease—inflammation.
In cases of moderate to severe dry eye, tears can be conserved by placement of a temporary or permanent punctal plug into the channel at the inner corner of the eyelid where tears drain into the nose and the back of the throat. And in some cases, a surgical procedure to close the tear ducts is in order.
Source: Healthy Woman
10 Things You Can Do for Vision Health
I am constantly amazed by the links between how we live and every aspect of our health. While it's no surprise that your diet and levels of exercise can affect the health of your heart, it probably comes as a shock to learn those factors can also affect the health of your eyes.
In fact, many of the same things that lead to common chronic conditions like diabetes, atherosclerosis and even dementia also play a role in the health of your eyes.
That's why I've come up with the 10-point Eye Health Plan. I'm no eye care expert, but I am a healthy lifestyle expert. Here's what I recommend for protecting your eyes:
- Quit smoking. If you smoke, you're much more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, than nonsmokers. AMD is the most common cause of blindness in those over 65. And while there are some ways to slow its progression, there is no cure.
- Wear sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat when you're in the sun. These two simple steps can reduce your exposure to eye-damaging UV rays up to 18-fold! And, if you wear contacts, ask your eye care specialist about contact lenses with UV protection.
- Watch your weight. What's weight got to do with your eyes? A lot. Being overweight is a major risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes. And diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in those under 65. Not only that, but the Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found women with a body mass index of 30 or more (considered obese) were 36 percent more likely to develop cataracts, possibly because of some relation to high blood glucose levels.
- Take fish oil supplements daily, or eat fish two or three times a week. There's some evidence that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and other foods may reduce your risk of AMD. Conversely, limit the amount of vegetable oil in your diet; there's some evidence it can increase your risk.
- Eat three or more servings of fruit a day. In one study, women who did this reduced their risk of AMD by 36 percent compared to those who ate less than 1.5 servings.
- Eat your spinach. What Popeye didn't know was that spinach is a rich source of lutein and zeaxanthin, powerful antioxidants that can reduce the risk of certain eye diseases, like AMD. Other good sources include any kind of leafy green vegetable such as collards and kale, as well as eggs and orange-colored fruits.
- See your eye care professional for a full vision examination at least once every two years. Go more often if you have diabetes or any other eye-related condition.
- Get a 30-minute walk in every day. There's some evidence that regular exercise can reduce the intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. In one study, glaucoma patients who walked briskly four times per week for 40 minutes lowered the pressure within their eyes enough so they could stop taking their glaucoma medication.
- Change your eye makeup every three to six months. That means new mascara, liner and powder. The makeup becomes contaminated with bacteria from your lashes and lids and can infect your eye.
- Don't fall asleep in your daily-wear contact lenses. In fact, don't ever wear them longer than they're designed to be worn. If you want contacts that you can wear overnight, talk to your eye care professional about whether they are appropriate for you.
Source: Healty Woman
Ten Osteoporosis Facts to Know
Osteoporosis Fact 1.
As many as eight million American women have osteoporosis, and almost 22 million have low bone density, putting them at risk for developing the disease. Half of all women over age 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in the years ahead. Significant risk has been reported in people of all ethnic backgrounds.
Osteoporosis Fact 2.
Three out of four women have not discussed bone health with their health care professional or been screened for osteoporosis. Seventy-one percent of women with osteoporosis don't even know they have it, and 86 percent with the disease are not being treated. Make an appointment today to discuss your personal health risks for osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis Fact 3.
Smoking, abusing alcohol and excessive thinness increase your risk for developing osteoporosis. Likewise, if you don't exercise, or if you exercise too much, your risk for developing osteoporosis increases.
Osteoporosis Fact 4.
Bones that are calcium rich are less likely to break. Be sure your diet provides at least 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium daily to help keep your bones strong. Drinking or eating three dairy products a day provides the recommended daily intake of calcium, but most women fall short of this requirement.
Osteoporosis Fact 5.
Menopause increases your risk for developing osteoporosis because your body's natural production of the hormone estrogen declines. Estrogen helps keep bones strong. However, new studies have shown that postmenopausal hormone therapy, available as a combination of estrogen and progestin (a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone) or estrogen therapy alone, poses serious health risks. While these same studies also showed conclusively that postmenopausal hormone therapy helps prevent fracture risk, researchers concluded that this benefit outweighed the increased risk for breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots.
In January 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would require a new, highlighted and boxed warning on all estrogen products for use by postmenopausal women. The so-called "black box" is the strongest step the FDA can take to warn consumers of potential risks from a medication.
The "black-box" warning also advises health care professionals to prescribe estrogen products at the lowest dose and for the shortest possible length of time. Women taking estrogen products are cautioned to have yearly breast exams, perform monthly breast self-exams and receive periodic mammograms.
New, lower-dose versions of the hormone therapies used to treat symptoms of menopause are currently being developed. The FDA recently approved a low-dose version of the combination estrogen-progestin treatment sold as Prempro, which is expected to be available in the summer of 2003
Osteoporosis Fact 6.
Several types of medications, including calcitonin (Miacalcin), raloxifene (Evista) and bisphosphonates (Actonel, Fosomax), are effective in preventing and treating osteoporosis. A side effect of Raloxifene is that it may temporarily worsen hot flashes; bisphosphonates can cause stomach upset. Teriparatide (Forteo), a new drug approved by the FDA in 2002, is the first medication that actually stimulates bone formation instead of slowing the breakdown of bone.
Osteoporosis Fact 7.
Without treatment, women lose the most bone mass — as much as 25 percent to 30 percent — in the first five to seven years following menopause. Because of declining estrogen levels after menopause, a woman's ability to naturally maintain bone structure is seriously depleted. However, not everyone needs to seek treatment. Bone density testing helps target those at greatest risk.
Osteoporosis Fact 8.
A bone density test measures the strength of your bones to determine your risk of developing osteoporosis. This test is not usually performed until after menopause, unless you have an unusual clinical situation or are at high risk for osteoporosis. It is quick, painless and non-invasive. Medicare and many commercial insurers pay for testing for individuals at risk and those with osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis Fact 9.
Bone-loss rates can be slowed by regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises. Activities such as walking, gardening, jogging, and playing tennis help to strengthen bones and connective tissue.
Osteoporosis Fact 10.
There is no cure for osteoporosis. However, it is preventable and treatable. You can help prevent bone loss and fractures from osteoporosis with proper diet, exercise and medications, when necessary.
