HEALTH NOW!

Life under CODEX

2005-03-28T09:59:00.000-05:00

Excerpted from a Feb 2005 Vitality Magazine article

by Helke Ferrie

If the following were a horror movie, we could all sit back with our popcorn and enjoy it. Unfortunately, this is not fiction, and if we don't do something about it, this nightmare will soon become waking reality in the USA and Canada.

In the mid-1990's my mother, then in her 80's, had a stroke. She lived in Germany. When she left the hospital, I was ready with a nutritional plan that included high-dose vitamins: C, E, and B-complex, especially inositol, as well as Co-enzyme Q-10. I went to the pharmacy, whose owner was a family friend for some 25 years, and handed him my list.The pharmacist handed me a small packet with a price sticker of DM 200 (then about $200) containing vitamin E capsules manufactured by one of Germany's largest pharmaceutical companies. The source was synthetic, not the "mixed" version from living plant sources I wanted which contains the whole E spectrum. The package contained a total of 10,000 international units of E, the equivalent of a mere 25 capsules of 400 IU each that we are used to buying (I take that many in 3 days). In Canada, our bottles contain 90 capsules and cost about $20.
He then handed me a tube-shaped metal container with vitamin C effervescent tablets. Each tablet, when dissolved in water would release 10 mg of vitamin C in a refined sugar solution. The cost: about $10 for 12 tablets. Twelve.

Then he asked me, What's Co-enzyme Q-10? Are you allowed to buy all this in Canada in such dangerous dosages?

When I told him what I take daily, his eyes popped. Then I asked, "Why can't I buy these supplements here?"

He replied, "Well, Germany is a CODEX country." Oddly, Germany has several government-run hospitals where environmental illness is treated with nutrients only, such as intravenous vitamin C.

Effective August 1, 2005, all vitamin and mineral supplements on a so-called "positive list," including everything from beta carotene to zinc, will only be available in the 25 European Union countries if they comply with specific rules set out in the June 10, 2002, European Union Directive Relating to Food Supplements, or CODEX. What does it specifically mean?

All products must show "maximum safe levels, as established by science."

Those nutrients found in the mythic "balanced diet" are to be subtracted from the final values.

Article 6 decrees that labels shall "not attribute to food supplements the property of preventing,
treating or curing a human disease, or refer to such properties."

So, the Directive's "science" knows nothing of vitamin C preventing and curing scurvy, vitamin D preventing and curing rickets and osteoporosis, or vitamin B complex curing and preventing pellagra and anemia. It also ignores the mountain of evidence showing our diets are chronically deficient in essential nutrients because of factory-style farming practices. To "ensure a high level of protection for consumers and facilitate their choice", they even included baking soda and table salt. Must assume they, too, will be unavailable as of August 1 anywhere in Europe? What interesting consequences for the tourist industry in the baked goods paradises of Austria, Switzerland and France.

Now, there is also a "negative list" covering essential fatty acids, phytonutrients, all the enzymes and more. Those cannot be marketed AT ALL, until the EU scientific committee in charge has made a final decision. So, forget omega-3, cod liver oil, and much more. The effect of this directive will be that thousands of products and businesses will be gone this year. In the UK alone some 21 million people will suddenly have no access to any supplement vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fatty acids and more. Since the onus is on businesses to produce the scientific information on safety, they can't produce or sell anything, not even to physicians who have the power to prescribe any toxic drug as well as any safe and essential nutrient.

Obviously, there will be ludicrous enforcement issues:

Can you picture basement-concocted vitamins sold in dark alleys?

Hundreds of thousands of people die every year in North America from properly prescribed and ingested drugs. CODEX's effort to save us all from supposedly "dangerous" food supplements, by requiring their (non-existent) toxicity levels, is a determined backlash against the turn medical science took starting with Linus Pauling, Abram Hoffer, Carl Pfeiffer and Roger Williams in the 1950's. They established the concepts of bio-individuality in absorption and
detoxification, high-dose essential nutrients as disease-curing, and environmental toxins acting as nutrient-depleting.

Today, we have a flood of evidence showing that drugs have a very limited usefulness and that high-dose nutrients work better than drugs.

The pharmaceutical industry is anything but slow-witted, and good business practice dictates outfoxing the competition- one way or another - to secure the market. If the CODEX Directive is not stopped, there will be only one medical world: the pharmaceutical world. When this whole CODEX project began in 2001, some 180 million protest letters reached their office, but CODEX didn't give up on "protecting" us. Now the fight is on in each country, because the European Union's problem is now everyone's problem.

(Reprinted with the kind permission of the author.)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Unless you like that "back alley" vitamin-buying scenario that Ms. Ferrie refers to, get out your pen and write to your newspapers. For more action information:

http://www.doctoryourself.com/codex.html

http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/THE_FOUNDATION/Events/codex2004pat.htm

http://www.alliance-natural-health.org

http://www.doctoryourself.com/write_now.html

http://www.iahf.com

http://www.glycommunity.com/iahf to watch a free on-line video

Mother Nature says Vine Ripened

2005-03-11T08:25:00.000-05:00

God and Mother Nature make sense. They are always logical. You eat fruit & vegetables for the nutrition or what is now being called phytochemicals. That’s why you eat them but what do phytochemicals do for the plant? They’re in the plant for a reason.

When you first plant seeds they have no nutritional value or phytochemicals in them (other wise you could just eat the seeds). As the plant grows and breaks above ground level the full strength of the sun hits the leaves and the plant begins a process called photosynthesis or in laymen’s terms, begins to create phytochemicals/nutrition. But where are the phytochemicals growing? In the roots below ground level.

Then the plant grows until it is 100% ripe (remember God & Mother Nature make sense, they are always logical). Now the plant has been growing with the full strength of the sun beating down on it and growing as fast as it can. But once the plant is ripe, we don’t want it to go from ripe to rotten do we? Remember all those phytochemicals that are being stored in the roots? Once the plant is 100% vine ripened the phytochemicals are released to come up through the roots, past the stalk and into the skins and pulp of the fruit and vegetables. The phytochemicals act as sun block to slow down the aging process of the plants so they don’t go from ripe to rotten so fast.

Think of phytochemicals as SP-50. God and Mother Nature do make sense. Now the problem, remember when you brought home that green banana and put it on the shelf until it “ripened” and turned yellow? “After” it turned yellow it triggered the mechanism asking for the nutrition to be sent up. However the nutrition is back on the farm in another state or country! All of our plants, fruits and vegetables are picked green and shipped to the stores and they ripen in the box, separated from the nutrition.

God and Mother Nature make sense and they give you back up systems to figure out if you should be eating the fruits and veggies yet. Nutrition or phytochemicals are the aroma in the plants. If they don’t smell really delicious they were picked green and have little or no nutrition in them. Second clue is when you bite into your fruit or veggies and they have no taste that’s because nutrition is the taste in a plant. If they don’t taste good that’s because they were picked green.

Now you have a catch-22, situation if you pick them ripe they’ll spoil on the way to market, if you pick them green they will have no nutrition when they do get to market.

Solution? Pick them ripe then flash freeze dry them and take out the water so they don’t spoil and ship them in a food supplement.

Want proof? Go to the store and grab a tomato from the shelf and then go to a friend’s house or farm that grows tomatoes and pick a vine-ripened tomato. Take a thin slice from both tomatoes and go into your back yard and throw them on the ground and watch which one the ants go for. You won’t think you’re at the top of the food chain when the ants ignore the tomato that’s usually in your burger and go strait to the vine ripened tomato.

You should still eat fruits and vegetables for the fiber, roughage and natural enzymes. But you have to back it up with supplements for the nutrition because it’s physically impossible for a store to have a vine ripened fruit and vegetable with nutrition in it without being spoiled and it’s impossible for a green harvested fruit and vegetable to have nutrition in it period.

Take Care

Doctor's Speak up About Prescription Drugs

2005-03-04T14:13:00.000-05:00

Here's What Informed Doctors Have to Say About
Prescription Drugs

Note: Here's a summary of what informed doctors tell people - most doctors listen to the drug companies and worsen people's health - in many cases killing them.

1. "The cause of most disease is in the poisonous drugs physicians superstitiously give in order to effect a cure."

- Charles E. Page, M.D.

2. "Medicines are of subordinate importance because of their very nature they can only work symptomatically."

- Hans Kusche, M.D.

3. "If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea, it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity"

- O.W. Holmes, (Prof. of Med. Harvard University)

4. "Drug medications consists in employing, as remedies for disease, those things which produce disease in well persons. Its materia medica is simply a lot of drugs or chemicals or dye-stuffs in a word poisons. All are incompatible with vital matter; all produce disease when brought in contact inany manner with the living; all are poisons."

- R.T. TraIl, M.D., in a two and one half hour lecture to members of congress and the medical profession, delivered at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington,D.C.

5. "Every drug increases and complicates the patients condition."

- Robert Henderson, M.D.

6. "Drugs never cure disease. They merely hush the voice of nature's protest, and pull down the danger signals she erects along the pathway of transgression. Any poison taken into the system has to be reckoned with later on even though it palliates present symptoms. Pain may disappear, but the patient is left in a worse condition, though unconscious ofit at the time."

- Daniel. H. Kress, M.D.

7. "The greatest part of all chronic disease is created by the suppression of acute disease by drug
poisoning."

- Henry Lindlahr, M.D.

8. "Every educated physician knows that most diseases are not appreciably helped by medicine."

- Richard C. Cabot, M.D. (Mass. Gen. Hospital)

9. "Medicine is only palliative, for back of disease lies the cause, and this cause no drug can reach."

- Wier Mitchel, M.D.

10. "The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine."

- William Osler, M.D.

11. "Medical practice has neither philosophy nor common sense to recommend it. In sickness the body is already loaded with impurities. By taking drug - medicines more impurities are added, thereby the case is further embarrassed and harder to cure."

- Elmer Lee, M.D., Past Vice President, Academy of Medicine.

12. "Our figures show approximately four and one half million hospital admissions annually due to the adverse reactions to drugs. Further, the average hospital patient has as much as thirty percent chance, depending how long he is in, of doubling his stay due to adverse drugreactions."

- Milton Silverman, M.D. (Professor of Pharmacology, University of California)

13. "Why would a patient swallow a poison because he is ill, or take that which would make a well man sick."

- L.F. Kebler, M.D.

14. "What hope is there for medical science to ever become a true science when the entire structure of medical knowledge is built around the idea that there is an entity called disease which can be expelled when the right drugis found?"

- John H. Tilden, M.D.

15. "The necessity of teaching mankind not to take drugs and medicines, is a duty incumbent upon all who know their uncertainty and injurious effects; and the time is not fardistant when the drug system will be abandoned."

- Charles Armbruster, M. D.

16. "We are prone to thinking of drug abuse in terms of the male population and illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. It may surprise you to learn that a greater problem exists with millions of women dependent on legalprescription drugs."

- Robert Mendelsohn, M.D

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Drugs and Doctors May be the Leading
Cause of Death in U.S.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reevaluation of critical data previously published in JAMA shows that the traditional medical paradigm, with its prevalence of drugs and mistakes made by doctors,may kill more people than heart disease or cancer.

http://www.mercola.com/2003/jan/15/doctors_drugs.htm

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Delusional MD Epidemic Grows

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A highly amusing article regarding the over-prescription of drugs and misuse of surgeries and other treatments associated with many physicians who are caught up in the traditional medical paradigm.

http://mercola.com/2003/feb/8/delusional_doctors.htm

There is a healthier, safer, profoundly more effective
way to create and maintain our health... Cellular communication vital for ALL healing,
Phytonutrient (Fruits & Vegetable) Antioxidants, Plant Hormonal Balancers, Natural, Highly Absorbable Vitamin/Minerals in a food matrix...

Suppressing your symptoms will never bring true health. You now can choose to address the core nutritional deficiencies, endemic in our society, which have been proven to contribute to the cause of most diseases! For many, this is a whole new way of thinking, we
know...

FDA corruption and U.S. drug racket

2005-02-24T14:14:00.000-05:00

Following the death of as many as 60,000 Americans from COX-2 inhibitors (source: British Medical Journal, author Dr. David Graham, FDA drug safety researcher), an FDA advisory panel has now voted to allow the drugs to return to the market with full FDA safety approval. The fact that a single COX-2 drug has reportedly killed more Americans than the entire Vietnam War is apparently not sufficient for the FDA to characterize it as unsafe.

For the full story...

(The drug companies have very deep pockets and billions to lose when a drug is not approved - if you think they are just nice guys - think again)

Inflammation Causes Many Age-Related Diseases

2005-02-23T11:49:00.000-05:00

The underlying cause of many apparently unrelated aging diseases might be inflammation. There is plenty of evidence, often overlooked by the medical profession, that correcting a chronic inflammation disorder may help prevent or reverse many age-related diseases. The medical literature documents the relationship between aging-related diseases and inflammation quite convincingly (Ward 1995; McCarty 1999; Brod 2000; Willard et al. 1999; Hogan et al. 2001).

Inflammatory cytokines (destructive cell-signaling chemicals) contribute to the progression of many degenerative diseases (Van der Meide et al. 1996; Licinio et al. 1999). Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease in which levels of several cytokines are elevated: TNF-a, IL-6, IL-1(b), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) all of which are known to cause or contribute to inflammation.

Diseases Related to Chronic Inflammation

Allergy	Inflammatory cytokines induce autoimmune reactions
Alzheimer's	Chronic inflammation destroys brain cells
Anemia	Inflammatory cytokines attack erythropoietin production
Aortic valve stenosis	Chronic inflammation damages heart valves
Arthritis	Chronic inflammation causes many cancers
Congestive heart failure	Chronic inflammation contributes to heart muscle wasting
Fibromyalgia	Inflammatory cytokines are elevated
Fibrosis	Inflammatory cytokines attack traumatized tissue
Heart Attack	Chronic inflammation contributes to coronary atherosclerosis
Kidney failure	Inflammatory cytokines restrict circulation and damage nephrons
Lupus	Inflammatory cytokines induce an autoimmune attack
Pancreatitis	Inflammatory cytokines induce pancreatic cell injury
Stroke	Chronic inflammation promoted thromboembolic events
Surgical complications	Inflammatory cytokines prevent healing

Reducing inflammation without resorting to drugs may involve two monosaccharides (simple sugars) called Mannose and N-acetyl-glucosamine. Both Mannose and N-acetyl-glucosamine have been shown to reduce inflammation (Brink U et al 1998).

Get those toxins out

2005-02-17T11:04:00.000-05:00

Did anyone catch “House” Monday night? In the episode a young kid was in the hospital and dying of what they thought was hepatitis C or Lupus. Turns out that after coming to the hospital the food they were giving him was of a higher quality than what he was eating at home and he started losing weight. In his fat were toxins, they happened to come from termites in his home. The point is that the toxins were being rapidly released as he lost weight and were killing him.

When you lose weight you should lose weight gradually. You may feel sick when you lose weight due to toxins released from your fat. Before starting on a weight loss program consider a detoxification program. With a detoxification program you can get the toxins out of your body at a rate that you choose. I’ve used glyconutrients in the past to do this. A teaspoon a day and within a couple days you start feeling almost like you have the flu (some people experience it more, some less). If you want to speed up the detox just increase the glyconutrients. If the detox is too much for you decrease the glyconutrients. After a few days the toxins will have been ejected from your body and you will feel far better than before you started the detox.

Mesothelioma, rare but deadly asbestos cancer

2005-02-16T12:27:00.000-05:00

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body's internal organs. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles.

Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.

Symptoms don’t start to appear until 30-50 years after exposure to asbestos. As with most cancers the cancer has “lived” 90% of its life before being discovered.

People interested in taking part in a clinical trial should talk with their doctor. Information about clinical trials is available from the Cancer Information Service (CIS) at 1–800–4–CANCER.

Take care of yourself

Scott

Blueberries for the Brain

2005-02-16T11:33:00.000-05:00

Blueberries contain a special antioxidant that appears to help restore brain tissue. Researchers took old mice and fed them blueberries and within a month the brains of these older mice had returned to a youthful state! Another study showed improved memory in humans.

To get the same results you need to eat about 1 cup of blueberries a day! That’s expensive. If you can find a good Bilberry (European Blueberry) extract it won’t cost so much. Quality is key though. Antioxidants that go through a poor manufacturing process don’t stand up well and often end up being worthless.

For more information there is plenty of research on the web about antioxidant properties of blueberries. Search for “Blueberry antioxidant”

In my own quest to age slower not only do I take what I consider to be the best antioxidant available I supplement with blueberries and grapeseed extract.

Live Long Enough to Live Forever

2005-02-15T12:25:00.000-05:00

In a new book “Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever." Ray Kurzweil, winner of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize and the 1999 National Medal of Technology Award, says that humans are about to make a leap forward and become immortal. Within the next 20 years.
Ray takes about 250 supplements a day. Geez, how does he fit them all in? He drinks 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, and 8-10 cups of green tea. Plus he measures, periodically, 40-50 fitness indicators.

"In my view, we are not another animal, subject to nature's whim," he said.

Okay, let’s just suppose that he is right. That sometime around the year 2025 humans will have the choice of being immortal. When this happens how is human society going to react? There will probably be groups that are “dead set” against immortality and push for laws to make it illegal. If such laws do get passed there will probably be people that do it anyway. These people will end up having to hide or “die” when they get too old – like in the movie “Highlander”. If such a law does not get passed how are we going to think about ourselves, or purpose in life? The great divide that will exist between the haves and the haves not may strain our society beyond a breaking point.

What do you think?

Tips for Losing Weight

2005-02-11T13:45:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple tips for losing weight

Snack between meals - Yes, that's right. If you eat very small amounts during the day or nothing at all until evening your body goes into starvation mode, which slows down your metabolism. A slower metabolism burns fewer calories. A great food to eat between meals is nuts, nuts are low glycemic and the fat they contain is good fat (the kind your body needs).

Get just the right amount of sleep - Studies have shown that people that sleep too much or too little are more susceptible to being overweight

Listen to music - Studies show that people that listen to music while exercising tend to work out 25% longer

For more tips go here: 10 Tips to Burn Fat

DDT is still here in the U.S.

2005-02-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

DDT has been illegal in the USA and Canada for the last 25+ years. However, the law neglected to make it illegal to make DDT. The USA is its chief manufacturer and we sell it to nearly every country in the world. We then purchase fruits and vegetables from countries where it is perfectly legal to spray it, hmmmmm..... Another study found that 90 of 362 homes tested positive for DDT indoors.

Something to ponder.

Brushing your teeth keeps you thin?

2005-02-09T09:08:00.000-05:00

I just read a news article that I just had to share, along with a little commentary.

Here's the first paragraph of the article: "If you want to keep trim, forget the diet books and gym membership - you may be better off just brushing your teeth more often, according to a Japanese study." and here is the closing paragraph "We think actively encouraging the habit of tooth brushing would play a role in maintaining health and would help prevent obesity."

Are any of you thinking what I'm thinking? Could it just possibly be that people who take care of themselves, like brushing their teeth, just happen to be the same kind of person who takes care of the rest of their body?

So if you are overweight and don't brush your teeth then simply start brushing your teeth and you will start to lose weight? Fat chance. heh.

Maybe whether you brush your teeth, or not, is merely an indicator of the likelihood that you are overweight. Someone that doesn't brush their teeth may have other physical problems, simply because they don't have the mindset to take care of themselves. Not because the absence of brushing their teeth caused the problem.

Here's the real problem -- because of this "study" weightloss companies will start selling toothbrushes and wave the "study" in your face, and toothbrush manufacturers will gleefully start marketing their toothbrushes as a breakthrough in weightloss. Oh brother. Well, maybe they won't, but they might. :)

Sleep Hormone May Affect Sex Organs

2005-02-09T08:42:00.000-05:00

Melatonin, a hormone available in over-the-counter supplements and popped freely by many frequent air travellers, may affect the sex glands, US and Japanese researchers report.

Tests on Japanese quail show the hormone regulates a sexual pathway believed to be involved in seasonal breeding patterns.

The researchers say it is likely to affect human gonads as well.

"It is a powerful hormone and yet people don't realise that it's as 'powerful' as any steroid.

Click here to read the rest of the article...

Diet Needs Assessment

2005-02-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

I've just completed an automatted Diet Needs Assessment webpage and I need your help. I've tested this on all the browsers I own but am worried it might not work on some others. Would everyone be so kind as to pop over to the site and just play around and try to break it and feed me back any problems.

The Diet Needs Assessment determines your physical and psycological profile and makes suggestions for your diet. It's 50 questions long and takes about 10-15 minutes. Your type is displayed directed at the bottom of the assessment. You can also have the full diet recommendations emailed to you. I'm not even keeping the names in a database or anything so don't worry about your name or email address going anywhere it shouldn't.

I don't have the official URL for it yet so you can go here to play with it.

Thanks, and take care,
Scott

HEALTH NOW! Ask me how

2005-02-06T13:44:00.000-05:00

I've changed the name of this blog from "Live Long and Prosper" to "HEALTH NOW! ask me how". After doing a little research I found that there are a lot of blogs and normal websites named "Live Long and Prosper" - and 80% are about Vulcans. So.... a name change.

Take care.

The 12 Secret Steps for an Unhealthy Life

2005-02-04T19:24:00.000-05:00

Smoke a pack a day. If you don’t smoke then get started – it’s easy.
Drink plenty of alcohol. Cheap beer is the best. Stay away from dark beer it’s actually good for you, just like red wine.
Don’t eat any fruits or vegetables. They contain anti-oxidants and fiber which slow down aging.
Sit on your couch at least 4 hours a day and watch mind numbing television shows. Eating junk food at the same time is a plus.
Take medication that you really don’t need.
Stay clear of supplements. With food as depleted in nutrients as it is you don’t want to get any of these in your body.
Stay clear of health magazines, and health related websites, they are full of scientific information that could lead you to being healthy. Something might actually sink in by osmosis so let’s not take the chance.
Be a victim. Don’t take responsibility for your own health. It’s best to find someone else to be responsible for you, maybe someone that you might see every few months for 15-20 minutes.
Take an antibiotic every time there is the slightest thing wrong with you. Especially if it’s a cold.
Roll around on the carpet in your house. It is full of toxins that are tracked in year after year (like fertilizer and pesticides). This will really do a number on you so be sure to follow up on this one.

Extra tip if you're a parent - Don't go to this website How to get your child to eat their vegetables.

~~Take care~~ Don't take care

You Need 20-35 Grams of Fiber a Day

2005-02-03T11:03:00.000-05:00

Fiber is simply a polymer (soluble and insoluble) from a plant, typically from the plant cell wall. Cellulose, pectin, lignin, waxes, gums, and mucilages are some of the many types of dietary fiber

Your intestinal lining is not smooth, though a quick visual examination might lead you to think so. It is more like velvet. Toxins and poisons accumulate within the lining and over time cause damage – often leading to cancer.

A 10-year dietary study of middle-aged men found that rates of death from cancer were significantly higher in individuals in the lowest quintile of dietary fiber intake. Populations that consume high-fiber diets also have a lower incidence of numerous gastrointestinal (GI) complaints, including gallstones, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticular disease of the colon, appendicitis, hemorrhoids, and hiatal hernia

The recommended daily dietary fiber intake is 20-35 grams. The average North American consumes less than 10 grams of fiber daily. Because many individuals find it difficult to increase their fiber intake by over 100% through food sources, some physicians recommend concentrated fiber supplements to their patients.

Since it is well known that obesity is a contributing factor to type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers, the relationship of dietary fiber to body weight is particularly noteworthy. Obesity is rare in countries consuming high fiber diets. Although results of clinical studies examining the effect of dietary soluble fiber on weight loss have been mixed, there is rational evidence that soluble fiber can provide important assets to the individual striving to lose weight. The bulking effect of soluble fiber enhances satiety, thus diminishing the appetite. A high fiber diet is also associated with lower overall caloric intake. Furthermore, fiber delays the absorption of nutrients (including carbohydrates), which slows the increase of plasma insulin.

Foods high in fiber are grains, fresh fruits and vegetables (including apples) and beans. Dairy foods and meats have little or no fiber. Increase your fiber intake slowly otherwise the result may be gas, cramping, bloating, or diarrhea. And please be sure to drink 8 glasses of water a day.

How to slow the aging process, an introduction

2005-02-01T13:01:00.000-05:00

Free-radicals and glycation are now considered to be the two biggest causes of aging.

Free-radicals are produced by the very act of living. They are molecules/atoms that are short an electron. They steal an electron from the closest source, which might be your DNA, a cell wall, whatever. Scientists estimate that every cell in your body is “hit” by a free-radical somewhere around 10,000 times a day! Over time this damage builds up and the effects of aging start to show.

Glycation occurs when glucose combines with a protein (through a non-enzymatic process, unlike glycosylation). The hard glaze, or browning, on the outside of a ham is an example of glycation. These globs of protein/glucose gum up the body causing tissue to become stiff. To make matters worse these proteins also produce even more free-radicals, causing a downward spiral.

Reducing the toxins in your environment, reducing stress, and eating less microwaved food, will help reduce free-radicals. Then supplement with an antioxidant to counteract a good portion of the rest. The best antioxidant I have found so far actually boosts your body’s own antioxidant, glutothione.

Glycation is harder to reduce. First don’t eat caramelized food. For example, the carmelized part of ham, colas, pie crusts, etc., calorie restricted diets also help. J. Aminoguanidine, beta-alanyl-L-histidine, and Aspirin have been shown to slow the crosslinking of glycated proteins. Studies show that Alagebrium chloride can actually break the crosslinks and thereby undo damage.

You won’t increase your maximum life span by reducing free-radicals and glycation, but you are likely to reduce the chances of disease as you age and your body will retain more of it’s youthfulness.

There is a consider amount of research regarding anti-aging and I'll make sure I keep posting articles that give you concrete things you can do to age slower.

Scientists Turn Stem Cells Into Neurons

2005-01-31T14:48:00.000-05:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison reported Sunday that they've whipped up an exciting -- but intricate -- new recipe that could someday treat spinal cord injuries or provide a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Step one: Take human embryonic stem cells, the microscopic dots that have brought condemnation from the pope, opposition from the president and people generally opposed to abortion. Add pinches of chemicals, dashes of other biological ingredients implicated in brain growth at just the right moment and voila: brain cells called motor neurons that control every body movement.

www.livescience.com for the rest of the article...

Would you like to live to 170?

2005-01-31T13:08:00.000-05:00

Occasionally I ask someone, “Would you like to live to 170?” Their reply is usually “No, why would I want to do that? I would have to have people taking care of me and I would probably be sick all the time.”

Now I can imagine someone saying, “Seems like a moot question anyway, you can’t live to 170”. Well, maybe you can. There are now numerous studies showing that calorie restriction in other animals increases their maximum life span from 40 to 80%. Currently it is believed that the maximum human life span is 120…. 120 + 40% = 168. Of course no human has been doing this long enough to see if it works for people. But, what if it does?

The difficult part is the restricted calorie diet. 800 calories a day is not easy. In fact, it is recommended that you take up to 2 years to get down that far or you can actually decrease your life span. Plus, you must still ingest all the nutrients that your body requires in order to operate.

So how does a restricted calorie diet extend the life span? It appears that cells in the body operate in one of two modes, they are either repairing themselves or they are reproducing. When calories are abundant the cells reproduce, when calories are scarce they go into repair mode. When in repair mode the cells last much longer than when they are reproducing.

Scientists today are trying to find ways of fooling the body into thinking that the calorie intake is low so that you can still eat more and have the cells in repair mode. A number of things have been found to do the trick, but with side affects, bad side affects. The only thing that appears to work so far, though no one knows how well it works in people yet, is grape seed extract. Not grape “skin”, grape “seed”. The best place I’ve found to buy grape seed extract is at Costco.

What about the problem of not being able to enjoy life when you are over 100 because your body is run down? I’ll touch on that tomorrow.

Take care.

Dieting can cause malnutrition

2005-01-29T13:51:00.000-05:00

I was going to write an article today about anti-aging and longevity until I read a blog this morning about someone trying to lose weight and was having cravings for very specific types of food.

The concept behind dieting is to cut down on calories; some fats, and a reduction in the glycemic index of the foods you are eating. Your body still has nutritional requirements that must be met. Your body absolutely must have protein (amino acids), lipids (fatty acids), vitamins & minerals, plus carbohydrates. This is a simple physiological fact.

If you are going to cut back on the food that you eat in order to lose weight then it is usually recommended that you take a vitamin/mineral supplement. Cravings happen because your body “knows” it is not getting enough nutrition. You will have cravings for things that your body knows it needs. If you give in to the cravings you won’t lose weight – so it only makes sense to supplement so you don’t have the cravings.

The same thing is especially true with people that are on a restricted calorie diet in order to extend their life span. (which is what I was going to write about earlier). Taking in only 800 calories leaves your body severally depleted of the nutrients that are required for life. I’ll write about the restricted calorie diet tomorrow – in all animals tested so far the maximum life span is increased 40%.

BTW: I and some of my friends have tried this weight loss system and had pretty good success.

Take care

Drugs do not cure or heal!

2005-01-28T08:43:00.000-05:00

This morning I came across a website where someone wrote something that just shows the lack of knowledge and understanding that many people have about health. To paraphrase: “To all you drug companies, nice job, you are making tons of money and I am proud of your contributions to capitalism. To all those people that complain about drug prices being to high, just shut up. Drug companies have to charge a lot of money to afford the research they do so they can make more drugs that cure and heal so many people.”

Would you pat the tobacco companies on the back and say “good job, you are a shining example of capitalism, keep up the good work?”

In 2000 over 104,000 people died in the United States from taking properly prescribed and properly taken drugs (Source: Journal of American Medical Associations, JAMA). Drugs by definition are poisons. . Coupled with deaths due to medical errors, and infections caught while at the hospital our “health” care system is the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S.! (Source: Journal of American Medical Associations). Ever hear your doctor tell you that? Of course not.

The drug companies, with the huge amount of money they spend on marketing (keep in mind those high prices), are masters at manipulating their image and the benefits of their products. Do you know who pays for the continuing “education” of doctors? Drug companies. Do you think they pay for continuing education if that education does not support the use of drugs? How do the drug companies afford this… uh.. high prices.

Many people think that they are healthy when they are taking drugs. Drugs suppress and control symptoms. Your body then heals (hopefully) while the symptoms are not as overwhelming. You get that – “your body heals”. Ask someone taking a drug if they are healthy and the usual answer is “yes”. Then ask them why they are taking the drug… blank stare.

Take a type 2 diabetic taking medication – “Are you healthy?”. “Absolutely, I take my medication every day”. Stop taking the medication and see how healthy you really are. Why not change your life style and actually recover from the disease. I don’t mean spend the rest of your life making sure you don’t eat too much sugar, I mean doing the things necessary to actually recover from the disease.

To be healthy and recover from disease you must exercise, drink clean water, eat good nutrition, get the correct amount of sleep, and remove toxins from your environment. Oh, by the way… drugs are toxins… let me say that again... drugs are toxins… that’s why they are controlled substances.

If you have a disease and are taking a drug don’t think you are somehow going to magically get better. Your body has to heal and the drug doesn’t do that. Do whatever it takes to regain true health. Then get off the drugs as soon as you can before they kill you.

If you want to know more there is a great report that you can download The 10 Deadly Health Myths of the 21st Century.

Take care

Tons of vitamins removed from sewage treatment plants

2005-01-27T08:22:00.000-05:00

Sewage treatment plants are reporting that they remove TONS of undissolved vitamins from their treatment ponds every year. Literally money down the drain. Synthetic vitamins and minerals are typically delivered in a packed tablet that does not dissolve in the stomach and thus pass right through the body. Of course this means that very little, if any, vitamins and minerals are absorbed by the body.

Is it even necessary to supplement with vitamins and minerals? The traditional view is that if we eat a balanced diet we should receive all the vitamins and minerals we need. However, this has been shown to be false. As briefly described in a previous blog our food supply is devoid of nutrition. The situation is now so bad that supplements are now right near the top of the new U.S. food pyramid. Another change to the food pyramid was an increase in the daily requirements of fruits and vegetables – to the point where no one is actually capable of eating that much or would go broke doing so.

Dieters are especially prone to nutritional deficiency conditions as their food intake is reduced. Dieting is not about reducing nutrition, it’s about reducing calories, fat, and some carbohydrates.

While many people recognize the need to supplement with vitamins and minerals, they usually are not aware of the differences between good supplements and poor ones and therefore make their selection based primarily on price. There is in fact a substantial difference between supplements.

Synthetic vitamins are cheap to manufacture. If you are buying inexpensive vitamins then they are synthetic. Sorry, that’s simply the way it is.

By the way, if you are also taking vitamins as an anti-oxidant you need to know that due to the manufacturing process inexpensive vitamins are already oxidized and do not work as anti-oxidants.

Because your body was designed to extract vitamins and minerals from plants it only makes sense to choose a vitamin and mineral supplement that is plant based. Plant based supplements readily dissolve and the body can recognize and process them as intended.

Take care

Stem Cell Lines Contaminated

2005-01-25T08:25:00.000-05:00

Human embryonic stem cells that are used for research are reported to be contaminated from the culture medium. A study from the online edition of Nature Medicine reports that Sialic Acid from non-human sources on the surface of the cells can make them unfit for use.

Stems cells are undifferentiated cells that can become virtually any cell in the body. Most research today focuses on embryonic stem cells, which come from a human embryo.

Scientists hope to be able to repair damaged organs by injecting stems cells directly into the body. However, the use of embryonic stem cells is highly controversial – making research difficult. Adult stem cells also show promise though there is currently less research.

Typically, one pint of human blood contains one adult stem cell. A study released by the Fisher Institute for Medical Research in Dallas, Texas reports that people taking glyconutrients have over 300 adult stem cells per pint of blood. According to the study children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) show remarkable improvement when their stem cell levels are elevated. This may explain why hundreds of people have reported repair of damaged organs when adding glyconutrients to their diet.

New Science, Old Knowledge

2005-01-24T09:35:00.000-05:00

For thousands of years food has been used as medication. Only in the last century have drugs taken over. The very idea that food has health restorative properties seems like folklore.

Today scientists are researching the medicinal properties of food and finding that often times our foods are far better than drugs.

Yogurt	Boosts the immune system, cures diarrhea faster than drugs and is a stronger antibiotic than penicillin.
Onions	Raises beneficial HDL cholesterol levels more effectively than most prescription heart medicine.
Garlic	Matches aspirin in preventing blood clots that may lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Fish	Equals most diuretics in depressing mild high bloodpressure.
Ginger	Surpasses Dramamine in suppressing motion sickness.
Sugar	A couple tablespoons before bed are as effective as a sleeping pill. When antibiotics fail to heal a wound, use sugar.
Red wine	Knocks off bacteria as well as penicillin.