Monday, August 31, 2015
Another Perk for Drinking Coffee
August 31, 2015 | 21,836 views
By Dr. Mercola
Nearly 60 percent of Americans drink coffee, and for many the habit is a daily one.1 Coffee drinking has long been viewed as more of a vice or a crutch to get a quick energy boost to power through the day, but this view is now changing as the health benefits of coffee continue to be revealed.
This is good news for those of you who sip on a cup of joe in the morning, as it turns out this may be a quite healthy way to start your day.
However, please remember that coffee is one of the most heavily pesticide sprayed crops in the world. If you drink it please be sure to get organic and ideally fair traded, This is less than 3% of all coffee.
However, please remember that coffee is one of the most heavily pesticide sprayed crops in the world. If you drink it please be sure to get organic and ideally fair traded, This is less than 3% of all coffee.
Daily Coffee Boosts Colon Cancer Survival
Among people with advanced (stage III) colon cancer, drinking four or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily lowered the risk of cancer recurrence or death during the study by 52 percent compared to those who drank no coffee.
Drinking two or three cups per day was also beneficial, lowering the risk of recurrence or death by 31 percent.
Drinking two or three cups per day was also beneficial, lowering the risk of recurrence or death by 31 percent.
The researchers stressed that other caffeinated beverages, such as soda, did not have the same effect. No link was found between decaffeinated coffee and risk of colon cancer recurrence either.
Further, a causal link was not found. This means it could simply be that coffee drinkers tend to follow a healthier overall lifestyle that’s contributing to the lower risk. However, the antioxidants and other beneficial plant compounds in coffee have been linked to a lower chronic disease risk before.
In fact, coffee has been linked to a lower risk type 2 diabetes as well, a condition known to increase the risk of colon cancer. It’s likely that compounds in coffee may lower the risk of multiple chronic diseases via similar pathways.
As reported by the New York Times:2
As reported by the New York Times:2
“The researchers’ hypothesis is that the factors that increase risk for Type 2 diabetes, such as obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and high insulin levels, also drive colon cancer, Dr. [Charles S.] Fuchs [director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston] said.
And many studies have shown that coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk for Type 2 diabetes, a chronic illness that may increase the risk of colon cancer.
‘We believe that activating the energy pathways that contribute to heart disease and diabetes is also relevant for the proliferation of cancer cells,’ Dr. Fuchs said, while also stressing that more research was needed.
The analysis determined the lowered risk associated with coffee was… because of the caffeine. One hypothesis is that caffeine increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin, so it requires less of the hormone. That, in turn, may reduce inflammation, which is a risk factor for diabetes and cancer.”
What Else Does the Research Say About Coffee and Cancer?
While a number of individual studies have suggested coffee consumption might increase your cancer risk, when multiple studies are analyzed, such as is the case with meta-analyses, the association disappears, and, in fact, becomes protective.
For instance, one 2007 meta-analysis found an increase in consumption of two cups of coffee per day was associated with a 43 percent reduced risk of liver cancer3 – a finding that has been confirmed by more recent research.
Not to mention, coffee appears to have additional benefits for liver health, slowing down the progression of liver disease to cirrhosis, improving responses in people with hepatitis C, and lowering the risk of death in people with cirrhosis.4
The potential benefit of coffee for liver health appears so strong that researchers have stated daily coffee consumption should be encouraged in people with chronic liver disease.5
Another meta-analysis involving 59 studies revealed an increase in consumption of one cup of coffee per day was associated with a 3 percent reduced risk of cancers.6 According to the researchers:
“[C]offee drinking was associated with a reduced risk of bladder, breast, buccal and pharyngeal, colorectal, endometrial, esophageal, hepatocellular, leukemic, pancreatic, and prostate cancers.”7
There’s even research showing coffee consumption could lower your risk of skin cancer. Drinking four cups of caffeinated coffee daily might reduce your risk of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.8
According to researchers:
“[C]offee constituents suppress UVB-induced skin carcinogenesis, induce cell apoptosis, protect against oxidative stress and DNA damage, reduce inflammation in epidermal cells, and inhibit changes in DNA methylation.”9
Women who consumed more than three cups of coffee a day had a significantly lower risk of basal cell carcinoma (non-melanoma skin cancer) than those who consumed less than one cup per month.10
Roasted Coffee Contains More Than 1,000 Compounds, Many of Which May Help Fight Cancer
Coffee has multiple potential anti-cancer pathways. As mentioned, caffeine is one of them, as its been shown to both stimulate and suppress tumors depending on the cancer and when it’s administered.11
Polyphenols in coffee, such as lignan phytoestrogens, flavonoids, and polyphenols are also known to have anti-cancer properties, as does caffeic acid, which inactivates several pathways involved in the development of tumors – including cell cycle regulation, inflammatory and stress response, and apoptosis.
Researchers noted in the journal BMC Cancer:12
“There are two specific diterpenes in coffee, cafestol and kahweal, which produce biological effects compatible with anti-carcinogenic properties, including the induction of phase II enzymes involved in carcinogen detoxification, specific inhibition of the activity of phase I enzyme responsible for carcinogen activation, and stimulation of intracellular antioxidant defense mechanisms.
Coffee is also a major source of the chlorogenic acid that contributes to its antioxidant effect. Intake of chlorogenic acid has been shown to reduce glucose concentrations in rats and intake of quinides, degradation products of chlorogenic acid, increases insulin sensitivity.
Chronic hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are confirmed markers of high risk for some cancer sites.”
The Benefits of Coffee: From Your Heart to Your Brain
The benefits of coffee are becoming so well established that, for the first time, a government advisory committee included a mention of caffeine in its recommendations for the 2015 edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The report said Americans could safely consume up to five cups of coffee a day, or approximately 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, with no detrimental effects.13
The recommendation was based on an evaluation of multiple meta-analyses and other studies evaluating the link between coffee and chronic diseases, including cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. Here’s a sampling of what the research shows:
Heart Health
In a study of more than 25,000 people, those who drank a moderate amount of coffee – defined as three to five cups daily – were less likely to have calcium deposits in their coronary arteries than those who drank no coffee or more coffee daily.14
A large part of arterial plaque consists of calcium deposits (atherosclerosis), hence the term "hardening of the arteries." Coronary artery calcium can be a significant predictor of future heart disease risk.
In addition, one study showed moderate coffee drinking reduces your chances of being hospitalized for heart rhythm problems. 15 Another study found it may trigger a 30 percent increase in blood flow in your small blood vessels, which might take some strain off your heart.16
Another study, a meta-analysis that included data from 11 studies and nearly 480,000 people found drinking two to six cups of coffee a day was associated with a lower risk of stroke.17
Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease
Drinking four to six cups of coffee a day is associated with a lower risk of multiple sclerosis, as is drinking a high amount of coffee over five to 10 years. According to researchers, “Caffeine has neuroprotective properties and seems to suppress the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.”18 Higher coffee and caffeine intake are also associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.19
Dementia
Caffeine promotes production of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, and triggers the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, thereby improving your brain health.
Among people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), those with higher blood levels of caffeine (due to coffee consumption) were less likely to progress to full-blown dementia.20 “Caffeine/coffee intake is associated with a reduced risk of dementia or delayed onset, particularly for those who already have MCI,” the researchers said.
Among people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), those with higher blood levels of caffeine (due to coffee consumption) were less likely to progress to full-blown dementia.20 “Caffeine/coffee intake is associated with a reduced risk of dementia or delayed onset, particularly for those who already have MCI,” the researchers said.
Premature Death
Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has even shown that coffee consumption is inversely associated with premature death. The more coffee drank, the lower the risk of death became, including deaths from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections.21
Coffee Is the Number One Source of Antioxidants in the US
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Another reason why coffee may have such dramatic effects on Americans’ health is because it is the number one source of antioxidants in the US diet. The research, which was presented at the 230th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, showed that Americans get more antioxidants from drinking coffee than from any other dietary source, with researchers noting “nothing else even comes close.”22
Examples of the antioxidants in coffee include significant amounts of hydrocinnamic acid and polyphenols. Antioxidants are nature's way of providing your cells with adequate defense against attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free radicals.
Examples of the antioxidants in coffee include significant amounts of hydrocinnamic acid and polyphenols. Antioxidants are nature's way of providing your cells with adequate defense against attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free radicals.
Free radicals are a type of a highly reactive metabolite that is naturally produced by your body as a result of normal metabolism and energy production. They are your natural biological response to environmental toxins like cigarette smoke, sunlight, chemicals, cosmic, and manmade radiation, and are even a key feature of pharmaceutical drugs. Your body also produces free radicals when you exercise and when you have inflammation anywhere in your body.
As long as you have these important micronutrients, your body will be able to resist aging caused by your everyday exposure to pollutants. If you don't have an adequate supply of antioxidants to help squelch free radicals, then you can be at risk of oxidative stress, which leads to accelerated tissue and organ damage.
While fruits, such as berries, and vegetables are ideal sources of antioxidants, many Americans don’t eat the recommended amounts each day. This is why coffee, which is consumed widely on a daily basis, represents such a large dietary share of antioxidants. If you’re not a coffee drinker, you can easily boost your antioxidant intake by eating fresh produce – and even if you do drink coffee, getting your antioxidants from a wide variety of sources is still important.
Is Decaf Coffee a Healthy Choice?
The coffee beans used to make decaffeinated, or decaf, coffee undergo a process to remove most of the caffeine. In order to be labeled decaffeinated, the coffee must have 97 percent of the original caffeine content removed.23 This may be preferable for those who are highly sensitive to caffeine (for instance experiencing jitters after one regular cup), but there are some considerations. For starters, some of the research on coffee’s health benefits have shown caffeinated coffee to be more effective than decaf (the featured colon cancer study is one such example).
In particular, caffeinated coffee has also been linked to a lower risk of liver damage, increased metabolic rate, reduced risk of depression and suicidal thoughts, and enhanced athletic performance while decaf coffee has not.24 The process used to decaffeinate the coffee is also important to be aware of.
One of the most commonly used methods is Direct Process, which uses the chemical methyl chloride to remove the caffeine from coffee beans. Starbucks, for instance, uses this process on most of its decaf brews (although it also offers a “naturally processed” decaf Sumatra blend).25
The National Cancer Institute lists methyl chloride as a possible carcinogen, so it’s something you’re better off avoiding (trace amounts are sometimes detected in decaf coffee, although typically at levels below 1 part per million). Natural Process decaffeination uses either ethyl acetate (a plant hormone) or carbon dioxide to remove caffeine, while the Swiss Water process uses only water. Only the carbon dioxide or Swiss water methods are allowed in coffee that’s certified organic. If you choose to drink decaffeinated coffee, be sure to choose one that is decaffeinated using one of these latter two methods.
Another option, if you’re simply looking for a lower-caffeine blend, is to choose Arabica beans, which naturally have about half the caffeine content of Robusta beans. 26 Also, keep in mind that even decaffeinated coffee is not caffeine free (a typical cup of decaf may contain 3 to 18 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, compared to between 140 to 300 mg in a regular cup.
This is an important distinction for pregnant women to be aware of. Public health agencies suggest pregnant women limit daily caffeine to 200 mg (or about two cups of coffee a day). However, caffeine can significantly impact the growing fetus. It is able to freely pass through the placenta, and since caffeine does not provide any benefits to your baby, only potential hazards, I strongly recommend pregnant women avoid ALL forms of caffeine.
How to Ruin a Good Cup of Coffee…
If you want to drink coffee for its health benefits, drink your coffee black, without sugar, non-dairy creamer or cream, or flavorings. If you are dousing your cup of coffee in creamer, non-dairy creamer, sugar, and other sweeteners and flavorings, you are missing out on the therapeutic benefits and potentially harming your health.
The natural blend of polyphenol antioxidants are part of what makes coffee so healthy. However, some research suggests that adding dairy to your coffee may interfere with your body's absorption of beneficial chlorogenic acids.27 Meanwhile, if you add sugar to your coffee you’ll spike your insulin levels, which contributes to insulin resistance.
The natural blend of polyphenol antioxidants are part of what makes coffee so healthy. However, some research suggests that adding dairy to your coffee may interfere with your body's absorption of beneficial chlorogenic acids.27 Meanwhile, if you add sugar to your coffee you’ll spike your insulin levels, which contributes to insulin resistance.
Also, coffee beans are one of the most heavily pesticides-sprayed crops. So, you should select only coffee beans that are certified organic. Remember, you will obliterate any positive effects if you consume coffee that's been doused in pesticides or other chemicals. Whenever possible, purchase sustainable "shade-grown" coffee to help prevent the continued destruction of our tropical rain forests and the birds that inhabit them.
There are many who say shade-grown coffee tastes better as well. In addition, you'll want to purchase whole bean coffee that smells and tastes fresh, not stale; if your coffee does not have a pleasant aroma, it is likely rancid. Grind it yourself to prevent rancidity, as pre-ground coffee may be rancid by the time you get it home. If you use a "drip" coffee maker, be sure to use non-bleached filters. The bright white ones are chlorine-bleached, and some of this chlorine will leach from the filter during the brewing process. Bleached filters are also notoriously full of dangerous disinfection byproducts, such as dioxin.
Finally, while it appears coffee in moderation is beneficial, be careful not to overdo it, as some studies have found adverse effects when about 10 cups a day or more are consumed. When referring to a “cup” of coffee, most research considers it to be five to eight ounces with about 100 mg of caffeine. In contrast, a small cup at many coffee houses starts at 12 ounces while a large cup may hold 20 to 24 ounces. Simply be aware of how much you’re actually consuming.
New Scientific Analysis Confirms Saturated Fats Have No Link to Heart Disease
August 31, 2015 | 74,365 views
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By Dr. Mercola
In February the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) submitted its 2015 Scientific Report1,2,3 to the US Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS).
This report serves as the foundation for the development of US dietary guidelines.
In a surprise twist, the DGAC not only suggested eliminating warnings about dietary cholesterol, it also reversed nearly four decades of nutrition policy by concluding that dietary fats have no impact on cardiovascular disease risk.
Unfortunately, the DGAC didn’t set the record straight with regards to saturated fats, as it makes no firm distinction between healthy saturated fats and decidedly unhealthy trans fats.
For decades, healthy fat and cholesterol have been wrongfully blamed for causing heart disease, but over 70 published studies overwhelmingly dispute this.4
Trans Fat, Not Saturated Fat, Raises Your Heart Disease Risk
Now we can add yet another large study to this ever-growing list. The meta-analysis5,6,7,8 published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found no association between high levels of saturated fat in the diet and heart disease.
Nor could they find an association between saturated fat consumption and other life-threatening diseases like stroke or type 2 diabetes.
However, the study DID find a disease link to trans fat consumption. As reported by Newsweek:9
“[C]onsumption of trans unsaturated fats found in everyday supermarket goods such as margarine, processed cakes, and microwave popcorn can increase the risk of death from coronary heart disease (CHD) by 28 percent.”
Trans fats also increased all-cause mortality by 34 percent. This is important because many “experts” frequently confuse trans fat with saturated fat intake.
Moreover, a pooled analysis of 11 studies10,11 showed that replacing saturated fat (found in foods like meat, egg yolks, dairy products, salmon, nuts, avocados, coconut oil, and olive oil) with monounsaturated fat (vegetable cooking oils12), or carbohydrates (sugars and grains) raised the risk of non-fatal heart attacks.
This prompted the authors to comment that dietary guidelines for saturated fats and trans fats “must carefully consider the effect of replacement nutrients.” This too is in line with previous findings.
What Happens When You Replace Saturated Fat with Carbs?
In a 2014 editorial13 published in the Open Heart journal, research scientist and doctor of Pharmacy James J. DiNicolantonio reviewed the cardiometabolic consequences of replacing saturated fats with carbohydrates.
The health consequences are significant, including the following:
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Shift to overall atherogenic lipid profile (lower HDL, increased triglycerides, and increased ApoB/ApoA-1 ratio)
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Increased risk of coronary heart disease, cardiovascular events, and death from heart disease and increased overall mortality (all causes)
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Increased thrombogenic markers
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Increased oxidized LDL
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Increased inflammation
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Reduced HDL
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Impaired glucose tolerance, higher body fat, weight gain, obesity, and diabetes
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Increased small, high-density LDL particles
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Increased risk for cancer
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The Hazards of Replacing Partially Hydrogenated Oils with Vegetable Oils
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The issue of what to replace trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) with is equally important. Ideally, you’ll want to replace them with healthy saturated fats — NOT vegetable oils.
This is discussed in Nina Teicholz’ book, The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet, and in the interview I did with her last year. Nina is an investigative journalist, and she was actually one of the reporters who broke the story on the dangers of trans fats, a little over 10 years ago.
Now she’s warning us that the vegetable oils many restaurants and food manufacturers are trading the trans fats in for may actually be more harmful than the trans fats! The reason for this is because when heated, they create highly toxic oxidation products, including aldehydes, which are extremely inflammatory.
So what’s the ideal fat to cook with?
Tallow and lard are two great options. Tallow is a hard fat that comes from cows. Lard is a hard fat that comes from pigs. They're both animal fats, and used to be the main fats used in cooking.
One of their benefits is that, since they're saturated fats, they do not oxidize when heated. And saturated fats do not have double bonds that can react with oxygen; therefore they cannot form dangerous aldehydes or other toxic oxidation products. Coconut oil is another healthy option, as it too resists oxidation when heated.
Food Industry Petitions FDA to Make Allowances for Trans Fats in Packaged Foods
The evidence showing trans fats are a major health hazard has prompted the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove partially hydrogenated oils — the primary source of trans fats — from the list of "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) ingredients.
The initial proposal was issued in 2013, and on June 16, 2015, the decision was finalized.14 Food manufacturers have until 2018 to get partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) out of their products.
Despite the evidence of harm, and less than a week after the BMJ study’s publication, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) petitioned the FDA to permit “small amounts” of trans fats in certain packaged foods.15 Proposed allowance for trans fats in the GMA’s petition include adding PHOs during processing, as an:
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Anti-caking agent, free flow agent, and lubricant
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Emulsifier
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Solvent for fat-soluble ingredients
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Textural agent to improve textural characteristics of the food
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Dough strengthener
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Moisture retainer
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Stabilizer
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Thickener
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Surface-finishing agent
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Heating medium, such as frying oil
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In its petition, the GMA argues that “low-level uses of PHOs are as safe as the naturally occurring trans fat present in the normal diet.” Incidentally, this is NOT what the BMJ study16 found. In it, they found no observed link between naturally occurring trans fats in foods like meat and dairy and heart disease.17 That link was only found for artificially created trans fats.
According to the authors, this discrepancy “might reflect a true difference between sources or might be a function of consumption levels...” noting that the average consumption of industrially produced trans fats was about 250 percent greater than that of naturally-derived ruminated trans fats. The assertion that low levels of trans fats is safe also flies in the face of a previous determination by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which as far back as 2002 noted there is "no safe level of trans fatty acids and people should eat as little of them as possible."
Heart Healthy Benefits of Nuts and Olive Oil
In related news, both nuts and olive oil — which are sources of healthy fats — have been shown to promote heart health. As noted by Dr. Michael Greger, MD,18 a number of studies in which subjects added nuts to their diet (without replacing specific foods, which might skew results one way or another), found that nuts significantly improved arterial health. Moreover, while some studies show mixed results in terms of the level of benefit, there’s no evidence that nuts might actually worsen health (provided you’re not allergic).
According to Dr. Greger:
“Eating at least one serving of walnuts per week may drop our chances of a cardiovascular-related death by 50 percent.19 However, walnut consumption may only drop our cholesterol levels about 5 percent. How could we get a 50 percent drop in cardiac mortality from just a 5 percent drop in cholesterol? Walnuts must have some other heart-protecting benefits besides lowering cholesterol.
The ability of blood vessels to relax and open normally is considered an excellent barometer of underlying vascular health... So what effect do nuts have? A 2011 review20 in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases found five clinical trials analyzing the effect of nut consumption on arterial function, and all three studies on walnuts showed an improvement in endothelial function measured in the arm.”
Other recent research21 again confirms the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil, showing it improves blood sugar and cholesterol after meals to a greater degree than corn oil. As reported by Reuters:22
“Lowering (post-meal) blood glucose and cholesterol may be useful to reduce the negative effects of glucose and cholesterol on the cardiovascular system,’ lead study author Francesco Violi, a researcher at Sapienza University in Rome, said...
On two separate occasions, researchers gave 25 healthy people a typical Mediterranean lunch. For one meal, they added 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons) of extra virgin olive oil, and for the other, they added 10 g of corn oil.
Blood tests done before and two hours after the meals found that blood sugar rose after eating in all the participants, which is normal. But blood sugar rose much less after a meal with olive oil compared to one with corn oil. That’s in line with previous research linking EVOO to elevated levels of insulin, a hormone that helps convert glucose into energy, Violi said.”
Take-Home Message: Unprocessed Saturated Fat Is Good for You
Focusing your diet on REAL FOOD (raw whole, ideally organic, and from pasture raised cows) rather than processed fare is one of the easiest ways to sidestep dietary pitfalls like harmful fats — not to mention other harmful ingredients like refined sugars, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and additives that have never been properly tested for safety. Beyond that, it’s really just a matter of tweaking the ratios of fat, carbs and protein to suit your individual situation.
One key though is to trade refined sugar and processed fructose for healthy fat, as this will help optimize your insulin and leptin levels. We’ve spent decades trading healthy saturated fats for carbs and trans fats, and there can be no doubt that this has had an enormous influence on disease statistics, raising incidence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s — all the top killers.
Healthy fat is particularly important for optimal brain function and memory. This is true throughout life, but especially during childhood. So, if processed food still make up the bulk of your meals, you’d be wise to reconsider your eating habits. Not only are processed foods the primary culprit in obesity and insulin resistance, processed foods can also affect the IQ of young children. One British study23 revealed that kids who ate a predominantly processed food diet at age three had lower IQ scores at age 8.5. For each measured increase in processed foods, participants had a 1.67-point decrease in IQ.
Another study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics24,25,26 also warns that frequent fast food consumption may stunt your child’s academic performance. For more detailed dietary guidance, please see my optimal nutrition plan. It’s a step-by-step guide to feeding your family right, and I encourage you to read through it. I’ve also created my own “food pyramid,” based on nutritional science, which you can print out and share.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Certain Heartburn Drugs May Increase Your Risk of Heart Attack
June 24, 2015 | 277,485 views
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By Dr. Mercola
Are you among the 20 million1 Americans taking an acid inhibiting drug to treat your heartburn?
Please be aware that for most, the risks far outweigh the benefits as there are plenty of alternative effective strategies to eliminate heartburn without serious side effects.
Previous research2,3,4,5,6,7 clearly shows that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as Nexium, Prilosec, and Prevacid, are severely overprescribed and misused.
Indeed, PPIs are among the most widely prescribed drugs today, with annual sales of about $14 billion8--this despite the fact that they were never intended to treat heartburn in the first place.
Proton Pump Inhibitors Were Not Designed to Treat Heartburn
PPIs, the most powerful class of antacid drugs, were actually designed to treat a very limited range of severe problems,9 such as bleeding ulcers, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (a rare condition that causes excess stomach acid production), and severe acid reflux, where an endoscopy has confirmed your esophagus is damaged.
PPIs were never intended for people with heartburn, and according to Mitchell Katz, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health,10 "about 60 to 70 percent of people taking these drugs have mild heartburn and shouldn't be on them."
If you're taking a PPI drug to treat your heartburn, understand that you're treating a symptom only; you are in no way addressing the underlying cause. And, by doing so, you're exposing yourself to other potentially more dangerous health problems, courtesy of the drug itself.
These drugs were initially released during the first years of my practice in the late '80s. It is important to note that, these drugs could only be obtained with a prescription and were not recommended to use for more than ONE WEEK. Today, they're sold over the counter and frequently used continuously by many!
The recommendation is to use them for a maximum of two weeks at a time, no more than three times per year, but many ignore this and stay on them far longer, which could have serious consequences. For example, reported side effects of PPI drugs include:
- Pneumonia
- Bone loss
- Hip fractures
- Infection with Clostridium difficile, a harmful intestinal bacteria (this risk is particularly heightened in children11)
It's also important to realize that while PPIs suppress the production of stomach acid—which in some severe cases may be warranted, short-term—the vast majority (about 95 percent) of heartburn cases are not caused by too much stomach acid, but rather from having too little.
Hence taking these drugs will actually worsen your condition over time... Reducing stomach acid also diminishes your primary defense mechanism against food-borne pathogens, thereby increasing your risk of food poisoning. PPIs simply do nothing to treat the underlying cause of ulcer pain.
PPIs May Raise Your Risk for Heart Attack
More recent research12,13 has also linked PPIs with an increased risk for heart attack, even if you have no prior history of cardiovascular disease. Lead author Nigam H. Shah of Stanford University in California told Reuters Health:14
"[G]iven the underlying biology and the effect of these drugs in reducing nitric oxide in the blood vessel walls, the observed association is not super surprising..."
However, he also noted that: "Although the results are compelling, this study does not prove that PPIs cause MI [myocardial infarction]..."
What he's referring to is that nitric oxide (NO) has the effect of relaxing your blood vessels, so by reducing the amount of NO in your blood vessel walls, PPI's may raise your risk of a heart attack.
To assess whether the use of PPIs were associated with a heightened cardiovascular risk among the general population, the team mined clinical data from more than 16 million medical records on 2.9 million patients.
This revealed that patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who took PPIs had a 16 percent increased risk of heart attack. Moreover, as reported by Scientific American:15
"Survival analysis in a prospective cohort found a two-fold increased risk of cardiovascular mortality in PPI users... H2 blockers, which include famotidine (Pepcid AC) and ranitidine (Zantac), were not associated with increased cardiovascular risk...
"Consistent with our pre-clinical findings that PPIs may adversely impact vascular function, our data-mining study supports the association of PPI exposure with risk for MI in the general population," the authors write."
What Causes Heartburn?
Before we get into treatment, let's review the actual causes of heartburn, as this will help explain why acid blockers are so detrimental. "Heartburn," also referred to as acid reflux, is characterized by a burning sensation originating behind your breastbone, sometimes traveling up into your throat.
Heartburn is a hallmark symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also known as peptic ulcer disease. In some cases, this burning pain can be severe enough to be mistaken for a heart attack. But what's responsible for this painful effect?
After food passes through your esophagus into your stomach, a muscular valve called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) closes, preventing food or acid to move back up. Acid reflux occurs when the LES relaxes inappropriately, allowing acid from your stomach to flow (reflux) backward into your esophagus.
But the conventional rationale that acid reflux is caused by excessive amounts of acid in your stomach is incorrect. Excessive acid production is actually extremely rare, and the vast majority of acid reflux cases are in fact related to:
- Hiatal hernia16
- Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) imbalance
In the early 1980s, Dr. Barry Marshall, an Australian physician, discovered that an organism called helicobacter pylori (initially called campylobacter) can contribute to a chronic low-level inflammation of your stomach lining, which is largely responsible for producing many of the symptoms of acid reflux. One of the explanations for why suppressing stomach acid is so ineffective—and there are over 16,000 articles in the medical literature attesting to this—is that when you decrease the amount of acid in your stomach, you suppress your body's ability to kill the helicobacter bacteria. So suppressing stomach acid production only tends to just worsen and perpetuate the condition.
While it would seem logical to attempt to eradicate this organism as Dr. Marshall suggested (and eventually received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1995), this is clearly not the ideal approach. We now understand that helicobacter bacteria can actually be part of your normal healthy microbiome. It is only when it becomes imbalanced by other bacteria that it becomes a problem. This typically occurs as a result of the poor food choices in a Western diet.
How to Normalize Your Body's Production of Stomach Acid
Additionally, contrary to popular belief, heartburn is often associated with having too little stomach acid to begin with, and one simple strategy to address this deficiency is to swap out processed table salt for an unprocessed version like Himalayan salt. By consuming enough of the raw material, you will encourage your body to make sufficient amounts of hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) naturally. Himalayan salt will not only provide you with the chloride your body needs to make hydrochloric acid, it also contains over 80 trace minerals your body needs to perform optimally, biochemically.
Research17 has also shown that sauerkraut or cabbage juice is among the strongest stimulants for your body to produce stomach acid. Another benefit is that it can provide you with valuable bacteria to help balance and nourish your gut. Having a few teaspoons of cabbage juice before eating, or better yet, fermented cabbage juice from sauerkraut, will do wonders to improve your digestion. Fresh raw cabbage juice can also be very useful to heal resistant ulcers.
Another option is to take a betaine hydrochloric supplement, which is available in health food stores without prescription. You'll want to take as many as you need to get the slightest burning sensation and then decrease by one capsule. This will help your body to better digest your food, and will also help kill the helicobacter and normalize your symptoms. Now, while hiatal hernia and H.pylori infection are unrelated, many who have a hiatal hernia also have H. pylori18 and associated symptoms. If you have a hiatal hernia, physical therapy on the area may work, and many chiropractors are skilled in this adjustment.
Important Advice when Quitting PPIs
While I strongly advise you to quit using PPIs, getting off them is not easy and you simply can't quit them cold turkey without a relapse and severe pain, as they actually worsen the condition the longer you are on them. It is a perfect scenario for the drug companies that get you hooked, as you can't stop them without being in misery. These drugs promote both tolerance and dependence, so you have to gradually wean yourself off them.
To minimize this risk, you can gradually decrease the dose you're taking, and once you get down to the lowest dose of the proton pump inhibitor, you can start substituting with an over-the-counter H2 blocker like Tagamet, Cimetidine, Zantac, or Raniditine. Then gradually wean off the H2 blocker over the next several weeks. While weaning yourself off these drugs, start implementing the lifestyle modifications discussed below to help eliminate your heartburn once and for all.
Safe and Effective Strategies to Eliminate Heartburn and Acid Reflux
Ultimately, the answer to heartburn and acid indigestion is to restore your natural gastric balance and function and to do that, you need to address your gut health. The most important step is to eliminate processed foods and sugars as they are a surefire way to exacerbate acid reflux. They also alter your gut microbiome and promote the growth of pathogenic microbes. So be sure to eat lots of fresh vegetables and other unprocessed organic foods. Food allergies can also be a contributing factor to acid reflux, so eliminate items such as caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine.
Reseeding your gut with beneficial bacteria, either from traditionally fermented foods or a high-quality probiotic supplement is also important, as this will not only help balance your bowel flora, it can also help eliminate helicobacter bacteria naturally. Probiotics and fermented foods, especially fermented vegetables, also aid in proper digestion and assimilation of your food. Other helpful strategies to get your heartburn under control include the following suggestions, drawn from a variety of sources, including everydayroots.com, which lists 15 different natural remedies for heartburn;19 as well as research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine,20 the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,21 and others.22
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Raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar
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Acid reflux typically results from having too little acid in your stomach. You can easily improve the acid content of your stomach by taking one tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water.
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Betaine
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Another option is to take a betaine hydrochloric supplement, which is available in health food stores without prescription. You'll want to take as many as you need to get the slightest burning sensation and then decrease by one capsule. This will help your body to better digest your food, and will also help kill the H. pylori bacteria.
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One-half to one full teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in an eight-ounce glass of water may ease the burn of acid reflux as it helps neutralize stomach acid. I would not recommend this as a regular solution but it can sure help in an emergency when you are in excruciating pain.
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Aloe juice
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The juice of the aloe plant naturally helps reduce inflammation, which may ease symptoms of acid reflux. Drink about 1/2 cup of aloe vera juice before meals. If you want to avoid its laxative effect, look for a brand that has removed the laxative component.
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Ginger root
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Ginger has been found to have a gastroprotective effect by blocking acid and suppressing helicobacter pylori.23 According to a 2007 study,24 it's also far superior to lansoprazole for preventing the formation of ulcers, exhibiting six- to eight-fold greater potency over the drug! This is perhaps not all that surprising, considering the fact that ginger root has been traditionally used against gastric disturbances since ancient times.
Add two or three slices of fresh ginger root to two cups of hot water. Let steep for about half an hour. Drink about 20 minutes or so before your meal.
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Vitamin D
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Vitamin D is important for addressing any infectious component. Once your vitamin D levels are optimized, you're also going to optimize your production of about 200 antimicrobial peptides that will help your body eradicate any infection that shouldn't be there.
As I've discussed in many previous articles, you can increase your vitamin D levels through sensible sun exposure, or through the use of a tanning bed. If neither of those are available, you can take an oral vitamin D3 supplement; just remember to also increase your vitamin K2 intake.
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Astaxanthin
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This exceptionally potent antioxidant was found to reduce symptoms of acid reflux in patients when compared to a placebo, particularly in those with pronounced helicobacter pylori infection.25 Best results were obtained at a daily dose of 40 mg.
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Slippery elm
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Slippery elm coats and soothes the mouth, throat, stomach, and intestines, and contains antioxidants that can help address inflammatory bowel conditions. It also stimulates nerve endings in your gastrointestinal tract. This helps increase mucus secretion, which protects your gastrointestinal tract against ulcers and excess acidity. The University of Maryland Medical Center26 makes the following adult dosing recommendations:
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Glutamine
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Research27 published in 2009 found that gastrointestinal damage caused by H. pylori can be addressed with the amino acid glutamine, found in many foods, including beef, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products, and some fruits and vegetables. L-glutamine, the biologically active isomer of glutamine, is also widely available as a supplement.
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Folate or folic acid (vitamin B9) and other B vitamins
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As reported by clinical nutritionist Byron Richards,28 research suggests B vitamins can reduce your risk for acid reflux. Higher folic acid intake was found to reduce acid reflux by approximately 40 percent. Low vitamin B2 and B6 levels were also linked to an increased risk for acid reflux. The best way to raise your folate levels is by eating folate-rich whole foods, such a sliver, asparagus, spinach, okra, and beans.
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Melatonin, l-tryptophan, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12, methionine, and betaine
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A dietary supplement containing melatonin, l-tryptophan, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12, methionine, and betaine, was found to be superior to the drug omeprazole in the treatment of GERD.29 Part of the success is thought to be due to melatonin's inhibitory activity on nitric oxide biosynthesis, which plays an important role in transient lower esophageal sphincter (LES) relaxation, which, as I mentioned earlier, is part of the real underlying problem of GERD.
Impressively, 100 percent of patients receiving this supplement reported a complete regression of symptoms after 40 days of treatment, compared to just under 66 percent of those taking omeprazole. The authors concluded that "this formulation promotes regression of GERD symptoms with no significant side effects."
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How Castor Oil Can Benefit You
1 Comment 09 June 2014
Castor Oil
What is castor oil and where does it come from?
Castor oil comes from the castor seed, which has a very unique chemical composition. The castor seed plant is native to India, 90 percent of its composition is ricinoleic acid. This unique fatty acid is thought to be responsible for castor oil’s healing properties. It was used for medical reasons in Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Persia, and then eventually in the 17th Century Europe and the Americas.
Castor Oil is used for a lot of non-medical uses such as food additive, and flavoring agent, mold inhibitor, ingredient in skin care products and cosmetics, used in the manufacturing of plastics, rubbers, synthetic resins, fibers, paints, varnishes, lubricants, sealants, dyes, and leather treatments. Castor oil was used as an aircraft lubricant in WWI. So castor oil has made its breakthrough in the industrialized world, but did you know that the castor seeds can be DEADLY??
If you’ve watched “Breaking Bad” you may remember the fatal use of ricin being used a number of times throughout the series. The potent toxin ricin is made from a protein in the castor seeds, that if ingested, gets into the ribosomes of your cells where it prevents protein synthesis, which kills the cells. Ricin is made from the “mash” that is left over after processing castor seeds into oil. Just 1 milligram of ricin is fatal if inhaled or ingested. Eating 5 to 10 seeds would be fatal.
Modern Medical Uses for Castor Oil
Topical application of castor oil appears to be useful for a variety of skin conditions like keratosis, dermatosis, would healing, acne, ringworm, warts, and other skin infections, sebaceous cysts, itching, and even hair loss.
It has shown some promise in treatment of cancer. American Cancer Society reports that early clinical trials suggest that ricin, when combined with an antibody to confine this poison to malignant cells, shrinks tumors in lymphoma patients.
Castor oil has even been reportedly used to treat multiple sclerosis, arthritis, epilepsy, appendicitis, colitis, Parkinson’s Disease, Migraine and other headaches, liver ailments, including cirrhosis, AIDs, eye irritation, cerebral palsy, cholecystitis, scleroderma, detoxification and gynecological problems.
The Benefits of Castor Oil Packs
There are several ways to use castor oil topically. You can simply rub castor oil onto an affected area of your skin or you can affix a Band-Aide soaked in castor oil if only a very small area needs to be treated. For larger areas, use as a massage oil, which is reported to be especially effective when applied along your spinal column, massaged along your lymphatic drainage pathway. But the best way is the castor oil pack.
It is reported, when used properly, castor oil packs improve the function of your thymus gland and other components of your immune system. Warm castor oil packs help to alleviate muscle and bone pain, spasms and cramping, including those in the liver area or in any part of the body that is painful. They increase circulation, relax muscles and disperse toxicity, and act fast and reliably.
Here is how you make one, you will need the following:
1. High quality cold-pressed organic castor oil
2. A hot water bottle or heating pad.
3. Plastic wrap, sheet of plastic, or plastic garbage bag.
4. 2 or 3 one-foot square pieces of wool or cotton flannel, or one large enough to cover the entire treatment area when folded in thirds.
5. One large old bath towel.
Instructions:
1. Fold flannel three layers thick so it is still large enough to fit over your entire upper abdomen and liver, or stack the 3 squares.
2. Soak flannel with the oil so that it is completely saturated. The oil should be room temperature.
3. Lie on your back with your feet elevated (use a pillow under your feet and knees), placing flannel pack directly onto your abdomen; cover oiled flannel with the sheet of plastic and place the hot water bottle on top of the plastic.
4. Cover everything with the old towel to insulate the heat. The oil can stain, so take caution not to get it on whatever you are laying on.
5. Leave the pack on for 45 to 60 minutes.
6. When finished, remove the oil from your skin by washing with a solution of 2 tbsps baking soda to one quart water, or just soap and water.
7. You can reuse the pack several times, each time adding more oil as needed to keep the pack saturated.
8. For maximum effectiveness, apply at least four consecutive days per week for one month. Patients who use the pack daily report the most benefits. If you are doing enemas as part of your health regimen use castor oil pack right before to increase effectiveness and remove more toxins.
Side Effects
Taking castor oil orally may alleviate constipation but can irritate your intestinal lining causing digestive discomfort, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal side effects. If you suffer from cramps, irritable bowl, ulcers, diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, colitis, prolapses, or have recently undergone surgery, you should probably avoid castor oil due to the adverse effects. Although castor oil has been used to stimulate labor in healthy pregnant women, there have been widespread reports of it causing nausea.
Taking castor oil orally may alleviate constipation but can irritate your intestinal lining causing digestive discomfort, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal side effects. If you suffer from cramps, irritable bowl, ulcers, diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, colitis, prolapses, or have recently undergone surgery, you should probably avoid castor oil due to the adverse effects. Although castor oil has been used to stimulate labor in healthy pregnant women, there have been widespread reports of it causing nausea.
Sources: www.articles.mercola.com, Healing The Gerson Way
- See more at: http://cancercrackdown.org/how-castor-oil-can-benefit-you/#sthash.dDpq8VmD.X6K3XUZl.dpuf
Saturday, August 29, 2015
'Significant Design Vulnerabilities' Plague Massive Nuclear Waste Site, Leaked Internal Review Reveals
Published on
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
'The fact that the Department of Energy has not released this report, prepared last year, is alarming and indicative of a safety-last culture.'
Sunrise at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington. (Photo: Scott Butner/flickr/cc)
A leaked internal review of the nation's largest nuclear clean-up site found hundreds of "significant design vulnerabilities" and begs questions about the Energy Department's transparency, a watchdog group says.
The Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington houses radioactive waste from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons, and the decades-long clean-up effort has been costly and plagued by leaking underground nuclear waste storage tanks.
Seattle-based Hanford Challenge, which advocates for safe clean-up of the site, says it received the Department of Energy document from a whistleblower who has worked at the site for many years as an engineer.
"The fact that the Department of Energy has not released this report, prepared last year, is alarming and indicative of a safety-last culture," said Tom Carpenter, Executive Director of the group.
The document is a 2014 draft review called "Low-Activity Waste Facility Design and Operability Review and Recommendations." That LAW facility, Hanford Challenge explains in a statement, "is designed to treat waste from Hanford’s high-level nuclear waste tanks that will be pre-treated to remove the highly-radioactive materials before being mixed with glass formers in a facility designed to vitrify the low level waste."
From the executive summary of the leaked report:
Carpenter said, "This document was leaked by someone who was frustrated, and also fearful. This plant is so riddled with design, quality indeterminate, nuclear safety and worker health threats that it is hard to see how this plant could ever open without very significant and expensive rework. "The good news is, DOE commissioned this report, the bad news is they sat on it, all the while saying everything is okay with how they are proceeding," he continued. "It raises concerns about whether management is trying to cover up or water down the findings."
From the Washington Post:
An Energy Department spokesman said that the report was a “very early draft” that contained a number of factual inaccuracies.
“The Department is committed to designing, building and safely operating” the waste facility, spokeswoman Yvonne Levardi said. “While the draft report has not been finalized, it does not identify any unknown major technical issues with the Low Activity Waste Facility.”
The leaked review comes the same month as whistleblower Walter Tamosaitis, who raised safety concerns regarding operations at the site, reached a $4.1 settlement with Hanford subcontractor AECOM.
And last year, documents obtained by the Associated Press showed there were "significant construction flaws" in some of the double-shell storage tanks at the facility. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) urged the Energy Department to provide an action plan of how it would deal with the risks the flaws pose, writing in a letter (pdf) to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz: "It is time for the Department to stop hiding the ball and pretending that the situation at Hanford is being effectively managed."
The Washington site has proven itself an "intractable problem" that "costs taxpayers a billion dollars a year," author and history professor Kate Brown wrote earlier this year. "Corporate contractors hired to clean up Hanford have made hundreds of millions of dollars in fees and surcharges, and, since little has been accomplished, the tab promises to mount for decades."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
How NOT to have an autoimmune condition
By Dr. Davis | January 16, 2015
Autoimmune conditions are becoming increasingly common. Estimates vary, but it appears that at least 8-9% of the population in North America and Western Europe have one of these conditions, with The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association estimating a higher value of 14%. They are conditions that involve an abnormal immune response directed against one or more organs of the body. If the misguided attack is against the thyroid gland, it can result in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. If it is directed against pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin, it can result in type 1 diabetes or latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA). If it involves tissue encasing joints (synovium), it can result in rheumatoid arthritis. It if involves the liver, it can result in autoimmune hepatitis, and so on.
While it requires a genetic predisposition towards autoimmunity that we have no control over (e.g., the HLA-B27 gene for ankylosing spondylitis), there are numerous environmental triggers of these diseases that we can do something about. Identifying and correcting these factors stacks the odds in your favor of reducing the autoimmune inflammation, pain, organ dysfunction, even reversing the condition altogether.
Among the most important factors to correct in order to minimize or reverse autoimmunity are:
Wheat and grain elimination–If you are reading this, you likely already know that the gliadin protein of wheat and related proteins in other grains (especially the secalin of rye, the hordein of barley, zein of corn, perhaps the avenin of oats) initiate the intestinal “leakiness” that begins the autoimmune process, an effect that occurs in over 90% of people who consume wheat and grains. The flood of foreign peptides/proteins, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, and grain proteins themselves cause immune responses to be launched against these foreign factors. If, for instance, an autoimmune response is triggered against wheat gliadin, the same antibodies can be aimed at the syapsin protein of the central nervous system/brain, resulting in dementia or cerebellar ataxia (destruction of the cerebellum resulting in incoordination and loss of bladder and bowel control). Wheat and grain elimination is by far the most important item on this list to reverse autoimmunity.
Correct vitamin D deficiency–It is clear that, across a spectrum of autoimmune diseases, vitamin D deficiency serves a permissive, not necessarily causative, role in allowing an autoimmune process to proceed. It is clear, for instance, that autoimmune conditions such as type 1 diabetes in children, rheumatoid arthritis, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are more common in those with low vitamin D status, much less common in those with higher vitamin D levels. For this and other reasons, I aim to achieve a blood level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of 60-70 ng/ml, a level that usually requires around 4000-8000 units per day of D3 (cholecalciferol) in gelcap or liquid form (never tablet due to poor or erratic absorption). In view of the serious nature of autoimmune diseases, it is well worth tracking occasional blood levels.
Supplement omega-3 fatty acids–While omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, from fish oil have proven only modestly helpful by themselves, when cast onto the background of wheat/grain elimination and vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids compound anti-inflammatory benefits, such as those exerted via cyclooxygenase-2. This requires a daily EPA + DHA dose of around 3600 mg per day, divided in two. Don’t confuse EPA and DHA omega-3s with linolenic acid, another form of omega-3 obtained from meats, flaxseed, chia, and walnuts that does not not yield the same benefits. Nor can you use krill oil with its relatively trivial content of omega-3s.
Eliminate dairy–This is true in North America and most of Western Europe, less true in New Zealand and Australia. Autoimmunity can be triggered by the casein beta A1 form of casein widely expressed in dairy products, but not by casein beta A2 and other forms. Because it is so prevalent in North America and Western Europe, the most confident way to avoid this immunogenic form of casein is to avoid dairy altogether. You might be able to consume cheese, given the fermentation process that alters proteins and sugar, but that has not been fully explored.
Cultivate healthy bowel flora–People with autoimmune conditions have massively screwed up bowel flora with reduced species diversity and dominance of unhealthy species. We restore a healthier anti-inflammatory panel of bacterial species by “seeding” the colon with high-potency probiotics, then nourishing them with prebiotic fibers/resistant starches, a collection of strategies summarized in this Wheat Belly Blog post and in greater detail in Wheat Belly Total Health. People sometimes view bowel flora management as optional, just “fluff”–it is anything but. Properly managing bowel flora can be a make-it-or-break-it advantage; don’t neglect it.
There you go: a basic list to get started on if your interest is to begin a process of unraveling the processes of autoimmunity. In some conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and polymyalgia rheumatic, full recovery is possible. In other conditions, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and the pancreatic beta cell destruction leading to type 1 diabetes, reversing the autoimmune inflammation does not restore organ function: hypothyroidism results after thyroiditis quiets down and type 1 diabetes and need for insulin persists after pancreatic beta cell damage. But note that the most powerful risk factor for an autoimmune disease is another autoimmune disease–this is why so many people have more than one autoimmune condition. People with Hashimoto’s, for instance, can develop rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis. So the above menu is still worth following even if you cannot hope for full organ recovery.
More discussions like this, i.e., how to stack the odds in favor of reversing or NOT having numerous health conditions, can be found in Wheat Belly Total Health.
The Dark Side of Wheat by Sayer Ji
http://thedr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ji_DarkSideWheat.GreenMedInfo.pdfhttp://thedr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ji_DarkSideWheat.GreenMedInfo.pdf
High Correlation Found between pesticide use and disease
High correlation found between pesticide use and disease
Posted on August 27, 2015 in Page One
By Michael Howell
A recent research article published in the on-line open access journal “Poultry, Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences” documents a high correlation between the rising use of glyphosate-based pesticides in the U.S. and the rising incidence of various diseases and birth abnormalities in animals and humans. The article [Hoy J, Swanson N, Seneff S (2015) The High Cost of Pesticides: Human and Animal Diseases. Poult Fish Wildl Sci 3: 132. doi:10.4172/2375-446X.1000132] was co-authored by local wildlife rehabilitator Judy Hoy, Nancy Swanson of Abacus Enterprises, and Stephanie Seneff from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The study was based on research conducted by Hoy on wildlife, mostly deer fawns, over the past two decades, US government data on pesticide usage, and data from the Centers for Disease Control on hospital discharge rates for various human disease patterns between 1998 and 2010.
Because much of the wildlife data is from deer fawns, most of the human data presented involves newborn infants, but some data for children 0-15 years old was also presented as well as for the full population (except newborn).
The study found many diseases and conditions whose hospital discharge rates match remarkably well with the rate of glyphosate usage on corn, soy, and wheat crops. These include head and face anomalies, newborn eye disorders, newborn blood disorders, newborn skin disorders, lymph disorders in children 0-15 (and in the general population except newborn), congenital heart conditions in newborns, enlarged right ventricle in all age groups except newborn, newborn lung problems, pulmonary bleeding and edema for all age groups except newborn, liver cancer for all age groups except newborn, newborn metabolic disorders and newborn genitourinary disorders.
The article concludes that correlations between glyphosate usage and specific health issues, along with the known toxicology profile of glyphosate obtained from the literature, reflect a plausible causal relationship.
“Something is causing alarming increases in diseases and birth defects in wildlife. Something is causing alarming increases in diseases and birth defects in humans. Our graphs illustrating human disease patterns over the twelve-year period correlate remarkably well with the rate of glyphosate usage on corn, soy, and wheat crops,” state the researchers.
Glyphosate is known to chelate vital minerals [US Patent #3160632 A]. Glyphosate is an anti-microbial and biocide [US Patent #20040077608 A1]. Glyphosate has been classified as an endocrine disruptor by the Endocrine Society. Glyphosate has been classified as “probably carcinogenic” by the World Health Organization and by the American Cancer Society. Glyphosate interferes with the shikimate pathway, essential to healthy gut microbes. Glyphosate inhibits the CYP enzyme activity, which is vital to a healthy functioning liver.
According to the study, the strong correlations between glyphosate usage and disease patterns, the highly significant p-values and the known toxicological profile of glyphosate indicate that glyphosate is likely a major factor in the increases in the serious issues with human health documented here.
The authors conclude, “Our over-reliance on chemicals in agriculture is causing irreparable harm to all beings on this planet, including the planet herself. Most of these chemicals are known to cause illness, and they have likely been causing illnesses for many years. But until recently, the herbicides have never been sprayed directly on food crops, and never in this massive quantity. We must find another way.”http://www.bitterrootstar.com/2015/08/27/high-correlation-found-between-pesticide-use-and-disease/
The study was based on research conducted by Hoy on wildlife, mostly deer fawns, over the past two decades, US government data on pesticide usage, and data from the Centers for Disease Control on hospital discharge rates for various human disease patterns between 1998 and 2010.
Because much of the wildlife data is from deer fawns, most of the human data presented involves newborn infants, but some data for children 0-15 years old was also presented as well as for the full population (except newborn).
The study found many diseases and conditions whose hospital discharge rates match remarkably well with the rate of glyphosate usage on corn, soy, and wheat crops. These include head and face anomalies, newborn eye disorders, newborn blood disorders, newborn skin disorders, lymph disorders in children 0-15 (and in the general population except newborn), congenital heart conditions in newborns, enlarged right ventricle in all age groups except newborn, newborn lung problems, pulmonary bleeding and edema for all age groups except newborn, liver cancer for all age groups except newborn, newborn metabolic disorders and newborn genitourinary disorders.
The article concludes that correlations between glyphosate usage and specific health issues, along with the known toxicology profile of glyphosate obtained from the literature, reflect a plausible causal relationship.
“Something is causing alarming increases in diseases and birth defects in wildlife. Something is causing alarming increases in diseases and birth defects in humans. Our graphs illustrating human disease patterns over the twelve-year period correlate remarkably well with the rate of glyphosate usage on corn, soy, and wheat crops,” state the researchers.
Glyphosate is known to chelate vital minerals [US Patent #3160632 A]. Glyphosate is an anti-microbial and biocide [US Patent #20040077608 A1]. Glyphosate has been classified as an endocrine disruptor by the Endocrine Society. Glyphosate has been classified as “probably carcinogenic” by the World Health Organization and by the American Cancer Society. Glyphosate interferes with the shikimate pathway, essential to healthy gut microbes. Glyphosate inhibits the CYP enzyme activity, which is vital to a healthy functioning liver.
According to the study, the strong correlations between glyphosate usage and disease patterns, the highly significant p-values and the known toxicological profile of glyphosate indicate that glyphosate is likely a major factor in the increases in the serious issues with human health documented here.
The authors conclude, “Our over-reliance on chemicals in agriculture is causing irreparable harm to all beings on this planet, including the planet herself. Most of these chemicals are known to cause illness, and they have likely been causing illnesses for many years. But until recently, the herbicides have never been sprayed directly on food crops, and never in this massive quantity. We must find another way.”http://www.bitterrootstar.com/2015/08/27/high-correlation-found-between-pesticide-use-and-disease/
New Cancer Research Suggests That Immunotherapy Could Replace Chemo
One of the major reasons why the official cure for cancer has remained so elusive is the fact that there are so many forms of cancer. One type of cancer in particular called multiple myeloma, a cancer formed by cancerous plasma cells, affect 1 in 143 people in the United States and has killed 11,240 people in 2015 alone!
However, new, promising research suggests that multiple myeloma patients could find recovery in a therapy that isn’t chemo: immunotherapy.
Could Immunotherapy Replace Chemo?
Immunotherapy involves the use of a person’s own immune system to treat an infection or disease. A new research found that 70% of multiple myeloma patients responded positively to the treatment.The study was published in the Nature Medicine Journal by the University of Maryland Medical Center.
But don’t be confused! This is no stand around and wait approach to cancer. The patients had stem cell transplants using their own stem cells, followed by an injection containing 2.4 billion genetically altered immune system T cells. These genetically altered cells make it harder for cancer cells to evade the immune system’s antibodies.
14 out of the 20 myeloma patients had a near-complete or complete response three months after the treatment.
More About Multiple Myeloma
As mentioned above, multiple myeloma is a cancer that starts in our plasma cells, which are a type of white blood cell. They are found mainly in our bone marrow, but are also present (in smaller quantities,) in other tissues and organs.
Plasma cells are important because they make antibodies that help our bodies fight infections. When abnormal cells, (cells that no longer grow nor behave normally,) divide uncontrollably to create more abnormal plasma cells, they become cancerous myeloma cells.
These myeloma cells continue to divide, building up in the bone marrow and outnumbering other normal blood cells. The myeloma cells produce abnormal proteins and other abnormal substances that cause bone and organ damage.
Myeloma cells can also form tumors in and outside of the bones.
Issues With Treating Multiple Myeloma With Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a very invasive and toxic treatment. When chemo drugs attack healthy cells in an effort to kill the cancerous ones, the drugs have a negative impact on our health. Some of the more severe side effects associated with chemotherapy include:
The Future of Immunotherapy
Over half the patients in this study experienced a tumor reduction as a result of this new treatment. Scientists believe that this treatment could be effective with all types of cancer, not just multiple myeloma.
Researchers also believe that one day, immunotherapy could replace chemotherapy. This is promising and exciting news. It’s certainly no cure, but it’s one more ally in the fight against cancer!
Sources:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/immunotherapy-future-cancer-research-70-multiple-myeloma-patients-find-recovery-new-343818
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003065-pdf.pdf
http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/multiple-myeloma/multiple-myeloma/?region=on
http://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/chemotherapy/side-effects-chemotherapy
Image Source:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSAoVSNtX06D0iINvyhVwDrKvym3h6PvIG0wIu4x8S3bqDGaculEukULooSj9-o0Kbme_Cc-HB0xvrmkOnNpCPMGo78VB3PqOOZPXHaLCDNeWGgPre2jfayu8RduzKmauarq_A66B0Nthy/s1600/Coley+Toxin+Illustration+-+20-03-2014.jpg
What Others Are Reading
Friday, August 28, 2015
A List of 146 of the 271 Vaccines in Big Pharma's Developmental Pipeline (as of 2010)
(NOTE: The corporations that have the largest financial interest in the success of the trials is listed in bold letters.)
sanofi pasteur prevention of Clostridium difficile
ACE BioSciences prevention of traveler's diarrhea caused by Campylobacter jejuni
ACE BioSciences prevention of traveler's diarrhea caused by Escherichia coli
sanofi pasteur diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis Phase III DTP vaccine
Aeras Global tuberculosis
Novartis Vaccines prevention of influenza A infection (H5N1 subtype)
Antigenics treatment of herpes simplex virus
BioSante Pharmaceuticals anthrax Phase I/II vaccine
Intercell USA anthrax KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections
Aduro BioTech treatment of hepatitis C
Emergent BioSolutions anthrax vaccine
AlphaVax prevention of influenza virus infections in the elderly
DynPort Vaccine botulism vaccine
Inviragen Chikungunya virus vaccine
Celldex Therapeutics cholera vaccine (live attenuated)
ChronTech Pharma hepatitis C (DNA vaccine)
Virionics prevention and treatment of hepatitis C
Vical prevention of cytomegalovirus (DNA vaccine)
AlphaVax prevention of cytomegalovirus infections
Hawaii Biotech prevention of dengue fever
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of dengue fever (tetravalent)
Acambis mild to severe dengue fever
sanofi pasteur DTP-Hep B
sanofi pasteur diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B, polio, Hib
Dynavax treatment of hepatitis B
Crucell prevention of Ebola virus infections
Vical prevention of Ebola virus infections
GenPhar Ebola virus vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of infectious mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr virus)
BioSolutions Escherichia coli infections
Celldex Therapeutics prevention of cholera, Escherichia coli infections
Protein Sciences prevention of influenza virus infections in adults and children
sanofi pasteur influenza virus infections (new mass production method)
sanofi pasteur prevention of influenza virus (intradermal micro-injection)
Protein Sciences influenza virus infections
GlaxoSmithKline rotavirus infections in infants
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of cytomegalovirus (recombinant vaccine)
GlaxoSmithKline influenza virus (trivalent, thimerosal-free) for children ages 3-17
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of influenza virus
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of Streptococcus pneumoniae
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus infections, hepatitis B, meningococcal group C infections, poliomyelitis (infants)
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of Haemophilus and pneumococcal infections
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of Haemophilus and pneumococcal infections
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of influenza virus infection in children
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of influenza A virus (H1N1 subtype) for children and infants
GlaxoSmithKline staphylococcal infections
MedImmune influenza A virus (H5N1 subtype) intranasal
Novavax prevention of influenza A virus infection
Hawaii Biotech prevention of West Nile virus infection
Novartis Vaccines helicobacter pylori
Pfizer hepatitis B (DNA)
Emergent BioSolutions hepatitis B
GenPhar hepatitis B
Novartis Vaccines treatment of hepatitis C
GlaxoSmithKline hepatitis E (recombinant)
Dynavax prevention of hepatitis B
Pfizer treatment of herpes simplex virus infections (DNA vaccine)
AuRx prevention and treatment of herpes simplex virus infections
sanofi pasteur diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, polio, Hib
Intercell prevention of influenza virus seasonal influenza
Novartis Vaccines prevention of herpes simplex virus infections
Acambis prevention of encephalitis virus
Bavarian Nordic smallpox vaccine
sanofi pasteur influenza A virus (H1N1 subtype) in adolescents, children and infants
CSL Behring prevention of influenza A virus (H1N1 subtype) for the elderly
Baxter Healthcare prevention of influenza A virus (H1N1 subtype)
Vical prevention of influenza A virus (DNA - H1N1 subtype)
Baxter Healthcare prevention of influenza A virus (H5N1 subtype)
DynPort Vaccine influenza virus
Antigen Express influenza virus infections H5N1 vaccine
Novavax prevention of influenza virus (particle vaccine)
Dynavax prevention of influenza virus infections
Vaxin influenza virus infections (intranasal)
Abbott Laboratories prevention of influenza virus (cell culture-derived)
Intercell prevention of Japanese encephalitis in children
Novartis Vaccines malaria vaccine (U.S. Naval Medical Research Center)
Vical malaria vaccine
BioSante Pharmaceuticals prevention of malaria (U.S. Naval Medical Research Center)
GenVec malaria vaccine (U.S. Naval Medical Research Center)
Crucell malaria vaccine
Sanaria malaria vaccine
GenPhar Marburg virus (DNA vaccine)
MedImmune parainfluenza virus infections in children and infants
MedImmune prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infections in infants
MedImmune prevention of parainfluenza virus infections in children and infants
MedImmune prevention of influenza virus (quadrivalent) for adolescents and children
sanofi pasteur Neisseria meningitidis A, C in toddlers 9 months-12 months
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of Neisseria meningitidis groups C and Y, Haemophilus influenzae type B, and tetanus toxoid
sanofi pasteur meningitis in infants
Novartis Vaccines meningococcal group B infections vaccine group B
Novartis Vaccines meningococcal group A, C infections in children
Novartis Vaccines meningococcal group A, C infections in infants
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of malaria (recombinant vaccine)
NanoBio prevention of influenza virus (intranasal)
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of influenza virus inactivated split-trivalent vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of Neisseria meningitidis groups A, C in children
LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals norovirus infections (intranasal)
Novartis Vaccines prevention of influenza virus
Protein Sciences prevention of influenza A pandemic (H5N1 subtype)
Meridian Biosciences parvovirus infections
Crucell prevention of influenza virus infections
Pfizer meningococcal group B infections (meningococcal "plague" vaccine)
DynPort Vaccine Yersinia infections (injectable)
Baxter Healthcare prevention of seasonal influenza virus
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of influenza A virus ("pre-pandemic")
Pfizer prevention of pneumococcal infection in the elderly (Prevnar 13 Adult™)
sanofi pasteur rabies vaccine
BioSante Pharmaceuticals ricin poisoning ("biodefense" vaccine)
Soligenix ricin poisoning
sanofi pasteur prevention of rotavirus infections
Bharat Biotech prevention of rotavirus infections
Emergent BioSolutions anthrax (Fast Track) "protective antigen" vaccine
Inhibitex staphylococcal infections
Vical prevention of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus infections
Emergent BioSolutions shigella infections
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of herpes simplex virus infections
PharmAthene anthrax ("protective antigen" - rPA)
BioSante Pharmaceuticals staphylococcal infections ("biodefense" vaccine)
Nabi Biopharmaceutical prevention of staphylococcal aureus infections
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of staphylococcal aureus infections
Nabi Biopharmaceutical prevention of streptococcal B infections
Emergent BioSolutions prevention of streptococcal infections
Novartis Vaccines prevention of streptococcal infections
sanofi pasteur prevention of meningitis and pneumonia (tetravalent)
Inviragen treatment of dengue fever
Intercell USA prevention of traveler's diarrhea due to E. coli ("patch" technology)
GlaxoSmithKline tuberculosis
Aerus Global TB prevention of tuberculosis in young children
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of tuberculosis in adults
sanofi pasteur prevention of tuberculosis
DynPort Vaccine tularemia
Emergent BioSolutions prevention of typhoid (live typhoid organisms – oral vaccine)
Novartis Vaccines prevention of typhoid fever
Celldex Therapeutics typhoid fever
Merck prevention of herpes zoster (shingles)
Merck hepatitis B in infants
Merck human papillomavirus infections
Merck staphylococcal infections
GlaxoSmithKline prevention of varicella zoster virus
VaxInnate prevention of influenza A virus
VaxInnate influenza A virus infections in elderly patients
VaxInnate prevention of influenza A virus (H1N1 subtype)
Inovio Pharmaceuticals human papillomavirus infections
Inovio Pharmaceuticals prevention of influenza A virus (H5N1 subtype)
Xcellerex prevention of yellow fever