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2009 was a busy year as gene-related exploration tools opened up a treasure trove of new discoveries. We’ve learned why some of the obvious good health habits, like getting enough sleep and exercise are more important than ever, and we’ve learned new things about health that were barely imagined even a year ago.
In the world of dietary supplements and functional foods there are many choices in terms of product quality, and whey protein is no exception. This is especially true when a used-car sales pitch is used in an effort to make products look and sound far better than what is actually under the hood.
This past year everyone saw with their own two eyes that our government’s public health officials had no problem using fear to influence Americans to be guinea pigs for an experimental H1N1 vaccine. It was equally obvious that the government cried wolf and has egg on its face, as their predicted pandemic never happened (and not because of an effective vaccine campaign) Where are they now when it becomes obvious that a lack of vitami D drastically impairs the immune response to fight any flu – especially considering a majority of Americans are lacking in the nutrient?
The post-mortem analysis of the brains of patients with schizophrenia compared to normal brain shows severe dysregulation in the matrix outside of brain cells that holds them together in key regions of the subconscious brain associated with learning, memory, and the processing of stress.
Methylmercury is a highly toxic compound that binds tightly to nerves, inducing significant nerve damage. It can cross the placenta and injure the fetus. Chlorella is algae with the ability to absorb methylmercury. Research now shows that chlorella can significantly reduce the toxicity of methylmercury exposure to the fetus as well as prevent its accumulation in the brain. This is an important health issue to understand.
British researchers using state-of-the-art x-ray technology have identified the primary reason blood pressure elevates in the first place. A key regulatory protein that regulates blood pressure, angiotensinogen, is damaged or oxidized by free radicals. This leads to a chain of events that are the source of the elevation of blood pressure. The significance of this discovery to human health and cardiovascular disease cannot be understated.
Senator Ted Kennedy has lost his battle with cancer. Over the next few weeks he will receive many well deserved accolades and condolences from around the world. His passing, in many ways, is the final chapter in an era of America. On the subject that matters most to me, health freedom and access to natural health options, Senator Kennedy was no friend of the people. His utopian view of health care for everyone, with no way to pay for it, is rooted in a philosophy of excessive government control that is at odds with free choice and true health freedom.
Governments in the United States and Great Britain plan to use antiviral drugs as a first line of defense against the Swine Flu (along with experimental vaccines as they become available), especially in at risk groups such as young children. A new study by Oxford researchers published in the British Medical journal questions the wisdom of this advice and points out that the risks are likely to outweigh the very slight benefits. (See full study and related commentary).
Let’s assume for the moment that a textbook H1N1 swine flu vaccine is actually produced. Let’s put aside our conce s about its potential toxicity, adverse side effects, or the difficulty in getting a vaccine that actually looks like the current flu problem. And let’s focus on a more fundamental question: Would such a vaccine work for you? Our public health officials seem to think that a vaccine is the answer to the swine flu or any other potential flu that could come along.
It is ironic that food, which is so vital to survival, when consumed in excess is literally poison to your metabolism. Excess consumption of fat and carbohydrates rapidly leads to cardiovascular malfunction, liver malfunction, and numerous metabolic changes associated with easy weight gain and disease risk. A new animal study shows that the powerful antioxidant in olive leaf extract known as oleuropein is protective against the onset of many of these health issues. In the study rats were fed a high carbohydrate and high fat diet for 16 weeks, compared to a control diet.
In 1994, with the discovery of leptin, the view of white adipose tissue was transformed from a warehouse whose primary role was the storage of extra calories into one of the most important endocrine organs in the human body. The explosion in leptin-related research, now involving over 16,000 studies, is a testament to the emerging reality that leptin regulates (as a top-level manager) almost everything in your body. In the past few years the leptin science has transformed our understanding of bone health and bone function.
Isn’t it nice to know that the medical profession caused 29,000 future cases of cancer in 2007 from the CT scans it performed on patients (a great tool for future business). Think twice before falling for a heart scan add you hear on the radio, the risk for a woman getting cancer from it is 1 in 270. These are some of the remarkable numbers coming from two new studies published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Keep in mind that health organizations need to use their expensive machines to justify having them. In the U.S. alone over 70 millio CT scans are performed a year.
There are many reasons for itching. Something is irritating your skin. It could be something you came in contact with or some waste product or toxin trying to work its way out of your body. There could be an infection in the skin. Many people itch when they get too stressed out or worn down. In response to such skin stressors your mast cells may release histamine (an irritant chemical), that magnifies the itching response. Maybe your immune system has gotten riled up, and IgE antibodies are locking in some sort of inflammatory skin problem that itches.
Fisetin is a unique polyphenol flavonoid that has demonstrated a high level of neuro-protection along with improvement of memory. A standardized extract of fisetin is now undergoing extensive scientific studies by the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to prove its value for general brain health. A patent has already been issued, entitled “Methods of Using Flavonoids to Enhance Memory.” It appears that fisetin is another useful nutrient tool in the preservation of cognitive well being.
The debate on health care reform is heating up. Americans are starting to pay attention to what is going on. Big Pharma, in a panic, has bought protection from the Obama administration. The Obama administration, fearing for its political life, has struck an 11th hour deal with the slimiest industry in the free world – change we can count on? Last week Eli Lilly agreed to pay West Virginia $22.5 million dollars to end litigation on its illegal off-label promotion of its top-selling antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa.
Is there any difference between obsessive eating and drug addiction? The answer, as far as brain circuitry is conce ed, is no. Both problems are about reward circuitry in the brain gone awry. Pleasure is required for survival and pleasure is required for addiction – a conundrum of the highest order magnitude. The latest study to nail down the addictive nature of food comes from The Scripps Research Institute.
In a stunning display of nonsense the British Medical journal has again published bogus garbage from the New Zealand’s University of Auckland, leading to the flawed conclusion (really an opinion) that dietary supplements of calcium could increase cardiovascular events. What you should know is that this university offers phenomenal course training such as <a href="http://www.wellnessresources.com/health/articles/calcium_and_heart_health_flawed_study_alarms_women/" title=
Prostate cancer is the most widely diagnosed cancer in America. Men have a 17% risk for getting the problem during their lifetime. The story of any cancer is essentially survival gone wrong, a problem wherein normal cell function is hijacked and turned to cancer. How this happens varies considerably for any particular type of cancer, although there are a number of common features.
It should come as no surprise when a Monsanto product poisons the earth and our food. Our planet has never recovered from the forty-year Monsanto-led PCB contamination that was banned in the U.S. in 1977. To this day environmental PCBs continue to degrade into highly toxic furans and dioxins, wreaking all manner of human health problem.
Potassium is highly concentrated in your cells, whereas sodium (salt) is concentrated between your cells. New science is showing that a lack of potassium is a primary reason why salt can cause high blood pressure and cardiovascular damage. This is especially important in the summer when higher heat can aggravate a potassium deficiency.
A new Canadian study analyzes the sleep habits from children age 1.5 to 5 years looking for an association between sleep problems and the development of ADHD. The study confirms something I have been pointing out for a number of years – that an unstable family sets the “stress thermostat” into a hyper-vigilant mode resulting in a lack of sleep, wired nerves, and future ADHD.
Long-term Tamoxifen use, as widely promoted by oncologists for women following breast cancer, turns out to increase the risk of highly aggressive hormone receptor-negative breast cancer by 440%. This means that while Tamoxifen reduces the risk for less invasive estrogen positive cancer by 60%, it is at the same time putting many women in extreme peril. The lead researcher, Christopher Li, M.D., Ph.D., at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center seemed more apologetic than anything in quotes from his press release, almost embarrassed to publish the results for fear of professional backlash.
A new study indicates that one major factor causing today’s obesity epidemic is the garbage fat diet of Americans for the past century. The Western diet is almost void of omega 3 essential fatty acids. Instead, high levels of omega 6 oils, such as corn oil and soy oil, have found their way into the food supply. Scientists show that four generations of this high omega 6 oil/low omega 3 oil is adequate to change gene signaling in a way that creates offspring that are prone to obesity.
The news media and our federal government are trumpeting the early release of data from H1N1 swine flu vaccine trials. The headlines would have you believe that the new vaccine is a major success. In some ways it is and in other ways it isn’t. Early data from swine flu vaccine trials show that in healthy people ages 18-64 a single dose of the vaccine boosted antigen awareness by 80% - 96%, depending on the version of the vaccine tested.
Quercetin is a common flavonoid found in many fresh fruits and vegetables. It has been in widespread use in the dietary supplement industry for the past two decades due to its natural anti-histamine properties. New research is dramatically expanding our understanding of this nutrient, including its nervous system support, immune support, and weight management properties. Quercetin is highly concentrated in apples, onions (especially red onions), and green tea.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health1, in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, have come to the conclusion that dietary intake of high-fat dairy offers significant protection against developing a variety of metabolic problems, including the onset of type 2 diabetes. The researchers were stunned to report that Americans with a fatty acid in their blood (trans-palmitoleate), which elevates in direct proportion to the amount of high-fat dairy products that are consumed, had a rather amazing three-fold less likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.
A study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs paints a picture of children who can’t stop eating. They are addicted to junk food snacks and they just can’t seem to stop. They are getting larger and hungrier by the minute. They have three extra meals per day in the form of snacks, composed primarily of utter junk food and junk beverages.
A unique strain of mouse was bred to have no insulin receptors on its bone-building osteoblasts, although it had insulin receptors every place else. The mouse became fat. As it aged it grew even fatter and its blood sugar levels shot up and it developed severe insulin resistance. The mouse was treated with osteocalcin and the problems reversed. Welcome to the new world of bones as a metabolic powerhouse. We are witnessing a major breakthrough in the subjects of both bone and metabolic health.
Groundbreaking research on a brain protein called kalirin is opening a new door for novel ways to address serious mental health disorders, addiction problems, as well as another angle on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. Within your brain is a dense network of information highways. Technically, these are called dendritic spines and they allow information to travel from one neuron to another. Without enough kalirin you cannot form and maintain dendritic spines in the proper way.
Get ready for generatio Z (Z for zombie). The brains of a generation of children are now being fried by fraudulent brain drugs. Antidepressants are now the number one prescription in America – and our children are the target market. If you want to save money on health care, especially health care fraud, then ban psychiatrists from getting reimbursement for any services on children and do not provide reimbursement for any psych drugs on any person below age 18.
Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc. – America is a berry rich country. These wonder foods are well known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties due for the most part to the substances that give them color, polyphenols, or more specifically anthocyanins. A new array of emerging gene science is demonstrating that the protective effects of these nutrients to your brain go far beyond their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and are intimately involved with the genes that regulate the natural defense systems in your brain.
Vitamin K is an important antioxidant nutrient well known for its important assistance in the clotting of blood. It is also the target of the commonly over-prescribed Coumadin, adding to society-wide problems of vitami K deficiency. Ironically, such deficiency causes hardening of the arteries via increased calcification of arterial walls. Importantly, the lack of vitami K is a major factor in poor bone health and new science shows it is also important for blood sugar regulation.
It seems simple enough to understand. A well person contracts swine flu from a sick person, who, once sick, passes it along to another. In the case of H1N1 swine flu, most of the population is not familiar with the virus, thus it has the potential to readily spread from sick to well. Sick people are supposed to quarantine themselves to prevent transmission. Everyone else is supposed to get a vaccine. One small problem – what if the sick people aren’t really the ones spreading the infection? At first glance that sounds preposterous.
This year saw an exciting expansion of scientific knowledge in support of the field of nutrition and dietary supplements to benefit human health. The more scientists learn about genes the more they realize that it is nutrients that make all the difference in terms of being healthy. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, since our bodies evolved in the context of using nutrients to aid survival.
Americans have entered into a new type of competition with the Chinese – who will produce the next bacterial superbug plague first? This is no laughing matter.
Green tea is a rich source of polyphenol catechins. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the most active form of the catechins responsible for green tea’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic effects. Green tea also contains caffeine, which appears to act synergistically with EGCG to assist metabolism. A recent meta-analysis of all human green tea weight loss studies found that caffeine-containing green tea works best and produces a statistically significant reduction in body weight, body mass index, and waistline.
Americans are progressing towards heart disease in alarming numbers, with significant signs of poor cardiovascular health occurring even in our overweight teenagers. Whether young or old, DHA from fish oil can help offset the stress of a poor diet and dietary indiscretions. While I’m all in favor of everyone being perfect – it is easier said than done. A number of recent studies demonstrate the value of DHA as an invaluable protector of your health.
Researchers at the University of Michigan are the first to document a new leptin pathway in the brain – one related to the pleasure of eating. They found leptin receptors in a part of the hypothalamus gland that directly influences the production of dopamine, in turn influencing basic mechanism of human behavior behind the desire to acquire, pleasure, and the sense of reward.
When your fasting blood sugar rises above 90 your body enters into a state of stress trying to deal with extra sugar. This is true long before blood sugar rises to the level of type 2 diabetes. The extra sugar in your circulation is a challenge for the health of your arteries, heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and eyes. A number of new studies show that supplemental taurine can help combat the stress of high blood sugar and act as a tool to assist in normalizing your blood sugar regulating systems.
In a rather sobering study, scientists have demonstrated that a high-fat diet has the potential to drastically alter the architecture of the brain, resulting in poor circulation within the brain, down-regulated metabolism, and outright brain damage in areas of the brain central to appetite regulation. The implications of the study are that once a person starts eating too much and continues to do so for a period of time they are ind
Most people think about calcium in terms of its vital role in bone building. However, the flow of calcium in and out of all cells is vital to cellular function. A new study shows that if calcium signaling is lacking then cell energy systems break down and the cells start eating themselves. This discovery is of fundamental importance as a break down in the calcium signaling system is now shown to be a key player in the risk for deve
Type 2 diabetes is a difficult health problem because multiple aspects of calorie utilization simply don’t work properly. A study with young adults (ages 18 - 25) shows the cellular problem is worse than thought. Normally exercise conditions cells to make more energy by facilitating the development of additional mitochondria (cellular engines).
Researchers have found that low vitami C in early life results in 30 per cent less hippocampal neurons and markedly worse spatial memory (animal study). The researchers demonstrated the vital importance of proper vitami C levels, showing that even a slight lack can cause significant brain development problems. “We may thus be witnessing that children get learning disabilities because they have not gotten enough vitami C in their early life.
A surprising new study with MS patients shows that even a six month smoking period at any previous time in the person’s life (10 or more cigarettes per day) was associated with 17% more brain lesions compared to MS patients that never smoked.
DHA is now recognized as a superior nutrient for cardiovascular health, cognitive function, memory, mood, learning, vision quality (including protection against macular degeneration), bone health, fertility, cancer prevention, and inflammation reduction. Somewhat less understood is its vital role in supporting your metabolism by directly benefiting the health of your white adipose tissue and regulation of blood sugar.
A new study in women over the age of 45 has shown that long-term, regular use of vitami E can lower the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by about 10 percent in both smokers and non-smokers. “The findings from our study suggest that increasing vitami E prevents COPD,” said Ms. Agler. “Previous research found that higher intake of vitami E was associated with a lower risk of COPD, but the studies were not designed to answer the question of whether increasing vitami E intake would prevent COPD.
Quercetin is a common flavonoid found in many fruits and plants. Numerous studies are now being published regarding quercetin’s anti-cancer properties. Some of these studies show how quercetin in and of itself provides significant anti-cancer activity. A number of other studies show how quercetin can be combined with chemo drugs to boost their effectiveness, especially in situations of drug resistance to treatment. The intelligence in every cell of your body is called NF-kappaB.
Science now reveals that the foreign contents within your digestive tract play a dramatic role in your energy level, metabolic function, body weight, and cardiovascular health. While it is not the only causative factor involved in obesity and the metabolic syndrome it is a significant contributing factor for virtually any overweight person – especially someone who has difficulty losing weight and keeping it off. This past week the national media attempted to cover the breaking news story that obesity was linked to the wrong type of bacteria in your stomach.
A study done at the National Institute of Mental Health has used neuroanatomical magnetic resonance image technology to document developmental changes in brain structure in normal children and those with ADHD. It is already known that asymmetrical development is associated with healthy motor and cognitive function. The study images show that children with ADHD lack normal asymmetric development between the right and left brain – with the prefrontal regions losing any asymmetrical development.
By now just about everyone is aware that consuming essential fatty acids like DHA is vital to your cardiovascular health, weight management, and general inflammation reduction. In general, the more health problems you have relating to cardiovascular health, blood sugar, weight, and inflammation, the higher the level of intake should be.