Month: August 2011

The data shows that on top of the list of obesity-linked cancers is endometrial cancer, followed by esophageal, pancreatic and kidney cancers, among others. Increased body fat is linked to:

• 49% of endometrial cancers (20,700 cases/year)
• 35% of esophageal cancers (5,800 cases/year)
• 28% of pancreatic cancers (11,900 cases/year)
• 24% of kidney cancers (13,900 cases/year)
• 21% of gallbladder cancers (2,000 cases/year)
• 17% of breast cancers (33,000 cases/year)
• 9% of colorectal cancers (13,200 cases/year)

A groundbreaking – and startling – study published in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research proved that fat cells actively secrete dozens of hormones that act as chemical messengers in various parts of the body. Scientists suspect that these chemical signals may promote not only cancer, but also a wide range of other chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.

"The evidence is clear," said Laurence Kolonel, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and member of the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) expert panel. "If people sustain a normal body weight and remain physically active throughout life, it will have a major impact on cancer incidence."

The recent research adds to the growing body of evidence concerning the many negative effects of obesity on cancer incidence. Previous studies have shown that excess fat tissue causes increased levels of inflammation compounds in the bloodstream and promotes oxidative stress on the body, leading to DNA mutation and diminished immune function. Both of these factors are conductive for not only the formation of diseased cells, but also their multiplication.

Reducing Your Risk
If you don't want to fall prey to a chronic degenerative disease such as cancer, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing stress and choosing alkaline forming foods will do wonders in maintaining optimum health.

The American Cancer Society recommends at least 30 minutes of physical activity five days per week or more. Shedding excess weight can be beneficial even after diagnosis. "An increasing number of studies suggest that regular physical activity improves cancer survival, even among survivors who are overweight or obese," explained Melinda Irwin, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine. "That's really the take-home message here."

Reports say that after 41-year-old Andrea Fornella Abbott told agents that she did not want her daughter to be "touched inappropriately or have her crotch grabbed," police arrested her for disorderly conduct and hauled her off to jail.

"(She) told me in a very stern voice with quite a bit of attitude that they were not going through that X-ray," said Sabrina Birge, an NIA security officer, concerning the incident. Birge apparently also proceeded to rehash the line that naked body scanners are 10,000 times safer than cell phones (which is false). But Abbott still refused, emphasizing that she did not want TSA employees to see her and her daughter's naked bodies, much less be allowed to grope them.

Reports do not indicate the age of Abbott's daughter, but most likely she was very young. She may have even been under the age of six, which means that the girl is not even eligible for an enhanced pat down, at least according to statements made by TSA Administrator John Pistole last November (http://www.naturalnews.com/032975_T…).

Actually, according to the US Constitution, neither Abbott nor her daughter — nor any other air traveler, for that matter — should have to be poked and prodded as part of the TSA's enhanced security protocols, as this type of unreasonable search and invasion of privacy contradicts the Fourth Amendment.

Regardless of whether or not Abbott threw a fit in the airport, which according to reports is how the situation went down, the woman's outrage is validated in light of the heinous reality of modern airport "security." Travelers have two choices — the naked body scanner or an enhanced pat down — and neither one is truly justified as a necessary, or even legal, security measure.

Contrary to TSA claims, the naked body scanners at many US airports are not safe, and the TSA is basically lying to the public about this, and covering up all evidence that contradicts their false claims (http://www.naturalnews.com/032425_a…). And enhanced pat downs, no matter how much rhetoric is used to dress them up, are nothing more than unwarranted sexual assaults that provided no added security benefits.

However, instead of just deciding not to fly at all, which is what some have suggested is the solution to the TSA problem, maybe it is time to actually disband the TSA and restore to Americans their Fourth Amendment right to protection against unwarranted searches. Taking naked images of innocent travelers and feeling up their private parts is a clear violation of this Amendment, and it must be stopped.

One year, so the story went that Jensen told, Samson lost the world's championship heavyweight weight-lifting contest by just 10 ounces. Jensen was able to find and examine Samson's diaries, and found that Samson had a novel theory explaining his defeat. Samson attributed his loss to the fact that he had neglected to dry-brush his skin for three weeks prior to the contest.

Jensen decided to do a little experiment of his own to see why Samson would have reached such an unusual conclusion. Jensen bought a skin brush and stood on brown wrapping paper while he brushed his own body. After enough debris had fallen onto the paper, Jensen sent the material to a lab. The lab found a lot of dead skin, which, of course, was expected. But the lab also found dried catarrh, urea, sodium chloride, sebum and metabolic acid wastes. From his little experiment, Jensen came to understand that when these substances are not removed from the skin, they can become backed up in the muscle structure, and can consequently cause a loss of vitality. Jensen became a great advocate for daily dry-skin brushing.

One of the most wonderful things about our bodies is that its largest organ – the skin — is on its outside. We can, and do, automatically and continuously both nourish and detoxify our bodies through the skin.

The ability of the skin to accept substances and deliver them to the bloodstream is well-known. The skin serves as a direct link to all the other organs. Contemporary physicians have revived the age-old practice of delivering medicine through the skin. Heart patients use nitroglycerin patches; cigarette smokers try to break their addiction through the use of nicotine patches. So great, in fact, is the ability of the skin to absorb substances that one drop of essential oil placed on the fingertip will show up in hair analysis ten minutes later.

The skin's ability to excrete toxins, however, is not as well emphasized. In natural health circles, the skin is referred to as the body's third lung, or third kidney. It aids tremendously in throwing off all toxins from the body. We absorb more impurities, and eliminate more waste through the skin than any other organ in our bodies (including the colon). Two pounds of waste are eliminated every day through the skin. The skin works hand in hand with the kidneys. On hot days, we do a lot of our elimination through our skin, and our kidneys don't have to work as hard. Conversely, on cold days, our kidneys take over this function of the skin because the skin is not eliminating as much.

The body organizes itself, in part, through a continuous dance of creating new while simultaneously shedding old, and it does this process especially efficiently with skin cells.

The skin is often the first place that biological imbalance appears. When the other systems are overloaded in dealing with too many toxins, the skin is utilized as an additional organ of detoxification. Sometimes old cells can cling to the surface of the skin, trapping pathogenic microorganisms like bacteria within; as well new cells are inhibited from breathing. Eruptions, blemishes, odors and colors may appear as the skin tries to do overtime in ridding the body of waste.

Skin brushing is especially useful for lymphatic cleansing. Cleansing the lymphatic system is essential because the lymph glands serve as one of the body's primary defense mechanisms. The lymphatic system cleanses out cellular debris that the bloodstream has not been able to take care of, such as viruses, bacteria and dust.

The lymphatic system is like the circulatory system: it moves a fluid — which makes up about 80% of total body fluids — throughout the body. This lymphatic fluid picks up debris as it moves along its path. Normally, excess lymphatic fluid is excreted through the skin, the kidneys and other eliminative organs.

Unlike the circulatory system which has a pump — the heart — to keep the fluid moving, the lymphatic system has nothing to keep the fluid moving other than your own movement. When there is toxicity from improper diet or elimination, clothing worn too tightly, or not enough exercise, the lymphatic fluid gets blocked.

Improper lymphatic drainage is one of the main reasons that so many women are plagued with cellulite. The dimples that form on the thighs and buttocks are due to the accumulation of fats, proteins and other waste products that are not being excreted from the body efficiently. These unwanted products are usually carried out of the body by the lymphatic system. Dry skin brushing helps to kick-start the lymphatic system by stimulating the lymph canals, which helps detoxify the blood and reduces the toxic build up that causes cellulite.

Jensen himself was testimony to his own theory. When he was 88, he appeared at a conference I was attending. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and pulled up his pants legs, showing us the skin on his arms and legs. There was not a single wrinkle, line or blemish anywhere on this man's body that we could see. Jensen, like Samson, attributed the beauty of his skin – its tautness, smoothness and elasticity – to his daily regimen of skin brushing.

Jane Goldberg Ph.D is the founder of La Casa Day Spa in New York City, which recently celebrated it's 18th anniversary, making it the oldest spa in New York City.

by: Jonathan Benson

(NaturalNews) With an incredible success rate for vitamin D in treating a myriad of health conditions, it is no wonder that some drug companies are looking for new ways to capitalize on this natural, inexpensive nutrient.

Biopharmaceutical giant Rockwell Medical recently announced that it has acquired a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for a generic, injectable form of vitamin D called Calcitriol, that it openly refers to as a "drug."

Marketed under several brand names including Rocaltrol (Roche), Calcijex (Abbott), and Decostriol (Mibe, Jesalis), Calcitriol is really nothing more than vitamin D3, or 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, that has been placed in a syringe with sterile fluids and other additives. And yet Rockwell Medical, as well as various medical information sources, refer to Calicitriol as a "drug," which is why Rockwell Medical obtained an ANDA in the first place.

Calcitriol is marketed as a treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and is said to be a highly active, if not the most active, form of vitamin D in the body. Its high potency makes it very beneficial not only in the treatment of kidney disease, but also in the treatment and prevention of numerous other conditions including bone disease and cancer (http://naturalnews.com/vitamin_d.html).

And while it is great that vitamin D is being promoted as useful in the treatment of disease, the terms under which it is being promoted within the drug industry are disconcerting. Vitamin D is not a drug, and yet drug companies are treating it as such, and putting it through the same drug application process that they would any of their other synthetic drug offerings.

Based on current trends, it will likely not be long before Big Pharma attempts to patent and control numerous other forms of vitamin D as well as Calcitriol, which is why it is important to use and support only the supplement varieties of vitamin D, rather than "drug" varieties.

Researchers wanted to follow up on prior studies showing that grape seed polyphenolic extract (GSPE) stops alpha-beta oligomers from being formed in test tube experiments. Using mice that have been bred to genetically develop Alzheimer`s disease, scientists set to determine the effect of grape polyphenols on cognitive decline. For a period of five months they added GSPE to a standard diet and tested the mice for signs of memory deterioration normally found in this line of transgenic animals.

After the five month period, researchers found that the mice had dramatically lowered levels of alpha beta-56, a specific form of oligomer previously implicated in the promotion of Alzheimer`s disease memory loss. They found that supplemented grape seed extract halted the progression of cognitive decline by helping the brain to clear excess levels of the beta protein implicated with the disease. Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, lead study researcher from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, found: the results "strongly suggest that GSPE should be further tested as a potential prevention and/or therapy for AD Alzheimer`s Disease."

The result of supportive research studies demonstrating the critical importance of natural nutrients to prevent Alzheimer`s disease is published in a prior edition of the Journal of Alzheimer`s Disease. The study, focusing on `neuronutrition,` determined the impact of vitamins, minerals and nutrients from many vegetables and fruits to alter the chemistry of the brain and halt degenerative disease. In addition to a calorie restricted diet, the authors cite vitamin E, dietary polyphenols (including GSPE and resveratrol), curcumin, spices and homocysteine reduction.

Researchers conducting this exhaustive study concluded: "diets rich in unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, antioxidants, and wine likely suppress its (Alzheimer`s disease) onset. Evidence suggests that diets rich in polyphenols and some spices suppress the onset of AD by scavenging free radicals and preventing oxidative damage." Nutrition experts recommend adding red grapes to your natural diet or supplementing with 150 mg to 250 mg of grape seed extract daily to dramatically lower Alzheimer`s dementia risk.

[Editor`s Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and wellbeing of all living creatures.]

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a health concern because it contains glutamate. Glutamate is the salt form of "Free Glutamic Acid" – a toxin that is associated with many health problems (http://www.msgmyth.com/symptoms.html). Due to insufficient labeling laws, food companies use many ingredients (http://www.msgmyth.com/hidden_names…) to disguise Free Glutamic Acid in their products, so consumers must look for more than just "MSG" on food labels.

To understand why processed Free Glutamic Acid is associated with so many health problems, it is helpful to learn about natural Glutamic Acid – an amino acid (a building block of protein) that occurs naturally in the body as one of many excitatory neurotransmitters (chemicals that "excite" cells into action). Glutamic Acid occurs naturally in certain unprocessed, whole foods (e.g., tomatoes). In this natural form, it is bound (i.e., linked) together with other amino acids to form a protein. Once ingested, the protein is broken down slowly by the digestive system. The Glutamic Acid is released gradually into the blood stream and is non-toxic. If one ingests more than the body needs, the cells clear away the excess just as they were designed to do. The digestion of these natural, whole food sources releases such a small amount of Glutamic Acid that even people who react to processed MSG can usually tolerate them.

When food manufacturers break down a protein (usually from corn, soy or wheat) to make processed Free Glutamic Acid, they "free" the glutamic acid from the links that bind it to other amino acids in nature. When one ingests this already-broken-down, free form of Glutamic Acid, blood levels of glutamate can spike to more than 20 times the usual amount because the digestive system does not have to work to break down the links. The human nervous system is not equipped to handle such quickly-absorbed doses. The excess glutamate cannot be efficiently cleared away, so it accumulates around the cells throughout the body, over-exciting them to the point of damage or death.

This disruption at the cellular level leads to a range of physiological reactions that may be as minor as a runny nose or as life-threatening as a heart attack. According to experts like Dr. Russell Blaylock, M.D., Free Glutamic Acid is a toxin, not an allergen. Some people are more sensitive to lower dosages than others, but it affects everyone to some degree. There is often a delay between ingestion and onset of symptoms, preventing many people from realizing the connection. Most acute symptoms will display within 48 hours (many within 30 minutes) of ingestion, but some health effects (e.g., obesity, infertility) have been demonstrated in lab mice long after exposure.

Because glutamate receptors line various organs and tissues (brain, heart, lungs, reproductive organs, digestive tract, etc.) throughout the body, ingesting processed Free Glutamic Acid can disrupt just about any system and cause a wide variety of symptoms. Luckily, much of this damage is reversible, and many sufferers resolve their symptoms (often within 7-10 days) by completely eliminating Free Glutamic Acid from their diets. To prevent these effects and to avoid this hidden additive, one must prepare meals at home from basic, whole food ingredients; minimize reliance on processed foods; read every ingredient list; and avoid any mysterious or vague ingredients on product labels.

How Low Stomach Acid Damages Gut Lining

The main reason low stomach acid can contribute to an unhealthy gut is undigested food. Healthy levels of stomach acid are required to digest and assimilate nutrients like proteins and complex starches. When these pass undigested out of the stomach, they become a feeding ground for pathogenic organisms like candida. As the balance of gut flora is altered, digestion is adversely affected and the lining of the gut is weakened over time.

Another way low stomach acid damages digestive health is by allowing pathogenic bacteria to pass from the stomach into the rest of the gut. When the stomach is sufficiently acidic, harmful bacteria are killed swiftly by the acidic environment. When the stomach pH is too high because acid levels are too low, these bacteria survive and pass into the gut where they cause a slew of problems, including leaky gut syndrome.

How to Naturally Increase Stomach Acid Levels

– Avoid the use of antacids. These do nothing but cover up a symptom. If heartburn or acid reflux is a genuine problem, this is actually one more sign that your stomach acids might be too low, not too high. A weakened lower esophageal sphincter is actually the cause of heartburn and acid reflux, not elevated stomach acid levels.

– Uncover any food allergies and avoid those foods. Food allergies, especially dairy allergies, are known to cause problems with stomach acid levels as well as overall gut health.

– Take a teaspoon or two of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in a small amount of water before meals. For those with mildly low stomach acid levels, this is often enough to greatly improve digestion.

– Try taking herbal digestive bitters to stimulate digestive juices. These have been used for centuries in traditional cultures to improve digestion and overall health.

– Take betaine hydrochloric acid with pepsin during meals. Most adults need between 3-7 capsules per meal to aid digestion.

Advanced Colloidal Silver

Dr. Xiaofa Qin, the author of the letter, details in his writings that a series of findings originally led him to suspect saccharin as the main cause of IBD. The problem? Canada, despite limiting saccharin use more than most Western countries, was still experiencing high rates of IBD. Despite this problematic fact, Dr. Qin kept up his research. What he found was quite startling not only to citizens of Canada and health officials, but also to the world. Sucralose, also labeled as Splenda in many products, was the answer. According to Dr. Qin's research, there was evidence that sucralose could lead to IBD through the very same mechanism as saccharine.

The relationship between these artificial sweeteners and IBD continues to grow, with other countries approving the usage of them before significant outbreaks of IBD. Australia approved sucralose for use in 1993, and in 1994 a study by Hanigan and Radford-Smith found an increase of IBD in north Bisbane. Similarly, the European Union approved the use of sucralose in 2004. A series of studies by Perminow et al found that the instances of pediatric IBD in southeastern Norway were as low as 4.7 during 1990-1993, and they rose as high as 10.6 during 2005-2007.

Artificial sweeteners have crept into products worldwide, and many of them go incognito under a number of different names. Aspartame, for example, has developed such a bad reputation for its links to tumor development and obesity that the manufacturer has attempted to re-brand it as 'AminoSweet' to deceive consumers. Regardless of the seemingly-natural names, artificial sweeteners are synthetic and toxic to the human body. The research is clear: inflammatory bowel disease rates could possibly be halted, or at least significantly lowered, if artificial sweeteners were banned from the market.

[Editor`s Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and wellbeing of all living creatures.]

Lavender has always been a popular oil for aromatherapy, but it may become widely accepted medically. New research published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology indicates that the pure essential oil of Lavandula viridis not only stops the growth of fungi, but also kills fungal infections such as Athlete's foot, ringworm and candida albicans.

Prescription medication and conventional drugs used to treat these conditions generally come with harmful side effects, especially if used in the long term. Lavender oil, which has been shown to kill harmful bacteria and stop fungal infections of the skin, hair and nails, comes with no harmful side effects and benefits overall feelings of well-being. Lavender helps to modulate anxiety and stress and has been used traditionally for hundreds of years as a multi-purpose cure for a variety of ailments.

The authors of the study published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology indicate that anti-fungal drugs commonly prescribed to sufferers are losing their effectiveness as infections continue to develop resistance. Conversely, lavender oil is readily available, inexpensive and easy to administer.

Its multiple uses include remedies for sleep disorders, depression, panic attacks and stress related problems, and it may even help alleviate pain from minor ailments such as insect bites. Acne sufferers and adults suffering from rosacea have found pure lavender oil beneficial.

Caution needs to be exercised when purchasing lavender oil, since lavender is a commonly synthesized aroma, and it is not as easy as one may think to find lavender as a pure essential oil that is safe for medicinal use. Many oils sold in stores have been adulterated with chemicals, and some contain unwanted byproducts from plants not grown organically. These ingredients can be toxic and may worsen fungal infections.

Purchase only therapeutic grade, pure essential oil and avoid cheaper oils, which may smell similar but do not have the same positive effects on health. Be wary of creams and other personal care products, which claim to have lavender oil added, since these may also contain toxic ingredients.

It is always wise to consult a medical professional for chronic skin conditions. Pregnant women also need to exercise caution when using essential oils.

Sources:

Zuzarte M et al, "Chemical composition and antifungal activity of the essential oils of Lavandula viridis L'Her," Journal of Medical Microbiology, 2011 May;60(Pt 5):612-8. Epub 2011 Feb 14.

Hui et al, "Chemical composition of lavender essential oil and its antioxidant activity and inhibition against rhinitis-related bacteria," African Journal of Microbiology Research, 2010 February, 309-13.

by: Paul Fassa

(NaturalNews) Orthodox medicine wants you to believe that 95% of cancer is in the genes you inherit. But how your genes react to environmental and dietary influences is far more important. That area of research is called epigenetics. Certain genes that help prevent cancer are turned off with certain foods while other foods turn on genes to fight cancer.

Avoid or Minimize Sugar

Of course, avoiding or minimizing sugar doesn't mean replacing it with aspartame or other toxic sweeteners. It does mean avoiding high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It also means avoiding refined grains. Apparently, the cancer industry has ignored 1930s Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg's discovery that cancer cells thrive on glucose and die in oxygen rich environments.

Cancer cells are cells that have lost their ability to use oxygen for metabolizing like normal cells. So they ferment glucose to metabolize and multiply. And how does the cancer industry respond to this Nobel Prize winning discovery? They ignore it.

Those of us who are not stricken with cancer have a few cancer cells floating around that haven't caused damage. So why encourage those cells? MDs who stay in the medical monopoly box don't believe nutrition is important. Getting the advice offered here from the average MD/oncologist to prevent cancer just won't happen. They may lose some business.

Cancer patients are even given menus that promote sugary cookies, cakes, and puddings on refined grain platforms as tasty treats to enjoy. Consequently, while getting chemo drugs pumped in or radiation therapy that kills both cancer and normal cells, the cancer cells are being nourished.

While Max Gerson was developing his cancer curing dietary protocol in Paris, he was once alarmed with the lack of progress among some of his patients. Then he discovered that an employee was slipping pastries to those patients. When this was stopped, recovery with his protocol resumed among them.

Curcumin (Turmeric) Turns on Anti-Cancer Genes

Medical researcher Dr. Ajay Goel, PhD, has determined that most cancers arise from epigenetic influences. He has focused on finding those foods or spices that turn on cancer killing genes. Currently, his pet project involves curcumin. He has discovered that the curcumin's cancer preventative or killer genes do work on strains of colon cancer cells thus far.

Dr. Goel observed an almost immediate reaction in the DNA of those curcumin loaded cells as the protective genes were immediately turned on. He predicts that curcumin will work on most other strains of cancer cells as well. And he intends to find more foods or spices that will turn on genes to turn off cancer.

Two possible reasons that Dr. Goel chose curcumin for his epigenetic cancer research are: India, a nation with a very low cancer rate, uses curry often to season much of their dishes. Curry contains curcumin. And now curcumin is being studied by western medical scientists to isolate and synthetically mimic what helps the brain resist and relieve Alzheimer's disease and what helps stroke victims rebuild new brain cells.

Then it's patent time and Big Pharma gets another market edge. But we currently have access to curcumin/turmeric at a fraction of pharmaceutical pricing.

Curcumin also reduces inflammation of any type. The only issue is absorption. It needs help from piperine in black pepper to survive the stomach and get into the intestines. Spicy curry sauces carry curcumin through. Curcumin capsules should be enteric coated to get past the stomach.

You are in better shape for preventing and even for curing cancer by minimizing or avoiding sugar and refined carbs while consuming lots of curcumin.