Month: January 2012

Health consequences of HCFS show up early
An investigation by scientists from the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Georgia Health Sciences University (GHSU) followed 559 children ages 14-18. The study subjects' dietary habits were measured; their blood analyzed and blood pressure, body fat and other health measurements taken. The researchers found a correlation between high-fructose diets and markers for heart and vascular disease such as higher blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin resistance, levels of C – reactive protein, related to inflammation.

Teens whose diets included more HFCS also had lower levels of HDL cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) and of the fat burning hormone adiponectin. In addition, study subjects who often consumed the industrial sweetener were more likely to have midsection fat, referred to as visceral adiposity, another known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. More generalized fat distribution does not appear to have a link to HFCS or the other health risk factors.

Norman Pollock, assistant professor of pediatrics at GHSU and co-lead author of the study said that "There is not much data in children and adolescents," although "adolescents consume the most fructose so it's really important to not only measure the levels of fructose but to look at what it might be doing to their bodies currently and, hopefully, to look at cardiovascular disease outcomes as they grow."

Re-shaping teen diets
Dr. Vanessa Bundy, a pediatric resident at MCG as well as co-lead author of the study, stated "It is so very important to provide a healthy balance of high-quality food to our children and to really pay close attention to the fructose and sucrose they are consuming at their home or anyone else's. The nutrition that caregivers provide their children will either contribute to their overall health and development or potentially contribute to cardiovascular disease at an early age," Bundy also pointed out that parents can help their teens by modeling good health habits, including both nutritious dietary choices and regular exercise.

Bundy also remarked on a truth that alternative health experts have long known but official medical science and health regulatory agencies have been slow to acknowledge: "Fructose itself is metabolized differently than other sugars and has some byproducts that are believed to be bad for us. The overall amount of fructose that is in high fructose corn syrup is not much different than the amount in table sugar but it's believed there's something in the syrup processing that plays a role in the bad byproducts of metabolism."

Previous studies involving animals have had similar results to the Georgia study, but evidence of a direct health link among children between HCFS and health problems may finally spur action to limit adolescent consumption of the sweetener. Pollock noted "Ultimately we want to use this paper and other papers to kind of change politically how food is distributed into the schools, and the types of foods, to cut down on these specific types of foods with high fructose corn syrup in them."

Pollock also pointed out that the study he and his team conducted was unusual in its focus on the total amount of fructose consumed in the diet. "A unique aspect of our study design is that we took into account the fructose released from sucrose during digestion along with the fructose found in foods and beverages. Because sucrose is broken down into fructose and glucose before it arrives at the liver for metabolism, it is important to consider the additional fructose from sucrose when determining the overall health effect of fructose."

(NaturalNews) The importance of vitamin D for human health has been the topic of extensive research over the past decade. Suboptimal levels of the prohormone are known to compromise immunity, cardiovascular health, bone health and normal metabolism. The result of a new meta-analysis study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that adequate circulating vitamin D reduces the risk of all-cause mortality by 29 percent. Vitamin D has been shown to provide the blueprint required for healthy DNA replication of cellular structures; low levels of the sunshine vitamin dramatically increase the incidence of many cancer lines as genetic mutations proliferate. Millions of at-risk people can protect themselves by ensuring normal blood saturation levels through a simple blood test and prudent sun exposure or supplementation.

Vitamin D deficiency runs rampant in the aging population around the world. Researchers estimate that correcting this deficiency by doubling the typically low vitamin D levels would result in a 20 percent mortality reduction. A body of evidence shows that senior adults with the lowest level of vitamin D blood saturation more than double their risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Vitamin D blood level lowers colorectal cancer risk by forty percent
Researchers performed a large meta-analysis of eleven vitamin D studies including 59,231 individuals. They compared individuals in the highest quartile with those in the lowest quartile and found the increased risk of early morality from all causes was 29 percent. As blood levels dropped below 30 ng/mL, the risk for death went up in a linear manner. It is important to note that fifty-percent of U.S. citizens have vitamin D levels below 30 ng/mL and forty percent have major deficiency (below 20 ng/mL), problems made worse by lack of sun exposure in the winter.

In an independent and supporting body of research, scientists from the national cancer Center in Tokyo publishing in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the highest levels of vitamin D blood saturation lowered the risk of colorectal cancer by forty percent. In a study of 737 people with colon cancer and 703 cancer-free individuals, researchers found that those with the highest levels of vitamin D and increased levels of calcium experienced the lowest risk from this common form of cancer.

World-renowned vitamin D expert, Dr. Michael Holick commented "maintaining optimal vitamin D status is important for reducing risk of colorectal cancer independent of the calcium effect." Nutrition experts recommend maintaining vitamin D levels between 50 and 70 ng/mL as measured by a 25(OH)D blood test. New evidence suggests that calcium provided from natural food sources (590 mg per day) provides a synergistic effect with vitamin D to dramatically lower all-cause mortality.

They are something you will not find in the US — at least not yet — but that are set to expand from 150 machines to 1,000 or more in the coming years, just in the country of Poland, according to Konrad Pszowski, owner of MILKMAT SC, a popular manufacturer of high-quality raw milk vending machines. Such machines are a great way for local farmers to distribute fresh milk to customers in large cities or other areas far away from dairies.

"I think that in European countries there is big knowledge about raw milk," Pszowski is quoted as saying to The Bovine. "People know what products they can make out of this milk. They know how to produce house cheese, sour milk, butter … In my opinion interest in it will grow all over the world. Especially that we are more aware of […] what we eat."

Be sure to read Pszowski's full interview with The Bovine here:
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/raw-milk-in-poland-interview-with-a-polish-raw-milk-vending-machine-maker/

No matter how they choose to use it, Europeans are free to decide for themselves whether or not to consume raw milk and raw milk dairy products, and raw milk vending machines just make it easier and more convenient for them to do so. And because the milk is routinely inspected for quality and proper sanitation, it is safe for human consumption.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on the other hand, is stuck in the stone ages of bad science on the raw milk issue. The agency has decided that raw milk is inherently dangerous, despite myriad evidence to the contrary, and has done everything it possibly can with taxpayers' money to restrict access to it, including raiding small dairies and confiscating product from buyers' clubs.

But what is happening in Poland and throughout Europe with raw milk and the widespread installation of raw milk vending machines proves that American regulators and health authorities are willfully ignorant of the facts about raw milk, and have forcefully extended their ignorance onto the public with tyrannical laws against its sale and distribution.

Check out this interesting map which lists all raw milk vending machines just in the country of Italy:
http://www.milkmaps.com/

Alzheimer's and coffee
Treatment with caffeinated coffee increases memory capacity in Alzheimer's mice. The animals were treated with drip coffee and at the time of this article, scientists are unsure of the effects of instant coffee on the brain. Similar positive results were not evident in those mice treated with decaffeainated coffee or caffeine in other forms. Although testing was completed on mice, researchers have soon-to-be-released clinical evidence indicating coffee's ability to protect humans against the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.

It appears that four to five cups of caffeinated coffee daily are necessary to produce the increase in GCSF and protect against Alzheimer's. This amount may seem high for the average American coffee drinker, who consumes approximately 1.5 to 2 cups daily. Researchers suggest that using coffee to protect against Alzheimer's should start in early middle-age, between 30-50 years old; however, older people are also likely to benefit from consuming caffeinated coffee daily.

Additional benefits from coffee
Coffee is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, which provide the body with additional ingredients to increase cognitive function to protect the brain; as well as protect against other diseases of aging, such as Type II diabetes, depression, stroke, and Parkinson's. Studies also suggest coffee may help fight against breast, skin and prostate cancer.

Reports in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry discusses the effects of caffeine in coffee regarding the prevention of Type II diabetes. Animal studies were performed on mice, which showed that caffeinated coffee helped control blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity, lowering the risk of developing the disease. Coffee also triggered other beneficial changes in their bodies, further reducing the risk of diabetes. Researchers believe that it is the caffeine in coffee that acts as an anti-diabetic compound.

Drinking two to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily may also lower the risk of depression in women by 15%, according to research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine — and those who consume four or more cups daily have shown an even greater reduction in their risk of developing depression. Caffeine affects brain chemicals and is known to release mood-altering transmitters.

Additional studies at the Harvard School of Public Health indicated that men who drink six cups of coffee daily have a 20 to 60 percent decreased risk of developing several forms of prostate cancer. The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and indicated that even small quantities of coffee consumption can lower the risk of prostate cancer.

Many people are sensitive to the effects of caffeine, becoming nervous, jittery or unable to sleep. As with all good things, moderation is advised. Before introducing caffeinated coffee to your diet or greatly increasing existing quantities, consult a health care practitioner for the sake of your own health safety.

Spanish study focuses on Spanish style of cooking
The study, published in the British Medical Journal online, finds that the heart risk factors associated with eating fried foods do not apply to foods cooked in olive and sunflower oils. "In a Mediterranean country where olive and sunflower oils are the most commonly used fats for frying, and where large amounts of fried foods are consumed both at and away from home, no association was observed between fried food consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease or death," the researchers, led by Pilar Guallar-Castillon from Autonomous University of Madrid, concluded in their article.

Guallar-Castillon and her team drew on data for 40,757 Spanish adults aged 29 to 69 who participated in EPIC (the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study), a large-scale study of diet, health and lifestyle which recruited nearly half a million participants in ten European countries. None of the study participants were diagnosed with heart disease prior to the beginning of the study. Study subjects were interviewed about their diet and cooking methods. Subjects also supplied detailed information about how they cooked their food and whether they used sunflower or olive oil, the two most popular cooking oils in Spain. The researchers then divided participants into statistical groupings according to how much fried food they consumed

Eleven years after the study commenced, 606 coronary heart disease events and 1,135 deaths (from all causes) had occurred among the study subjects. Researchers compared this information with records about which subjects consumed the highest amounts of fried foods. After adjusting for factors such as BMI, high blood pressure and other risk factors, the scientists found no correlation between heart disease events or deaths and higher levels of fried food consumption. They found no difference in health results among subjects who used olive oil and those who used sunflower oil to fry their food.

Study results do not apply to fast food
The study authors emphasized that their study is influenced by the Spanish style of cooking which draws on olive or sunflower oil. They noted that in another country where solid and re-used oils were used for frying, the health consequences of eating fried food would not be far different. In an editorial accompanying the article, Michael Leitzmann of the University of Regensburg in Germany, wrote that the new Spanish study helps disprove the myth that "frying food is generally bad for the heart." Leitzmann added, however, that this "does not mean that frequent meals of fish and chips will have no health consequences."

The Human Detoxification System

According to Dr. Chris Shade, "efficient detoxification depends on a series of seamless reactions that bind toxins to shuttle molecules and "escort" them out through a series of doors. The glutathione system is the most important of the detoxification systems and includes glutathione and the enzymes that work with it. The process of detoxification proceeds in three parts or "phases", Phase I, II, and III."

"Dysfunction of the human detoxification system is the most common and insidious root cause of toxic element and compound accumulation in the body. True health requires that all phases are functioning and balanced or the whole system can not work properly." Our next program will enrich your understanding about the natural pathways for detoxification within the body.

The enemy of natural detoxification

Inflammation (in the gut) inhibits elimination of toxins by causing a strong down-regulation of the body's natural detoxification pathways. Unfortunately, exposure to certain toxins, such as the corrosion by-products of dental mercury amalgam ("silver" fillings) contributes to intestinal inflammation.

In addition to inflammation, it has been demonstrated that a build up of metals alone slows the transport proteins. Clinical data suggests that continuous removal of metals from the intestines is essential for the proper daily functioning of natural detoxification processes. The continuous removal of metals is also critical for any successful (medically-supervised) detoxification program. To learn more – join us for a very important health show!

Dr. Shade earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois where he studied the environmental and analytical chemistries of mercury as well as advanced aquatic chemistry. During his Ph.D. work, Dr. Shade patented analytical technology for mercury analysis and later founded Quicksilver Scientific.

Dr. Shade's focus is on the human aspects of mercury exposure/toxicity and the human detoxification system. He has developed specific clinical analytical techniques for measuring mercury exposure and a system of products for toxic metals removal.

The Supreme Court declared abortion legal in with its Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973. Since then, amidst a great deal of controversy at first, abortion clinics attended by physicians have sprung up in every state.

The Reuters article says that more women died giving childbirth than women who underwent abortions. According to a study Reuters quoted, one woman out of every 11,000 died during childbirth, while one woman of every 167,000 died from legal abortions.

But that study ignored that fact that Cesarean procedures comprise 33 percent of all childbirths. Cesarean deliveries replace vaginal deliveries with the complications of surgery, including anesthesia. The disclosure waiver signed before anesthesia contains a clause that says there is a slight chance you might wake up dead.

Advocates of natural child birth claim this rise in Cesarean deliveries is mostly unwarranted. But they are money makers. Yes, sometimes there's no choice, but one-third of all births goes beyond absolute necessity.

Another factor ignored is a woman's health during full term pregnancy. Not being too savvy with natural health principles while under mainstream medical care provides a longer window of opportunity to accrue health problems from stress, environmental toxins, pharmaceuticals, and vaccinations than women who abort early in their pregnancy.

The pharmaceutical mifepristone, sold as Mifeprex, was is offered as an alternative to surgical abortion. Primary care physicians prescribe them to their patients. Though initially promoted as safer than surgical abortion, the pharmaceutical approach has causes more complications.

Despite easier access to abortions, there has been a decline in abortions and abortion clinics nationwide. Could this Reuters article's headline be part of an early psy-op (psychological operation) attempt to reverse this trend?

Eugenic population control using birth control has been around for some time. If the state gets too involved with abortion issues, enforced abortions could become part of the depopulation agenda. Individuals should have the choice, the state should not decide. But one needs to seriously examine the breast cancer risk increase, as well as the post abortion emotional and spiritual consequences. Abortion can ruin more than one life. Even Norma McCorvey aka Jane Roe from the Roe vs Wade case that led to legalized abortion has changed her pro-abortion stance. She put out her book entitled Won by Love as a public testimony.

HB 2288 provisions that all internet service providers will be required to retain "subscriber's information and internet destination history information" for all their customers. This includes personal internet protocol (IP) addresses of web surfers, domain names of the websites they visit, as well as all host names (http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2012/Bills/HB2288_.pdf).

The reason for the bill's introduction appears to be a personal one involving Rep. Kymberly Pine (R-Hawaii), whose former web designer created a website against her called "KymPineIsACrook.com." Rep. Pine allegedly ripped off Eric Ryan, the site's creator, which prompted him to expose the "true story of corruption and sleaze at the state capitol and city hall in 2011" (http://www.kympineisacrook.com/).

Making a website of this nature is perfectly legal, of course, but Rep. Pine says her email account was also hacked around the same time that KymPineIsACrook.com was launched. But rather than proceed to have the situation investigated normally within the justice system as it would be for anyone else, Rep. Pine apparently rallied her allies in Congress to construct unconstitutional legislation that targets all Hawaiians and renders them guilty until proven innocent.

This childish response to a personal attack that may or may not be valid demonstrates a severe lack of character among Rep. Pine and many members of Congress who, rather than abide by the same rules as everyone else, come up with reactionary "solutions" that serve their own self interests. In this case, HB 2288 appears to be nothing more than the product of Rep. Pine's temper tantrum over having been exposed for potential misconduct.

"This bill represents a radical violation of privacy and opens the door to rampant Fourth Amendment violations," said Daniel Leuck, chief executive of Ikayzo, a Honolulu-based software design boutique, to CNET.com. "Even forcing telephone companies to record everyone's conversations, which is unthinkable, would be less of an intrusion."

Adding insult to injury, Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii) introduced a companion bill to HB 2288 in the Senate. SB 2530 contains the exact same language as HB 2288, and with the same apparent ill-motivations (http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2012/bills/SB2530_.HTM)

HB 1529 strictly prohibits "the introduction of fluoride and herbicides into the drinking water of the state," while HB 1416 prohibits the addition of any chemical substances, including fluoride. A hearing on HB 1416 took place on January 10, 2012, after having been referred to the state's House Resources, Recreation, and Development committee.

The most promising of the two, HB 1416 received vocal support at the hearing from Rep. Anne Cartwright, who originally introduced the bill, as well as from Reps. Paul Mirski, Bob Kingsbury, and Laurie Pettengill. Other supporters included Stuart Cooper, FAN's campaign manager, Roger Masters, PhD, who coauthored a study on fluoride and lead uptake, and a local doctor, public health nurse, and mother, all of whom submitted written testimonies.

The usual suspects of opposition were a host of state agencies, including the NH Dental Association, the NH Oral Health Coalition, the NH Public Health Association, and the NH Department of Health and Human Services. The only actual human beings that expressed personal opposition to the bills were three pediatricians, all of whom happen to be public health members as well.

Supporters of the bill came prepared, though, armed with plenty of questions and facts that blew major holes in the typical pro-fluoride rhetoric. Repeating US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) talking points about the so-called anti-cavity benefits of fluoride simply does not cut it anymore. And according to FAN, most of those on the committee seemed to recognize the flaws in pro-fluoride dogma.

The questions posed to those in support of fluoride addressed things like its uncontrolled dosage, or the high prevalence of dental fluorosis and other health conditions. Fluoride is the only drug forced on the public without consent, after all, and there is no way to regulate intake. And if the recommended daily dosage of fluoride for an adult is one milligram, he or she can only consume a single liter of tap water in most cities before exceeding this amount.