How to stay healthy on Thanksgiving....

Today's post: Tuesday, 11-25-2008

There are two ways to a healthier Thanksgiving Dinner.

Yesterday’s post was about ways to prepare a healthier Thanksgiving Dinner.

This post today is on how to stay healthier eating a Thanksgiving Dinner no matter how it’s fixed.

There’s no perfect way to do either. The focus at Thanksgiving & at Thanksgiving Dinner must be on enjoying the day. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the company. And, enjoy the time off work!

My Brother in Law once said at Thanksgiving Dinner that he did NOT want to hear anything about what he shouldn’t eat for Thanksgiving Dinner just in case I had any ideas of doing so.

I didn’t then; & I won’t this year. I agree with him. I believe as he does that the focus at Thanksgiving & at Thanksgiving Dinner must be on enjoying the day. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the company. And, do nothing to distract from that focus. If anything, help make it happen instead!

That said, here are some ways to stay a bit healthier and leaner and still enjoy the food.

1. Focus on the people. Find out what people have been doing and catch up with what’s been happening with them. Enjoy the people you enjoy; and be mellow, courteous, gracious, and if necessary, a bit forgiving with the rest.

2. Practice the strategic sandwich method. Eat a bit less food and make virtually all of it be the healthiest you know how – and, keep up your exercise routine to the very best of your ability before and particularly for the two weeks AFTER Thanksgiving. If necessary, do some kind of workout in your room if you are away from home or cut the intensity a bit; but do your very best to exercise several days a week the two weeks after Thanksgiving (& before Thanksgiving next year.).

This method works. Once when I was getting the amount of exercise each week that I should be before and after Thanksgiving and eating right otherwise, I ate very well at Thanksgiving to the point of being very slightly stuffed. And, I gained ZERO pounds for November and December both.

3. Eat strategically. Eat well from the healthiest foods; eat a small portion for one serving only of the less healthy foods that you enjoy; but have them and enjoy them; and do your best to edit out the worst for you foods.

a) The turkey and the vegetables are the best for you. So eat well and generous-sized but not very large portions. (You need to not overdo those so there’s enough to go around and YOU have room for at least some of the other foods.)

Cranberry sauce may have sugar and even some kinds have high fructose corn syrup; but the cranberries are a superfood you likely don’t eat often; and they add a festive air and are a great pair with turkey or gravy and mashed potatoes, flavor-wise.

Many people rarely have green beans or Brussels spouts or yams or sweet potatoes or cooked onions; but they are often served at Thanksgiving. They are all good for you. And, they fill you up so it’s much easier for you to eat smaller portions of less health OK foods than you otherwise would. If they aren’t your favorites, try pairing them with a good tasting food. Eat some green beans and then immediately eat a bit of stuffing with gravy and cranberry sauce for example.

b) Stuffing, particularly if it was cooked inside the turkey; gravy; mashed potatoes; the filling in the pies, and many other dishes have great flavor but include less than healthful ingredients. If you are exercising and eating right otherwise and have no serious health problems to be very careful of, the strategy I use is to have some of them; but hold myself to one small serving.
That way I enjoy them but avoid overdosing my system with their less OK ingredients. And, having had turkey and vegetables first I don’t have room left to eat a large amount anyway.

c) Soft drinks, rolls, biscuits, pie crusts, most commercial jam currently, and candied marshmallow topping for sweet potatoes are the worst foods and drinks for you in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Simply don’t eat as many of those as you can manage. Or, if you do eat some, have tiny, quarter of normal sized portions. And, only eat the ones that you most enjoy.

If you’ve already eaten well from the healthier foods that’s much easier to do.

Here’s personal example of that. I’ve always loved pie, including the pie crusts. But I’ve found out since that many, if not most, of the pies I’m likely to get at Thanksgiving have crust made with refined grain flour and Crisco, which is basically massive amounts of Transfats (aka as trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils). What I do now is take small servings of my favorite pie or pies & only eat the fillings. So I can enjoy cherry or blueberry pie filling, pumpkin pie filling, and/or candied pecan filling; but I leave the crust. The only exception I might make is to have one single bite of a browned bit of crust since it has the most flavor. Last year I didn’t even do that as I no longer had room for it.

4. Limit your alcoholic drinks to one or at most three if you drink. And, drink when you first arrive or at the start of the Dinner. That way, if you need to drive afterwards, the effect will have mostly worn off plus it will be buffered by the torrent of dinner.

(Some people are better off not having any. The Martinelli’s sparkling juices in yesterday’s post over ice can be a decent festive substitute. I love the flavors in a Bloody Mary. So I also recommend the Virgin Mary drink as it has all the flavor.)


Do the best you can with these strategies. Enjoy the day and the people.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Fix a healthier Thanksgiving Dinner....

Today's post: Monday, 11-24-2008

There are two ways to a healthier Thanksgiving Dinner.

Today we talk about ways to prepare a healthier Thanksgiving Dinner.

Tomorrow, we plan a post on how to stay healthier eating a Thanksgiving Dinner no matter how it’s fixed.

There’s no perfect way to do either. The focus at Thanksgiving & at Thanksgiving Dinner must be on enjoying the day. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the company. And, enjoy the time off work!

My Brother in Law once said at Thanksgiving Dinner that he did NOT want to hear anything about what he shouldn’t eat for Thanksgiving Dinner just in case I had any ideas of doing so.

I didn’t then; & I won’t this year. I agree with him. I believe as he does that the focus at Thanksgiving & at Thanksgiving Dinner must be on enjoying the day. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the company. And, do nothing to distract from that focus. If anything, help make it happen instead!

That said, there’s a very large list of ways to make the dishes for the Thanksgiving Dinner either better for you or less bad for you -- for those dishes you make yourself.

If there is a family favorite that you’ve made forever that has not so great ingredients, make it anyway or move it just a bit in a healthier direction to make it a bit less bad for health. Do your best to make a version that people will still really like.

However, to the extent you can reduce or replace any of these with healthier alternatives, it’s a good idea.

1. Sugar.
2. High fructose corn syrup.
3. Refined grain.
4. Salt.
5. Saturated fat.
6. Transfats (aka as trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils).
7. Soft drinks.

1. Sugar.

Make or serve slightly smaller portions of foods with sugar. Even 10 % less will help. (More than 20 % less will likely cause a request for bigger portions or a second helping.)Make enough for 1 and a half servings each instead of two or three.

Let people serve themselves that food. That way people who prefer to not eat the sugary food get no sugar from it all.

Use 10 to 25 % less sugar in the recipe. Substitute raisins or sugared dried cranberries (Ocean Spray sells those in stores.) or walnuts or pecans for part of the sugar if no one is allergic to the nuts. For some foods bits of bittersweet dark chocolate might work. If it will work in the recipe OK, use flavored sugars, brown sugar, honey, or 100 % real maple syrup. The flavor will make up for the sugar reduction somewhat. If the recipe works with it, add cinnamon for the same reason. In addition, it helps your body handle the sugar you eat it with.



2. High fructose corn syrup. Currently, this means no store bought pies or other desserts. Too many of them still contain this. Do your best to get homemade with real sugar instead even if you have to trade favors with the cook if you don’t cook or haven’t time. Make a strong special effort to not serve or use jam or jelly unless you’ve read the label and it ONLY has real sugar. Over 90 % of store bought jams and jellies still have high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar. Similarly use real maple syrup in recipes that call for it instead of other kinds as over 90 % of those still have high fructose corn syrup while 100 % real maple syrup has only sugar. And, either substitute a bit of brown sugar or real maple syrup with a bit of a mild tasting or bland extra virgin olive oil instead of commercial marshmallows as I’ve read they also tend to have high fructose corn syrup. At least read the label first or cut the amount per serving in half.


3. Refined grain.

Organic, sprouted grain breads (such as Food For Life Ezekiel or Genesis Bread) for bread or toast crumbs for the stuffing. They contain sprouted whole grains and are higher in fiber and protein than refined grain breads. Even many diabetics find these breads do NOT spike their blood sugar like refined grain breads do.

If you’ll serve rolls, do your best to find whole wheat rolls or serve one or make available one and a half each instead of two rolls.

Experiment with gravy made with lightly toasted whole wheat flour &/or canned black eyed peas that have been run through a blender for refined grain flour in the gravy. It also works to add button mushrooms or diced onion that has been sautéed in extra virgin olive oil.

Use whole wheat flour for pie crusts and make pies with a bottom crust only instead of one on top as well. Also try to avoid commercially baked pies if you can. With the possible exception of those from Whole Foods Markets, or a custom, to-order bakery, they all contain refined grains.

4. Salt. Try to use no packaged or commercial foods as they virtually all have added salt and two or three times as much as they should or have the salt when it’s not needed. If you can, make it yourself instead &/or use fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned. And, use a bit less in recipes that otherwise would be a bit salty. (Unless you are making a dish just for someone who cannot have ANY salt. Leave in at least a quarter teaspoon or so per serving or two as a recipe that normally has salt tastes “off” with none at all. And, or, use sea salt as it has salts of other minerals besides sodium in it. Of course, in many dishes, you can substitute a bit of minced raw garlic or a very small bit of cayenne pepper for some of the salt for a dish that still tastes good. (Pretest this before you cook the one for the Thanksgiving Dinner though, for best results!)

5. Saturated fat.

Cook the stuffing on the stove top instead of inside the turkey. (Inside the turkey stuffing soaks up a lot of saturated fat.)

Serve a small pat of butter or two on top of a dish after it’s cooked and still pretty hot instead of using more in the recipe.

Where you can, substitute extra virgin olive oil. For example you can strain out the fattiest bits out of the turkey drippings and mix that half an half with extra virgin olive oil for the gravy. Or you do 2/3 turkey drippings and 1/3 extra virgin olive oil. If you include lightly toasted whole wheat flour &/or button mushrooms or diced onion that has been sautéed in extra virgin olive oil or a bit of minced, fresh garlic, the extra flavor makes up for less turkey broth.

Also consider adding dried and pitted (& checked for being pitted) dried sour cherries to the gravy and the stuffing. They add a tasty, festive touch AND help your body process the saturated fat

To the extent you can, let the turkey dripping drip out of the turkey before it’s served.

Minimize cheese dishes or make small portions.

Precut butter into small pats instead of serving it by the quarter pound.

Lastly, to the extent you can, include onion and fresh minced, garlic in the foods unless one of the guests will dislike them or be allergic. They help your body process the saturated fat.

If you can reliably get a truly pasture raised turkey to cook, it will have less saturated fat and omega 6 oils even before it’s cooked than a grain fed turkey will.

Use whole wheat flour for pie crusts and make pies with a bottom crust only instead of one on top as well. Also try to avoid commercially baked pies if you can. With the possible exception of those from Whole Foods Markets, or a custom, to-order bakery, they almost all use Crisco which has trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils. Use butter instead. It’s better for you than Crisco. You just make pies with only a bottom crust so there’s a bit less butter in them.

6. Transfats (aka as trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils).

Avoid buying commercially baked cookies or biscuits as most still have this junk. And, either substitute a bit of brown sugar or real maple syrup with a bit of a mild tasting or bland extra virgin olive oil instead of commercial marshmallows as I’ve read they also tend to. At least read the label first or cut the amount per serving in half.

Use whole wheat flour for pie crusts and make pies with a bottom crust only instead of one on top as well. Also try to avoid commercially baked pies if you can. With the possible exception of those from Whole Foods Markets, or a custom, to-order bakery, they almost all use Crisco which has trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils. Use butter instead. It’s better for you than Crisco.

7. Soft drinks.

Serve Martinelli’s sparkling apple juice, their sparkling cranberry, apple juice blend or a similar combination and 100 % real fruit juice instead.

Club soda and iced tea also work.


In very careful moderation, Champagne or a Sparkling Burgundy or Sparkling Pinot Noir also works.

Do you very best to avoid serving regular or diet soft drinks unless you know your guests will be unhappy. Or if only one or two guests want soft drinks, politely request the bring their own. At least you won’t help enable their bad habit. If this will cause a problem for them in enjoying the dinner, don’t do it. And no matter what, don’t talk about it at the dinner. But the evidence now is that drinking abundant amounts of regular or diet soft drinks is about as bad for you as smoking. It just makes you fat and tends to cause type 2 diabetes instead of directly causing cardiovascular disease and cancers as smoking does.



8. Add some good for you foods that help people fill up without the extra amounts of less good for you foods.

Be sure to include good tasting vegetable dishes and a salad or two served without dressing that people can add their own serving of dressing to; and provide a couple or three almost OK kinds in various flavors.


Do the best you can.

Then focus as much as you can on enjoying the food and the people. It won’t be perfect; but it can be better. Let yourself enjoy it; & focus on the parts that ARE going well.

Enjoy a hearty breakfast....

Today's post: Friday, 11-21-2008

People who eat breakfast have better health than people who don’t. This effect is so strong that even people who eat less healthy foods at breakfast have better health than people who have no breakfast.

And, people who eat breakfast are much more likely to be trim or to keep off any fat they lose. This is even more true for women than for men. So women who want to be trim should virtually always eat breakfast.

That said, there are some foods that people eat for breakfast that are so bad for you, it makes good sense to not eat them or only eat healthier versions once a week or much less.

However, there are some really great tasting breakfast foods that are OK for most people a few times a week. And, there are some really super healthy breakfasts, some of which can be astonishingly quick to fix and eat.

All of this adds up to this conclusion.: If you eat a combination of really great tasting breakfast foods that are OK a few times a week and some really super healthy breakfasts you can be much healthier and less fat than people who do not do so.

I was reminded of this on Monday this week when I read that day’s health article in the Early to Rise email I get.

Here’s that article.:

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com .”

“Eating Breakfast Is Only Half the Story

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

For what seems like forever, nutritionists like me have been urging people not to skip breakfast - for a number of reasons. For one thing, studies have found that people who skip breakfast are far more likely to be overweight or obese than those who eat breakfast on a regular basis. Researchers have also found that there's a correlation between eating breakfast and better performance/concentration at school and work, more energy, and improved well-being.

But those of us who have been on the breakfast bandwagon seem to have left out one of the most important details: the breakfast menu. Because even if you eat breakfast, all bets are off if you choose the wrong foods.

In a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers confirmed that breakfast eaters, in general, eat fewer calories during the day. But the study also showed that people who eat a really high-calorie breakfast are more likely to eat more calories during the day. Plus, their average intake of important nutrients (like calcium) falls.

When you think about it, this makes sense. Breakfasts that are very high in calories are almost certain to include junk like pastries, donuts, and other "foods" that have nothing to do with reaping the benefits of a solid, high-protein, low-calorie breakfast that's been shown to moderate cravings. In fact, a high-calorie junk-food breakfast is far more likely to lead to overeating during the day - exactly the opposite of what you want.

So don't skip breakfast. But do skip the donuts.”

X* X* X* X* X* X* X*

1. Consider avoiding these:

Corn bread, biscuits, donuts, croissants, toast made with refined grain bread, jam or jelly, and bagels made with refined grain all have refined grain and tend to also contain salt or sugar usually in large doses. As commercially made and served in restaurants, they often can have transfats, though that is lessening some, and/or high fructose corn syrup.

Waffles and pancakes with syrup also have these problems. And many, if not most, commercial syrups served for them use only high fructose corn syrup.

They all are health damaging foods. They tend to spike your blood sugar, and as the ETR article suggests, they also tend to give you carbohydrate rebound hunger about mid-morning.

Just about the only breakfast cereals that are OK to eat are oatmeal (traditional, or “Old Fashioned” is much better for you than “instant.”) & hot, plain oat brain. Virtually all the others are made with refined grains and most have added sugar or worse. Plus traditional oatmeal and oat bran help lower LDL cholesterol; and people who eat them often have fewer heart attacks than other people do. And, oats are moderately high in plant protein.

Toasted wheat germ is a bit too high in carbohydrates but is high in fiber and quite high in protein and B vitamins. Notably, it’s higher in choline than many supplements. And getting enough choline helps keep your protective HDL levels high.

1. It’s desirable to have a high protein food in your breakfast most days.:

Eggs, particularly if they are from pasture fed chickens, shrimp, Canadian style bacon from cows fed only grass, plain yogurt – particularly 2% lowfat and nonfat, and nuts are all higher protein foods that can be in a high protein breakfast. Some nonfat or 1% lowfat milk can be OK though some carbohydrate sensitive people who are trying to lose fat or keep it off need to go easy on the quantity.

Once or twice a month a piece or two of uncured bacon or similar sausage is OK for many people. Similarly, cheese added to an omelet or parmesan cheese added to hot oatmeal can be good.

Crab and lobster are also good if a bit pricey. Wild caught salmon can be part of a good breakfast sometimes as well.

And, a blender drink using a protein powder from hemp, whey, or eggs can also give you a decent amount of protein. Whey and egg protein is particularly high quality and has virtually all the essential amino acids. (If as I do, you find stevia to taste like a cheap, badly made marshmallow flavoring, Jarrow makes a whey protein powder that is stevia-free.)

2. It can be a good idea to include some kind of vegetables also. Onions sautéed in extra virgin olive oil or added to an omelet or in a salsa you add to an omelet work well.

Alfalfa sprouts or broccoli sprouts plus shrimp with their tails removed go well with scrambled eggs or in an omelet.

It’s definitely an acquired taste. But the Korean fermented cabbage dish, Kimchi, is a traditional breakfast food there. Nutritionally, it’s a superfood.

Similarly, seaweed soup can work well for breakfast, particularly if you add some diced onion, or ginger, or fresh crushed garlic and some kind of protein such as shrimp.

Lastly, both Dr Al Sears and Dr Dharma Singh Khalsa sell a “green drink” that you can add to a breakfast, blender drink. These have high fiber, high nutrition, and abundant minerals in them.

3. Because your body digests carbohydrates best first thing in the morning at breakfast time, this is also an excellent time, particularly, if you have some protein or fish or nuts with it, to have a small amount of real fruit juice or a even a large serving of fresh whole fruit.

Blueberries; dark red, sour cherries; most other berries; cantaloupe; bananas; kiwi fruit, or dark purple grapes, and oranges all can be great foods for breakfast.

4. If you need a fast breakfast, you can experiment with combinations of blender drinks.

Vitamix blenders work quite well for this and come with their own recipe suggestions.

And you can put in a protein food or protein supplement powder, a green drink mix powder, and a kind of fresh fruit you like to make a fast to make and fast to eat breakfast. That will give you protein, vegetable, and fruit all in one.

Unsweetened whey powder plus yogurt plus green drink mix plus chilled blueberries or banana would work well for some morning for example. Just throw them in the blender. Blend them and drink the smoothie that results.

Avoid tobacco smoke....

Today's post: Thursday, 11-20-2008

I just discovered that today is the Great American Smoke OUT day. It’s a day when the people and health organizations who know how bad smoking is for you suggest everyone who smokes who possibly can, NOT smoke just for today. They do this with the hope that some of the people who don’t smoke today who have been meaning to quit follow up by doing so.

We’re putting together an eBook on how to lower high blood pressure without drugs. So, since smoking is one of the causes of high blood pressure, any of our future buyers who smokes can help lower their blood pressure and/or keep it from getting worse and add to their health protection by quitting and avoiding second hand smoke, we have a chapter on it.

The problem is that most smokers don’t really know how truly horrible smoking really is. Most smokers know it sometimes causes lung cancer but that many smokers seem not to get lung cancer. So since they might not get lung cancer in the future and they might not get lung cancer until later if they do get it, they are not truly worried and don’t quit or try their best to do so.

The reality is that smoking harms all smokers and there are several ways to test even teen smokers that show they are already being harmed.

In addition smoking causes about a third of ALL cancers not just lung cancer. And, as horrible as that is, it’s the LITTLE problem.

For more information on that & what the really BIG health damage problem is, here’s an excerpt from that chapter of our eBook.

“Avoid cigarette smoke.

Hopefully you don’t smoke or live or work in a space where other people smoke. If you do, it both directly produces high blood pressure & makes the harmful diseases such as strokes and heart attacks you lower high blood pressure to avoid -- more likely. And, that’s IN ADDITION TO its tendency to cause cancers. Even worse, it’s a more certain effect.

If you are like me & most other people who are working to get your blood pressure into the ideal range when it’s been too high, you want to get that done; you want it to STAY done; & you want the health protection that gives you. And, you don’t want to hurt your health or die while you are working on it.

Cigarette smoke (& cigar & pipe smoke) do the reverse of each of these things. That’s true whether it’s second hand smoke or you smoke yourself and inhale it directly.

Even worse, not only do you die at a younger age, by over 20 years earlier in many cases, the side effects & horrible impact on your quality of life of tobacco smoke make those of the worst blood pressure drugs look mild by comparison. These include erectile dysfunction, heart attacks, strokes, premature aging, emphysema, and pain while walking and foot amputation from PAD, peripheral artery disease. And, what’s NOT widely known is these things happen to virtually ALL smokers to some degree.

This effect is even worse in women. In nonsmoking men the median age to get a heart attack is 72. It’s 64 for smokers. In nonsmoking women the median age to get a heart attack is 81. It’s 66 for smokers.

The lung cancers & other cancers many smokers get that they would have escaped as nonsmokers are just the extras. But they can also ruin your quality of life & kill you just fine. Smoking alone causes at least one third of all cancers.

When you first inhale tobacco smoke, within a few seconds or a couple of minutes, your blood pressure goes up quite a bit. This IS temporary. But if you are still at a reading of something like 145 over 95 & this surge from smoking of something like 24 over 17 could easily put you at 169 over 112. And, that’s high enough to cause you damage before the effect wears off.

Smoking also causes a near immediate increase in Carbon Monoxide in the blood of smokers when they smoke. And enough of it remains hours later to such an extent that you can do a simple fingertip test & tell if someone smokes or is exposed to a lot of secondhand smoke. This means the cells of smokers are usually partially starved for adequate oxygen.

But the most harmful effect of smoking is that it is a direct & multiple cause of damage to your heart, lungs, & blood vessels.

SOME smokers get cancer. (The cancers many smokers get are just an extra, horribly bad, side effect.)

Unfortunately, most smokers are totally unaware of the main harmful effect that ALL smokers get & only know that some smokers get cancer & think they won’t be one of the unlucky ones.

But ALL smokers get their heart, lungs, & blood vessels damaged. This damage increases plaque build up in your arteries so they are smaller in their inside diameter & resist the flow of blood. And, the more this happens & the longer it goes on, the higher your diastolic & overall blood pressure will be. Even worse, this process stiffens your blood vessels & prevents them from relaxing or responding when you need for them to during sex or exercise or emergencies and to relax afterwards.

Smoke increases your homocysteine levels which damages the inside of your arteries which your body tries to repair with glue-like LDL cholesterol which causes this plaque build up. And, smoke reduces your levels of the HDL cholesterol that cleans up excess LDL cholesterol in your blood vessels; & smoke even keeps the HDL you have left over from working very well. In addition, particulate air pollution tends to trigger heart attacks & strokes and other health problems. In rooms where people smoke the particulate air pollution is extremely high.

The effect on your arteries is like a city street where everyone throws their garbage in the street; most of the garbage men have been fired or laid off; & the ones still on the job have the flu. Imagine how easy it would be to drive down a street like that. This is one of the reasons people with high blood pressure tend to get worse over time. And, smoking puts all the causes of that problem on steroids. That makes them worse & happen more & happen faster.

Many smokers who learn this information simply quit cold turkey & never start up again.

Unfortunately, many other smokers find they are more strongly addicted & have trouble not starting up again.

On Thursday, 1-10-2008, I did a post on my blog, Focus on Your Health, at www.iehealth.blogspot.com on how dramatically dangerous smoking is for cardiovascular & heart health. The post highlighted that smoking is dangerous even for younger people & so powerful a cause of heart disease that it sometimes even kills people in their 40’s.

I then suggested for people trying to quit that they ask their doctor for a drug called Chantix. I had gone by the listed side effects that mild nausea was the main problem. So I passed on that reducing the dose of the drug temporarily has been found to help & that taking ginger has been found to increase the level of your body being able to withstand things without giving you nausea symptoms & that might also be a solution.

However, I found some information since that suggests that taking the antidepressant drug Zyban plus a nicotine substitute might be as effective as Chantix in helping people quit.

And, of more importance, an unlisted side effect of Chantix on many people is that it can induce or worsen depression & that this can be severe in some people.

Ouch !!

For many smokers, they smoke in part because their lives have been extra stressful or because nicotine has some antidepressant effects that help them feel a bit better. To me, this means Chantix is likely NOT a good bet for helping people quit smoking after all.

So I’ve changed my thoughts on this subject.

I now believe that taking the antidepressant drug Zyban plus a nicotine substitute plus some strong support group help is your best & safest way to quit smoking.

Many people do manage to quit cold turkey. So that may be the best thing to try first.

But if you have too many withdrawal side effects or find you have re-started, enlist your doctor’s help & ask for the antidepressant drug Zyban plus a nicotine substitute. In addition, be sure to get into a support group as that has also been found to help. Your doctor may have a program to refer you to -- or your HMO or insurance company may offer one. If not, the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association can help you locate one.

The other thing your doctor can do is help you get your HDL & your homocysteine level tested. If you smoke, there is an excellent to very high chance your HDL is under 50, possibly under 35, & a similar chance your homocysteine level is well over 9.0.

You may well find your HDL is something like 27; & your homocysteine level is 13.0 or higher. That indicates damage is happening now that will result in heart disease.

What does that do for you in helping you quit?

If you get a bad reading on either of these tests or a very bad reading like the 27 & over 13.0 example above, it means that smoking is giving you heart disease RIGHT NOW. And, you then do NOT have to guess if you need to quit smoking to protect yourself. These two measures are quite likely to show that you do need to quit or even that it’s imperative that you do.

The great news is that they give you objective proof that you need to quit. And, even better, they tell you BEFORE you die of a heart attack or stroke caused by smoking.”

No cost way to measure your health risks....

Today's post: Tuesday, 11-18-2008

1. As our regular readers know, there are a number of blood tests of key health factors that it can pay incredible dividends to get done and either move to safer levels if they are in the danger zone or improve if they are out of the desirable zone.

But they do cost some money and some time to get done.

It’s recently been in the news that there is a health risk measure that is almost as valuable that can be done in a couple of minutes. No doctor visit or lab visit is necessary. And once you own the very inexpensive measuring device, it costs NO money at all to do each time.

It seems that even more than total weight on the scale or the BMI index reading, your waist size and its relationship to your hip size is quite important and a very good measurement of your health risks.

There are two ways to measure this: the number of inches total and the ratio to your hip size.

If you are of close to average height, you waist size in inches alone is reasonably accurate. If you are shorter or taller than average, the waist hip ratio is better.

Because abdominal fat is more metabolically active and indicative of future health problems if it’s in too much supply than fat elsewhere on your body, it’s the important measure.

It’s much safer if, as a man, your waist size is less than 40 inches and less than 35 inches if you are a woman.

Similarly, it’s better if your waist size is smaller than your hip size if you are a man. And, if you are a woman, it’s better if your waist is less than 90 percent of your hip size.

Even better is less than 95 percent of your hip size if you are a man. And, less than 80 percent of your hip size if you are a woman is better.

The desirable level is less than 90 percent of your hip size if you are a man. And it’s less than 70 percent of your hip size if you are a woman.

2. The bad news is that it can be challenging to improve this measure.

However, here are some things that DO work.:

It helps very much to eat right and exercise. Eat a high nutrition low carb diet; and get LOTS of exercise. Then you’ll get the best results.

Most of the strategies that we posted a few days ago which lower your CRP levels and protect your heart also tend to lower your waist size.:

“1. Get regular exercise, ideally some strength training and some interval cardio every week.

2. Eat nonfat and very lowfat dairy foods; eat nuts if you aren’t allergic to them; eat beans and lentils; eat wild caught fish; eat beef fed only grass; & if and when you do eat poultry or other meat from animals fed grains, trim as much fat from it as you can and avoid eating it often.

3. Use only extra virgin olive oil. Only rarely eat small amounts of unheated butter as an occasional food flavoring. And completely stop, to the best of your ability, eating corn, soy, safflower, and canola oil or foods containing them.

4. Take DHA supplements & purified fish oil supplements daily. And, if you can, eat wild caught fish NOT known to be high in mercury at least once or twice every week (NEVER eat farmed fish for other reasons.)* The supplements and fish intake ensures you get enough omega 3 oils as the grain fed meat and poultry now sold has virtually none. *(Farmed fish are higher in omega 6 oils and have several kinds of health damaging pollutants.)

5. Stop eating all refined grain foods; stop eating or drinking any food or drink that has high fructose corn syrup; and eat sugar less often and in smaller amounts. Instead eat some high nutrition fruits such as kiwi fruit or blueberries; eat plentiful amounts of a variety of vegetables; and eat some whole grain foods also if you have little or no excess fat on your body and get plenty of exercise.”

For lowering your waist size or keeping it from getting larger, getting more exercise, the first step here and NOT ingesting the worst high glycemic, carbohydrate foods, the fifth step here do the most for you.

So, if your waist reading is quite bad and you do no regular exercise now, begin to do some strength training, some interval cardio, and look for safe ways to do more walking each week.

If you eat bad carbs, or drink soft drinks, your waist measure will be much higher than you can easily achieve by upgrading your food and drink to more health supporting choices & ONLY those choices.

The third way to lower your waist size is to manage your stress well and fit in some kind of physical stress relief several times a week. (Unrelieved stress tends to increase cortisol levels and high cortisol levels tend to cause fat to deposit around your waist.) Tai Chi is ideal because it both burns as many calories per minute as walking and relieves stress better than most meditators achieve. But watching videos you find funny enough to laugh at; progressive relaxation; and meditation also work. Regular exercise also helps some, particularly walking.

Taking other steps to lose excess fat without losing muscle also helps.

Prevention magazine has published a book saying that eating much or most of your fat intake as monosatured fats such as those found in extra virgin olive oil, nuts, and avocados and limiting other kinds of fats, see steps 2,3, & 4 above, also helps keep down your waist size and abdominal fat.

See The Flat Belly Diet
(Official Site - Lowest Price Online Only $16.52 Plus Free Shipping.)
www.Prevention.com/flatbellydiet

Also, we are now working on an eBook on how to successfully lose excess fat and keep it off. Watch this blog because when that’s ready, there is yet another secret to losing abdominal fat that we will include in that eBook.

Vitamin D may protect your heart better than statins....

Today's post: Monday, 11-17-2008

Earlier today, Reuters online health news posted a story about research done showing a huge risk increase for sudden cardiac death and heart failure among people who were low in blood levels of vitamin D when compared to people who had closer to optimal blood levels of vitamin D, titled “Low vitamin D linked to sudden cardiac death”.

The low vitamin D group had “….a three-fold increased risk of death from heart failure and about a five-fold increased risk of sudden cardiac death.”

That’s significant for four reasons.

1. We now know that most people can be at or near optimum blood levels by taking 2,000 iu a day of vitamin D3. And doing this costs less than $10 a month.

2. Heart failure now accounts for 37 percent of Medicare spending in the United States! So, if spending a few dollars a month for vitamin D can come close to removing two thirds of that amount as this study suggests might be possible, this action would save millions of dollars a year. Heart failure also prevents some older people from working, so the potential net savings are extremely large. And, the human disability and suffering it might prevent each year would also be quite valuable.

3. You may be able to put your affairs in order after a nonfatal heart attack. But if you die of sudden cardiac death, you should hope you already have put your affairs in order.

4. This research suggests it may be likely that having people take 2,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 would prevent much more serious heart disease than statins AND at dramatically lower cost and with no serious or quality of life side effects compared with statin drugs which do have such side effects in some people.

Triglycerides reveal heart and stroke risk....

Today's post: Friday, 11-14-2008

One day, several months ago, I was lucky enough to hear a doctor, Randy Stafford, MD, PhD, from Stanford University’s Prevention Research Center speak.

I’d known that HDL cholesterol was beneficial and helped remove excess LDL cholesterol and might prevent cardiovascular disease in other ways.

And, I’d known that the two kinds of LDL cholesterol that damaged your arteries and contributed to plaque build up in them are the small sized, or “small particle” LDL and LDL which has been oxidized. The small sized, or “small particle” LDL is quite literally so tiny it can fit into the chinks in your artery walls. LDL that is in larger particles tends to roll along the surface of your arteries and is far safer for you.

So, measuring your levels of small particle LDL is clearly quite valuable. If it’s high, you need to take steps to bring it down if you want to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular problems. There IS a high tech test that can be used to measure your levels of small particle LDL. But it costs several hundred dollars to do. We know that regular exercise lowers these levels. And we know that ingesting transfats and high fructose corn syrup tends to raise them. (So we know people who exercise regularly and completely avoid ingesting transfats and high fructose corn syrup are far less likely to get heart attacks and strokes.)

But wouldn’t it be nice if we had a whole list of other things that would bring these levels down? And, wouldn’t it be nice, if we had a much less expensive test for levels of small particle LDL?

Dr Stafford said something in his talk that day that caused me to realize my entire trip to hear him speak was one of the luckiest days of my life.

We DO have both these things NOW!

Dr Stafford said that research has shown that you can get an extremely accurate picture of the level of small particle LDL in your blood by simply measuring your HDL and triglycerides. Their ratio gives you the level of small particle LDL. If your HDL is high, over about 60 and your triglycerides are low, under about 90, your level of small particle LDL is quite low and so is your heart attack risk and your risk of stroke. Conversely, if your HDL is quite low, 35 or less and your triglycerides are very high, over 400, you have a very large amount of small particle LDL and should make sure your health insurance, life insurance, and will are in order. Making sure your significant other knows how to do CPR might also be a good idea.

1. Since, HDL and triglyceride levels are part of the normal, much less expensive, cholesterol panel you may already have gotten, this means that testing your level of small particle LDL is affordable. And, you or your doctor may already have that data for the last time you had that test done. Just look up your HDL and triglyceride readings.

2. In addition to doing regular exercise, ideally some strength training and interval cardio, each week, and completely avoiding foods and drinks that contain any partially hydrogenated oils (transfats) and/or high fructose corn syrup, we ALREADY know a whole list of other things that increase HDL and ANOTHER list of things that lower triglycerides. By adding everything we can from both lists, we can dramatically lower our risks of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases by reducing our levels of small particle LDL.

In addition to regular exercise, taking 300 mg of niacin twice a day and drinking a low moderate amount of red wine each week increases HDL. Using extra virgin olive oil instead of oils such as corn, soy, and canola keeps those other oils from lowering your HDL levels. And, eating some egg yolks if you aren’t allergic, taking lecithin or choline supplements, and eating foods such as nuts and avocados that have a similar profile of oils to olive oils also helps increase HDL. So does eating onions and garlic.

In addition to NOT eating high fructose corn syrup, NOT eating refined grain foods, limiting the amount of sugar you eat, eating onions, and taking DHA and purified fish oil supplements and eating foods such as wild caught salmon that are high in omega 3 oils all lower triglycerides.

Doing ALL these things lowers your risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases by reducing our levels of small particle LDL. Many of these actions will also lower CRP levels if yours measures as high. (And, regular exercise and completely avoiding the things on the NOT to eat or drink list also tends to help you lose excess fat and keep it off as an extra benefit.)

These things certainly worked for me. My last test measured my HDL as 90 and my triglycerides as 41.

Recently, I was reminded of this by two news articles. One reported a study that found that people with levels of triglycerides of over 400 had something like 5.6 times as many strokes as people with triglyceride levels of 89 or less! So, it’s beginning to be recognized that triglycerides are a more revealing and important measure than we once knew.

(Reuters had this article, “Triglycerides may be blood fat to watch: studies” while Health Day had, “High blood fat levels tied to ischemic stroke.” The blood fat in that article was triglycerides.)

Lastly, note that statin drugs are NOT needed to do any of these things. So, I believe strongly that most people are better off without their high risk of serious side effects and cost. Most people CAN do most of the lifestyle upgrade in this post. And they offer even better protection from heart attacks and strokes than statin drugs.

Prevent Colds, Flu, & Pneumonia....

Today's post: Thursday, 11-13-2008

Unfortunately this is the season for catching these and bronchitis besides.

The good news is that you can make catching any of them MUCH less likely.

Today we list many ways to prevent these. Do as many as you can that you aren’t already doing.

Paradoxically, three of the ones that work best cost very little. One of those three has truly astounding other health benefits besides. And another that costs very little also may help prevent you from getting colds if you overdo your exercise or do competitive athletics of some kind.

So let’s start with those.

1. Since it’s been found that your body will use about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day if it’s available, recently there have been a lot of studies done on giving people 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day. (Since people get little sun in the winter and most people who don’t work outside today get very little sun most of the time, these studies were important to do.)

(Taking 5,000 iu or more a day of vitamin D may not be a good idea without actually getting your blood levels measured. But getting close to the 3,000 your body actually uses looks to be quite safe.)

It seems that taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day boosts your immune system well enough it looks to help prevent all cancers. (A recent study using the 400 iu of vitamin D3 daily that used to be the recommended amount, by contrast, did not show cancer protection. The amount was simply too small.)

This immune boosting has been found to help prevent tuberculosis. (The old idea of getting TB patients extra sun may have actually helped some people because of this effect.)

Even more important, I read recently that in people with low vitamin D levels, the pneumonia vaccine tended not to work. But in people with high levels of vitamin D, the pneumonia vaccine was quite effective. Because of the many reports of this strong immune system building effect, I suspect that taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day also very likely makes flu shots much more likely to be protective.

So, since flu shots are free from many HMO’s or about $25; and pneumonia vaccine only needs to be gotten about every 10 years and is free from many HMO’s or about $25. And, taking that much D3 only costs about $6 a month. Getting both shots and taking the vitamin D3 costs at most $50 to start and $6 a month or so after that.

But not only will doing these three things slash your risk of getting flu and pneumonia (and TB), it will also very likely make you less likely to get colds.

And, there’s even more benefits to taking that much vitamin D3 each day. I discovered recently it protects your DNA enough that it will slow aging by 5 years if you do it long enough. Taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day also looks to prevent many autoimmune diseases. (Not only does taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day help your immune system kill the invaders it should kill, it apparently also helps it avoid harming parts of YOU that it should leave alone.)

Do you get SAD during the darker days of winter and get the “wintertime blues”? In many people, taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day turns that off.

So by getting both shots and taking the 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day you get a massive amount of health benefits in addition to not getting colds, flu, pneumonia etc.

And, over a 10 year period the cost of doing all three is about $10 a month. Plus you’ll save MORE than that in antibiotics, cold medicines, doctor visits, and time off work.

2. Here’s the other inexpensive way to prevent colds. (I’ve also heard it helps prevent allergies.)

This is also the one that may help prevent you from getting colds if you overdo your exercise or do competitive athletics of some kind.

I found this article in Early to Rise yesterday on their website at www.earlytorise.com :

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.”

“Fight the Flu... With Onions!

By Kelley Herring

Flu season is upon us. And if you're like me and want to stay healthy the natural way (no flu shots here!), do this: Eat onions.

Red onions (as well as apples and broccoli and tea) are rich in a nutrient called quercetin that may help to ward off the influenza virus.

In a recent study, published in the American Journal of Physiology, quercetin was found to negate the dip in immunity that comes with physical fatigue. And that "dip" is the window of opportunity for viruses and bacteria to take root and hold you hostage until they run their course.

What's the best way to get this natural flu fighter?

First, because quercetin is highly concentrated in the skins of fruits and veggies, make sure yours are organic (and unpeeled, for maximum potency).

And since quercetin isn't destroyed by heat, a bowl of French onion soup, a warming cup of green tea, or a fragrant serving of cinnamon baked apples should do the trick. Much more enjoyable than a flu shot... and the only side effect is YUM!”

X* X* X* X* X*

In addition to this, eating onions and either eating raw, crushed garlic or taking deodorized garlic supplements has several heart protective effects. And garlic is also known to have immune system boosting and direct antimicrobial effects.

Last, but far from least, you have to eat and drink something. And all these foods are only moderate in cost, so by eating them (or drinking green tea) instead of less healthful alternatives that cost the same or more, has no net cost! And, each of these foods has other health benefits.

3. Similarly old fashioned oatmeal, oat bran, and mushrooms are high in beta glucans which have very powerful immune system boosting effects. (The oats help to lower LDL cholesterol directly and the mushrooms can replace some meat or cheese that would otherwise increase your LDL. So eating these foods can protect your heart as well as helping to prevent colds, etc and possibly cancer according to some studies.)

The next method is NOT in the low cost category but may be worth trying if you can afford it.

4. But there’s more. If you can spend about $35 a month and either now get lots of colds every year and often get secondary upper respiratory infections too OR you hate colds OR cannot afford to take time off for them this year, you may be interested in a product I found on this website that may solve those problems.

Check out: http://www.econugenics.com/offer/page/mycophyto/ .

In the email I got that gave me the heads up on this, the woman who wrote it did have lots of colds every year and often got secondary upper respiratory infections too. She says that not only did taking this special super beta glucan supplement completely make that stop, she found it increased her perceived energy level significantly.

(The product contains cordyceps which has energy boosting effects for most people who take it. And it contains several other “medicinal” mushrooms that are known for immune system boosting and which may also help people who take them live longer.)

Disclosure: I’ve no financial tie or sales deal with these people. And, though I found their information persuasive myself, I’ve not tried their product myself as yet.


5. Wash your hands when you get home and before you eat. And, if you touch the corner of your eyes or the inside of your nose, use a clean bit of toilet paper or Kleenex instead of your finger.

This one is VERY cheap. But it can cut out more than half of the colds and flu you might otherwise get! The viruses tend to get on your fingers and then into you by touching these parts of you. So wash the viruses off your hands; & don’t touch these parts of you directly.

Doing this prevents the viruses from getting access to you. So they cannot make you sick!

6. Be nice to people and stay in touch regularly with friends and family. People who have strong social networks have better health in every way and much stronger immune systems.

David Schwartz, one of the best self-help writers of all time, suggested practicing, for everyone you meet, noticing something about each person something you like or think well of; and then focus on those things when you think of or spend time with them. He called it “Practice liking people.”

This will also improve your sex life if you practice it with your “significant other.” And, having sex also boosts your immune system.

7. Take a probiotic supplement. I'm not sure whether this works by keeping your immune system in daily practice checking out new bacteria or if the probiotic bacteria kill off or eat bad bacteria and viruses. But taking a probiotic does seem to cut the incidence of colds and flu.

8. For other methods see our post Slash your pneumonia risk 6 ways….
Thursday, 12-20-2007. This post lists some other methods as well.

Yes; lower high CRP readings. NO to taking statins....

Today's post: Tuesday, 11-11-2008

Recent stories all over the media in the last two days describe that newly released research found that giving statins tested as preventing some of the heart attacks that the people in the group would otherwise have gotten for people in the group studied who had high CRP, C Reactive Protein, readings as measured by the HSCRP test but relatively OK LDL or total cholesterol readings.

Since statins do lower CRP levels by lowering the inflammation that causes the CRP levels to be high, this makes it look as if taking statins, Crestor, as used in this study, or perhaps other statin drugs that are far less expensive, may be protective against heart attacks even in people who test below the 160 LDL level above which doctors often prescribe statins otherwise.

After reading about this study, some doctors may do just that and now prescribe statins for their patients who test high for CRP. But, it is a very bad idea.

1. The effect was tiny. For every heart attack prevented 120 people had to take the statin. Unfortunately, even using less expensive statins makes this quite expensive for the results achieved. An article on NPR’s online news has this: “Treating all Americans who meet the study's criteria could add $8.9 billion a year to the nation's health care bill,”

2. But the worse and more powerful reason for NOT prescribing statins is that when 120 people take statins far more than one of them has serious side effects.

3. And the most important reason is that the nondrug methods to lower high inflammation and CRP have other health benefits including helping to prevent heart attacks in several other ways and helping to prevent type 2 diabetes and obesity as well.

So, not only is prescribing statins only marginally helpful at great financial and human cost, it’s NOT necessary. The nondrug alternative has no side effects, also works, and provides much better protection from heart attacks and other related diseases.

If you have a high CRP reading, would you prefer to have a bit of heart attack prevention and a much higher risk of serious side effects and a new drug to take daily and pay for?

Or, would you prefer a method that has no such side effects that is much more likely to prevent heart attacks and has exceptional added health benefits?

Similarly, what will prevent the most disease with the lowest costs in serious and unnecessary side effects and dollars spent?

The answer is NOT more statin drugs.

The average person in the United States has, in the past 80 years, become vastly more sedentary; they have begun eating meat mostly from animals fed grain which is fattier and which has much higher omega 6 and saturated fat content and very little omega 3 oils than the meat from grass and pasture fed animals it replaced; begun eating many oils also high in omega 6 oils such as corn, soy, safflower, and canola oils, and begun to eat more refined grain foods and large amounts of high fructose corn syrup.

To lower high inflammation and CRP readings AND to prevent heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, simply reverse EVERY single one of these changes!!

1. Get regular exercise, ideally some strength training and some interval cardio every week.

2. Eat nonfat and very lowfat dairy foods; eat nuts if you aren’t allergic to them; eat beans and lentils; eat wild caught fish; eat beef fed only grass; & if and when you do eat poultry or other meat from animals fed grains, trim as much fat from it as you can and avoid eating it often.

3. Use only extra virgin olive oil. Only rarely eat small amounts of unheated butter as an occasional food flavoring. And completely stop, to the best of your ability, eating corn, soy, safflower, and canola oil or foods containing them.

4. Take DHA supplements & purified fish oil supplements daily. And, if you can, eat wild caught fish NOT known to be high in mercury at least once or twice every week (NEVER eat farmed fish for other reasons.)* The supplements and fish intake ensures you get enough omega 3 oils as the grain fed meat and poultry now sold has virtually none. *(Farmed fish are higher in omega 6 oils and have several kinds of health damaging pollutants.)

5. Stop eating all refined grain foods; stop eating or drinking any food or drink that has high fructose corn syrup; and eat sugar less often and in smaller amounts. Instead eat some high nutrition fruits such as kiwi fruit or blueberries; eat plentiful amounts of a variety of vegetables; and eat some whole grain foods also if you have little or no excess fat on your body and get plenty of exercise.

These steps will lower high CRP readings. There are some other things you can do that prevent heart attacks in other ways such as taking niacin and NEVER eating foods that have any hydrogenated oils (transfats.) But if you simply take these five steps listed here, your CRP readings will not only go down, your HDL cholesterol will go UP; your LDL levels will go down (no statins needed for that either); your triglyceride levels will go down, and if your blood sugar was too high, it will tend to fall to normal and desirable levels. You’ll also tend to lose all or most of any excess bodyfat you had.

AND, in addition to lowering your CRP levels without needing statin drugs, EVERY ONE of those other effects tends to prevent heart attacks and strokes as well.

What about doctors who have patients who would rather risk serious side effects and pay for drugs than make these lifestyle upgrades?

According to one doctor who worked for NASA AND who himself got very serious but mercifully temporary memory loss from a moderate dose of statins, the CRP lowering needed can be gotten with dramatically lower doses of statins than the amounts now prescribed for lowering LDL cholesterol. Those smaller doses cost less and are far more likely to be free of serious side effects.

Taking statins in very low doses would also help someone who DID do these 5 things and still had a CRP level above the desirable level. I think this would be quite rare; but it’s possible.

The conclusion is that such widespread statin use would be a ruinously expensive addition to our health care costs at a time they are already too high; it will harm more people than it will help; and it’s dramatically inferior to the effective alternative nondrug treatment that IS available.

Raw cruciferous vegetables prevent cancer best....

Today's post: Monday, 11-10-2008

I’ve posted before that I’d read research that found significant cancer protection for eating raw cruciferous vegetables and broccoli & cauliflower in particular.

But, although I had seen separate reports that eating raw cruciferous vegetables proved to prevent cancer or the most dangerous kind of cancer while cooked cruciferous vegetables did not seem to provide much protection, I did not see or missed seeing WHY it was thought that eating RAW cruciferous vegetables WAS protective against cancer.

So, when last Saturday’s short health article in Early to Rise had what very probably is the reason, I decided to include it in today’s post.

That way any of our readers who missed that eating raw cruciferous vegetable works far better to prevent cancer and any readers who may have remained unpersuaded to include eating their cruciferous vegetables raw at least a few times a week would see the info.

Here’s the article from Early to Rise.:

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.”

“For Cancer Protection - Fresh Is Best

By Kelley Herring

While some of us love the taste of broccoli, most of the time it's eaten for its health benefits. But new research suggests that if you cook it, almost all of the cancer-fighting nutrients are lost.

A recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that sulphoraphane - the primary cancer-fighting nutrient in broccoli - is significantly reduced during cooking. In fact, the bioavailability of sulforaphane was calculated to be 37 percent from the raw vegetable and only 3.4 percent from cooked broccoli.

So what option does that leave you with... raw broccoli crudités? On the contrary! There are plenty of delicious ways to enjoy raw broccoli. Make chopped salads with broccoli, buy broccosprouts and add them to your sandwiches, and fold tiny fresh florets into omelets to add delicious crunch and powerful protection.

[Ed. Note: For more advice on the best foods to eat - and those you should avoid - as well as how you can apply the latest health breakthroughs to your own life, sign up for ETR's natural health newsletter…..] You can sign up for ETR's natural health newsletter at its website, http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com . (It also has good health articles every week.)

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Conversely, cooked broccoli may give you better bioavailability for the carotenoids in it than eating it raw. And the same is true for cooked Kale. In addition, eating such nonstarchy, vegetables either cold &/or hot helps keep you trim or to lose excess fat without getting hungry. So, if you like eating any kind of cruciferous vegetable cooked, by all means keep eating it that way.

But also eat some raw cruciferous vegetables a few times a week as well for cancer protection. You’ll get the cancer protection from the raw cruciferous vegetables AND added protection from gaining excess bodyfat by eating both kinds every week.

Also, if you eat diced broccoli florets or broccosprouts ( broccoli sprouts) in an omelet or other cooked dish, to get them raw, be sure to add them after the food is cooked and served into an unheated dish so they remain raw.

Other ways to get raw cruciferous vegetables include adding diced kale or water cress to salads, eating radishes, eating cauliflower florets, and eating coleslaw.

Broccoli and cauliflower may be most effective at preventing cancer. They do seem to be the most tested. But my guess is that the other cruciferous vegetables also work to prevent cancer when eaten raw. By eating other cruciferous vegetables in addition to broccoli or cauliflower, you get more variety, may well get more cancer protection, and definitely get more protection from gaining excess bodyfat.

Taking a B vitamin may help prevent Alzheimer’s....

Today's post: Friday, 11-7-2008

A few days ago in the report of a different kind of study about B vitamins, I saw the information that feeding mice that had a kind of Alzheimer’s disease the equivalent of a 2,000 mg a day dose in people reversed Alzheimer’s in them by essentially cleaning out the cellular damage or plaques that cause the disease. Doing this also prevented the mice from losing their memories as well.

Today, NPR had the story under this headline: “Vitamin B3 Reverses Alzheimer's In Mice”

The study was announced on Tuesday, 11-4-2008. It was done by researchers at the University of California, Irvine and was under the title, "Nicotinamide Restores Cognition in Alzheimer's Disease Transgenic Mice" which was published November 5th in The Journal of Neuroscience.

I’ve been taking the B-Complex vitamin B-Complex with C Stress Formula by Solgar for many years. It includes 100 mg a day of Niacinamide. This is a form of niacin, vitamin B3, that does NOT cause flushing; but also does not help optimize your HDL & LDL cholesterol as niacin does, which is why I also take 300 mg a day of niacin twice a day.

I looked it up and niacinamide IS another name for the nicotinamide that the researchers used on the mice. I’ve obviously not been taking anywhere near the 2,000 mg a day equivalent that the researchers used on a per pound or per kilogram basis in these mice. And, many findings in rats and mice wind up not happening in people.

But if the effect of niacinamide, aka nicotinamide, at the 100 mg a day dose in people has a mild preventive effect, it may well have totally prevented any Alzheimer's in me by simply removing, on a daily basis, any amyloid plaque that developed in my brain before it began to accumulate.

I’m also very glad that I take a daily curcumin capsule because this supplement, which is an active ingredient in the turmeric in curry, looks from population studies to prevent Alzheimer's. Since it also helps to prevent cancer, it’s thought that curcumin strengthens the immune system; & this has the effect of enabling the human immune system to remove amyloid plaque before it accumulates and causes damage.

By both taking curcumin AND niacinamide; and doing things that protect my heart which helps ensure good circulation to my brain; and doing regular exercise which grows new brain cells, I may have inadvertently done an excellent job of preventing Alzheimer’s and mental decline in me. (Taking the curcumin was a deliberate attempt to do so. But the other things I began doing & have been doing for other reasons.)

I had heard before that niacinamide had other health benefits than niacin including an antiaging effect.

But after I saw this research, I decided to look up the health benefits of niacinamide online.

I found this URL.:
http://www.biogenesis-antiaging.com/All-Products/c35/p279/Nicotinamide---Vitamin-B3-(Solal)/product_info.html /

It seems that taking 1,000 to 2,000 mg a day of niacinamide has been known to have many health benefits.

Taking 1,000 to 2,000 mg a day of niacinamide “….may help to retard the Aging Process (at a cellular level) and may function as a Life Extension agent.

“Niacinamide may be an effective adjunct therapy for the early treatment of Stroke.” (This effect may be connected to the effect the mice researchers found.)

For people with diabetes, these are important.: “Niacinamide may retard the development of Diabetic Nephropathy.” & “Niacinamide may help to prevent Retinopathy.” “Niacinamide may lower elevated Blood Sugar levels.” & “Niacinamide may alleviate Hypoglycemia.” And, since the formation of amyloid plaques in part may be caused by elevated blood sugar levels, this may mean that taking niacinamide may help prevent Alzheimer’s in at least two ways.

In fact they also list this, “Niacinamide may exert potent Antioxidant effects in the Brain.’ This would tend to prevent cellular damage in your brain and prevent Alzheimer’s a third way!

They also list this: “Niacinamide (2,000 mg per day) may help to prevent the onset of Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 (by protecting the Beta Cells of the Islets of Langerhans from destruction):….”

“Niacinamide may inhibit the ability of Alcohol (ethanol) to damage the Liver.”

Niacinamide…. “ ( taking 1,000 to 2,000 mg a day as 3.000 may be too much for some people) “….may be an effective treatment for Osteoarthritis. Niacinamide therapy may improve …. Joint flexibility, … reduce Inflammation and … permit Osteoarthritis patients to reduce their dosage of Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.
Niacinamide may be useful for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.”

Then they add this:

“Niacinamide may inhibit the damage to the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) content of Neurons that occurs during the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Niacinamide (1,000 6,000 mg per day) may alleviate Anxiety (by enhancing the ability of GABA to bind to the Benzodiazepine Receptors within the Brain).”

“Niacinamide (1,000 3,000 mg per day) may help to treat Autism.”

“Niacinamide may help to prevent Parkinson’s Disease (by inhibiting the ability of MPTP to damage the Substantia Nigra).”

“Niacinamide (500 800 mg per day) may reduce the symptoms of Phobias.
Niacinamide (200 1,000 mg administered at bedtime) may improve the quality of Sleep (by binding to the Benzodiazepine Receptors of the Brain). “

&

“Niacinamide may alleviate Asthma (it protects against Histamine-induced bronchoconstriction). “

&

“Niacinamide (applied topically) may help to prevent Skin Cancer caused by excessive exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation (UV-B form). “
“Niacinamide (gel containing 4% applied topically twice per day) may alleviate Acne.”
.“Niacinamide (applied topically) may alleviate Dry Skin (by increasing the production of Ceramides in the Stratum Corneum layer of the Skin). “
“Niacinamide may be useful for the treatment of Psoriasis.”

I’m not yet convinced I need more than the 100 mg of niacinamide I already take each day. But I may change my mind. But if I see my fasting blood sugar or HBA1C measures trend up towards undesirable levels or I begin to have “senior moments” that will likely change. Given what I already spend now on supplements, I also might wait until the antiaging effects of taking 1,000 or 2,000 mg a day of niacinamide are confirmed and I make more money.

However, I certainly think, based on this information, that anyone who has either kind of diabetes or has been diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s should consider taking 1,000 or 2,000 mg a day of niacinamide.

How & Why to stay away from BPA....

Today's post: Thursday, 11-6-2008

Last Friday, 10-31-2008 I got an email from Al Sears, MD who often sends useful health information in his periodic emails.

(You can get them free from him at http://www.alsearsmd.com/ .

The chemical bisphenol A (BPA) has been in the news lately. It's been used so widely as a coating in food and drink containers that seven billion pounds of it was produced last year.

Unfortunately if left in contact with food or drink for to long or if it’s heated, it tends to leach into the food or drink. Worse, those two facts combined mean that you likely have BPA in your bloodstream now.

Several studies have found that a high level of bisphenol A in your blood may tend to make you more likely to get heart disease and diabetes.

Apparently bisphenol A (BPA) has a similar molecular structure or effect on your body as having extra estrogen. So any problems extra estrogen or messing up your body’s normal processing or use of estrogen can cause become much more likely if you have high blood levels of BPA.

In his research and in his practice, Dr Sears finds that extra estrogen tends to make you fat, slow, and to feel tired. Extra estrogen tends to lower your testosterone and sex drive, particularly in men. And, having BPA or excessive estrogen in your blood long term tend to help trigger cancer and other diseases. (The list of these Dr Sears found in the studies he’s read is below.)

In one study Dr Sears read, the researchers found high blood levels of bisphenol A may help cause or worsen a very large list of health problems and diseases.

Here’s the list he included in his email:

“Heart disease
Obesity
Type 2 diabetes
Liver damage
Brain damage
Inflammation
Reproductive cancers and abnormalities
Metabolic disruptions
Decreased antioxidant activity
Low-birth weight babies and other fetal abnormalities"

Then he says that the National Institutes of Health did random blood tests which found that the vast majority of Americans had BPA in their blood.

Then he says this:

“Don’t wait for the government to protect you. They won't. You can help yourself and your family by taking a few simple steps.”

I re-worded his list and added my comments.

When possible, choose glass instead of plastic. (BPA may not be the only harmful chemical in plastics. And BPA is beginning to look quite harmful.)

1. For food or drink containers or cooking utensils, use glass or Pyrex, or metal, instead of plastic. This specifically includes containers in which you microwave food. (My daughter found that glass microwave containers are available at reasonable prices on Amazon.com. ) And, this advice includes beverage containers. Worse, it includes baby bottles. Both now often have BPA in them. (Glass baby bottles do cost more. And it’s a mess if they break so you do have to be more careful using them. But they won’t poison your baby or prevent him or her from having kids or healthy kids later. It may also help a bit now to buy baby bottles and any plastic items that a baby will put in its mouth from Canada. Canada has been reported as having already banned BPA from such products according to the news reports I’ve read.)

2. Bottled water in any size plastic container can be a problem, particularly in hot weather. Dr Sears recommends drinking only purified water if you possibly can.

3. Minimize eating animal fat from grain fed animals. Author John Robbins long ago pointed out that people get far more pesticides, herbicides, and industrial chemicals such as BPA in the animal fat they eat where the animals have bioconcentrated it than they do eating produce that has been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides. Dr Sears suggests trimming off any visible fat from meat before cooking and avoiding processed meats where the fat is ground in or mixed with the meat. You can also eat meat less often and choose lean meat and poultry. In addition to that list you can eat beans, nuts, wild caught fish and seafood and beef from animals fed only grass instead of fatty meat from grain fed animals. Dr Sears also added.: “Eat hormone-free food and free range animals whenever possible. “

4. He also recommends eating right in ways that help you avoid foods or drinks that make your body release excess insulin which tends to add to the bad effects of any excess estrogen. Dr Sears suggests avoiding processed carbohydrates such as bread, cereals, and pasta. I’ll add to avoid all refined grain foods and anything whatever that contains high fructose corn syrup and minimize your intake of sugar or noncaloric sweeteners of any kind.

5. Dr Sears recommends eating a lot of high fiber vegetables. This helps prevent “stool” from remaining in your intestines long enough to cause more estrogen to be absorbed. Beans and nonstarchy vegetables of all kinds work for this. And he says that eating a lot of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, & cabbage also helps. He’s discovered eating cruciferous vegetables helps your body excrete excess estrogen and that the compounds in cruciferous vegetables such as DIM help your body process estrogen normally which also helps to reduce excessive estrogen levels in your blood. (In other emails he has specifically recommended taking DIM supplements for this purpose as well.)

6. Dr Sears also lists the following foods as helping to inhibit or remove excess estrogen. He also points out that many of them taste good. I’ll add to buy the organic versions if you possibly can. The foods he lists are: “….squash, onions, green beans, cabbage, berries, citrus, pineapples, pears, grapes, figs, melons, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds. I’ll add that kiwi fruit is extremely nutritious, tasty, and quite high in fiber.

The conclusion or bottom line is to avoid plastic containers in every way you can; eat right from a health standpoint as this list of foods suggests; & eat organic and naturally raised or wild caught food from animals that have NOT been penned up or fed grain.

Advanced breast cancer prevention....

Today's post: Tuesday, 11-4-2008

Yesterday we posted on vigorous exercise and eating right in a way that promotes fat loss or keeping off excess fat and several other actions can help prevent breast cancer.

So it was delightful to get today’s email from Total Health Breakthroughs. It had two articles on advanced breast cancer protection.

The information in these 2 article helps explain why vigorous exercise and eating right in a way that promotes fat loss or keeping off excess fat is effective in preventing breast cancer. And, it confirms some of our other methods besides.

But, of more importance, it shows how to get tested to see what your current risk level is; how to improve bad readings on these tests; AND gives some important supplement ideas that clearly can help prevent breast cancer. Many of those supplement ideas were NOT in my post yesterday.

I’ll add some supplements that do what these 2 articles suggest is protective to those in their 2 articles in my comments after the 2 articles.

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

“Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Breast Cancer -- Real Prevention

By James LaValle, R.Ph, ND, CCN

October was Breast Cancer Prevention month, and as always, fund raising and education initiatives were everywhere. There are many advances in our understanding of how breast cancer develops, yet out of all the articles I saw in the mainstream media, none of them explained the most important factors influencing breast health.

Most breast cancer is the type that is called hormone sensitive. That means it is cancer that forms in response to estrogen. It is usually implied that it is solely a matter of having too much estrogen (and/or other compounds that have estrogen-like structure) in the body. However if you dig deeper, you learn that it is not so much the estrogen itself, but how it is being metabolized in the body and whether it is balanced by adequate progesterone that are the primary problems.1-2

Estrogen/Progesterone Balance
The balance between estrogen and progesterone is very important for breast health and is almost never mentioned in popular literature on hormone sensitive breast cancer. There is a big misunderstanding among some people in the medical community that progesterone increases breast cancer risk. This was due to studies that found that synthetic progestins formerly used in women on hormone replacement therapy did increase breast cancer risk. However, further study has clarified that natural progesterones do not.3

Natural (bio-identical) progesterone actually reduces the production of certain growth factors, and increases a process called apoptosis (cell death) in proliferating breast cells. Several studies have shown that women with progesterone deficiency have anywhere from 4 to 6 times the risk of developing breast cancer.4

Estrogen Metabolism
As estrogen breaks down in the body from the primary estrogen in the body, estradiol, it can convert to a form called 2OH estrone, the good metabolite, or to 16OH and 4OH estrones, forms that cause tissue proliferation. 16OH contributes to endometriosis for instance, the over-proliferation of uterine lining tissue that causes painful menstrual cramps and can reduce a woman's ability to conceive. These metabolites also increase the risk of breast cancer. On the other hand, women with a higher 2OH to 16OH ratio have a 40% less chance of developing breast cancer.

There is a second step in the breakdown of estrogen called methylation. This step takes 4OH and makes it less active in tissues and actually makes a form of estrone (called 2-methoxyestrone) which inhibits breast cancer. So if your methylation pathways are purring along wonderfully you can break estrogen down into beneficial metabolites. Key nutrients to support methylation are the B vitamins, folate, B6 and B12, and dietary sulfur (found in onions, garlic, cabbage family vegetables and in foods like whey and eggs).

The final step for estrogen breakdown is glucuronidation, a metabolic process in which the different estrogens bind with glucuronic acid in the liver and from there get excreted in the GI tract. At least that's what should happen. Magnesium is needed for glucuronic acid to bind with estrogen. If you aren't taking in enough, the estrogen will not be bound and will just continue circulating in the body.

Gut flora also influences glucuronidation. Pathogenic (harmful) bacteria in the intestines can cause estrogen to get uncoupled from the glucuronic acid. So instead of being carried out of the body, the estrogen re-enters circulation, and the woman will accumulate too much in her system. This pathogenic bacteria called beta-glucuronidase is associated with increased cancer risk.

Diets high in fiber and beneficial flora reduce beta-glucuronidase levels, and so promote good estrogen metabolism. A form of calcium called D-glucarate inhibits beta-glucuronidase and so is also a very helpful nutrient.

There are a couple of substances in foods that help healthy estrogen metabolism and have significant and strong evidence of being cancer protective. (See Laura's article for more information on that.) This is where most of the articles in popular women's magazines focus -- eating a diet that is high in these cancer protective substances; and while it is important to eat this way, unless you measure your estrogen metabolites with urine or saliva testing, you have no way of knowing if your diet is directing your metabolism to more of the healthy and fewer of the bad estrogen metabolites. (My new e-book explains estrogen testing in detail. Look for The Keys to Healthy Aging: Making Hormone Replacement Work for You, available from Total Health Breakthroughs in a few weeks.)

Other Influences: Thyroid and Insulin
The other two influences on breast cancer you rarely read anything about are thyroid health and high insulin levels. Laura's article discusses the diet and insulin connection to breast health, but medicine has known for some time that women with breast cancer have a higher than average degree of thyroid problems, including autoimmune thyroid disease and hypothyroidism.

We know now that any disease of autoimmunity raises cancer risk.5 Since it is known that people with autoimmunity have a suppression of natural killer cells, the cells that can fight and overcome cancer cells, this shouldn't be surprising. You may think that autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism are not that common, but they in fact are second only to diabetes as the most common endocrine disorders -- and they occur in anywhere from 10 to 30% of the population.6-7

To really get proactive against breast cancer, all women can and should get tested for the following:

Estradiol, estrone, progesterone, and estrogen metabolites.
Low thyroid and thyroid antibodies if you have any reason to suspect your thyroid is under-active.

Post-prandial glucose and insulin levels to ensure you are not developing insulin resistance.

Once you have an accurate reading on these vital hormone levels, an appropriate supplementation and dietary plan can be applied as needed.

References

1 Kabat GC, et al. Epidemiology. 2006;17(1):80-8.
2 Adly L, et al. Int J Cancer. 2006;119(10):2402-7.
3 Campagnoll D, et al. J of Steroid Biochem and Mol Biol. 97(5): 441-450.
4 Oldenburg H, et al. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology. 200763(2);125-149.
5 Landgren O. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Sep 20;98(18):1321-30; and Eur J Gastroenterol
Hepatol. 2000:12: 645-48.
6 Maruchi N, et al. Mayo Clin Proc. 1976;51: 263-5.
7 E-medicine from webMD. Hashimoto Thyroiditis, May 30, 2006.

[Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr. LaValle is the author of the bestselling book Cracking the Metabolic Code: 9 Keys to Optimal Health and is the Executive Editor of THB's The Healing Prescription…..]”

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

“Healthy Nutrition:

Eating a Breast Cancer Preventive Diet

By Laura LaValle, RD, LD

If you have read any breast cancer prevention articles over the last month, you probably saw several articles on making sure your diet includes plenty of omega-3 fats as well as high antioxidant-containing foods like berries, colorful vegetables, beans/legumes, and green tea -- all to help your body keep damage from free radicals to a minimum. This is all good advice, but it does not adequately address the other side of the equation -- avoiding foods that promote inflammation in the body.

Prevent Insulin Resistance

Not controlling your intake of refined sugars, white breads, pastas, soft drinks and fast foods can lead to insulin resistance, which is a known contributor of inflammation and oxidative stress in the body1. Inflammation caused by poor dietary habits not only greatly increases risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but also increases risk of cancer, including breast cancer.2

Several large human studies have found that diet plays a large role in increasing inflammation and the risk of type 2 diabetes -- and that leads to an increased risk of cancer. The worst diets appear to be those high in fructose-sweetened soft drinks, refined grains, diet soft drinks, and processed meat and low in red wine, coffee, cruciferous vegetables, and colored vegetables.

One study found that insulin resistance even without the women being diabetic significantly increased breast cancer risk -- and this effect was even independent of body weight or body fat distribution.3 Another study of 60,000 women followed over 20 years found that being insulin resistant not only increased breast cancer risk, but increased the risk of being diagnosed with more advanced stages of cancer.4

So clearly, controlling insulin resistance is one of the most powerful ways we can reduce our breast cancer risk. For most people, this will mean eating diets that limit high glycemic index and high glycemic load foods.

Increase Levels of Protective Estrogen
As my husband Jim wrote, cabbage family vegetables which are high in sulfur compounds improve methylation in the body that helps prevent the buildup of unhealthy estrogen metabolites called 16OH. In addition to that, broccoli in particular, contains two substances, diindolyl methane (DIM) and indole-3-carbinol (I3C) that help the liver make enzymes that neutralize 16OH production.5-6

However, to achieve levels that significantly impact 16OH production, it's necessary to take it in a concentrated supplement form. Several clinical trials have demonstrated the ability of a DIM supplement to significantly increase the ratio of good to bad estrogen metabolites in as little as four weeks.7-8

Decrease Levels of Harmful Estrogen
Phytoestrogens are substances in plants that in effect, block bad estrogen metabolites from being able to exert their harmful effects. Phytoestrogens are found in many plant foods; soybeans, peas, beans, and pomegranates are foods that are particularly high in beneficial phytoestrogens. (Soybeans are a two-edged sword however, because with excessive intake they can inhibit thyroid hormone synthesis.)

Plant lignans are a type of dietary fiber found in high amounts in flaxseeds. Lignans increase something called sex hormone binding globulin, which can bind to estrogens and carry them out of the body. They also reduce levels of beta-glucuronidase, the pathogenic intestinal bacteria that prevents harmful estrogen metabolites from being eliminated. Regular inclusion of lignan-containing ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oils may help prevent breast cancer by aiding the body's elimination of excessive estrogen.

And finally, reducing your exposure to environmental estrogens (xenoestrogens) is important because they may trigger tissue proliferation much like excessive natural estrogens.9 Many pesticides are xenoestrogens, and this is the reason we recommend eating organically raised foods as much as possible. Phthalates in plastics are also xenoestrogenic, so avoid eating or drinking out of plastic containers or microwaving with plastic wraps.

References

1 Sies H, Stahl W, Sevanian A. J Nutr. 2005;135(5):969-72.
2 Schulze MB, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;82(3):675-84; quiz 714-5.
3 Bruning P et al. International J of Cancer 52 (4): 511-16.
4 Cust A, et al. J Breast Cancer Res and Treatment, July 2008.
5 Bradlow HL et al. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1996;768:180-200.
6 Bell MC, et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2000;78(2):123-129.
7 Dalessandri KM, et al. Journal of Nutrition and Cancer. 2004;50(2):161-7.
8 Wang Z, et al. Mol Cancer Ther. 2008 Feb;7(2):341-9.
9 Watson C, et al. Steroids. Feb. 2007; 72(2):124-134.

[Ed. Note: Laura B. LaValle, RD, LD is presently the director of dietetics nutrition at LaValle Metabolic Institute (formerly part of Living Longer Institute). She offers personal nutritional counseling at LMI for clients who need help with their diet in relation to illness or disease. Laura also provides educational services in the areas of health promotion, wellness, and disease prevention…..]”

X* X* X* X* X* X* X*

One of the aspects of their information and the information I posted on yesterday I find exciting is that following a health protective lifestyle protects your health in many other ways AND helps to prevent breast cancer as well.

1. Foods and supplements that support methylation are also known to slow aging, protect your heart and brain, and lower excess levels of homocysteine. These supplements include; NAC, n-acetyl cysteine, which also contains sulfur; DMG and TMG, di- and trimethly glycine; and the methyl version of B12, methylcobalamin, sold as "Brain B12." Also the supplement MSM, Methylsulfonylmethane, that is in many joint and arthritis pain supplements contains sulfur, as can be seen from its name and looks to be a methyl donor as well from the methyl in its name.

2. These 2 articles may also partly explain WHY taking 2,000 to 3,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 prevents cancer and breast cancer. Adequate vitamin D in your body tends to optimize your immune system responses and has been found to largely prevent autoimmune disorders. Since these articles say immune diseases suppress the production of your natural killer cells which kill off cancer cells, this means that taking vitamin D3 is critically important. Oddly, they don’t mention taking vitamin D3 in the article.

3. Vigorous exercise and eating lots of vegetables AND eating an adequate supply of lean protein every day and very rarely eating much of anything else and NEVER eating junk food or drinking soft drinks also tends to prevent breast cancer --as we posted about yesterday. And, since insulin resistance and high blood levels of insulin apparently help cause breast cancer; and these two actions specifically prevent or help reverse insulin resistance and reduce high insulin levels, that largely explains why these two actions help prevent breast cancer.

Taking the supplements alpha lipoic acid, chromium polynicotinate, and either eating cinnamon in your food daily or taking cinnamon supplements also tend to help your body manage insulin and blood sugars in a desirable way and may well also help.

It may also be worthwhile to eat foods that are spiced with red pepper or other hot peppers once a day. These spices have been found to reduce insulin increase after you eat.

4. Their research apparently confirms that taking the supplement DIM in addition to eating the cruciferous vegetables that contain it helps to prevent breast cancer.

5. Taking magnesium supplements or eating foods high in it so that you get at least 400 mg a day of magnesium; and taking probiotic supplements or eating yogurt with no sugar or artificial sweeteners added that contain live cultures of probiotic bacteria -- to compete with or eliminate harmful bacteria; all apparently help in allowing the healthy breakdown of estrogen which helps prevent breast cancer.

Adding the information in yesterday’s post and in today’s post, there are a LOT of things you can do that help prevent breast cancer. Many of them will also prevent other cancers or help protect your heart, brain, and overall health in other ways as well.

Advanced breast cancer prevention....

Today's post: Tuesday, 11-4-2008

Yesterday we posted on vigorous exercise and eating right in a way that promotes fat loss or keeping off excess fat and several other actions can help prevent breast cancer.

So it was delightful to get today’s email from Total Health Breakthroughs. It had two articles on advanced breast cancer protection.

The information in these 2 article helps explain why vigorous exercise and eating right in a way that promotes fat loss or keeping off excess fat is effective in preventing breast cancer. And, it confirms some of our other methods besides.

But, of more importance, it shows how to get tested to see what your current risk level is; how to improve bad readings on these tests; AND gives some important supplement ideas that clearly can help prevent breast cancer. Many of those supplement ideas were NOT in my post yesterday.

I’ll add some supplements that do what these 2 articles suggest is protective to those in their 2 articles in my comments after the 2 articles.

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

“Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Breast Cancer -- Real Prevention

By James LaValle, R.Ph, ND, CCN

October was Breast Cancer Prevention month, and as always, fund raising and education initiatives were everywhere. There are many advances in our understanding of how breast cancer develops, yet out of all the articles I saw in the mainstream media, none of them explained the most important factors influencing breast health.

Most breast cancer is the type that is called hormone sensitive. That means it is cancer that forms in response to estrogen. It is usually implied that it is solely a matter of having too much estrogen (and/or other compounds that have estrogen-like structure) in the body. However if you dig deeper, you learn that it is not so much the estrogen itself, but how it is being metabolized in the body and whether it is balanced by adequate progesterone that are the primary problems.1-2

Estrogen/Progesterone Balance
The balance between estrogen and progesterone is very important for breast health and is almost never mentioned in popular literature on hormone sensitive breast cancer. There is a big misunderstanding among some people in the medical community that progesterone increases breast cancer risk. This was due to studies that found that synthetic progestins formerly used in women on hormone replacement therapy did increase breast cancer risk. However, further study has clarified that natural progesterones do not.3

Natural (bio-identical) progesterone actually reduces the production of certain growth factors, and increases a process called apoptosis (cell death) in proliferating breast cells. Several studies have shown that women with progesterone deficiency have anywhere from 4 to 6 times the risk of developing breast cancer.4

Estrogen Metabolism
As estrogen breaks down in the body from the primary estrogen in the body, estradiol, it can convert to a form called 2OH estrone, the good metabolite, or to 16OH and 4OH estrones, forms that cause tissue proliferation. 16OH contributes to endometriosis for instance, the over-proliferation of uterine lining tissue that causes painful menstrual cramps and can reduce a woman's ability to conceive. These metabolites also increase the risk of breast cancer. On the other hand, women with a higher 2OH to 16OH ratio have a 40% less chance of developing breast cancer.

There is a second step in the breakdown of estrogen called methylation. This step takes 4OH and makes it less active in tissues and actually makes a form of estrone (called 2-methoxyestrone) which inhibits breast cancer. So if your methylation pathways are purring along wonderfully you can break estrogen down into beneficial metabolites. Key nutrients to support methylation are the B vitamins, folate, B6 and B12, and dietary sulfur (found in onions, garlic, cabbage family vegetables and in foods like whey and eggs).

The final step for estrogen breakdown is glucuronidation, a metabolic process in which the different estrogens bind with glucuronic acid in the liver and from there get excreted in the GI tract. At least that's what should happen. Magnesium is needed for glucuronic acid to bind with estrogen. If you aren't taking in enough, the estrogen will not be bound and will just continue circulating in the body.

Gut flora also influences glucuronidation. Pathogenic (harmful) bacteria in the intestines can cause estrogen to get uncoupled from the glucuronic acid. So instead of being carried out of the body, the estrogen re-enters circulation, and the woman will accumulate too much in her system. This pathogenic bacteria called beta-glucuronidase is associated with increased cancer risk.

Diets high in fiber and beneficial flora reduce beta-glucuronidase levels, and so promote good estrogen metabolism. A form of calcium called D-glucarate inhibits beta-glucuronidase and so is also a very helpful nutrient.

There are a couple of substances in foods that help healthy estrogen metabolism and have significant and strong evidence of being cancer protective. (See Laura's article for more information on that.) This is where most of the articles in popular women's magazines focus -- eating a diet that is high in these cancer protective substances; and while it is important to eat this way, unless you measure your estrogen metabolites with urine or saliva testing, you have no way of knowing if your diet is directing your metabolism to more of the healthy and fewer of the bad estrogen metabolites. (My new e-book explains estrogen testing in detail. Look for The Keys to Healthy Aging: Making Hormone Replacement Work for You, available from Total Health Breakthroughs in a few weeks.)

Other Influences: Thyroid and Insulin
The other two influences on breast cancer you rarely read anything about are thyroid health and high insulin levels. Laura's article discusses the diet and insulin connection to breast health, but medicine has known for some time that women with breast cancer have a higher than average degree of thyroid problems, including autoimmune thyroid disease and hypothyroidism.

We know now that any disease of autoimmunity raises cancer risk.5 Since it is known that people with autoimmunity have a suppression of natural killer cells, the cells that can fight and overcome cancer cells, this shouldn't be surprising. You may think that autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism are not that common, but they in fact are second only to diabetes as the most common endocrine disorders -- and they occur in anywhere from 10 to 30% of the population.6-7

To really get proactive against breast cancer, all women can and should get tested for the following:

Estradiol, estrone, progesterone, and estrogen metabolites.
Low thyroid and thyroid antibodies if you have any reason to suspect your thyroid is under-active.

Post-prandial glucose and insulin levels to ensure you are not developing insulin resistance.

Once you have an accurate reading on these vital hormone levels, an appropriate supplementation and dietary plan can be applied as needed.

References

1 Kabat GC, et al. Epidemiology. 2006;17(1):80-8.
2 Adly L, et al. Int J Cancer. 2006;119(10):2402-7.
3 Campagnoll D, et al. J of Steroid Biochem and Mol Biol. 97(5): 441-450.
4 Oldenburg H, et al. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology. 200763(2);125-149.
5 Landgren O. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Sep 20;98(18):1321-30; and Eur J Gastroenterol
Hepatol. 2000:12: 645-48.
6 Maruchi N, et al. Mayo Clin Proc. 1976;51: 263-5.
7 E-medicine from webMD. Hashimoto Thyroiditis, May 30, 2006.

[Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr. LaValle is the author of the bestselling book Cracking the Metabolic Code: 9 Keys to Optimal Health and is the Executive Editor of THB's The Healing Prescription…..]”

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

“Healthy Nutrition:

Eating a Breast Cancer Preventive Diet

By Laura LaValle, RD, LD

If you have read any breast cancer prevention articles over the last month, you probably saw several articles on making sure your diet includes plenty of omega-3 fats as well as high antioxidant-containing foods like berries, colorful vegetables, beans/legumes, and green tea -- all to help your body keep damage from free radicals to a minimum. This is all good advice, but it does not adequately address the other side of the equation -- avoiding foods that promote inflammation in the body.

Prevent Insulin Resistance

Not controlling your intake of refined sugars, white breads, pastas, soft drinks and fast foods can lead to insulin resistance, which is a known contributor of inflammation and oxidative stress in the body1. Inflammation caused by poor dietary habits not only greatly increases risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but also increases risk of cancer, including breast cancer.2

Several large human studies have found that diet plays a large role in increasing inflammation and the risk of type 2 diabetes -- and that leads to an increased risk of cancer. The worst diets appear to be those high in fructose-sweetened soft drinks, refined grains, diet soft drinks, and processed meat and low in red wine, coffee, cruciferous vegetables, and colored vegetables.

One study found that insulin resistance even without the women being diabetic significantly increased breast cancer risk -- and this effect was even independent of body weight or body fat distribution.3 Another study of 60,000 women followed over 20 years found that being insulin resistant not only increased breast cancer risk, but increased the risk of being diagnosed with more advanced stages of cancer.4

So clearly, controlling insulin resistance is one of the most powerful ways we can reduce our breast cancer risk. For most people, this will mean eating diets that limit high glycemic index and high glycemic load foods.

Increase Levels of Protective Estrogen
As my husband Jim wrote, cabbage family vegetables which are high in sulfur compounds improve methylation in the body that helps prevent the buildup of unhealthy estrogen metabolites called 16OH. In addition to that, broccoli in particular, contains two substances, diindolyl methane (DIM) and indole-3-carbinol (I3C) that help the liver make enzymes that neutralize 16OH production.5-6

However, to achieve levels that significantly impact 16OH production, it's necessary to take it in a concentrated supplement form. Several clinical trials have demonstrated the ability of a DIM supplement to significantly increase the ratio of good to bad estrogen metabolites in as little as four weeks.7-8

Decrease Levels of Harmful Estrogen
Phytoestrogens are substances in plants that in effect, block bad estrogen metabolites from being able to exert their harmful effects. Phytoestrogens are found in many plant foods; soybeans, peas, beans, and pomegranates are foods that are particularly high in beneficial phytoestrogens. (Soybeans are a two-edged sword however, because with excessive intake they can inhibit thyroid hormone synthesis.)

Plant lignans are a type of dietary fiber found in high amounts in flaxseeds. Lignans increase something called sex hormone binding globulin, which can bind to estrogens and carry them out of the body. They also reduce levels of beta-glucuronidase, the pathogenic intestinal bacteria that prevents harmful estrogen metabolites from being eliminated. Regular inclusion of lignan-containing ground flaxseeds or flaxseed oils may help prevent breast cancer by aiding the body's elimination of excessive estrogen.

And finally, reducing your exposure to environmental estrogens (xenoestrogens) is important because they may trigger tissue proliferation much like excessive natural estrogens.9 Many pesticides are xenoestrogens, and this is the reason we recommend eating organically raised foods as much as possible. Phthalates in plastics are also xenoestrogenic, so avoid eating or drinking out of plastic containers or microwaving with plastic wraps.

References

1 Sies H, Stahl W, Sevanian A. J Nutr. 2005;135(5):969-72.
2 Schulze MB, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;82(3):675-84; quiz 714-5.
3 Bruning P et al. International J of Cancer 52 (4): 511-16.
4 Cust A, et al. J Breast Cancer Res and Treatment, July 2008.
5 Bradlow HL et al. Ann NY Acad Sci. 1996;768:180-200.
6 Bell MC, et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2000;78(2):123-129.
7 Dalessandri KM, et al. Journal of Nutrition and Cancer. 2004;50(2):161-7.
8 Wang Z, et al. Mol Cancer Ther. 2008 Feb;7(2):341-9.
9 Watson C, et al. Steroids. Feb. 2007; 72(2):124-134.

[Ed. Note: Laura B. LaValle, RD, LD is presently the director of dietetics nutrition at LaValle Metabolic Institute (formerly part of Living Longer Institute). She offers personal nutritional counseling at LMI for clients who need help with their diet in relation to illness or disease. Laura also provides educational services in the areas of health promotion, wellness, and disease prevention…..]”

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One of the aspects of their information and the information I posted on yesterday I find exciting is that following a health protective lifestyle protects your health in many other ways AND helps to prevent breast cancer as well.

1. Foods and supplements that support methylation are also known to slow aging, protect your heart and brain, and lower excess levels of homocysteine. These supplements include; NAC, n-acetyl cysteine, which also contains sulfur; DMG and TMG, di- and trimethly glycine; and the methyl version of B12, methylcobalamin, sold as "Brain B12." Also the supplement MSM, Methylsulfonylmethane, that is in many joint and arthritis pain supplements contains sulfur, as can be seen from its name and looks to be a methyl donor as well from the methyl in its name.

2. These 2 articles may also partly explain WHY taking 2,000 to 3,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 prevents cancer and breast cancer. Adequate vitamin D in your body tends to optimize your immune system responses and has been found to largely prevent autoimmune disorders. Since these articles say immune diseases suppress the production of your natural killer cells which kill off cancer cells, this means that taking vitamin D3 is critically important. Oddly, they don’t mention taking vitamin D3 in the article.

3. Vigorous exercise and eating lots of vegetables AND eating an adequate supply of lean protein every day and very rarely eating much of anything else and NEVER eating junk food or drinking soft drinks also tends to prevent breast cancer --as we posted about yesterday. And, since insulin resistance and high blood levels of insulin apparently help cause breast cancer; and these two actions specifically prevent or help reverse insulin resistance and reduce high insulin levels, that largely explains why these two actions help prevent breast cancer.

Taking the supplements alpha lipoic acid, chromium polynicotinate, and either eating cinnamon in your food daily or taking cinnamon supplements also tend to help your body manage insulin and blood sugars in a desirable way and may well also help.

It may also be worthwhile to eat foods that are spiced with red pepper or other hot peppers once a day. These spices have been found to reduce insulin increase after you eat.

4. Their research apparently confirms that taking the supplement DIM in addition to eating the cruciferous vegetables that contain it helps to prevent breast cancer.

5. Taking magnesium supplements or eating foods high in it so that you get at least 400 mg a day of magnesium; and taking probiotic supplements or eating yogurt with no sugar or artificial sweeteners added that contain live cultures of probiotic bacteria -- to compete with or eliminate harmful bacteria; all apparently help in allowing the healthy breakdown of estrogen which helps prevent breast cancer.

Adding the information in yesterday’s post and in today’s post, there are a LOT of things you can do that help prevent breast cancer. Many of them will also prevent other cancers or help protect your heart, brain, and overall health in other ways as well.