New ways to treat sleep apnea....

Tuesday, 9-30-2014

Earlier this month Medical News today had an article titled: 

“Sleep apnea: weaker brain blood flow damages the brain”

Sleep apnea and reduced brain blood flow and brain damage go together.

Clearly sleep apnea which cuts off oxygen intake tends to cause reduced brain blood flow and brain damage.

But that may not be all.  

What if reduced brain blood flow and brain damage also cause sleep apnea?

That could mean that taking steps to increase brain blood flow and repair brain damage might prevent or reduce sleep apnea. 

And, of course, it could prevent some damage from sleep apnea from other causes.

(The CPAP machine is a great short term symptom remover for those who have access to one and can stand to use it and be connected to one all night.  But it is expensive, obnoxious to use, and does not remove the causes of sleep apnea. 

Until the causes are removed, it IS protective however and clearly is medically indicated for that use.)

Sleep apnea that has not been turned off either by the CPAP or by removing the causes also can cause fatal car accidents and falling asleep on the job and high blood pressure and help trigger heart attacks and strokes – in addition to brain damage!

Obstructive sleep apnea needs to have the obstruction removed to improve.  

The Pillar procedure and/or  removal of nasal obstructions as needed in some people do this effectively.  And, in some very fat people losing over 10% of bodyweight and using cold packs to spot reduce neck fat may help also. (For many such people the Pillar procedure can get you from zero to 70 to 90% there within a few days.  But even for such people losing the neck fat can help a lot as well.)

But the part of sleep apnea caused by a diminished breathing capacity and signals for it may be improved or reversed by taking ubiquinol and PPQ and by regular vigorous exercise, particularly vigorous higher intensity variable or interval cardio, and by other helps to brain repair such as taking or eating DHA and choline.

(If the mitochondria, the cell’s energy generators, for the nerves and muscles that trigger breathing signals or do the breathing are too weak or too few, that may be a key cause of non-obstructive sleep apnea.  Damage to or shrinkage in the nerves in the key breathing centers may also be a key cause of non-obstructive sleep apnea.

Taking ubiquinol (and NOT taking statins) has been shown to strengthen the action of mitochondria.   And, taking PQQ has recently been shown to increase the number of mitochondria by growing new ones.  So taking these two supplements may well turn this off as a cause of non-obstructive sleep apnea.

Regular and vigorous exercise most days of every week has been shown to release the brain cell and nerve growth hormone, BDNF, and prevent brain shrinkage when done for often enough and long enough.  In addition, such exercise increases circulation to all of you.  It strengthens breathing muscles and the nerves that serve them in particular.

So anyone with sleep apnea likely would benefit from very slowly starting and then maintaining such an exercise program.

And, several research studies show that taking DHA and choline in addition to such exercises helps cause such nerve growth, maintenance, and repairs. 

Wild caught fish, particularly small ones such as sardines and herring, and octopus have DHA; and egg yolks from pasture fed chickens are high in choline.  But for consistent intake, supplements are a good idea.  Nordic Naturals sells DHA and Jarrow has MaxDHA.  And the supplement lecithin is an inexpensive source of choline plus you can buy choline supplements

Besides this effect on the brain and nerves, such exercise, DHA, and choline each increase HDL AND  lower triglycerides, thus lowering small particle LDL and preventing the blood vessels from getting clogged up and reducing heart attacks and strokes!

This entire set of things clearly is a good idea for any kind of sleep apnea.  But they may also remove the causes of non-obstructive sleep apnea!  

It seems to me that these protocols are missing now in the treatment of sleep apnea.  And both reducing it and the damage from it could be greatly helped if they were always added!

Here’s the Medical News Today story and the link to it.

Sleep apnea: weaker brain blood flow damages the brain

http://mnt.to/l/4qDy

People with sleep apnea experience weaker brain blood flow, finds a new study 

from UCLA, which also suggests females are more affected than males.

What do YOU eat?....

Thursday, 9-25-2014

Earlier this month the Sunday Parade Magazine had a cover story with a survey about what Americans are now eating. 

They included both good for you foods and bad for you foods.  And, they checked on some numbers for people who were trying to eat better.

1.  For example, despite what I find rather persuasive reasons to always eat breakfast,

11 % of people just leave the house in the morning without even having a cup of coffee!

(Considering most of us are trying to lose fat or not gain extra, people who always eat breakfast eat more total calories and get more nutrition but are LESS fat and weigh less than people who don’t. 

Also your body burns carbs best first thing in the morning.  So you can get away with fruit and even a whole grain cereal like rolled oats style oatmeal or even an occasional treat – at breakfast but NOT later in the day.

Lastly, you can control what you eat at home when you eat breakfast there even if it’s a very small, fast one.

At fast food places and the vending machines or treat trays in some places of work, people who have eaten well at breakfast can avoid these fattening foods more easily.  People who are very, very hungry by 10 am often cannot.

So, given all this, it’s small wonder people in the registry of those who have lost over 30 pounds and kept it off, the vast majority of them always eat breakfast!)

Fortunately, 77% of us do eat breakfast at home.

What do you do?

2.  71% take at least some supplements. 

(There are enough truly valuable supplements to create or protect good health now available at this writing I hope for all people they take several of them each day even if not as many as I do.)

What do you do?

Do you take a good quality multivitamin supplement?

And extra 3,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 or a bit more?

Do you take omega 3 oil or the omega 3 oil, DHA -- or both daily?

Do you take at least an extra 500 mg a day of vitamin C?

There are several supplements that do things like reduce inflammation, protect your heart, and help prevent all kinds of mental decline, and those that help prevent cancer.  We post on those periodically – including resveratrol earlier this week.

Do you take any of those?

3.  Most people do very poorly with their health choices at lunch now.

66% have sandwiches.  And, so far, the vast majority of those sandwiches are made with the refined grain wheat that causes blood sugar surges, obesity, and other diseases.

What do you do? 

Do you eat a lunch you enjoy without any grain foods or bread at all?

Do you eat the Food for Life breads from Whole Foods, that despite having whole grains, raise your blood sugar MUCH less than refined grain wheat?

(www.foodforlife.com/ Food For Life Baking Co., Inc. High Fiber Baked Goods such as Organic Sprouted Whole Grain Breads….)

Do you use Paleo Bread that uses no grains but almond and coconut flours plus egg?

33% have salty snacks like chips.  10% have snack bars.  12% have cookies.

Virtually all these foods have refined grain wheat or cornmeal that are extremely high glycemic.  Many of them have hydrogenated oils high in omega 6 which are heart attack starters.  Many of the snack bars have the kind of soy protein that we just posted is harmful to eat.  Some of the cookies and snack bars have high fructose corn syrup which is fattening and very high glycemic.

What do you do?

Do you eat fresh or dried organic fruit or raw and unsalted, un-oiled nuts instead?

9% have vegetables in some form for lunch. 

We now know that eating 6 servings a day of vegetables or more is dramatically health protective.  So that 9% is way low and predicts health problems people could have avoided.

What do you do?

Do you eat raw or cooked vegetables or salads as part of your lunch?

Things people are beginning to work to cut back on or avoid:

67% are for sugar;

57% are for all high glycemic carbs;

61% are for trans fats (hydrogenated oils);

And 30% are for gluten.

So far, the average person gets way over the safe 3% of calories as sugar and eats foods containing high fructose corn syrup.  So most do need to cut WAY back including to zero for high fructose corn syrup..

We spoke about avoiding refined grain carbs above.

And, hydrogenated oils that contain trans fats are such effective heart attack starters and so slow to be processed out of your body that the only safe intake of them is ZERO.  Cutting back on them only makes it take a few days longer to build up to a harmful level and is NOT safe.  If a label lists ANY trans fats or has ANY hydrogenated oils as ingredients do NOT buy or eat it!

Most gluten is in refined grain wheat foods that are best avoided totally. The rest is in other grains which are at best eaten sparingly if at all.

What do you do?  Have you cut back or eliminated any of these harmful foods?

The number of people who always read labels has dropped from 65% to 47%.

Since you can only avoid some of these dangerous and fattening ingredients including MSG that they didn’t list by ALWAYS reading labels and NOT buying the foods that contain those ingredients, this is most unfortunate! 

Hopefully you read labels 100% of the time.

What do you do?

Your choices will make an enormous good or bad difference in how many healthy and enjoyable years you will live.

So, the posts here will have what looks to be protective and what looks to be harmful.

But YOU choose what you eat after that.

I hope you find foods that give you good health and a long and healthy life -- and that you also enjoy eating -- and you work hard to only eat those!

No one can avoid all the bad ingredients; and some treats on some occasions everyone eats and likes even with some bad ingredients.

But if you choose well over 98% of the time, you’ll be glad you did!

Exercise AND Resveratrol stop Alzheimer's....

Tuesday, 9-23-2014

1.  We already know that regular, vigorous exercise cuts Alzheimer’s and other kinds of mental decline as many as a dozen ways!  Such exercise slows aging, releases BDNF that is a specialty growth hormone growing and repairing new nerves and brain cells, cuts high blood sugar and inflammation, increases oxygen and nutrients to the brain and efficiently removes waste, and directly lowers the kind of small particle LDL that otherwise closes off blood vessels to and in the brain with plaque. 

For mental decline, vigorous exercise most days of every week is like having a whole championship football team on your side preventing all kinds of mental decline.

But the total power of it found by some researchers surprised even me!

Dr Al Sears who teaches the kind of progressive and vigorous interval cardio he calls PACE found this!:

“In a study from the University of California, San Francisco, researchers looked at results from clinical trials on 163,797 people.

Buried in the middle of it is an incredible number: Those who got the least physical activity had an 82% higher rate of Alzheimer’s disease.^1”

(Craig Ballentine creates dozens of videos of different exercises you can do for vigorous interval and variable cardio.  He can be a real asset if you need some new ideas of bodyweight cardio you can do at home.

But I think doctor Al Sears teaches the overall outline and health benefits best.  See, www.alsearsmd.com . )

Here’s why Dr Sears thinks it is extra effective at preventing Alzheimer’s and a bit about doing it from that email he sent me:

“Excess plaques, proteins and “white matter” build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Some of this happens when not enough oxygen and blood get to your brain tissue.

This is where you need a robust “cognitive reserve.” That’s like a protective buffer zone in your brain. It allows your brain to keep functioning even if tangles and plaques are developing.

Cognitive reserve explains why an autopsy can show physical signs of Alzheimer’s in the brain but the person never showed any symptoms. Their cognitive reserve kept them functioning.

Physical exercise builds up your cognitive reserve. But you’ll want to choose an activity that boosts your cardiopulmonary fitness. This is a measure of how fit your heart and lungs are.

Notice how this is NOT cardiovascular fitness.

Shorter bursts of exertion focused on cardiopulmonary fitness increase the power of your heart and lungs. Longer bouts of exercise that focus on making your heart and lungs efficient – cardiovascular fitness – do almost nothing for heart and lung power.

But it’s the heart and lung power that make a difference in preventing Alzheimer’s and dementia.

A new study illustrates what I’m talking about. Researchers looked at 2,747 people between 18 and 30 years old. Using a treadmill test they measured each person’s cardiopulmonary fitness at the beginning of the study which was started 25 years ago.

Recently, they tested everyone for memory and reaction speed. People who had more heart and lung power at the beginning of the study had better memory and faster reaction times. Their brains benefitted more over the long term by building heart and lung power.2

It’s just more proof of the far-reaching benefits of exerting yourself with a focus on the intensity of the challenge you give your heart and lungs. It’s why I named my system Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion, or P.A.C.E.

Early on, I wanted to find a way to help people be able to do interval training, which at the time seemed to be the most beneficial to your health. But along the way I discovered that if you just focus on increasing the challenge with progressivity and acceleration, the journey turned out to be greater than the destination.

The best part is that P.A.C.E. works well no matter what your current fitness level is. Start out slowly and gradually increase the challenge. Either increase the number of repetitions you do or how fast you do them. Over time, you’ll notice it gets easier and easier to do your exercises at a higher intensity.” 

(You can also gradually have shorter breaks between sections just as long as you have some breaks.  The breaks make it easier to go hard in between AND they act as a pressure relief for your heart which makes them MUCH safer than continuous, hard cardio for longer time periods.  If you catch your breath or come close that will do it.  Just avoid having zero breaks or taking zero time in between sections.)

2.  Then too, there are a number of other things that are thought to slow aging and another set of things that seem to prevent Alzheimer’s disease specifically. 

Avoiding even moderately too high blood sugar or worse; slashing chronic inflammation with a very low grain, low omega 6 oil and high omega 3 oil diet and with taking turmeric with black pepper and eating or taking ginger; taking stigmasterol* with antioxidants have each independently shown to literally stop the Alzheimer’s formation process. *(Taking the beta sitosterol supplements that stigmasterol appears with also protect by lowering LDL cholesterol too!)

Exercise, particularly the vigorous kind, and eating a mostly nonstarchy vegetable high nutrition, calorie reduced diet both seem to slow aging. And taking ubiquinol and PQQ to help ensure your mitochondria work well and stay plentiful each slow aging.

But the press on taking resveratrol to slow aging has been mixed. 

The researcher that found that effect adds grape polyphenols to Resveratrol; and says he does find aging slows by taking that combination daily.

But there is new information!  

A study, reported in Medical News Today found that Resveratrol DID prevent the formation of the tangles that cause Alzheimer’s disease!

Here are some quotes from that article and the link to the Medical News Today study:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/282755.php .

“UB researchers corroborate the neuroprotective effects of Sirtuin 1 activation on mice with Alzheimer's disease     19 September 2014

A group of mice was fed with resveratrol, a natural polyphenolic compound found in grapes and red wine. Mice were modified to develop familial Alzheimer's disease, an inherited neurodegenerative disorder that represents 5% of dementia cases and normally has an early onset. Resveratrol dose was equivalent to dietary supplementation and administered for 10 months. Then, its effects on cognitive function and neuronal tissues were compared with a control group that did not receive any supplementation. "Results showed that resveratrol ameliorated short-term memory and stopped the accumulation of senile plaques and the development of tau protein, the two most important characteristics of the disease", explains Mercè Pallàs, researcher from the Research Group on Aging and Neurodegeneration of UB and the Centre for Networked Biomedical Research on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED).

Researchers studied which mechanisms are activated in this process. Particularly, they focused their attention on Sirtuin 1, a protein involved in ageing. "We used resveratrol because it is thought that one part of its beneficial effects is due to an increase in sirtuin activity". "Although sirtuin proteic levels decreased - she adds, its activity was increased". Surprisingly, the study showed an increase in other intracellular mechanisms. Therefore, "resveratrol's beneficial action increases these other mechanisms and mitochondrial function", concludes the researcher.”

Note that when taking resveratrol had these effects which prevented the Alzheimer’s creation process even in these genetically susceptible mice, it helped prevent the formation and accumulation of cellular debris and preserved strong mitochondrial function.”

Those are two key ways to slow aging too!

Does this sound like taking 100 mg a day of the trans form of resveratrol might be a good addition to your efforts to prevent mental decline and slow aging?

It certainly does to me!  

My monthly fatloss progress report....

Monday, 9-22-2014

This month’s report is a mixed review with some positive and some negative.

I both gained some leverage and lost some. 

That status seems like where I’ve been stuck for some time!

My hope of course, is that I’ll gradually make progress by relentlessly continuing the things that have lost and kept off the fat I no longer have;

having the things I’ve added get traction and gradually help lose some more fat;

-- AND find things with more leverage that work well when I try them -- and then keep doing them!

1.  Here’s my immediate progress section first:

I lost a half pound on the scale.  Not too bad and close to the same and at the lower end of the range I’ve been in over the last year --- about 4 pounds over my goal weight.

BUT, with a pending move threatening my routines and my ability to do some of my exercises, there was a week where I gained four pounds due to worry.  I was both hungrier and more driven to eat extra when not hungry.

Since then I simply deleted some foods and declined to eat when just slightly hungry instead.   The first week I did that it had no effect.  But the second week I lost the 4 pounds and a half pound more.

BUT my waist measured another half inch more!  Apparently, the worry plus the short time of more controlled and lighter eating combined to delay that fat coming back off so far.

(I’m now at 4 pounds over my goal weight; but my waist measurement still shows I need to either lose below that or add muscle or both.

And, I definitely need to lower my stress level and find a way to lower my cortisol as it’s clearly too high.)

2.  I did manage to bring my weekly drink total to a reasonable level that last week.

3.  And, I have kept up the added vegetables.

4.  The continuing good news is on strength training.  The progress is still VERY slow but if I continue getting stronger every week or two AS I HAVE BEEN for another few years and am able to add back more safe to do leg exercises and make that progress with them, I will keep adding muscle when most people 15 years younger than I lose that much muscle or even more in the same time period!

I now do two sessions a week for upper body strength training.  At one, I am doing more reps at the slightly faster slow speed and fewer reps with a heavier weight than I was using. The progress is a bit slow; but it IS happening.  At the second session two days later, I use a couple of notches less weight BUT I do more reps and at the slower slow speed.  In that session, I just did 18 reps with each hand in an exercise that was MUCH harder for just 9 reps not long ago.  I’m at the point I can jump the weight for those sets!

At my last session, I made progress on two exercises.

THAT is encouraging!

My leg strength training is mostly better.  My ONE substitute for the leg press on the machine is gradually doing better. 

I dropped the one that was both too hard and tweaking my knee tendons.  The other is one at a time lunges several times with each leg while holding dumbbells to add to the effort.  I was adding five pounds twice a week.  Now I’m at 50 pounds, the equivalent of adding 100 pounds or more with two legs, I’ll have to add the weight more slowly.  But it IS working.  I believe I’ve added some muscle in my thighs and butt and definitely feel the pumped and exercised effect the next day.

I’m now at the point I can add weights to my hands while I do the lunge style one legged squats.  If increasing the weight is as easy as I expect it to be and I get no recurrence of my left leg injury limitation, that will be great! That’s because I’ll be working my legs harder with a heavier weight one leg a time than when I was doing both sides at once.

Once I can do 7 complete reps at a superslow speed all the way down and up with each leg while holding 89 pounds – like over 178 pounds with two legs., I think I’ll add enough muscle in my legs, lower back, and butt to cut my belly fat a bit.

My one leg at a time calf exercises are still making excellent progress on my right leg. 

I had to scale all the way back to zero and more on my injured left Achilles tendon.

I had to drop from holding a 35 or 37 pound dumbbell for 12 superslow reps to doing ONE with no dumbbell at all for my left leg.  BUT now that I do that and do 12 where I use both legs to go up and go down slow with just my left leg after reading that was a successful treatment, I can now exercise it without it hurting right then OR after the workout!

Now I can finally start adding reps and weight without re-injuring it and will do so! 

I’d actually managed that but accidentally used 35 pounds instead of zero last week.  I didn’t actually re-injure it but I did tweak it just enough to set me back a week or two.

Needless to say, I’ll be very careful NOT to do that again.

So, I just keep my right leg exercises the same until I can gradually build back my left leg to do that weight again -- 35 to 37 pounds plus all my bodyweight for 12 superslow reps.

By doing the similar style with the lighter weight with my injured leg and doing the same weight with my right leg, the studies show that by doing those two things,  once the injury heals, the strength will build back just fine relatively quickly.  So even though it’s irritating to have to wait a few weeks for that to happen, my confidence in the method is as good as it was before.

And, now I’ve reached a point where the injury to my left Achilles is healing, I believe I’ll be able to do that in about another 3 or 4 months. 

I also added a supplement that tested to help for 30 days and am half done and another that will also speed healing and then help prevent re-injury, glucosamine.

Then if all keeps going well, I’ll need to buy a new 40 pound dumbbell as the 35 pound with the 2 pound wrist weight will not be enough to be challenging if this keeps up.

(I also have made enough gains in my arm exercises to go to the 40 pound dumbbell for one exercise!)

Overall, my muscles LOOK a bit bigger, particularly my arms and shoulders; and though my middle is still fat, my thighs have definition and are clearly hard and toned.

So even though I’ve not gained enough muscles in size or weight to increase how much they weigh and the calories they burn as I’d like to do  ---  After another year or so, I may gain a pound or two of muscle at an age when most people lose 5 pounds of muscle instead!

4.  My progressive short sets of high intensity, interval cardio have been a mixed review. 

But the overall news is much better this month!

(I kept my two weekly sessions of 4 sets of back to back abdominal exercises and my weekly 10 minute session of intense variable cardio on my Nordic track where I was already at a high level I’d worked up to gradually.)

BUT, instead of waiting to add back jump rope sessions, last month I made TWO upgrades NOW.  I added five new cardio exercises AND I went from two such sessions a week to three by removing my “easy” leg exercise session.

Before I did 4 sets of 98 of four different abdominal exercises back to back and then a rest break and shoulder looseners at the end.  Now I do 4 sets of 98 and the rest break AND FIVE sets of new abdominal exercises.  To make it progressive, I started at 14 and will be up to 24 this coming Wednesday for each of the five sets.  When I can really do 98 of each of the new five sets as proficiently as the first 4 now, the people who uses such plans show fat loss in inches and pounds of fat lost on the scale.

I’ll be doing 27 sets a week instead of 8!

5.  It’s just a matter of time too to the day I can get and use the Vitamix to boost my vegetable intake enough to lose some fat that way.   

Even ONE piece of fruit a day protects you enormously....

Thursday, 9-18-2014

Several weeks ago, I saw an article that reported a study in the UK found that eating SIX servings of vegetables a day cut the risk of dying from any cause for the people who did so by 43%.  That included cutting the risk of dying of any kind of cardiovascular disease or stroke by 24% of that 43%.

Contrast that to the zero drop in death rates from statin drugs even though they do decrease nonfatal heart attacks a bit to get some idea of how powerful that effect actually is!

Dr Terry Wahls even makes a strong case in her book to eat closer to 9 servings a day of vegetables always including dark green ones, cruciferous ones, vegetables in the onion & garlic family, and varied others of many colors.

Dr Joel Fuhrman also got incredible fat loss results by people who ate 9 to 12 servings a day of vegetables.  That’s because vegetables are so low in calories and sugars and high in fiber.  And, because eating that many a day begins to make it easy to not eat very much of anything else!

The bad news of course, is that it is very challenging to buy, bring home and eat that many vegetables each day and each week.

(The Vitamix super blender that uses so much power and speed that it even blends the fiber of vegetables into a smooth and drinkable drink with less volume and far easier to eat is one solution that works.  And, you don’t have to spend ten extra minutes three times a day to clean one or dispose of that fiber either!  It’s one I plan to add one myself soon.)

But even though it’s number one to do, even then it does take some work to do each week.

But the news a bit over 2 weeks ago in another study in Medical News Today was almost as good and even better in some ways!

Eating Even ONE piece of fruit a day protects you!

For many reasons that’s super great news! 

It’s as good for you as six or more servings a day of vegetables but MUCH easier to do!

a) Many kinds of fruit taste good.  You may even know of several kinds already that you LIKE to eat yourself!  And, the people with best results ate their piece of fruit once a day plus three or four a week more.  

b) The best time of day is first thing in the morning either as part of a light breakfast or a big one because studies found that your body processes the sugars in fruit at that time of day without boosting your blood sugar or fat deposits far more than later in the day.

c)  Organic berries, cherries, plums, and nectarines are MUCH safer to eat than conventional.  AND, they do the wonderful double of being high fiber, low glycemic kinds of fruit PLUS being so nutritious they are in the superfood category.

d) Whole fresh fruit is far better for you than the juice of the same fruit with no fiber as the remaining fructose than becomes fattening and damaging. 

One work around for that is to take a supplement of the fruit extract with water instead of drinking it as a juice.  For example, I once drank grape juice every day besides eating a piece of whole fruit each day.  Then I cut the fructose and calories in half by switching to 100% cranberry juice and DID lose about 5 pounds I no longer have.  Since then I switched from cranberry juice each day to one cranberry extract supplement each morning.  I lost no more fat.  BUT, my fasting glucose and HBA1C went down to very desirable from almost OK:  from about 85 to 82 and from about 5.6 to 5.4. 

Then too, for over 10 years I’ve taken 3 capsules a day of bilberry extract.

How good is that protection from eating that small amount of fruit daily according to this study?

For heart disease and stroke in particularly, it’s OUTSTANDING!

Here are some quotes from the Medical News Today article and a link to it.:

[Here are the most important findings first!]

“Overall, the researchers found that participants who ate fruit daily had a 32% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who never ate fruit,

as well as a 40% lower risk of death from stroke 

and a 27% lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease.”

&  “In detail, those who ate fruit daily had a 15% lower risk of ischemic heart disease, 

a 25% lower risk of ischemic stroke 

and a 40% reduced risk of hemorrhagic stroke.”

“Eating fresh fruit every day 'could reduce risk of CVD by up to 40%'    

                                                                                                                 2 September 2014

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the US. Each year, 600,000 people die from heart disease and 130,000 die from stroke. 

But a new study finds that the risk of developing cardiovascular disease could be reduced by up to 40%, simply by eating fresh fruit every day.

The research team, led by Dr. Huaidong Du from the University of Oxford in the UK, recently presented their findings at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2014.

The results of their study came from an analysis of 451,681 individuals from five rural and five urban areas of China who were a part of the China Kadoorie Biobank - a study set up to investigate genetic and environmental causes of chronic diseases.

Dr. Du notes that numerous studies have indicated that improvements in diet and lifestyle are critical to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). But she points out that the majority of these studies have come from Western countries, with very few from China.

"China has a different pattern of CVD," explains Dr. Du, "with stroke as the main cause compared to Western countries where ischemic heart disease is more prevalent. Previous studies have combined ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, probably due to the limited number of stroke cases in their datasets."

She adds that given the difference in risk factors and physiology between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, the team was particularly interested in how fruit consumption influenced the risk of these stroke subtypes.

The more fruit consumed each day, the lower the risk of CVD 

Study participants had no history of CVD and were receiving no treatment for high blood pressure at baseline.

At the beginning of the study, the researchers asked the participants how much fresh fruit they ate. Fruit consumption was divided into five categories: never, monthly, 1-3 days a week, 4-6 days a week and daily.

During 7 years of follow-up, 19,300 participants developed heart disease and 19,689 had stroke, of which 14,688 were ischemic and 3,562 were hemorrhagic.

Dr. Du and her team found that participants who ate fruit every day had a 25-40% lower risk of CVD, compared with those who never ate fruit. 

In detail, those who ate fruit daily had a 15% lower risk of ischemic heart disease, 

a 25% lower risk of ischemic stroke 

and a 40% reduced risk of hemorrhagic stroke. 

Furthermore, the more fruit a person ate, the lower their risk of CVD. The average daily fruit intake was 1.5 portions (approximately 150 g).

In addition, the researchers found that participants who reported eating fruit daily had lower blood pressure at baseline, compared with those who reported never eating fruit.

"We also found that the beneficial effect of fruit on the risk of CVD was independent of its impact on baseline blood pressure," adds Dr. Du.

The team then carried out a separate analysis to see how fruit consumption affected all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in 61,000 patients who had high blood pressure or CVD at study baseline.

Overall, the researchers found that participants who ate fruit daily had a 32% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who never ate fruit,

as well as a 40% lower risk of death from stroke 

and a 27% lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease.

Commenting on their findings, the team says:

"Our results show the benefit of eating fruit in the healthy general population and in patients with CVD and hypertension. Fruit consumption is an effective way to cut CVD risk and should not only be regarded as 'might be useful.'

Policies are needed to promote the availability, affordability and acceptability of fresh fruit through educational and regulatory measures."

Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on a study from the American Heart Association claiming eating more fruits and vegetables may help lower worldwide stroke risk.

Eating fresh fruit every day 'could reduce risk of CVD by up to 40%'

http://mnt.to/l/4qr8

Eating fruit every day could keep CVD away, according to a new study led by the 

University of Oxford, UK. Researchers found daily fruit consumption reduced CVD 

risk by 25-40%.          

Most soy is HARMFUL for your health....

Tuesday, 9-16-2014

Three ways of eating have good health results that contain very little red meat. 

1.  One of them gets protein from some very lean poultry and a bit of very lean meat and some nonfat or lowfat dairy, the DASH diet. 

(The meat is not that bad for you nor its saturated fat it turns out.  But most beef cattle and dairy cattle and poultry are fed or overfed GMO grains that are way too high in the omega 6 oils that cause disease from inflammation.  And, they contain the bioconcentrated herbicides and pesticides in their fat.  So minimizing these foods and making any of them the leanest, most fat trimmed version IS protective.)

2.  One of these 3 ways of eating gets protein from wild caught fish and seafood and nuts for those not allergic and some beans in the most health protective version of the Mediterranean diet.

3.  Dr Joel Furhrman’s vegan diet gets protein from dark green vegetables and beans; Dr Furhman also says eating nuts for protein and health OK oils is OK in moderation.

But the most health protective version of Dr Furhman’s diet adds some supplements such as B12 & 3,000 iu of vitamin D3, some iron, and magnesium and zinc for some people though the diet often does have enough magnesium in the greens if you eat enough of them.

Dr Weston Price found that it is also essential to add vitamin K2 in a supplement if you don’t eat the foods that contain it.

The MOST health protective part of these 3 diets however, is that the best versions each contain 6 or more servings a day of organic vegetables.  Recent research shows that is literally the number one way to protect your health and cut your risk of dying from ALL causes! 

(The fourth super healthy way of eating is the Wahls Protocol which suggests closer to 9 or more servings a day of a variety of vegetables.  It’s so good for you it even is worth it if the vegetables aren’t organic; but it is far better for you if you only eat organic vegetables.  Besides nuts and wild caught fish, it does include organic liver or chicken liver due to its sky high level of nutrients, particularly the B complex vitamins and the safer organic form of iron.)

Vegetarian diets usually have good health results.  But in previous times they had a lot of refined and whole grains and soy based protein foods.

We and some other sources have written on how harmful refined grains are and to a large extent even whole grains are; and that this is most true for GMO, hybrid wheat foods.

We have also written on how harmful ALL these foods are for their excessively high level of omega 6 oil.

But many people who are vegetarian still rely on soy for their protein foods.  And, those who once ate meat, often like to eat the meat-like foods that are made from soy.

And, you still find that most “energy bars” have soy protein in them for example.

It turns out this an extremely harmful kind of soy food to eat!

There is some evidence that the traditional fermented soy foods and the traditionally processed tofu from soy that is NOT GMO can be OK in moderation.

But, even those can add phytoestrogens that in today’s world add to the various chemicals in foods that overdo estrogen like compounds and make that overdose worse. 

And, one doctor found a heart damaging effect in the scientific literature.

So even these kinds of soy foods should be eaten in moderation or not at all.

The really serious problem is that a massive amount of soy foods now in the stores and that some people eat are from soy oils or isolated soy protein from dreadfully processed GMO soy.  Simply put they should never, ever be eaten by people who value their health!

We’ve already posted on how all soy oil is high in proinflammatory omega 6 oils and best 100% avoided because that inflammation causes or worsens heart disease and osteoarthritis, mental decline, and many kinds of cancer.

And, I’ve read that the processing of soy oil also turns some of it into the heart attack starter, hydrogenated oils!

Unbelievably, such processed, GMO soy is even worse than that!

Nick Pineault is a cutting edge nutrition researcher who recently published information that added even more harmful aspects of such soy products!

It was so scary and persuasive, I decided to do this post to help ensure our readers know to stay away from such soy products and decided to include it directly in this post:

Here’s Nick:

“Discover The DARK Side of Soy…

Are YOU One Of The 81% Americans Eating This So-Called "Healthy" Plant Food PROVEN To Age You Faster, Increase Belly Fat And Disrupt Your Hormones?

See that bottle of oil on the right?

It's healthy, "heart-friendly" soybean oil.

Or at least that's what food marketing, the FDA, Hollywood stars following the vegan diet and maybe even your own doctor want you to believe.

As you'll soon discover in the eye-opening article below, soy foods might be one of the darkest food scams in History.

Over 81% of Americans have been convinced and deceived into believing that soybean oil and other soy products like soy milk, soy patties and tofu can help you burn more belly fat.

In reality it's the complete opposite.

New studies from independent sources now reveal that soy products age you faster, increase your belly fat and disrupt your hormones.

I know, I know, you're probably thinking WHY in the world should I trust this advice or believe any of this?

Because scientific research confirms it's 100% FACT.

You see, I used to believe that certain health foods, like soy, were good for me too! 

But then I researched over 582 studies and discovered the REAL Truth About Fat Burning Foods.

My name is Nick "The Nutrition Nerd" Pineault, and I'm just a regular guy from Montreal, Quebec that wants to burn more fat, stay lean, young looking, and be healthy for life just like YOU.

Over the last 7 years, I've uncovered hundreds of dirty little tricks the big food industry, the diet industry, and even governments pull off behind your back to make a quick buck. These are the same food LIES that harm your body making you age faster, while sabotaging your body's ability to burn fat—STOPPING you from feeling great and looking your best.

But wait, it gets even worse.

MOST doctors, nutritionists and health professionals are misinformed and don't even realize they've been misled into recommending potentially dangerous FAT-STORING foods.

The good news is that after reading the short article below you’ll learn the REAL truth about commercial soy, and MANY other so-called “healthy” foods that could be making you feel WORSE, while making your waistline bigger.

You’ll also discover how easy it is to replace these “fattening” health foods with delicious and healthy REAL FAT-BURNING foods.

The 3 "hidden" dangers below show you EXACTLY how

soy can screw up your hormones, making you

store MORE belly fat with every bite...

Once you stop buying into these food lies, you'll be able to easily transform your diet from fat-storing foods to healthy fat-burning foods WITHOUT being misled or deceived by the food industry or some health professional.

It's all part of my 24 hour diet makeover that you'll learn about below specifically designed to KEEP your body in a consistent, fat burning environment 24 hours a day – without extreme dieting, weight loss pills, or some other dangerous quick fix.

Soy Danger #1:

Hidden Toxins That Make You Store MORE Belly Fat

EVERY living organism in nature has some sort of defense mechanism.

While animals use obvious weapons like claws and teeth to survive, certain plants like soy use special toxins that are linked to several health problems, which can potentially screw up your hormones.

Here are 6 examples…

Natural toxins: Impair your digestive system.

Phytates: Prevent you from absorbing certain minerals.

Enzyme inhibitors: Hinder protein digestion.

Goitrogens: Interfere with your thyroid function and metabolism.

Phytoestrogens (Isoflavones): Genistein and daidzein, which mimic the fat storing hormone estrogen. They're also shown to increase your risks of hypothyroidism by 3 fold. (1)

Haemaggluttin: Causes red blood cells to clump together and inhibits oxygen uptake and growth.

Now you can probably see why Asians have been using a process called "fermentation" for years now. It gets rid of most of the anti-nutrients, allergens and hormone-disrupting compounds found in raw soy beans.

But in North America, no one seems to care! And companies carelessly put hormone-disrupting raw soy in soymilk, soybean oil, soy patties and tofu – which increases fat storage, drains your energy, and HARMS your body.

On the next page, I reveal a ton of healthy alternatives you can use to replace these toxic products in your diet in 24 hours or less.

Soy Danger #2:

Genetic Modification That DESTROYS Your Digestive Health & Immune System

What you may, or may NOT know, is that 93% of the soy grown in the US has been genetically modified by the food giant Monsanto.

You might be downplaying this like it's no big deal, but researchers have discovered that the Bt toxin inside GMO soy that's supposed to repel bugs accumulates inside your gut, slowly leaching TOXIC pesticides into your body. (2)

In fact, latest statistics show this dangerous and fattening toxin can be found in the gut of 93% of pregnant women and 80% of unborn babies... (3)

(It's no wonder GMO foods have been banned from several countries now, even though the FDA does NOTHING about it...)”

“Soy Danger #3:

Heavy Chemical Processing That Harms Your Body and Ages You FASTER...

Soybean oil, soy protein and other popular forms that are touted as "healthy" are all heavily processed, which presents ALL kinds of problems.

Here's why: natural plant oils inside soy plants are very fragile, so they instantly become damaged and inflammatory the second they're exposed to heat, oxygen, or even sunlight.

That's why soy products contain so many inflammatory compounds like trans-4-hydroxy-2-hexenal (HNE), a byproduct that SPEEDS up the aging process.

This same compound is found in large amounts inside the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease. (4)

And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse: many soy products are processed and extracted with hexane, a dangerous byproduct of gasoline refining.

Soybeans are left soaking in a toxic hexane bath for hours on end in order to squeeze every tiny bit of oil possible. After that, the hexane is completely removed by evaporation.

At least that's what is supposed to happen. In reality, studies by the EPA clearly show that hexane can still be found in soybean oil and isolated soy protein. (5)

That's because the FDA doesn't bother setting a maximum residue level in soy foods for dangerous chemicals like hexane, which means it could be very harmful for you and your family.”

These facts suggest these foods should simply no longer be sold at all.

But since they are and were once thought to be good for you, I think it’s important for you to know why to virtually never eat any!  

New way to effective stroke recovery....

Thursday, 9-11-2014

We now know how to improve or stop the physical part of many brain conditions by causing the growth of new brain cells and nerve cells. (See below for details.)

These same practices can largely prevent those conditions.

This includes turning down or off depression, PTSD, and Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of mental decline. 

A study of using them for PTSD, for example, found that when this was done well enough to show physical improvements, the condition went away as a result.  In addition, in depression and PTSD, effective talk therapy showed some of these positive brain changes.  So the most effective treatment is to do both at once!

In mild strokes this also works.  But in more severe strokes the interconnections between parts of the brain is lost enough that the parts of the brain no longer get the stimulation from connections to other parts of the brain and don’t recover as well or at all.

That also prevents the return of function.

But what if there were a way to jump start the recovery of the hippocampus that is the master connector to many parts of the brain? 

Then full recovery or much greater recovery of the brain cells and function would become possible!

The VERY good news is that we now can do just that.

In Medical News Today, that study was reported a bit over a week ago.

This study was done at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Here’s the key quote:

"The Northwestern study is the first to show TMS improves memory long after treatment. In the past, TMS has been used in a limited way to temporarily change brain function to improve performance during a test, for example, making someone push a button slightly faster while the brain is being stimulated. The study shows that TMS can be used to improve memory for events at least 24 hours after the stimulation is given.

It isn't possible to directly stimulate the hippocampus with TMS because it's too deep in the brain for the magnetic fields to penetrate. So, using an MRI scan, Voss and colleagues identified a superficial brain region a mere centimeter from the surface of the skull with high connectivity to the hippocampus. He wanted to see if directing the stimulation to this spot would in turn stimulate the hippocampus. It did."

This may cause stroke rehab to work!

That's because in strokes you often have nerves that are alive but no longer connected enough to create function.

But if you once re-connect them and restore them to service, function can return.  AND, the restoration of the reconnected neurons then increase instead of decreasing due to lack of use!

1.  Yes, the hippocampus acts as a director or "orchestra conductor."  But it also acts like a central hub much like Grand Central Station does for trains going into and out of New York City.

So jump re-starting it in this way could be exceptionally effective!

2.  In addition, once that happens, you can add the things that cause the brain to grow new nerves and brain cells and cause an add on effect that may restore even more function!

This very likely will prove to then continue to improve the repairs and return of functions.

Exercise that can be done particularly with force or speed, and taking DHA and choline and maybe uridine and bacopa together have been shown to cause the release of enough BDNF to restore function by itself.  So doing it on top of this kind of connection restoration could be quite effective.  Even doing the exercise has tested to do this.  Taking DHA has also and a study of ingesting DHA, choline, and uridine at the same time tested to do so in Alzheimer’s patients.  Bacopa, an herbal supplement from India has been shown to do this also. 

The ideal combination of these is not known.  But it seems clear from the research that has been done that combining these causes more repair than only doing one.

In addition, in the early stages you might need to do 3 to 5 of these TMS treatments a week for the first few weeks until enough restoration has taken place to then have the recovery continue on its own.

The great news is that combining these two kinds of treatment sounds very likely to be effective!  In stroke patients that could literally mean restoring sensory feeling, motor control, and language skills.

(And, since harm to the hippocampus is a driver of Alzheimer’s disease, this combination treatment might also be able to reverse it in later stages which current practices do not.)

Here’s the link to the original article:

Memory boosted by electric current to brain: finding has implications for

stroke, Alzheimer's and brain injury

http://mnt.to/l/4qmw

Stimulating a particular region in the brain via non-invasive delivery of

electrical current using magnetic pulses, called Transcranial Magnetic

Stimulation, improves memory, reports a new...

Vigorous, variable, cardio safer, more effective and takes less time....

Tuesday, 9-9-2014

About 3 weeks ago, I read a study in Medical News Today that found that short fast sections of a few minute cardio routine with easier and slower rest sections in between hit a grand slam home run!

The longer in between speed cardio at a constant pace was far less effective and took three times as long to do!

Dr Sears calls his interval and variable cardio system PACE where you start easy and then gradually add more work or go faster in the intense parts and take shorter in between rests or easier pace sections as you make it Progressively more challenging.

He has found the kind of heart reserve capacity this builds to be more protective than people get who do longer and constant cardio with no rest breaks or slower paced intervals in it.

He finds it builds fitness MUCH faster.  And, best of all you get far more benefit in much shorter time periods. 

Other research found that even TWO minutes of this kind of very fast sections of cardio lowered HBA1C readings.

Master trainer Craig Ballantyne quotes studies that show 10 to 20 minutes of this kind of challenging but safe cardio also causes your body to burn more calories AFTER you stop exercising that it burns MORE calories than the slower, constant speed cardio does.  In fact, he has taken clients who were doing an hour of cardio a day with no fat loss and had them switch to 10 to 20 minutes of this kind of challenging but safe cardio just 3 times a week who then lost significant amounts of fat!

In addition, these sets of 10 to 20 minutes of this kind of challenging but safe cardio combined with eating 6 or more servings of vegetables a day and at least one piece of fruit a day is MORE protective against death and fatal heart attacks and strokes than taking blood pressure drugs for people who have blood pressure readings higher than 140 over 90 but less than 160 over 100.   (The drugs are protective for people who fail to do those things but add ZERO protection for people who do them.  This is very valuable to know for people who hate the side effects of the blood pressure drugs they have taken. (Note: for safety add the fruits and vegetables right away and then the 10 to 20 minutes of this kind of challenging but safe cardio three times a week.  After all those have been in place for at least a month or two, then talk to your doctor about stopping the drugs.  These methods also lower blood pressure for many people in that time period which can help.

Lastly, for older and fatter people the first number, the systolic pressure, and the pulse pressure, which is by how much the systolic pressure is higher than the diastolic pressure tend to go up more than the diastolic pressure does.

So anything that prevents that extra rise in systolic pressure or lowers it is very protective indeed.

So when I read the Medical News Today showing that 10 to 20 minutes of this kind of challenging but safe cardio DID lower systolic pressure AND the results and the safety were there for heart transplant patients too, I was inspired to do this post!

(Note that other studies have found even fit people benefit from a one minute gradually increasing and easy warm up.  But that the ten minutes in this study to be sure it was safe for heart transplant patients is not needed for most people.  Suppose that you do a 10 minute variable cardio routine with a one minute warm up and a one minute cool down in a total of 12 minutes. 

Someone who does a ten minute warm up and cool down will take 30 minutes!  And, it’s dramatically more doable to fit in three 12 minute sessions a week than three half hour sessions! 

Remember, you and your body ONLY benefit from sessions you actually do every week.  Session that take too long that you have to miss provide ZERO benefit!)

Here are some quotes from the Medical News Today article and the link to it.

[I did the bolding.]

“The research team compared the effects of supervised exercise sessions, three times a week for a 12-week period. After exclusions, there were 16 stable heart transplant participants who had been living with their new heart for more than 1 year, separated randomly into two groups to partake in either high-intensity interval exercise or moderate-intensity exercise.

The high-intensity interval training sessions consisted of:

10-minutes warm-up

16-minute total upright bicycle interval training with intervals of 4-, 2- and 1-min duration at >80% of peak oxygen uptake

Each interval was separated by a 2-minute active rest period at approximately 60% of peak oxygen uptake

10-minutes cool-down.

The continued moderate exercise training sessions consisted of:

10-minutes warm-up

45-minutes upright bicycle training at 60-70% of peak oxygen uptake

10-minutes cool-down.

[The higher intensity sessions took 29 minutes less each to do.  That's an hour and a half less time each week.  Further in people with their original hearts when reasonably healthy now, 1 minute warm ups and cool downs are OK separate research has found.  That means 18 minutes 3 times a week will do it!  That's MUCH easier to fit in to real lives three times a week than 47 to 65 minute sessions!]

High-intensity exercise has been deemed safe in heart transplant patients with the effect on exercise capacity and blood pressure control superior to moderate-intensity training.

The researchers observed:

Maximum oxygen uptake was increased by 17% in the group performing high-intensity interval training, compared with 10% in the moderate-intensity group.

Systolic blood pressure decreased considerably in the high-intensity group while remaining unchanged in the moderate-intensity group

Peak heart rate and heart rate reserve improved in the high-intensity group only

Heart rate recovery improved across both groups.

[This one is HUGE.  Not only does doing this kind of exercise along with eating right protect people with moderate to somewhat high blood pressure of 140 over 90 to 159 over 99 against heart attacks and strokes as well as the drugs with their obnoxious and dangerous side effects, the most common problem with older people in this range is the high systolic pressure even more than the diastolic number.  So, this means that while this kind of vigorous interval or variable cardio protects, it also reduces the higher part of the high blood pressure!]

Heart transplant patients benefit from high-intensity interval exercise

http://mnt.to/l/4q6n

High-intensity exercise has been deemed safe in heart transplant patients, with 

the effect on exercise capacity and blood pressure control superior to 

moderate-intensity training.

Chinese Cabbage is a superfood....

Thursday, 9-4-2014

I once got an email that had a list of the most nutritious vegetables.

I knew that Kale tended to be ranked number one in most systems.  And, I knew that other commonly available cruciferous vegetables did too with the HUGE bonus that each of them has multiple cancer preventing compounds!

These include collard greens, broccoli, cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, horseradish, wasabi, & water cress.

But, although I’ve seen it for years and years in the store, I’d not thought of including Chinese Cabbage, aka Napa Cabbage and Bok Choy in that list even though it is a cruciferous vegetable too.

1.  And, that email listed Chinese cabbage as number 3 most nutritious overall behind only Kale and Watercress!

2.  So, when I got a Medical News Today article on the health benefits of Chinese Cabbage, I thought I’d save it and post on it. [We will also start eating it often!]

3.  First here’s an article and an ANDI list that ranks Chinese Cabbage very high but not quite that high.

http://livingmaxwell.com/andi-scores-what-are-they

This food expert notes that Dr Furhman, who invented the ANDI score, promotes all high ANDI vegetables and fruits and ignores whether or not they are organic and explains Dr Furhman wants even people too poor or unselective to eat better -- not just those with money and knowledge and access to Whole Foods and other quality sources of organic produce.

However, this author makes some excellent points that buying organic produce makes it more likely that the produce will have maximum nutrition and is very important for other reasons. (Other studies have verified this as well.)

I also think that the chemicals you avoid by buying only organic are harmful enough that if you value good health it's important to make a very strong effort to only buy and eat organic produce.

Many of you who have seen my posts and other sources that show that regardless of the rest of what you eat, to the extent the vast majority of what you eat is the more nutritious vegetables and some fruit you will have the best health, live longest, and be less fat.

But if you do that and buy produce sprayed with herbicides and pesticides, you'll get a megadose of those things!  NOT a good choice in my opinion either!

So I vote with this author to go only organic if you possibly can, particularly for the produce you eat most often!

“As provided by Whole Foods, here are the top 10 most nutrient-dense green vegetables and their respective ANDI scores. [I just list the top ones and the Chinese Cabbage ones which gets two listings for two versions.]

1. Mustard/Turnip/Collard Greens – 1000

2. Kale - 1000

3. Watercress – 1000  [That looks like a 3 way tie to me; but they may have added some information besides the points to rank them.  We have been getting mostly Kale but some Collard Greens too.]

4. Bok Choy/Baby Bok Choy – 824 [One name for Chinese Cabbage.]

7. Chinese/Napa Cabbage – 704

[The kind I’ve seen most often in our West Coast stores.]

8. Brussels Sprouts – 672

9. Swiss Chard – 670

Here are the parts of the Medical News Today aticle I thought most helpful and my comments”

“What are the health benefits of bok choy?

Bok choy, also known as pak choi or Chinese white cabbage, was originally cultivated in China thousands of years ago and since then has spread to cuisines all over the world.

Bok choy belongs to the cruciferous vegetable family, which also includes kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, rutabaga and turnips. These nutrition powerhouses supply loads of nutrients for little calories. If you are trying to eat healthier, cruciferous vegetables like bok choy should be at the very top of your grocery list. [I added that bolding.  They all have very high ANDI scores.]

Nutritional breakdown of bok choy

One cup of raw bok choy contains 9 calories, 1 gram of protein, 1.5 grams of carbohydrates, 0.7 grams of dietary fiber, 0 grams of cholesterol and 0.1 grams of polyunsaturated fat.

A one-cup serving of raw bok choy provides 5% of daily potassium needs, 62% vitamin A, 7% calcium, 5% vitamin B-6, 3% magnesium, 3% iron and 52% of vitamin C needs.

[The two big ones are the many carotenoids in a large dose and the natural vitamin C.]

Bok choy also offers several other vitamins and minerals such as phosphorus, zinc, sodium, copper, manganese, selenium, niacin, folate, choline, beta-carotene and vitamin K. 

[They left out sulfur here which has pain and inflammation reducing effects that it’s also high in. 

And, folate causes your telomeres to stay long which sharply slows aging and prevents disease.  Getting folate in decent amounts in this natural form makes any food containing it worth eating!]

Bok choy ranks very highly on the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI), which rates foods based not only on their vitamin and mineral content, but also their phytochemical composition and antioxidant capacity.

Foods that have the most nutrients per calorie have the highest rankings, and bok choy is ranked among the top 3 fruits and vegetables in terms of ANDI scores.

Cruciferous vegetables such as bok choy are rich in glucosinolates, which are sulfur-containing compounds that have been found to benefit human health in a variety of ways.

Cancer

Bok choy and other cruciferous vegetables have been found to possess certain anti-cancer properties. Several population studies have shown that people who eat more cruciferous vegetables have a lower risk of developing lung, prostate, colorectal and breast cancer. The glucosinolates found in these vegetables are converted into isothiocyanates in the body, and these compounds help the body fight cancer.5

Bok choy contains folate, which plays a role in DNA synthesis and repair, thus preventing the formation of cancer cells from mutations in the DNA.1 Vitamin C, vitamin A and beta-carotene function as powerful antioxidants that help protect cells against free radical damage. 

[Getting the mix of dozens of carotenes in food is far more health protective and safer than taking beta carotene!]

Selenium is a mineral that is not present in most fruits and vegetables, but can be found in bok choy. It plays a role in liver enzyme function and helps detoxify some cancer-causing compounds in the body. Additionally, selenium prevents inflammation and also decreases tumor growth rates.1  [Also the selenium in foods is more bioavailable than it is in the supplements although I do take 200 mcg a day that way.]

Bone health

The iron, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin K in bok choy all contribute to building and maintaining bone structure and strength.

Iron and zinc play crucial roles in the production and maturation of collagen. Though phosphorus and calcium are both important in bone structure, the careful balance of the two minerals is necessary for proper bone mineralization - consumption of too much phosphorus with too little calcium intake can result in bone loss.

Low intakes of vitamin K have been associated with a higher risk for bone fracture. Adequate vitamin K consumption is important for good health as it acts as a modifier of bone matrix proteins, improves calcium absorption and may reduce urinary excretion of calcium.2

Blood pressure

Potassium, calcium and magnesium (all present in bok choy) have been found to decrease blood pressure naturally.8

Maintaining a low sodium intake is essential to lowering blood pressure, however increasing potassium intake may be just as important because of its vasodilation effects. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, fewer than 2% of US adults meet the daily 4,700 mg recommendation.6

Heart health

Bok choy's folate, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin B-6 content, coupled with its lack of cholesterol, all help to maintain a healthy heart. [It may be even more important for heart health that it has virtually no sugar and so few carbs per calorie and totally.]

In one study, those who consumed 4,069 mg of potassium per day had a 49% lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease compared to those who consumed less potassium (about 1,000 mg per day).6

Vitamin B-6 and folate prevent the buildup of a compound known as homocysteine. When excessive amounts of homocysteine accumulate in the body, it can damage blood vessels and lead to heart problems.

[High homocysteine may be more like smoke than fire several studies suggest; but in the case of folate which protects DNA and keeps telomeres long – AND is high in Chinese Cabbage – it may be the direct cause of less harm too!]

Inflammation

Choline is a very important and versatile nutrient in bok choy that helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory. Choline also helps to maintain the structure of cellular membranes, aids in the transmission of nerve impulses, assists in the absorption of fat and reduces chronic inflammation.3  [When you get exercise AND DHA AND choline that also grows new brain cells and repairs them!]

Immunity

The selenium found in bok choy has also been found to improve immune response to infection by stimulating production of killer T-cells.1

Skin

Collagen, the skin's support system, relies on vitamin C as an essential nutrient. Vitamin C works in our bodies as an antioxidant to help prevent damage caused by the sun, pollution and smoke. Vitamin C also promotes collagen's ability to smooth wrinkles and improve overall skin texture.

Consuming fruits and vegetables of all kinds has long been associated with a reduced risk of many lifestyle-related health conditions.

Many studies have suggested that increasing consumption of plant foods like bok choy decreases the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and overall mortality while promoting a healthy complexion and hair, increased energy and overall lower weight.

[I added that bolding but this understates the case which is why I did it!]

Here are the links to the original story.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280948.php?tw

What are the health benefits of bok choy?

http://mnt.to/l/4q2F

Find out about the potential health benefits of consuming bok choy, including

helping to fight cancer, maintaining bone health and improving immune response

to infection.