BIG promise fat loss ads....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 7-28-2016

Not sure how it happened or if the woman I know even sent the email.

But yesterday I got an email with an ad for a fat loss program – apparently from her.

It had testimonials and pictures of people who were said to have succeeded with it.

I’ve found there are three kinds of such promotions:

1.  Legitimate methods that can work for some people.  These are often a bit over hyped to get some people to try them.  They may not work as fast as the ads suggest for many; but people who do the methods well do lose fat because of it.

2.  Methods that don’t do much for fat loss in most of the people who try them; but recommend things that are at least beneficial for health.

3.  Methods that don’t work or only work from a placebo effect AND recommend things that are actually bad for your health or at least of very questionable value.

The one I got in this email was the third kind!

So I made sure to get that info back to her.

I’ll list that one and my reply here. 

Then I’ll give examples of the other two kinds.

3.  Methods that don’t work or only work from a placebo effect AND recommend things that are actually bad for your health or at least of very questionable value.

Here’s the one I got yesterday:

It recommended a combination of CLA and safflower oil.

To the best of my knowledge, the fat loss effects of the natural form of CLA are quite modest; the form in supplements that contain about half the natural form and about half a different form that is not natural and which may be mildly carcinogenic according to some sources.

The safflower oil is far worse.  To the best of my knowledge it has zero fat loss effects.  And, ingesting extra safflower oil every day boosts proinflammatory omega 6 oils. 

And, extra inflammation from way too much omega 6 oils is a cause of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and osteoarthritis! It also helps cause or worsen many cancers.

(See the book Anticancer for a very clear idea of why most Americans have 10 to 20 times too much omega 6 intake already!)

So, I emailed her the message below; and then got her a short summary too:

“CLA in things like milk and cheese from grass fed cows or meat from 100% grass fed cows or lamb is said to have mild fat loss and anticancer effects.

CLA supplements have half this kind of CLA and half a kind that is thought to be harmful.

The omega 6 oil in Safflower oil boosts the kind of inflammation that helps cause heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and some cancers.  

(Extra virgin olive oil has extremely well documented health effects instead! So using safflower oil means you get less of olive oil and less of its good health effects.)

This sounds like adding the CLA supplement to safflower oil.

Many kinds of fat loss ideas do get results from a placebo effect.

This stuff might have a real effect; but I'd not ingest any or pay money for it.

By the way, what DOES work reliably to cause fat loss that you can keep off

    plus a huge health benefit!  --  is to eat 6 or more servings of organic vegetables a day most of which are greens or cruciferous vegetables or both:

Organic Broccoli Florets, organic cabbage straight or in coleslaw, kale, collard greens, romaine lettuce, Brussels sprouts, sauerkraut, Swiss chard, etc.  

These work well either raw or lightly steamed.  Both ways protect health but in slightly different ways.

It IS a challenge to eat that many servings a day!  But even getting to three or four as I've done is astoundingly protective for your health.  And it does help lose fat you keep off!”

2.  Methods that don’t do much for fat loss in most of the people who try them; but recommend things that are at least beneficial for health.

Green Coffee bean extract is the best example of this.  When it began to be hyped for fat loss, I was drinking almost no coffee – and, I read separately that coffee did tend to protect against type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

So I began taking it since at least I might get some health protection from it.

I got absolutely zero fat loss effect.

And, since I like coffee; and organic decaf instant from Mount Hagen is so incredibly good I discovered, I now drink the Mount Hagen decaf some evenings.

 And I drink Mount Hagen’s regular organic instant they make to provide some extra caffeine on Tues, Thurs, & Saturday mornings on days I do strength training because there is evidence this will help me lift more weight.

Getting my coffee this way actually has some chance to help me lose fat by helping me add muscle.

Needless to say I long ago stopped the green coffee bean extract!

1.  Legitimate methods that can work for some people.  These are often a bit over hyped to get some people to try them.  They may not work as fast as the ads suggest for many; but people who do the methods well, do lose fat because of it.

Adds for some kinds of exercise equipment, exercise routines, and yoga fit here.

People who do these programs well and keep doing them often do experience fat loss.

But some of them like Crossfit and similar methods only work well for young people who have less fat to lose and a high ability to recover from workouts that strenuous.  They also often cause injuries which set back your fitness and fatloss.

Others sell abdominal exercisers.  If you use them well and keep using them several times a week, they do work. 

But so do abdominal exercises done that well with no equipment other than a pad or rug to do them on.

Jump ropes cost far less and can be much more effective for fitness and fat loss – and in shorter sessions.

Others teach some form of yoga.  The people who actually use the videos and learn to do the style taught and do it regularly often do get results.  But few who buy the videos get that far.

Others teach doing a series of some kind of combat or martial arts or boxing moves in series doing each one superfast.  Those work and can add to your self-defense ability.

But, here again, few who buy the videos get that far.

Jump ropes cost far less and can be much more effective for fitness and fat loss – and in shorter sessions.  And, it’s a LOT easier to learn.

The best of the bunch for people is a legitimate martial art.  It likely produces the best fat loss effects.  And, many areas offer step by step introductory classes to help you learn it.

It also saves people who will only do fun things for fat loss because once you learn it you can do it to dance music!

Wikipedia has this:

“Capoeira”….”is a Brazilian martial art with its roots originating in Angola and the Congo, that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music, and is usually referred to as a game.

It was developed in Brazil mainly by West Africans, beginning in the 16th century.

It is known for quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for a wide variety of kicks, spins, and highly mobile techniques.”

If you are at a stage where you only have a moderate or low amount of fat left to lose or you are working to not gain fat back you lost, taking a Capoeira class until you are proficient and then practicing it a few times every week, may work very well.

Or just doing strength training twice a week and jump rope or vigorous abdominal exercise a few times a week can get great results if you back that up by eating right.

Hope you find these examples helpful in sorting between the junk, the good stuff you won’t actually use, and things that WILL help you!   

Statins prevent repairs in the body....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 7-26-2016

This somehow missed being headline news when the study it was in appeared about a year ago in late July, 2015:

“Statins prevent repairs in the body!”

1.  You may have read that there are initial experiments showing that stem cells have been found in small scale experiments to heal the damage from nonfatal heart attacks well enough to prevent or even reverse impairment of the person’s lifestyle or heart failure or even both!

The evidence is that it repairs the damage caused by the heart attack or enough of it to preserve function.

You may also have read that when younger people lose their stem cells and their stem cell’s ability to make and use cells as which they tend to do as they get older, this is one of the reasons people develop diseases and become more limited and closer to death with increasing age.

So, such treatments using stem cells and exercise that prevent or reverse this decline in stem cells and repairs all over the body are a key way to slow aging and keep good health. 

It’s been known for quite some time that statins reduce the level of ubiquinol, the form of CoQ10 that the body uses.  And, it’s been known that this weakens the mitochondria that provide the power for each of our cells.

This weakens the heart by depriving it of energy on a cellular level.  In many people, this also makes them less energetic and feel low on energy or much older. 

But what if statins also reduced the ability of the body to make and use stem cells for repair too?

That research has apparently been done over a year ago.  It found that statins also reduced the ability of the body to make and use stem cells for repair. 

I just got this in their email; and here is the link to their story:

http://www.healthfreedoms.org/statin-scam-cholesterol-drug-causing-more-health-problems-than-working/

Here are some key quotes:

The study, which was published in the American Journal of Physiology, states that statins’ “…impact on other biologic properties of stem cells provides a novel explanation for their adverse clinical effects.”

Specifically, the study states that such adverse effects include advancing the “process of aging” and also notes that “…long-term use of statins has been associated with adverse effects including myopathy, neurological side effects and an increased risk of diabetes.”

“….those taking such cholesterol-lowering drugs have been experiencing cataracts, fatigue, liver problems, muscle pain and memory loss. Simply put, the drugs have been found to tamper with cells in such a way that their primary purpose of reproducing and helping the body repair is thwarted. With that comes the onset of terrible health issues or the worsening of existing ones.”

“Professor Reza Izadpanah, a stem cell biologist and lead author of the published study, says,

“Our study shows statins may speed up the ageing process.

People who use statins as a preventative medicine for [health] should think again as our research shows they may have general unwanted effects on the body which could include muscle pain, nerve problems and joint problems.”

2.  For some time it has been clear that there are much more effective ways to prevent heart attacks, prevent fatal heart attacks, and even lower LDL cholesterol and chronic inflammation than taking statins. 

The comparison is not close either, the alternatives are better by 20 times or more and even are effective when statins have zero effect!

It’s also known that only about 35% of people have the genetics that make statins even reduce the number of nonfatal heart attacks at all well and that there is a test cardiologist Arthur Agatson, MD says can tell which heredity a person has for about $150. 

Most doctors today still prescribe statins instead of the more effective methods and hardly any do this test first.

That’s because statins are the only thing they know that might help that they can prescribe or they are following guidelines that factor in none of this knowledge.

Here’s why I think statins should never be prescribed or taken at all with very rare exceptions:

a)  Why not prescribe things that are more effective and reduce the death rate from heart attacks and all causes AND have other health benefits instead? 

(They exist and have been tested to work; and I’ve posted on them and use them personally.)

b) But even without that, the track record of harm from statins is so severe that in my view it is irresponsible or worse to prescribe them.

Here’s why:

*Regular vigorous exercise done most days of every week slows aging and prevents disease – including heart attacks and deaths from them in people who build up to more vigorous levels. 

And regular vigorous exercise done most days of every week keeps working better and better for heart protection the more consecutive years people do them research has found!

Giving such people statins is quite dangerous studies found! 

The more vigorous the exercises are done, the more heart protective they are.  But if they take statins, the more vigorously those people exercise, the more likely it is they will PERMANENTLY harm their muscles.

Secondly, gradually improving your ability to exercise strengthens your heart and makes you more physically able.  But people who take statins do not get that effect. The statins prevent it.

Given these two facts alone, statins should be limited to bedridden patients if they are ever used at all. 

And, no statins should ever be prescribed until the genetic test is done and the person tests to be in the 35% that get some protection from them.

*Secondly, type 2 diabetes increases the death rate from heart attacks and has been shown to harm circulation all over the body and directly cause Alzheimer’s disease in addition to speeding the process from the drop in circulation the diabetes causes.

(If blood sugar is where it should be your insulin helps in cleaning your brain and removing things like beta amyloid.  But if blood sugar is too high, the insulin deals with that instead and stops the brain cleaning.  This then results in beta amyloid build up which can get to the hard to reverse stage.)

It’s expensive to treat thousands of people for type 2 diabetes as well.  So it’s highly undesirable to increase the number of people who have type 2 diabetes when it can be avoided.

The news is in and has been for some time. 

Taking statins causes type 2 diabetes in people who take it.

A study that is quoted found this happens 9% of the time.  And, I remember seeing one that was much higher, 45% I think.

Type 2 diabetes is so harmful to the heart and increases heart attack risk about double for men and four times for women that this is likely why at least one reason statins show no reduction in fatal heart attacks.

So this too is a big enough and a well known enough reason to never use statins when more protective methods exist.

Then too many of the alternative methods to prevent heart attacks also PREVENT type 2 diabetes!

*Another study found that taking statins caused cataracts in about 3% of the people taking them who would have avoided them or gotten them years later.

If statins were far more protective than that, they might be justified.  But added to the two big reasons not to use them, it’s not at all justified to cause people to take statins.

But while the first two reasons might be fixable by taking a large amount of ubiquinol since they initially seemed to be caused by the harm to the mitochondria which taking enough ubiquinol might prevent, what I’ve wondered, might be causing cataracts?

This recent study is so hugely important because it likely shows why statins cause cataracts.

AND it’s important because it shows that taking ubiquinol may NOT be effective at preventing the first two effects!

Exercise causes fitness and protects your heart when AFTER the exercise, your body repairs and even over repairs the muscles you used.  Vigorous exercise has even been found to increase stem cells!

But if the stem cells you would have had more of by exercising to do this are less instead or don’t work because of taking statin drugs, taking statin drugs will cause this harm or almost as much of it even if you replace the ubiquinol.

Similarly type 2 diabetes depends on processes in the liver and pancreas working well. 

If they stop doing so since they are no longer repaired by the stem cells that statins removed or harmed, that would also explain why taking statins has such a dreadfully high rate of causing type 2 diabetes.

This too suggests that replacing the ubiquinol the statins removed might not prevent this either!

Here’s the summary of how to prevent heart disease that also prevents deaths from heart disease:

Eat 6 or more servings of organic vegetables a day or as close to that as you can manage.

This has been shown to slam down the death rate from heart disease by 24%.

Totally stop eating and drinking heart attack starters!

(Taking anything to stop a disease you keep causing to happen is nuts, craziness, and worse!)

 These include high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners and the soft drinks that contain them! It also includes ANY hybrid wheat and even eating more than sparing consumption of other whole grains.  It also includes any hydrogenated oils. (Eating small, regular amounts builds up in your body to very harmful levels.  So, the only safe intake of hydrogenated oils is zero.)

Related to this is staying 100 % away from tobacco and its smoke.  Every exposure begins to close your blood vessels.  And, we also now know that exposure to tobacco smoke triggers heart attacks in people who would not have had them otherwise!

Having done that, begin at a very easy level to do regular vigorous exercise most days of every week. Then gradually build up to more vigorous levels. 

Lastly, there is a very large list of foods, herbs, and supplements that cut your risk of heart disease to close to zero if you do these basic things first. 

The omega 3 oil, DHA; and niacin; and ginger; and turmeric and/or curcumin supplements from turmeric; CAN do and have long been known to do the things statins do that are beneficial better than statins do.  And, instead of horrid side effects, they have other health benefits.

Extra:

To get more detail about this study, I entered this in Google:

“American Journal of Physiology AND Reza Izadpanah”

Several things appeared including the original study.

This one I thought included some of the most compelling information so I quote from it below.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/89087/20150929/regular-statin-use-lowers-blood-cholesterol-level-but-it-can-also-accelerate-aging.htm

"For the research, which was reported in the American Journal of Physiology on July 29, (2015) Izadpanah and colleagues treated stem cells with statins in the lab. After several weeks, they found that treatment with the drug had dramatic effect.

The researchers discovered that the drug prevented the stem cells from reproducing and replicating the body's cells to repair damage.

"Statins impair the osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), increase cell senescence and apoptosis," the researchers wrote in their study. "Statins also impaired the expression of DNA repair genes including XRCC4, XRCC6, and Apex1."

Izadpanah and his colleagues said that given the unwanted effects of the drug, people should be completely informed of the risks prior to starting with the treatment.”  

Feel better FIRST to lose fat....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 7-21-2016

This works in three ways.

All three work.

And those who use all three ways are way more successful at losing fat than those who don’t.

1.  Upgrading your lifestyle to cause fat loss and keep it off takes some effort.

So finding ways to feel better and give you more energy that are safe to do and work to do this can empower you to make those efforts.

Surprisingly, some of those methods are easy to do but very effective.

2.  People who are joyful jump, dance, and throw up their arms.  Moving well with ease is a great feeling.  People who relax and often remember that those things are so and their bodies can do those things better after fat loss, are often more successful -- and sometimes amazingly more successful than those who do not!

3.  The three most important things you can do to lose fat you keep off have now EACH been tested to make you happier and feel better!

So if you do the first two things enough to start those 3 things well, you’ll feel a lot better AND be successful at fat loss too!

1.  Upgrading your lifestyle to cause fat loss and keep it off takes some effort.

So finding ways to feel better and give you more energy that are safe to do and work to do this can empower you to make those efforts.

a)   If you feel low in energy often but not sleepy two things that may cause this are low thyroid and taking statins.

(I’ve posted often on ways to cut the death rate from heart disease and lower LDL cholesterol and inflammation BETTER than statins.  Statins do reduce your cellular energy and are dreadful second class alternative.  Worse they tend to cause insomnia too.  The solution is to never take them and use the superior alternatives instead.)

The other thing is that low thyroid both lowers your energy AND your metabolism so if you have that, reversing it will help you lose fat.

This is common in post menopausal women.  And one doctor found who treats them found that if their T3 level tested as low, restoring it to normal or a bit above gave her patients enough more energy they were then able to exercise more and make the effort needed to begin upgrading their food intake.

b) If you don’t get enough sleep, you will have less energy and worse you will be hungrier too!

Here are a few fixes that can be easy and fast to do that can make a BIG difference in that:

*Refuse to watch evening TV or have one in your bedroom.  Online weather, sports, and news are way more time efficient than on TV and can be accessed during other parts of the day.

You can also record commercial free you few most favorite shows and watch them on weekends.

For some people this can boost their hours of sleep by at least an hour a day.

*Stop drinking coffee and tea by mid-afternoon; and if your drink red wine etc, only drink it BEFORE dinner.  This can give you up to an hour more sleep in the same time in bed!

*Set the alarm for the exact same time each weekday morning and ALWAYS get up then.  This very regular pattern enables your body to get you the quality sleep you need MUCH better than the alternative.

*Buy a Nidra Sleep Mask on Amazon and use it when you sleep.  Darkness allows you MUCH better sleep than even some night time light.  But a room with blackout curtains and no light can be pricey or even impossible to achieve.  The much better news is the sleep mask does the job for less than $25 dollars and you can get one in days using Amazon.

* Eat wild caught fish high in omega 3 oils, take omega 3 oil supplements daily, and take daily supplements of the omega 3 oil DHA.  This reduces inflammation and soothes the brain so you sleep better.  In some people they also turn off depression too which give them more energy.

*Do NOT take sleep drugs!  They are dangerous and addictive.  Far worse, they both do NOT increase restful sleep AND leave you groggy and LESS energetic the next day.

*Even if it’s just for 5 minutes a day, do some kind of vigorous exercise early in your day every day.  People who do fall asleep faster, sleep better, and stay asleep better.  In some people doing this also turns off depression too which give them more energy.

2.  People who are joyful jump, dance, and throw up their arms.  Moving well with ease is a great feeling.  People who relax and often remember that those things are so and their bodies can do those things better after fat loss, are often more successful -- and sometimes amazingly more successful than those who do not!

If you focus on these things, it will be easy to do things to help make that happen including the actions that produce the fat loss that helps it happen.

There is even a book and method by Jon Gabriel called The Gabriel Method that teaches this.

He has lost over 100 pounds of fat and his followers have often lost over 100 pounds of fat they have kept off with far less than normal effort.

3.  The three most important things you can do to lose fat you keep off have now EACH been tested to make you happier and feel better!

So if you do the first two things enough to start those 3 things well, you’ll feel a lot better AND be successful at fat loss too!

The three most effective ways to permanent fat loss are to:

Completely stop eating and drinking “….. junk, processed foods, sweets, sodas, etc.” (They are all surprisingly harmful to your health and even more fattening.)

Do some vigorous exercise including strength training at least a few days a week.

Eat real vegetables, organic if you possibly can, several times a day.

*Studies show that all soft drinks, fast food, packaged snacks and desserts, and high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners tend to make the people who consume them moody, low in energy at times and at least mildly depressed. 

So, if you stop them all totally, besides losing the fat they cause, your average energy will go up, you may feel less depressed, and your moods will be more stable.

*Studies show that people who begin to do some regular vigorous exercise, particularly strength training, at least a few days a week begin to feel better, have higher self esteem, and be more able to take control of all of their lives within a few weeks or even few DAYS of beginning!

Incredibly, research has found that eating more vegetables ALSO makes people happier!

Recently Medical News Today had this!:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/311614.php

Fruit and veg give you the feel-good factor: New research suggests up to eight-a-day can make you happier

“University of Warwick research indicates that eating more fruit and vegetables can substantially increase people's later happiness levels.

To be published shortly in the prestigious American Journal of Public Health, the study is one of the first major scientific attempts to explore psychological well-being beyond the traditional finding that fruit and vegetables can reduce risk of cancer and heart attacks.

Happiness benefits were detected for each extra daily portion of fruit and vegetables up to 8 portions per day.

The researchers concluded that people who changed from almost no fruit and veg to eight portions of fruit and veg a day would experience an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to moving from unemployment to employment. [WOW!]

The well-being improvements occurred within 24 months.

The study followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people. These subjects kept food diaries and had their psychological well-being measured. The authors found large positive psychological benefits within two years of an improved diet.

Professor Andrew Oswald said: "Eating fruit and vegetables apparently boosts our happiness far more quickly than it improves human health. People's motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that physical-health benefits, such as protecting against cancer, accrue decades later. However, well-being improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate."

 It may be possible eventually to link this study to current research into antioxidants which suggests a connection between optimism and carotenoid in the blood

This may be because of positive changes in self image or it may be because of the effects of the micronutrients and much better nutrition in the brain.  (I suspect it's both!)  

Or, it may be from eating LESS of the foods that are already known to do the opposite. (Eating that many vegetables makes you full and far less hungry.)

Conclusion:

One of the best and most effective ways to begin permanent fat loss is to use these three methods!

You get happier and have more energy right away and this enables you to do things that remove fat and keep it off.

Then doing those things makes you have more energy and feel better too!   

Alzheimer’s Prevention News....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 7-19-2016

We already know that Alzheimer’s is very close to fully preventable.

You can do the things that prevent heart disease including regular vigorous exercise and keeping the amount of small particle LDL low and keeping systemic inflammation low.

The regular vigorous exercise releases BDNF a hormone that grows new nerves and brain cells which has been shown to prevent decreases in the white matter that allows your brain to communicate between its parts—including the hippocampus which contains your memory center.

The low inflammation lifestyle that is heart protective also prevents Alzheimer’s disease.

NOT ingesting wheat and high fructose corn syrup and grain oils or fat from

factory farmed animals fed grains AND eating omega 3 oils from wild caught fish and taking omega 3 supplements and DHA AND taking curcumin and ginger or using turmeric and ginger as spices often EACH lower small particle LDL AND lower chronic inflammation BOTH of which prevent Alzheimer’s disease from forming or reverse it in its early stages.

Taking stigmasterol along with beta sitosterol that usually appears with it is well known in research circles to remove beta amyloid plaques. And, in fact, taking it has restored the sense of smell in people who have lost it due to beta amyloid deposits.

Recent news:

1.  More evidence that lack of exercise is a key cause of Alzheimer's disease:

The researchers found that, contrary to previous understanding, the first physiological sign of Alzheimer's disease is a decrease in blood flow in the brain. An increase in amyloid protein was considered to be the first detectable sign of Alzheimer's.

Lack of exercise reduces blood flow to the brain.  It also reduces the amount of BDNF that grows new brain cell and nerve cells.

Lack of exercise also helps cause high blood sugar which we now know causes insulin to be used more to combat high blood sugar and less to clear beta amyloid thus causing it to build up over time.

Of course exposure to tobacco smoke and eating and drinking too much sugar and other heart attack starters and NOT getting enough omega 3 oils also cuts blood flow to the brain.  (The cadmium in tobacco smoke also boosts the rate of Alzheimer's by another 50%.)

Big Data' study discovers earliest sign of Alzheimer's development
http://mnt.to/l/4FPp
Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital have used a powerful tool to better understand the progression of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), identifying its first...

-----Original Message-----
From: Medical News Today
To: iehealth
Sent: Thu, Jul 14, 2016 2:03 pm
Subject: MNT daily newsletter - 14 July 2016  

2.  Ingesting enough DHA prevents brain shrinkage even without exercise by releasing BDNF.

(Doing both releases more.)

Recently Al Sears MD sent an email with this:

"....as you age, some brain regions shrink at a rate of 0.5% per year?

The loss in volume of grey matter is the leading contributor to weaker brain function in the elderly.

That’s especially the case in the brain’s hippocampus — our memory and learning center.

But a team of UCLA researchers....gave (DHA) to a group of 265 men and women over the age of 65 once each week.

Then they analyzed the MRI scans of their brains.

Their brain’s hippocampus was 14% larger than the placebo group!

That’s how much the average brain declines over the course of 28 years. In other words..."Their Brains Got 28 Years Younger""

In other words, the regular, vigorous exercise keeps you hippocampus at full size and operational plus keeping the white matter wiring to it intact.

Apparently so does getting enough DHA.  And of course the ideal is to do both.

3.  For women, taking bioidentical estrogen at menopause not only relieves symptoms, research found it reduces the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Medical News Today recently had this:

"Newly postmenopausal women who received estrogen via a skin patch had reduced beta-amyloid deposits, the sticky plaques found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, a Mayo Clinic study published this month in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found. Ultimately, these deposits harm neurons, leading to cognitive problems.

In the study, women with APOE e4 - one form of the most common gene associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease - had lower levels of amyloid deposits.

"This study showed, for the first time, that the brain amyloid deposition - a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease - is reduced in newly postmenopausal women who received 17 beta-Estradiol patch form of hormone therapy," says lead author Kejal Kantarci, M.D., a Mayo Clinic radiologist. "Women with APOE e4, who have a greater genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease, particularly benefited from this therapy."

Estrogen patch in newly postmenopausal women may reduce Alzheimer's risk

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

Can estrogen preserve brain function and decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease when given early in menopause?

-----Original Message-----

From: Medical News Today

To: iehealth

Sent: Thu, Jul 14, 2016 2:03 pm

Subject: MNT daily newsletter - 14 July 2016  "

(This patch delivers the FDA approved bioidentical estrogen – NOT the pill based on horse hormones that caused all the problems that caused women to stop using it.

Also, I’ve read some evidence that the low chronic inflammation lifestyle ALSO may make even that form safe to take and almost certainly makes the real hormone safe to take.

Since that lifestyle also prevents Alzheimer’s, doing both is likely quite very protective!

4.  Taking cinnamon as a supplement and using it often as a spice also prevents Alzheimer’s 3 ways!

a) If you take cinnamon before eating a sugary treat of some kind or use it as a spice in the dish itself, your blood sugar surges considerably less.

This leaves more insulin available to clear beta amyloid where without the cinnamon the insulin would be clearing the sugar instead.

b)  Sugars in your blood can bind to proteins in a process called glycation.  In blood vessels this can reduce blood circulation to your brain causing more Alzheimer’s development.  Cinnamon also reduces glycation and helps prevent this.

c)  Sunday this past weekend Medical News Today also had research showing that cinnamon enabled better hippocampus function and better learning when they were slowed.

Cinnamon boosts learning in the hippocampus and can improve learning capacity!

Cinnamon: Could this popular spice make us better learners?

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

A sprinkle of cinnamon on your breakfast could be the difference between being a good learner or a bad learner, mouse study concludes.

-----Original Message-----

From: Medical News Today

To: iehealth

Sent: Sun, Jul 17, 2016 1:37 pm

Subject: MNT daily newsletter - 17 July 2016

5.  What if there was so much beta amyloid build up, the resulting later stage of Alzheimer’s looked irreversible by the methods we just listed.?

That would look pretty dire.  People who get that far into it even die. 

It’s still not available here as far as I know, but there IS now at least one way to reverse this.

The initial news I read sounded like some kind of electronic pulse was used.

Last week I got the exact reference.  It DOES work and uses ultrasound in focused pulses.

The health freedom newsletter had this: 

http://www.healthfreedoms.org/research-confirms-non-invasive-sound-waves-may-cure-alzheimers-disease/

The most effective treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease is gaining more notoriety and it’s drug-free. University of Queensland researchers have confirmed that non-invasive ultrasound technology breaks apart the neurotoxic amyloid plaques that result in memory loss and cognitive decline.

I then found this:

http://www.sciencealert.com/new-alzheimer-s-treatment-fully-restores-memory-function

“New Alzheimer’s treatment fully restores memory function   Of the mice that received the treatment, 75 percent got their memory function back.”

“Publishing in Science Translational Medicine, the team describes the technique as using a particular type of ultrasound called a focused therapeutic ultrasound, which non-invasively beams sound waves into the brain tissue. By oscillating super-fast, these sound waves are able to gently open up the blood-brain barrier, which is a layer that protects the brain against bacteria, and stimulate the brain’s microglial cells to activate. Microglial cells are basically waste-removal cells, so they’re able to clear out the toxic beta-amyloid clumps that are responsible for the worst symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

The team reports fully restoring the memory function of 75 percent of the mice they tested it on, with zero damage to the surrounding brain tissue. They found that the treated mice displayed improved performance in three memory tasks - a maze, a test to get them to recognise new objects, and one to get them to remember the places they should avoid.”

Clearly if the other things that restore memory and brain cells are done and the things like taking stigmasterol that also remove beta amyloid are done, the potential of the combined actions looks likely to get more like a 95% reversal rate.

There is evidence for this too.  A UCLA team used some of these other methods in combination in a small study with people and got close to a 90% reversal rate.

(Mathematically, if your reverse mental decline in 75% of the people and then 90% of the remaining 25%, the overall reversal rate would be 97.5%

Given the several things we already know work that I’ve not listed here could be added too,

-- we are indeed approaching a reversal rate that is closing in on 100%.  

My monthly fatloss report....

Today's Post:  Monday, 7-18-2016

A.  Here's the key news.  Not good as yet, unfortunately.

1.  I gained about one pound from 162 to 163. 

My chest was a half inch larger with a quarter inch of that muscle or better posture during the measurement, I think.

My waist and hips were a quarter inch more.  My hips might have been muscle; but I think I simply added a quarter inch of all three measures as fat gained as shown by that pound.

I did get the 45 pound dumbbell and by next month that may help add some muscle. My upper body curls did well with it.  But it will be tomorrow before I use it to boost my leg exercises to 95 by adding to the 50 pound one where I did 90 pounds last week using 40 + 50 lb ones.

The previous week was one where I ate more to try to add muscle that week.  So the gain for the week was expected. 

BUT, by NOT losing 2 or 3 pounds the other two weeks last month where I wanted and tried to do so, my fatloss progress for the whole month was pretty much not there.

Clearly I need to add more muscle and change what I eat to supply less calories those two weeks in order to make progress.

a) I’m going to start going to the gym three or four weeks a month.

b) And, I’ve a plan too to cut my calories on my two cut down weeks.

c) Lastly, I’m about to add a supplement that has a track record of improving sleep quality and day time energy AND also shows muscle gain and fat loss from the belly area -- perhaps because of those things.

I may or may not get confirmation right away on the muscle gain or fat loss.  But the greater day time energy and sleep quality I’ll know about soon!

2.  Surprisingly bad news on the new scale!  In round numbers it cost me $90 and is no better at all than the $30 two scales I already had.

It did come in time to try it this time.

If it IS more accurate, it says I weigh a pound more than they do. 

Every Saturday that is closest to the 18^th of the month, I weigh myself both before breakfast and after breakfast. . (My breakfast and milk and water weigh about 1.5 to 2 pounds.)

Both my old and new scales showed I gained close to that much weight

(They sometimes have not!)   Did the new scale show that?  Nope.  It said I gained no weight at all.  Oh my.

For three times as much money, it is no better at all. (I think it will weigh up to 400 pounds though where the cheaper ones top out at less than that.)

So, I don’t yet have a digital scale small enough to use at home in a small space to recommend to you.  The ones in my doctor’s office that are actually accurate, are available for sale but cost over $800 and are a bit large for home use since they have the height measure too.

Some company must have an accurate floor digital scale with no height measurement to make it oversize that costs a good bit less than $800.

In today’s world, with a working scale that does the job, it should be technically possible and there IS a huge untapped market for one:

Almost all of us trying to lose fat or add muscle will buy one if we simply find out which company!

B.  Other topics:

So far the other things I’ve been doing for food and exercise are still preventing me from gaining significantly more fat or losing muscle which most men my age ARE doing.

So, I keep doing them and do what I can to improve them.

And, my heart health measures recently were excellent again -- plus my blood pressure is still a bit better. 

(As of this last measurement, I’ve lowered my LDL cholesterol from 130 or more to 65 with no drugs needed at all. My HDL is still 99 and my triglycerides are 35.

On some days my blood pressure is close to ideal in the 121 over 77 range; and I only get readings with the first number 140 or over two or three days a week and the second number 90 or over once a week or none. 

Those results the low dose diuretic and low dose ace inhibitor have helped me to do. 

The nondrug things I’ve done to lower my blood pressure HAVE protected me from harm; and they may have kept me from higher blood pressure.  But they did NOT lower it.) 

Exercise for super busy people....

Today's Post:  Thursday, 7-14-2016

A.  Some people work 17 hour days.  And other people work plus commute plus have family responsibilities that can add up to nearly a 17 hour work day.

These are not folks that can take daily runs that take an hour or more to do.

These people cannot do two hour sessions at the gym.

And, of course many of them don’t exercise or see any way they can take the time to do so!

This post is about ways they can exercise anyway!

B.  Here’s why that’s essential to do:

1.  The good news is that regular, vigorous exercise is so beneficial that it’s almost unbelievable.

You are less likely to get heart disease and mental decline and more; you age much more slowly; you handle stress better; you stay strong and capable; and your chances of decades more life worth living go way up.  (You also need fewer drugs and doctor visits and health care costs.)

And, at their best, people who exercise are more mentally able and productive.  They sleep better and are more able to think on their feet and be resourceful.  One study even found that people are more productive on days they exercise!

2.  The bad news is that getting no exercise at all not only loses all those benefits, it’s as harmful as smoking heavily or eating bad foods in excess until you are obese.

Worse, unlike air to breathe or water to drink or food, there is no direct hunger for exercise.

In fact, since our ancestors had so much exercise built in to their lives and often had too little to eat, it feels good to rest and take it easy.

Plus working and getting to work and even many kinds of recreation today are done while sitting.

Last but not least, as you get older, without exercise your brain and muscles shrink and you tend to get fat on the same food you used to stay lean on.  And while you could have been as sharp as much younger people, you tend not to be.

C.  So exactly how do you exercise each week with so little time to do so?

First, you may not be someone who knows this.  But just a little bit of the right exercises gives you almost half of the benefits of an ideal exercise program.

So adding that little bit of exercise each week is a huge benefit.

It’s like putting $5 into the lotto and winning $5 million. Or like investing $1000 in a stock that winds up worth $100 million.

The best news is that this is totally doable!

The main three ways are these:

1.  We now know that short bursts of fast and vigorous cardio for sessions of 30 seconds to 2 minutes with rests or much slower exercise between bursts can be done in five to 10 minutes a session. 

Two to four of these a week can make you quite fit.  And, this is not as beneficial but MORE beneficial than hours of slower cardio.

That means that if you do four sets of 30 seconds each of fast abdominal work with brief rests in between or three sets of 30 seconds each of fast jump rope with brief rests in between and you do this even two or three times a week, you can have the benefits of regular exercise.

During the work week you may not be able to do more.  But even people working 17 hours a day can do this two or three morning a week because each session only takes 5 to 7 minutes!

(I do three of the abdominal four sets a week and one of the jump rope sets a week.

But even doing TWO of those each week in a total of 10 minutes for the 5 minutes each, is a small enough time bite that even someone working 17 hours a week can do it!)

2.  Strength training is important for both men and women to avoid gaining excess fat as they get older and to stay physically able.  Surprisingly it also boosts mental executive skills!

Slow rep strength training with weights that are a bit heavy for you where you gradually lift more over time can do this.

It even provides some cardio effects on the exercises that use the most weight.

Suppose it was possible to get that done in just ONE or two half hour sessions a week on just one week end day or one week end day and one weekday evening AND it was enough to be effective?

It is possible, in fact people all over the country do just that!

In a 20 minute exercise session that takes half an hour from when you arrive to when you leave The Perfect Workout provides exactly that.

(See: http://www.theperfectworkout.com/ )

They have quiet locations with the needed equipment and very skilled personal trainers to provide this.

(I used to go every Tuesday evening once a week. And many people did one session each weekend.  

Even people who work 17 hours a week can do one of these a week!)

3.  Separate from that, we now know that sitting too much each day is harmful.  Nor does standing all day work long term.  Dentists used to do that but got varicose veins and other problems; and now they work while sitting.

Unlike the brief cardio and strength training that are each doable now, there is not yet a good way to do moderate exercise comparable to walking at your desk that is affordable and fits existing desks that can be done while you work.

So far the existing small exercisers are too cheap and hard to use well; and things like walking desks tend to distract you from your work and cannot be used all day long; AND they are too big to get one for everyone and  fit their office AND far too expensive too.

But there will be a good way to do moderate exercise comparable to walking at your desk that is affordable and fits existing desks that can be done while you work! 

The need and the market are too big for this to keep not being available.

D.  Conclusion:

If all you can do is TWO 5 minute cardio sessions early in the morning two days a week on weekdays and one Perfect Workout session on Saturdays three or four weeks a month, by all means do that!

Once you do and have done it for a few weeks, consider a five or six or seven day plan.

(Given that each day you exercise even for a few minutes, you are more productive that day and sleep better the next night, even if you start with a 3 day a week plan, see if you can work up to  a five or six or seven day plan.)

Getting up at the exact same time each weekday is also proven to help you sleep enough better to be more productive.

To do a five or six or seven day plan, just do a 5 to 7 minute workout of some kind at the same time each morning. Make it early enough you get it in before the demands of the day begin. (Keeping a fast to enter in log also helps you keep going and track your exercises.)

One way to do a strength maintaining workout in even less than 5 minutes is to do one set of pushup and one set of full squats with only your bodyweight.

So, here’s an example of a plan:

Monday, do 5 minutes of fast abdominal work doing 4 sets: one each of crunches, twisting crunches, and twisting crunches touching the opposite knee with your elbow, and marching in place with high knee action where each set is done as fast as you can for 30 seconds with rests in between. 

(Don’t overdo it at first and rest when you get out of breath.  If all you can do is ten before you get out of breath at first, that’s OK.  Just keep doing a bit more each week until you can do closer to 100 in 30 seconds.)

Tuesday, do one set of pushups until you can’t do another counting to five both up and down; then do a set of squats down to where the top of your thigh is parallel to the ground with no weight while counting to five both up and down.

(If you can’t do a full pushup at first, do pushups from your knees; and then before you get up hold the plank position as long as you can up to two minutes.  Even if you start with 3 pushups from your knees and doing the plank for 10 seconds, once you can do 20 pushups from your knees and the plank for two minutes, then do regular pushups.  By then you should be able to do two or more.

If you can’t do a full squat, find a way to hold something solid so you can pull yourself up if you need to do so and work up to 20 going as low as you can on each repetition at first.  Then do your twenty but each session go down a bit closer to a full squat.  Eventually, you will be able to do 20 full squats without holding on to anything.)

Wednesday, do 5 minutes of fast abdominal work doing 4 sets:  one each of crunches, twisting crunches, and twisting crunches touching the opposite knee with your elbow, and marching in place with high knee action where each set is done as fast as you can for 30 seconds with rests in between. 

Thursday, do one set of pushups until you can’t do another counting to five both up and down; then do a set of squats down to where the top of your thigh is parallel to the ground with no weight while counting to five both up and down.

Friday, do 5 minutes of fast abdominal work doing 4 sets:  one each of crunches, twisting crunches, and twisting crunches touching the opposite knee with your elbow, and marching in place with high knee action where each set is done as fast as you can for 30 seconds with rests in between. 

Saturday, if you can, go do a Perfect Workout session.  If not, do one set of pushups until you can’t do another counting to five both up and down; then do a set of squats down to where the top of your thigh is parallel to the ground with no weight while counting to five both up and down.