Cut colon cancer risk & inflammation 4 ways....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 2-4-2014

(Actually there are 8 ways.  The four reported by the new study.  Two highly desirable ones that also work well for one of the other 4 methods in the study.  And there are two more in this post.)

A couple of weeks ago a study was reported that may wind up being extremely important for several reasons.

The researchers started with the finding that people who ate a high fiber diet tended to be less likely than those not doing it to get colon cancer.

They missed a reason that we will end this post with.

But they apparently did find a major reason that does help explain the finding.  And, there are 4 ways you can maximize the effect they found.

That’s really great because high chronic inflammation also:

Helps cause heart disease;

Helps CAUSE osteoarthritis and make it hurt more once you have it;

& it helps cause other cancers or make them more aggressive in addition to colon cancer.

It was reported in Medical News Today  about two weeks ago & the link is in this post just after two quotes.

1.  What they found was that a high fiber diet and a probiotic bacteria that thrives on a high fiber diet produce butyrate which lowers inflammation through its action on the immune system.

“The digestion of fiber leads to the production of butyrate - a short-chain fatty acid. Previous research by Dr. Singh revealed that butyrate activates the Gpr109a receptor.

But he says that this only seems to happen in the colon and that a high-fiber diet significantly increases butyrate levels in this area.

Butyrate triggers the Gpr109a receptor in immune cells - macrophages and dendritic cells - in the colon.

Dr. Singh explains that these immune cells produce anti-inflammatory molecules and transmit signals to T cells - white blood cells that play a major role in the immune system - which also causes the T cells to produce anti-inflammatory molecules.”

2.  They also found that taking niacin had the same anti-inflammatory effect on the immune system.

They somehow thought to check and found that in mice with no probiotic bacteria as people taking antibiotics would be that giving them niacin had the same result.

“…on giving niacin to mice who had no healthy colonic bacteria - because it had been destroyed by antibiotics - the researchers found the vitamin pushed immune cells into an anti-inflammatory mode.”

Here’s the link to the whole article:

Vitamin B3, fiber 'protects against colon cancer and inflammation'

http://mnt.to/l/4k3V

A new study helps to explain why a diet high in fiber can protect against colon

inflammation and cancer, but it also suggests that niacin, or vitamin B3, may

have a similar effect.

So there are four ways to get this effect:

a)  Eat a high fiber diet including lots of vegetables, beans, and higher fiber fruit. 

b)  Ensure you have probiotic bacteria in your colon. Avoid sucralose totally because it kills your probiotic bacteria; avoid taking antibiotics when you can; and take probiotics daily as a supplement.  And work to avoid eating animal protein from those routinely given antibiotics.

c)  Consider eating some butter and cheese from cows fed only grass.  Butyrate is in butterfat I understand.  There is a reason the words sound the same. Avoid eating them after using high heat which has other problems.  And eat them in moderation.

Those three actions help create the conditions the researchers found caused the immune system to lower inflammation.

d) If you don’t take statins, consider taking 300 mg of niacin right after breakfast and lunch – or after your two biggest meals of the day.  For most people that delivers enough niacin to be effective but avoids most of the problem with the flushing effect.  (In some people taking both niacin and statins is harmful.  And, in everyone who exercises taking statins is harmful we now know.)

This inflammation lowering effect apparently is one of the reasons that taking niacin is so heart protective and has been found to cut the overall death rate of people who take it!

Based on niacin’s ability to increase HDL, lower LDL, and lower triglycerides, this means that it lowers the amount of the small particle LDL that causes heart disease.  NOW we know it also lowers high chronic inflammation too!  That’s extremely good news since high chronic inflammation also causes and worsens heart disease.

So besides this anti-cancer effect, taking niacin is unusually effective at helping you avoid heart disease.

The four other things to add are:

a) Avoid eating hugely too much omega six oil by NOT eating the foods that contain high levels of it such as eating grains and too much sugar and fats from animals fed grains;  & avoid using oils like canola, soy, corn, and safflower that are high in omega 6 oils instead.  Use only extra virgin olive oil instead; and either eat animal protein foods from wild caught or 100% naturally fed animals or eat only the most no fat, fat reduced animal proteins from animals fed grains and do it far less often.

b) Take DHA and omega 3 supplements daily and eat wild caught fish high in omega 3 oils and low in mercury two to three times a week.

Those two things together also lower chronic inflammation far below what it is for people who do none of these things.  They cause you to have a close to one to one balance between your omega 6 and your omega 3 oils and DHA also has added benefits on your brain and nerves.

Here’s the part the fiber researchers missed.

What kinds of fiber foods you eat can also help prevent cancer!

There are two kinds that do so unusually well.  So for your high fiber be sure eat some once a week or even two or three a day once you build up to it.

c)  Cruciferous vegetables that are eaten raw or very lightly cooked, ideally some of each, have multiple micronutrients proven to prevent cancer or make cancers less aggressive.  Men who eat raw broccoli or cauliflower florets at least once a week, cut their risk for aggressive prostate cancer in half as just one example. Kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and water cress are just a few more kinds. 

d)  Many vegetables have literally hundreds of kinds of carotenes.  And those that do, the more you eat them, the healthier you look because of the rosy glow it gives your skin, the healthier you ARE in every way, and the fewer cancers you get or keep going!

Broccoli and kale and other dark green cruciferous vegetables fit in BOTH of these groups!

Other vegetables that are high in carotenes include carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, and squashes – particularly pumpkin.

And, for best bioavailability of the carotenes either eat them with extra virgin olive oil or cook them or both.

Does that mean that eating both of those kinds of vegetables as a way to get your high fiber intake is highly effective at helping you avoid cancer?

That’s EXACTLY what that means!

It doesn’t hurt that eating those vegetables protects your health in other ways and makes it much more doable to avoid gaining excess fat or take it off permanently!  

Why high inflammation causes heart disease and how to lower it....

Today's Post: Friday, 8-5-2011

It was discovered that high and chronic inflammation causes heart disease.

In fact, the HSCRP test for an inflammation maker called C-reactive protein was found to be quite predictive of future heart problems and heart attacks when it is high when the person is otherwise well.

Cytokines and other substances are high when inflammation is high. When there are too many of them or they are in your blood too long, they damage the endothelium, the inside surfaces of your blood vessels.

Your body then patches the damage. But if small particle LDL or oxidized LDL or large particle LDL with sticky excess sugar or high triglycerides are present, the patches get so badly overdone that your blood vessels begin to be stiff and narrow from the plaque build up this causes.

This causes high blood pressure and reduced circulation to the brain and other key parts of you. And, it dramatically increases the risks you will have a heart attack or stroke.

1. One way to prevent this is to avoid the things that make it so much worse such as not exercising most days of every week, eating too much sugar, eating refined grains, and ingesting any high fructose corn syrup.

If you do the opposite instead, all the things we spoke of that make it worse tend NOT to be in your blood to worsen this damage.

2. Clearly, NOT having the chronic inflammation in the first place would also be extremely protective!

a) Mild or moderate or horrible gum disease not only can cause bad breath and for you to lose your teeth, it also tends to stick around for months. And all that time, the cytokines released as a by product of fighting that chronic infection, are boosting the dickens out of your inflammation. That causes or worsens heart disease a lot!

This is NOT just theory either! People with gum disease have tested out as being more likely to get heart attacks and fatal heart attacks.

So, what few people yet know is that brushing your teeth in a way that cleans & stimulates your gums and flossing, which also does this, and doing both every day, is one of the most effective ways known to prevent heart disease!

So, see the hygienist at a local dentist or the dentist you go to. Learn how to brush and floss to do this most effectively. (The process is about 10 % brushing your teeth and 90% brushing your gumline and gums!)

Taking vitamin C and ubiquinol each day also helps your gums stay healthy and heal faster. (Ubiquinol is the active form of CoQ10 that your body actually uses.) These make your gums tougher and more resilient. They reduce excess inflammation. And they slow the aging process in the cells that make up your gums.

The other thing to do is to balance your omega 6 and omega 3 intake.

Doing so slashes inflammation.

Use extra virgin olive oil almost exclusively and avoid the cheap omega 6 oils completely such soy, corn, and even canola.

Sharply reduce or eliminate the fats and oils you get from grain fed animals since the corn they eat makes those fats and oils loaded with omega 6. It increases omega 6 by TWENTY times over what you get from animals fed only grass or their natural diet.

To do this you can eat beans and lentils and nuts and wild caught fish instead of meat. You can eat some meat but only from 100 % grass fed animals. Or you can eat only the most fat trimmed and lean versions of grain fed meat and skinless poultry.

That will remove the excess omega 6 from your food.

Part two is to eat wild caught fish high in omega 3 and low in mercury such as salmon, sardines, herring, and small mackerel.

And, as I write this, you can also take omega 3 supplements from purified fish oil and DHA supplements. Some DHA supplements come from purified fish oil and some from the same algae the fish get it from.

These omega 3 oils directly lower inflammation. And by also reducing the inflammation from excessive omega 6 intake, doing both these things gives you enormous leverage on reducing excess inflammation.

Lastly, there are spices and supplements that directly lower inflammation.

Ginger and turmeric work well. And, turmeric and curcumin supplements based on turmeric are currently available.

(Ginger protects you from heart disease in several other ways also. And turmeric and curcumin also help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and many cancers!)

Low thyroid harms your quality of life & does slow weight loss....

Today's Post: Monday, 5-3-2010

Back in March this year on 3-18, Dr Mark Hyman’s blog had an article about how low thyroid can make you feel de-energized and prevent fat loss by lowering your energy level and metabolism.

Fri, 5-7 newsflash: Avoid eating farmed fish. (Virtually all salmon in restaurants is farmed.) Not only is it high in many pollutants, I recently found out that the PCB's its very high in harm and lower thyroid output !

It seems that excessive mercury levels in your body slow or reduce thyroid function to produce those effects. This past Friday, our last post had some ideas to cut the amount of mercury you ingest and get rid of some of any you may have now.

This time, we’ll discuss how to do some of the other things he lists that can boost low thyroid to solve that problem. (I add to the supporting actions a good bit to make it clear what you can do to achieve them.)

Some of those methods also improve and protect your health and also directly help with fat loss!

Whether or not you are pretty healthy now but simply want to want to increase the odds in your favor or you have definite symptoms of thyroid deficiency, the nondrug methods will help your thyroid function best, they will improve your health, and as I noted some of them help fat loss directly.

But that difference also determines whether or not to see a doctor to have your thyroid levels checked.

If you feel tired all the time without some clear reason such as getting less than 6 hours a night of sleep or taking statin drugs etc, you might well want to see a doctor to have your thyroid levels checked. (By the way, most people can protect their heart better with other methods than statins as we have often posted on. And those methods do NOT produce the fatigue and lack of energy taking statins often do.) If you have gained weight without eating more poorly and are so tired you have real trouble doing any exercise and/or feel cold or have trouble losing weight even when you do the right things, and particularly if you are female, you may have low thyroid.

Then, if you do see a doctor and get the most used test for TSH levels you may have two challenges. ( Low levels of TSH below 2.9 are desirable. Higher levels of 3.0 or more indicate low thyroid.)

1. Dr Mark Hyman says that new guidelines from the American College of Endocrinology say that TSH levels of 3.0 or more indicate low thyroid. He also notes that many doctors are unaware of these new guidelines and only treat patients with severe low thyroid of 10.0 or more. That means that a test result of the doctor saying the results were OK but where you do NOT see the number, may simply be wrong. So, you must ask for the actual number your TSH test found to know your result. And, if it’s between 3.0 & 9.9, you may need to see a different doctor for treatment.

2. The best results for treating low thyroid with the least side effects Dr Hyman suggests come from using thyroid extracts such as those from Armour. The synthetic drugs tend not to work as well and quite often have side effects people want to escape. However, using the thyroid extracts is something that to be both safe and effective must be managed by a doctor skilled in their use. If that’s not something your current doctor does, you may need to find one that has this expertise.

All that can cost money and be a real hassle to do so, unless your symptoms are pretty definite, you might want to consider doing the other things in this post first. And, if you do get treated also, you will get best results for your thyroid and your weight and fat loss if you do the things we list next anyway.

3. High levels of inflammation tend to decrease thyroid function. Surprisingly there are not only many, many things you can do to decrease inflammation, if you do most of them, you will gain massive protection for your heart, protect yourself from some cancers, and remove an obstacle that may be slowing your thyroid down now. But that’s not all! Many of these actions directly cause fat loss compared to the alternatives many people do. Even better, lowering inflammation improves your body’s ability to let you know when you have eaten too much according to Dr Al Sears.

(High inflammation as measured by the HS CRP test for C-reactive protein levels has been found to predict heart attacks and may in fact be a direct cause of heart disease and heart attacks.)

So, from virtually every desirable point of view, you will be very well served to do everything you possibly can to lower excess inflammation.

Here’s that list!

a) Surprisingly, regular exercise lowers inflammation. That’s true even if you initially get sore muscles or occasionally get minor injuries that produce short term inflammation during your exercises. Since regular exercise also helps with both losing fat and keeping it off, be SURE to include this method.

b) One of the largest causes of inflammation in the way most people in the United States have been eating and many still do, is that they get TEN times too much omega 6 oils when too much causes inflammation while at the same time getting less than half the omega 3 oils their body needs. Excess omega 6 oils cause inflammation while omega 3 oils lower it.

The solution clearly is to severely limit eating excess omega 6 oils and being sure to get enough omega 3 oils.

That’s a big change from what most people now eat. Corn oil, soy oil, safflower oil, and even canola oil are all high in omega 6 oils. Corn oil and soy oils are cheap and so are often used in packaged foods and salad dressings to keep their cost down. (Refined grains and the foods made from them are also high in omega 6. Making a strong effort to virtually never eat them, also helps cut back on omega 6. But they are even worse than that for many other reasons which we’ll cover soon.)

Extra virgin olive oil is the most health supporting substitute when you need or want to use oil. It also keeps LDL cholesterol low as the omega 6 oils do. But unlike the oils high in omega 6 it does NOT increase inflammation or lower HDL which is a significant explanation of why the Mediterranean diet tends to be so very heart protective.

Lastly, the inflammation lowering caused by taking omega 3 supplements made from purified fish oil and eating wild caught fish high in omega 3 is a very strong effect. (In addition, the DHA omega 3 oil is both protective for your brain and may even improve your brain’s functioning. For example, pregnant women who get enough DHA wind up with children with higher IQ’s later.)

So, if you basically and totally switch from using omega 6 oils to using extra virgin olive oil and omega 3 oils, it’s like taking an enormous lever and forcing down your chronic inflammation and its tendency to cause excess pain, heart disease, some cancers, and reduced thyroid function.



I’ve run out of time today, so the last post in this series on reducing inflammation and boosting your thyroid function and fat loss will be tomorrow.

We’ll post on how ingesting less sugars and other high glycemic foods cuts inflammation and what supplements lower inflammation or boost your thyroid.

Two more ways to reduce inflammation….

Today's Post: Thursday, 10-8-2009

We’ve already posted on many ways to lower inflammation & that inflammation as measured by the HS CRP test is heart protective if kept low & indicative of increased heart attack risk or active cardiovascular disease if high.

Statin drugs are expensive & have what to me are an unacceptably high level of side effects some of which are quite dangerous. But there is research to show that they lower inflammation; that people with high HS CRP, or high sensitivity C Reactive Protein, do get more heart attacks, and that people who have high HS CRP readings who take statins to lower them do get somewhat fewer heart attacks even if their LDL cholesterol levels are below the danger zone. And, though statin drugs do lower LDL cholesterol, there is also some evidence that the somewhat fewer heart attacks in people who take statins may be mostly due to their inflammation reducing ability NOT their cholesterol lowering.

We’ve already posted on a wide variety of things you can do that effectively lower inflammation & HS CRP readings. Since each of these actions have other health benefits instead of side effects as statins do, I’ve posted that these actions are a MUCH wiser course than taking statin drugs to reduce inflammation.

(At the end of this post, I’ll list most of those actions in case you missed those posts.)

So, as you might imagine, if I read ways that I was unaware of before that lower inflammation, I pay close attention.

I. I’ve read that drinking celery juice or taking celery seed extract has a modest but definite effect on lowering high blood pressure. But what I did NOT know until a bit over a week ago, is that this effect may largely be due to the several ways the active ingredient that does this lowers inflammation. That specifically means that if your HS CRP reading is high, taking celery seed extract or drinking a glass of celery juice daily, may help to bring it down.

Celery seed contains 3-n-butylphthalide. It gives celery its unique flavor. And it’s the ingredient that is known to lower high blood pressure.

But here’s the information I did NOT know, this compound lowers the levels of uric acid in your bloodstream. That’s really significant since high uric acid levels cause crystals to form in your joints which damages them & hurts like hell. The disease is called Gout. And, I’ve also read that high uric acid levels may cause high blood pressure and heart disease.

3-n-butylphthalide also lowers most of the markers of inflammation that cause pain but without the serious side effects of the drugs that do so.

So for those reasons, it makes sense to try taking celery seed extract for joint pain. Apparently it often works & reduces pain a great deal.

II. Dr Al Sears says that excessive levels of homocysteine also cause inflammation. That’s good news since we know how to lower high homocysteine levels.

(Ideal levels of homocysteine are between 6.0 & 8.0. Damage to your blood vessels apparently begins to happen above 9.0 & gets severe above 15.0. This has been shown to cause mental decline and heart attacks.)

If your homocysteine levels test as being 9.0 or higher you can bring them down to safer levels with a combination of 4 things.

1. Take the supplements that lower it:

800 to 2100 mcg a day of folic acid;

up to 100 mg a day of B6;

500 to 1,000 mcg a day of B12, ideally as a sublingual tablet;

500 to 3,000 grams a day of TMG, also called betaine;

500 to 1,000 grams a day of NAC.

It’s also wise to take multivitamin and a B Complex vitamin for these and other the B vitamins.

And, since these vitamins help support and increase something called methylation, taking other supplements that do the same, is likely a very good idea. CoQ10 or its active form ubiquinol do this. And, I’ve read recently, so does L-Carnitine.

2. Eat the foods that are high in these nutrients:

Leafy greens and other green and nonstarchy vegetables and beans and lentils as these foods have the active ingredient directly that folic acid is transformed into that actually has the many health benefits. These foods also help you stay trim without getting too hungry.

Wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, & some other whole grains such as non-instant oatmeal and liver-but only from completely naturally fed and organically raised animals. These foods are rich in all the B vitamins

Eat some health OK animal protein foods, wild caught fish, and beef fed only grass, nonfat and very lowfat dairy products, eggs, pasture raised poultry. These foods are high in B12.

3. Stay completely away from direct and second hand tobacco smoke. It boosts homocysteine levels and also speeds aging and causes heart disease in other ways.

4. Avoid excessive drinking of alcohol and to the extent you can avoid excessive stress. These things tend to increase homocysteine.

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

Here are some of the ways to lower inflammation that we’ve already posted on.

A. We’ve already posted that eating walnut if you aren’t allergic, using extra virgin olive oil, and eating wild caught fish and seafood & taking purified fish oil supplements while completely avoiding oils like soy, canola, safflower, and corn oils that are high in omega 6 oils and completely stopping eating refined grain foods and to the extent you can meat from animals fed grain – which are high in omega 6 oils, very sharply lowers inflammation. Doing this set of things also increases your HDL cholesterol and lowers your triglycerides and LDL levels which also prevents heart disease. Most people in this culture now get 15 to 20 times more omega 6 than omega 3. The balance that supports good health is one to one. So, it does take a bit of effort to lower the excessive omega 6’s and increase the omega 3’s. For best results you need to do all of the above.

Eating nuts such as almonds and pecans as well if you aren’t allergic and eating avocados has similar effects & is known to lower inflammation.

B. Ingesting trans fats and any and all hydrogenated oils causes inflammation and directly causes heart disease. So NEVER ingest this stuff. Eat natural foods that this junk is NOT added to and AWAYS read the labels on all packaged foods to be sure to avoid it. Unfortunately, it’s still in a huge percentage of packaged foods. Candy, snacks, and baked goods seem to be the worst. But I’ve seen the stuff listed in ice cream and peanut butter too.

C. Stop eating refined grains and foods made from them and ingesting high fructose corn syrup. (Specifically, never drink soft drinks.) And eat very little sugar and then in modest amounts and not every day. These foods also boost inflammation.

D. Get regular exercise. As long as you don’t injure yourself, regular exercise actually has a strong inflammation reducing effect.


Between the previous things and the ones we posted on today, that’s quite a bit. But each of them does lower inflammation. The more of them you do the lower your inflammation will be.

And, even better, each and every one of these actions has huge amounts of other health benefits.

Vitamin C DOES prevent heart disease

Today's Post, Tuesday, 5-12-2009

Many years ago Nobel prize winner, Linus Pauling, stated that taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C helped keep you well including helping to prevent heart disease.

More recently this idea was picked up and expanded by a Doctor Matthias Rath.

(Mathias Rath, MD still has a website you can visit.)

This MD believes that heart disease is caused by a deficiency of vitamin C in the cells composing your artery walls.

Other animals can produce vitamin C in their bodies but humans do not; & humans who don’t get vitamin C in food or supplements develop scurvy as the English found in their navy hundred of years ago.

Dr Rath has says that the average person gets enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy but NOT enough to build and maintain healthy and resilient artery walls.

Then our bodies deposit a kind of glue on the microscopic cracks that develop because of this.

Then as this glue, or plaque, builds up & after many years it makes your arteries inflexible and narrowed which tends to cause high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, vascular dementia, & other cardiovascular diseases.

So he believes that taking 1,000 mg a day of vitamin C or more helps to prevent this process from happening.

And, since fruit and vegetables have natural vitamin C and many of the co-factors that make it work to keep your arteries healthy plus have many other nutrients with other health benefits, it also makes sense to eat them often every week.

I personally think his ideas are correct. He points out correctly that many animals that DO make their own vitamin C get no heart disease despite having much higher cholesterol than people do. (I take 1050 mg of vitamin C each day plus eating at least one or two servings of fruit each day & as many raw and cooked vegetables as I can that I think give me another 150 mg or so of vitamin C.)

But mainstream medicine has not adopted his theories.

However, there have been studies in the mainstream medical area that DO show that having a high level of C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation, are much more likely to get heart disease and heart attacks than people with low levels & other studies recently showed that people who had high levels of C-reactive protein as measured by the HSCRP test who were able to lower their level of C-reactive protein DID get fewer heart attacks.

But, guess what? Taking 1,000 mg a day of vitamin C lowers your level of C-reactive protein if it’s high! That means that even if Linus Pauling & Dr Rath are wrong, taking 1,000 mg a day of vitamin C DOES protect you from getting a heart attack by keeping your inflammation low alone.

And, since Dr Rath is likely correct in my view, that makes taking 1,000 mg a day of vitamin C quite important in helping you prevent heart disease and stay healthy.

Here’s where I found out that taking vitamin C lowers inflammation.:

Once again it was in an Early to Rise health article.

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com .”

"Slash Inflammation With This Vitamin

By Kelley Herring

Reducing inflammation in your body is one of the best ways to guard against chronic disease. In fact, inflammation has been linked with everything from Alzheimer's to cancer.

One way to reduce inflammatory factors (by up to 14 percent) is by eating just two servings of strawberries a week. Getting more fiber helps lower inflammation too.

Here's another way to put a damper on this cell-damaging process: Get more vitamin C.

A recent study of 400 healthy people found that taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C daily reduced the best-known inflammatory factor - C-reactive protein (CRP) - by 17 percent after two months. What's more, the study proved that vitamin C was as effective as statin drugs in reducing inflammation... with none of the harmful side effects.

Here are some good ways to get your 1,000 mg of vitamin C:

Sip a smoothie. If you go with my favorite - Whey Advanced by Health-Fx - you'll get 1,000 mg per delicious serving.

Savor citrus. Make purified or spring water (in a safe, non-toxic bottle) with a squeeze of lemon your drink of choice. Enjoy oranges and grapefruits too - but stay away from high-sugar juice.

Be big on berries. Blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries all help you meet your "C" needs.

Choose crucifers. Broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, and other members of the cruciferous family of veggies are all rich in vitamin C.

Pick a peck. Peppers are packed with antioxidant vitamin C. Chop and fold into omelets, slice over salads, or add to a stir fry.

Remember: Vitamin C is destroyed by heat. So keep it cool to tame the flames of inflammation.

[Ed. Note: Ed. Note: Kelley Herring - founder of Healing Gourmet - can created a revolutionary health transformation program called Your Plate, Your Fate. In this 7-part program you'll learn how to protect your health and optimize your weight by maximizing the nutrients in your food. Plus, you'll get 3 bonus books to help clear your kitchen of harmful ingredients, spot the nutritional deficiencies that could be setting you up for disease and the 20 tests your doctor should perform (but probably hasn't) to guard your health. Learn more here:
http://www.yourplateyourfate.com/Index.htm?hop=etrhealth .]"

Supplements, antioxidants, lowering inflammation, & good health....

Today's post: Tuesday, 3-10-2009

There have been some negative reports recently about antioxidant vitamins not preventing cancer in large studies.

I already suspected that was because the supplements tested were the man made versions and not the natural versions; too little may have been used; and where the natural vitamin was part of a group of related compounds in the foods where it’s found only the best known or cheapest one of those compounds was tested without the others or the foods that contain them.

Also, we now know that lowering inflammation and reducing the oxidation of LDL in the blood helps prevent heart attacks, heart disease, and other cardiovascular diseases.

Plus we know that gout caused by physically sharp particles of excess uric acid in the blood causes inflammation.

Today I got some very clear and useful info on all these issues.

It seems you CAN use antioxidant supplements to avoid these problems or turn them way down in ways that improve &/or protect your health.

First, many health experts have long recommended that people take over 1,000 mg a day of vitamin C for general health and to help protect their hearts and cardiovascular systems.

Other health experts have said that more than 250 mg a day of vitamin C was a waste of money.

Those experts turn out to be wrong!

Late yesterday, Reuters online health news broke the story that taking 1500 mg a day of vitamin C dramatically reduced the incidence of gout. (I just saw it this morning.)

“Men with a higher intake of vitamin C from food or supplements have a lower risk of developing gout, a form of arthritis from uric acid build-up that causes inflamed joints, researchers said on Monday.”

“Gout can lead to permanent joint damage…. and is increasingly common and afflicts 3 million people in the United States.”

“Among the men studied those with daily intake of 1,500 supplemental mg a day had a 45 percent lower risk of gout than those who took in less than 250 mg a day, said the team headed by Choi, who is now at Boston University.”

(Their article also notes info suggesting that if you limit your alcohol to one or two drinks a day; limit eating fatty meats and cheeses by eating lean meat and cheese a bit less often instead and eating wild caught fish, lean poultry, and beans, nuts, and lentils for protein instead of meat and cheese many days; and you lose weight if you get fat in part by exercising and eliminating refined grain foods and sharply reducing sweets and eating more vegetables that also tends to prevent gout as well. They state that heavy drinking, heavy consumption of fatty meats and cheese; & being fat all tend to be causes of gout. Those things tend to cause high blood pressure as well which is also associated with gout.)

Our recommendation is to do those things AND take a total of 1,000 to 1500 mg a day of vitamin C. You and your heart will be healthier plus it looks as if your chances of getting gout will drop dramatically.

Then today, the Total Health Breakthroughs email had two related stories.

Here they are.:

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

Inflammation -- Cut It Off at the Pass

By James LaValle, R.Ph, ND, CCN

Internal inflammation is now known to be an underlying factor in almost all chronic disease, for example heart disease. Control it and you should be able to drastically reduce your risk for not just one but several diseases.

Oxidative stress (OS) is a term used to describe internal inflammation and the free radicals produced as a result. Free radicals are neutralized by antioxidants. Thousands of articles over the last few years have carried the message loud and clear to consumers, "Make sure you are taking in enough antioxidants to help counteract internal inflammation."

Yet some recent studies that have looked at the disease preventive effects of taking antioxidants have had dismal outcomes. So people are getting mixed messages and are wondering, "Does taking in additional antioxidants do any good?"

There are two issues playing out here. One is that in these recent studies, the types of antioxidants used were very dated, and the dosages were low. A study just reported in the November 2008 JAMA gave some participants 400 IU of synthetic alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) and 500 mg of a synthetic ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to see if it lowered cancer or heart disease risk compared to those who didn't take the supplements. It didn't lower any risks.

Unfortunately, this study was started in 1997, just before a 1998 study found that natural vitamin E was much better absorbed than synthetic forms.1 And further study has found that mixed tocopherols are even better at protecting us against free radical damage than just alpha-tocopherol alone.

Synthetic ascorbic acid is absorbed about the same as vitamin C contained in foods, so absorption may not be the reason no benefits were seen, but dosage may be. One study found that those who took in 700 mg or more of vitamin C per day had a 25% lower risk of developing coronary heart disease.2

So, the form of nutrients given and the dosages given MUST be considered to draw an accurate conclusion. From this study, we can conclude that when people were given low dosages of two synthetic vitamins, it was not enough to lower their disease risks.

That should not be surprising to anyone, because of the other big issue at play here, which is this -- the sheer quantity of free radicals we are dealing with is astronomical. If you don't do anything to reduce your oxidative stress or internal inflammation to begin with, it may not be realistic to expect a few antioxidant supplements to protect you.

The answer to inflammation and free radicals isn't simply to take in as many antioxidants as we can. A much wiser approach is to look at the causes of rampant free radical production and do all we can to address them. Here are some of the factors that raise inflammation, free radicals and oxidative stress:

Metabolic imbalances. For example, low thyroid function raises oxidative stress. A disease itself can cause oxidative stress -- for example, hypertension was found to be both a cause and effect of OS.3

Belly fat is a huge source of inflammation; it puts out inflammatory compounds like IL-6 and TNF-alpha.

Diet. Too many sugars and trans fats steer our prostaglandin pathways toward inflammation. In addition, sugars consumed in excess can "glycate" our tissues. Glycation occurs when a sugar molecule attaches to a protein molecule and causes biochemical damage. Glycated tissues cannot function properly and are a source of free radicals. Overheated oils contain free radicals that can increase oxidative stress in our body. If you combine these dietary factors with low antioxidant intake from fruits, vegetables and beans, you have a diet that promotes oxidative stress.

Chronic sleep deprivation. Research has shown that lack of sleep causes higher than normal blood glucose levels4,5 which again takes us back to glycation. Then you get a double whammy since sleep deprivation lowers production of melatonin, a potent antioxidant.6
Chronic stress can affect all these areas because it increases belly fat7 and disrupts sleep.8 Increased stress hormones can also disrupt thyroid hormone conversion, causing even more inflammation.
Pollution is another cause of increased free radicals in our body. Heavy metals like mercury and lead cause very high free radical production, which is one of the reasons they cause disease. Lead is associated strongly with heart disease, for example.

How high would our antioxidant intake have to be to counter all this? From my experience, it is pretty high. While antioxidants in foods hold great promise for reducing disease risks (see Laura's article), it only makes sense that we should reduce the free radical production where possible, as well.

Change the diet, manage chronic stress, and by all means be proactive in preventing or reversing metabolic imbalances like low thyroid or insulin resistance using supplements as the needs indicate. For instance, alpha-lipoic-acid (ALA), a potent antioxidant, has been shown to decrease blood pressure and increase insulin sensitivity.9

Don't be discouraged by the headlines on these studies saying that antioxidants don't work. You can address oxidative stress, but the best approach is to find a health practitioner that can help you measure your level of oxidative stress, look at all the factors contributing it, and develop a comprehensive program to address it.

References

1. Burton G, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;67:669-84.

2. Knekt P, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;80(6):1508-1520.

3. Hypertension. 2006;48; 828-829.

4. Lancet. 1999;354:1435-39.

5. Journal of Clinical Endocrine Metabolism. 2004;89(11):5762-71.

6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12220332.

7. Epel E, et al. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2000(62):623-32.

8. Buckley TM and Schatzberg AF. J Clin Endocrin Metab. 2005.

9. Hypertension. 2002;39:303-307

[Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr. LaValle is the author of The Metabolic Code Diet: Unleashing the Power of Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss and Vitality and the Executive Editor of THB's The Healing Prescription…..]”

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

“#Nutrients & Health:

Antioxidants - Can You Get Too Many?

By Laura LaValle, RD, LD

As a result of an increased awareness of the damaging effects of free radicals, everywhere you turn someone has a high antioxidant supplement they want you to buy. They range from supplements containing vitamins C and E and the trace mineral selenium (give or take a few nutrients) to supercharged juices made from exotic berries, like acai berries. The prices are anywhere from about $10.00 all the way up to $70.00 for a bottle of juice; or $2.00 for one small square of acai-added chocolate.

One of the features used to market these products is their high ORAC value, and the manufacturers are now trying to outdo one another by getting higher and higher on their ORAC values. So what is ORAC and are these products really worth the high prices?

ORAC stands for oxygen radical absorbance capacity.1 Researchers at the National Institute of Aging developed ORAC testing as a way to measure the level of antioxidant protection capacity of a product or food. If a product has a high ORAC value, it has the ability to neutralize many free radicals.

Diets that are plentiful in high ORAC foods are associated with decreased disease risks,2 and more recent studies are trying to clarify which compounds are responsible for those benefits. For example a study of several high antioxidant legumes (black bean, kidney beans, lentils and more) found that these foods have the potential for preventing the development of atherosclerosis (plaque formation) by inhibiting LDL cholesterol oxidation. The study found that the foods' phenolic compounds seemed to be most responsible for that effect, and that the foods' ORAC values correlated well with those effects.3

When most people think about antioxidant protection they tend to think about the well-marketed super fruits such as gogi berries (from China) and acai berries (from Brazil). Freeze-dried acai berry is indeed very high in antioxidants with an ORAC value of 161,400 units. Gogi berries have an ORAC score of 25,300, but there are many common foods that also have high ORAC scores that can be found at your supermarket right now.
Spices, for example. The ORAC value of ground cloves is very impressive at 314,416 units. Cinnamon and oregano are also right up there on the list of high ORAC foods. Unsweetened dry cocoa powder weighs in at 80,933 units. Pecans have a score of 17,940, and English walnuts which are known for their healthy omega-3 fats, have an ORAC value of 13,541. Kidney and black beans both have ORAC scores greater than 8,000.

A good website to visit for easy ORAC searches is http://oracvalues.com/sort/orac-value/. The values reported are for 100 grams of the food.

As Jim described, we find that the best way to lower oxidative stress is to address all the factors causing the increased oxidative stress to begin with, but for the dietary component we follow at LMI, we don't send patients out with acai drinks or pills. These products can be quite expensive and they only address one thing -- ORAC value. And believe it or not, we are still learning about all the effects of an excessively high intake of antioxidants, even those from substances like plant flavonoids. Some studies are showing they may have negative effects, like inhibiting key enzymes in the body.4

Researchers will continue to try to identify if there is a level of antioxidant intake that is too high. In the meantime, many people eat diets that are almost devoid of antioxidants, and in this polluted world, that is not good. So, I want to emphasize that the preponderance of the evidence does show dietary antioxidants are beneficial to our health, and even the researchers who are concerned, say that antioxidants are safe and beneficial even at amounts that would be consumed from a typical vegetarian diet, which is much higher than a typical low fruit and vegetable intake diet.

We try to put our patients' dollars to better use by choosing supplements for them that address their specific health needs. We find that a low carbohydrate, organic foods diet that includes plenty of high antioxidant foods like spices, beans, nuts, plentiful vegetables and 1-2 servings of fruit or berries each day can go a long way to reducing oxidative stress -- without the expensive super-high ORAC supplements that still need more research.

References

1. What Is ORAC? Found online at: http://www.oracwatch.org/what_orac.php.
2. Leighton F, et al. Drugs Exp Clin Res. 25:133-141
3. Xu BJ, et al. Journal of Food Science.
Found online at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118510071/abstract.
4. Skibola CF, et al. Free Radic Biol Med. 200 Aug; 29(3-4):375-83.

[Ed. Note: Laura B. LaValle, RD, LD is presently the director of dietetics nutrition at LaValle Metabolic Institute. Laura and her husband, Jim LaValle, R.Ph, CCN, ND have developed the powerful and life-changing Metabolic Code Diet - containing step-by-step, easy to follow recommendations for harnessing optimal metabolic energy and turning your body's chemical make up into a fat-burning furnace…..]"

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

Regular exercise, particularly progressive strength training and interval cardio, in people who get enough antioxidant supplements and foods also lowers excess inflammation and CRP readings.

So does daily tooth and gum brushing plus daily flossing plus regular dental check ups and teeth cleaning as these prevent the inflammation from gum disease by preventing gum disease itself.

Also, eliminating refined grain foods and eating far fewer sweet foods and eliminating soft drinks plus eliminating any hydrogenated oils and all added omega 6 oils in favor of vegetables, beans, extra virgin olive oil, and nuts if you aren’t allergic plus taking purified fish oil and eating wild caught fish high in omega 3 oils all help to reduce excess inflammation and CRP readings.

Lastly, a quick note, 200 mg a day of alpha lipoic acid is a decent preventive amount that will also help in addition to the standard vitamin A, mixed carotenoids from vegetables high in them, vitamin C as noted above, 200 iu daily of natural vitamin E with the other 3 tocopherols also included (Solgar makes that exact supplement.), and 200 mcg a day of selenium all are antioxidant vitamins.

If you take those and eat the real foods and use the spices Laura LaValle notes, your antioxidant intake will be high and, if you also stop eating the bad stuff and exercise, your inflammation will be low; your chances of disease will be very low; and your health will tend to stay good.

Lower heart damaging inflammation....

Today's post: Friday, 9-26-2008

The measure of systemic or body-wide inflammation called CRP and often measured by something the labs and doctors call HS CRP is important. If the blood tests for it show up as high instead of low in you when you have that test done, it means you are at serious risk of heart disease and the events it causes.

In fact, it’s one of the three or four most predictive tests.

Many doctors know this and will order this test for you when they have you get your blood tested for the so called “cholesterol panel” that shows your HDL, LDL, & triglycerides.

But some doctors don’t know this yet & many more don’t yet know what to tell you to do to lower it if your CRP tests as high. Statin drugs do lower it some. And, they may well get more of the small amount of protection they provide from lowering inflammation than they do by lowering your LDL cholesterol. But as you’ll see shortly, it’s not necessary to take the risks of statin side effects or costs when there are better methods to use that also help prevent heart disease in several other ways.

Here are those better methods.

As I often do, I’ll quote an article from today’s email from Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs. Then I’ll add my comments and additions.

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

“Friday, September 26, 2008

Do the Foods You Eat Keep You in Pain?

By Steve Hefferon, CMT, PTA

What's Causing Your Pain?

When I say the word "inflammation," it's likely to evoke thoughts of painful joints and muscles, swelling, and a loss of mobility. But did you know that recent research shows that chronic inflammation in your body can lead to serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few?

The amount of inflammation in your body varies and is dependent on a number of factors including your activity level, the amount of sleep you get, the degree of stress in your life, and even the foods you eat. What you have to realize is that these factors are cumulative -- meaning they build up over time. And the more that any or all of these factors get out of whack, the higher the risk for disease.

Early in life, these levels can be so low that you might not even be aware that you have any inflammation in your body. That's because our bodies do a fairly decent job of controlling the inflammation -- at least for a while. Then one day you wake up and you're in your 40s and something is just not right. That's when the fear begins to set in, and you think to yourself, What did I do wrong? or, What can I do now to help myself?

The first step is to get your C-reactive protein (CRP) levels tested. CRP is produced by the liver, and it rises when there is systemic inflammation in the body. Ask your doctor about this test (you may have to demand having it done). All it requires is a blood sample that will be evaluated by your doctor. And because diet can play a large role in how much or how little inflammation you have, you may want these levels looked at by a registered dietician who can help you formulate an appropriate eating plan.

If you have pain due to inflammation, you may choose to take the traditional medical path, which includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroids, and even joint-replacement surgery in extreme cases. The good news is that there are natural ways to fight inflammation without the undesirable side effects that often result from the treatments listed above.

What You Eat Makes All the Difference

The food you eat is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to controlling inflammation. The typical American diet consists of too much fat, tons of sugar, loads of red meat, and a frightening amount of processed foods -- all of which are likely to increase inflammation and contribute to obesity -- and obesity itself can cause inflammation.

By switching to an anti-inflammatory diet plan consisting of healthy whole foods, you can actually decrease inflammation and ease the pain and discomfort associated with it.

The first step is to avoid processed foods, foods high in sugar, and junk food whenever possible. Instead, choose fresh whole foods, especially anti-inflammatory varieties such as lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. But choose carefully. Many vegetables and pre-packaged "health" foods can actually work against you.

Use this handy list of the best and worst foods for controlling inflammation:

Anti-inflammatory foods

Atlantic salmon (wild)
Fresh whole fruits, vegetables
Bright multi-colored vegetables
Green tea
Water
Olive oil
Lean poultry
Nuts, legumes, and seeds
Dark green leafy vegetables
Old fashioned oatmeal
Spices, especially turmeric and ginger

Inflammatory foods

Sugar, from any source
Processed foods
French Fries
Fast Foods
White bread
Pasta
Ice Cream
Cheddar cheeses
Snack foods
Oils, such as vegetable and corn
Soda, caffeine, and alcohol

In addition to these dietary changes, it is also recommended that you:

Maintain a healthy weight. There is no question that eating healthy is not easy nowadays, whether you're at home or at a restaurant. But at the very least, you must try to decrease your intake of sugars and hydrogenated oils and increase your daily intake of fiber. Ideally, you should consume 35 grams of fiber per day (that is a ton of fiber, but it's worth shooting for).

Get better sleep. 7 to 9 hours of sleep is a must for optimal health; getting a good night's sleep is key to controlling systemic inflammation.

Relax more often to lower stress levels. Find time for yourself throughout the day to focus on your breathing and clear the clutter from your mind; learn to stay focused on the most important tasks in your life.

Exercise on a regular basis. People always ask me, "What's the best exercise to do?" and I always tell them, "Do something you like to do and, if your body can tolerate it, aim for 15-20 minutes three times a week."

Demand to have you CRP levels tested. This simple blood test is the best indicator of the amount of systemic inflammation in your body. Have your levels evaluated by a licensed health care provider who can suggest the most appropriate action.

So, if you are in pain and you've made a conscious decision to help yourself get better, these dietary and lifestyle changes will go far to help you live a healthier, pain-free life.

[Ed. Note: Steve Hefferon is co-founder of LoseTheBackPain.com and The Healthy Back Institute. He has a B.S. degree in Health/Fitness and is both a Fitness Trainer and a Certified Massage Therapist. He has combined these skills to become one of the countries top Post-Rehabilitation specialists…..]”

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A. To make his recommendations work even better, there are several things you can also do.

1. Take the supplements DHA, and purified fish oil daily. And eat safe kinds of fish and or seafood high in omega 3 oils at least once or twice a week. (Canned Alaskan salmon is wild caught. Oysters also are high in omega 3’s. And, restaurants often have wild caught halibut and petrale sole available. Unfortunately, restaurants rarely have wild caught salmon; and the farmed salmon most of them have tends to INCREASE inflammation and contains pollutants that will harm you in other ways.)

In addition, eat no refined grain foods. Eat only grass fed beef when you have beef. And, make a strong effort to avoid corn oil, soy oil, safflower oil, and minimize eating canola oil. Grain fed beef, refined grain foods, and these oils are all high in omega 6 oil.

The bottom line reason for all this is that abundant omega 3 and a minimum of omega 6 oils reduces inflammation. Unfortunately, the reverse is true also. Lots of omega 6 oils and no or very little omega 3 increases inflammation.

2. Drink tea or green tea and consume it between meals &/or with no milk.

Small amounts of dark chocolate or cocoa made only from pure unsweetened cocoa have recently been found to reduce inflammation very well. Do not use milk chocolate for this or have milk at the same time.

Both of these methods tend to increase blood flow and lower your blood pressure if it’s high also.

3. If you are NOT taking prescription blood thinners, take the supplement curcumin. It’s the active ingredient in turmeric and curry. It not only reduces inflammation, there is strong evidence it helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease. And, because it lowers inflammation and activates your immune system it apparently also helps prevent cancer.

4. Be absolutely sure to get at least as much exercise as he recommends. And, if you can get more without overtraining and fit it into your life, do so. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to reduce inflammation.

B. But there’s even more good news. Doing this set of things will also sharply lower your triglycerides and the dangerous kind of small particle LDL in your blood that causes heart disease.

It will also tend to help you lose excess fat and lower your blood pressure if it’s high.

And, THAT set of things will slash your risk of heart disease.

I wish you well in doing it.

Cherries are a Superfood….

Today's post: Thursday, 8-21-2008

It’s beginning to look as if tart or sour red cherries are a real superfood.

And, fresh, canned, dried, or as a real juice, the evidence is accumulating to show they have significant health benefits.

I’ve read that they really help people who have gout.

And, it’s already known that making, cooking, & eating hamburgers to which dried cherries have been added both makes eating the hamburgers better for your health AND makes them taste juicier.

(Making them using beef fed only grass & eating them Atkins style-- using no refined grain bread or even whole grain bread-- & adding lots of onions is the healthiest way to eat them.)

It seems tart or sour red cherries do a great deal more than that. And, we may now know why they help people with gout.

Recently, I got this article in my Early to Rise email. (I add my comments after it.)

"This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com."

“Tart Cherries Reduce Inflammation

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

Tart cherries might not be one of the first foods that come to mind when you think "heart healthy," but perhaps they should be. New research from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center shows that compounds in cherries may protect against the kind of inflammation that's been associated with both heart disease and diabetes.

Researchers fed two groups of rats bred to be particularly susceptible to heart disease the equivalent of an unhealthy human diet (aptly abbreviated SAD for Standard American Diet). Both groups got the same number of calories, but the diet of one group included dried extract of tart cherries. And the results were impressive. Markers of inflammation - TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) and IL-6 (Interleukin 6) - went down significantly in the group fed the cherry extract.

This is an important finding, because inflammation is a factor in every major degenerative disease, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and even cancer. In addition, the cherry-fed rats had significantly lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. And they were far less likely to build up fat around the middle. (Abdominal fat - in both rats and people - is linked to diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome, a kind of pre-diabetes.)

The researchers believe that the secret ingredient in cherries may be anthocyanins, the pigment responsible for making cherries dark. The high levels of antioxidants in the fruit may also play a role.

How much would a human have to eat to get the same potential benefit? It's hard to make a perfect extrapolation to a 150-pound human from a rat that weighs a few ounces - but an educated guess is that it would take only about a cup and a half of cherries (fresh or frozen).

[Ed. Note: Dr. Jonny Bowden - a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health - can point you toward delicious and natural foods that will help you feel better and live longer. Check out his book, The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth, for additional strategies to keep yourself in tip-top shape. For more information, go to www.jonnybowden.com. And read more of his articles on healthy living in ETR's natural health e-letter.]”

(See www.TotalHealthBreakthroughs.com .)


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The reduced inflammation may be one of the reasons that cherries help people with gout. They may do more; but that alone would be helpful.

I was also very interested to read that this study suggests that eating dried cherries or whole ones most days might help keep fat off your tummy. If that proves true in people, it could be very useful. For most people, taking fat off their tummy does the most to improve their appearance. So adding the right exercise and eating right otherwise and an effective fat loss plan with eating cherries might be a great way to take inches of fat off your waist and would improve your appearance enough to be quite motivating. As a bonus, it’s been found that taking fat off your waist does the most to protect your heart.

And, this data definitely shows that cherries are heart protective. If, as blueberries, which are also high in anthocyanins, do, eating cherries raises your HDL cholesterol, this may be even more the case.

This study DID show that cherries lowered triglycerides. If eating them also raises HDL, that means that eating cherries lowers the kind of small particle LDL that acts like a kind of sandy glue that causes plaque to build up your blood vessels. This study shows that by lowering triglycerides it might do that. If eating them also raises HDL, they would be very heart protective.

And, they may be that heart protective even if they don’t also raise HDL. This study didn’t measure CRP as an inflammation maker; but cherries did lower other inflammation makers and may lower that also. That would be very heart protective as high CRP levels are quite predictive of heart disease and heart attacks.

This study doesn’t mention that cherries have vitamin C and may have other antioxidants as blueberries do. That also is heart protective.

So, between what tart or sour red cherries have been shown to do in this study and what I suspect they also do, they may be one of the most heart healthy foods you can eat.

And, there are also related foods and supplements with proven health benefits that you can use besides cherries for similar effects.

Blueberries are a known and proven superfood. You can also take bilberry extract. And, bilberries are a kind of blueberry. Concord grape juice may have some similar compounds. And, grape seed extract also is high in anthocyanins. Dried cranberries also may have similar benefits.

(Dried cranberries are much sweeter and more palatable than fresh ones.)

I’ve never tried making a dessert with dried cranberries, canned sour cherries with no sugar added, and coconut or walnut halves. But I bet it would taste good.

And, this study suggests it would be really good for you.

Cherries are a Superfood….

Today's post: Thursday, 8-21-2008

It’s beginning to look as if tart or sour red cherries are a real superfood.

And, fresh, canned, dried, or as a real juice, the evidence is accumulating to show they have significant health benefits.

I’ve read that they really help people who have gout.

And, it’s already known that making, cooking, & eating hamburgers to which dried cherries have been added both makes eating the hamburgers better for your health AND makes them taste juicier.

(Making them using beef fed only grass & eating them Atkins style-- using no refined grain bread or even whole grain bread-- & adding lots of onions is the healthiest way to eat them.)

It seems tart or sour red cherries do a great deal more than that. And, we may now know why they help people with gout.

Recently, I got this article in my Early to Rise email. (I add my comments after it.)

"This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com."

“Tart Cherries Reduce Inflammation

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

Tart cherries might not be one of the first foods that come to mind when you think "heart healthy," but perhaps they should be. New research from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center shows that compounds in cherries may protect against the kind of inflammation that's been associated with both heart disease and diabetes.

Researchers fed two groups of rats bred to be particularly susceptible to heart disease the equivalent of an unhealthy human diet (aptly abbreviated SAD for Standard American Diet). Both groups got the same number of calories, but the diet of one group included dried extract of tart cherries. And the results were impressive. Markers of inflammation - TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) and IL-6 (Interleukin 6) - went down significantly in the group fed the cherry extract.

This is an important finding, because inflammation is a factor in every major degenerative disease, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and even cancer. In addition, the cherry-fed rats had significantly lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. And they were far less likely to build up fat around the middle. (Abdominal fat - in both rats and people - is linked to diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome, a kind of pre-diabetes.)

The researchers believe that the secret ingredient in cherries may be anthocyanins, the pigment responsible for making cherries dark. The high levels of antioxidants in the fruit may also play a role.

How much would a human have to eat to get the same potential benefit? It's hard to make a perfect extrapolation to a 150-pound human from a rat that weighs a few ounces - but an educated guess is that it would take only about a cup and a half of cherries (fresh or frozen).

[Ed. Note: Dr. Jonny Bowden - a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health - can point you toward delicious and natural foods that will help you feel better and live longer. Check out his book, The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth, for additional strategies to keep yourself in tip-top shape. For more information, go to www.jonnybowden.com. And read more of his articles on healthy living in ETR's natural health e-letter.]”

(See www.TotalHealthBreakthroughs.com .)


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

The reduced inflammation may be one of the reasons that cherries help people with gout. They may do more; but that alone would be helpful.

I was also very interested to read that this study suggests that eating dried cherries or whole ones most days might help keep fat off your tummy. If that proves true in people, it could be very useful. For most people, taking fat off their tummy does the most to improve their appearance. So adding the right exercise and eating right otherwise and an effective fat loss plan with eating cherries might be a great way to take inches of fat off your waist and would improve your appearance enough to be quite motivating. As a bonus, it’s been found that taking fat off your waist does the most to protect your heart.

And, this data definitely shows that cherries are heart protective. If, as blueberries, which are also high in anthocyanins, do, eating cherries raises your HDL cholesterol, this may be even more the case.

This study DID show that cherries lowered triglycerides. If eating them also raises HDL, that means that eating cherries lowers the kind of small particle LDL that acts like a kind of sandy glue that causes plaque to build up your blood vessels. This study shows that by lowering triglycerides it might do that. If eating them also raises HDL, they would be very heart protective.

And, they may be that heart protective even if they don’t also raise HDL. This study didn’t measure CRP as an inflammation maker; but cherries did lower other inflammation makers and may lower that also. That would be very heart protective as high CRP levels are quite predictive of heart disease and heart attacks.

This study doesn’t mention that cherries have vitamin C and may have other antioxidants as blueberries do. That also is heart protective.

So, between what tart or sour red cherries have been shown to do in this study and what I suspect they also do, they may be one of the most heart healthy foods you can eat.

And, there are also related foods and supplements with proven health benefits that you can use besides cherries for similar effects.

Blueberries are a known and proven superfood. You can also take bilberry extract. And, bilberries are a kind of blueberry. Concord grape juice may have some similar compounds. And, grape seed extract also is high in anthocyanins. Dried cranberries also may have similar benefits.

(Dried cranberries are much sweeter and more palatable than fresh ones.)

I’ve never tried making a dessert with dried cranberries, canned sour cherries with no sugar added, and coconut or walnut halves. But I bet it would taste good.

And, this study suggests it would be really good for you.