Sugar Makes You Stupid

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 

UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory

Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid.

A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning — and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology publishes the findings in its May 15 edition.

Make Mincemeat of Cancer Cells With This Breakthrough Spice

By Dr. Mercola

The conventional cancer therapies currently available are surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; aka the "cut, poison, burn" model. Chemotherapy is typically the main regimen for most cancers.

However, many tumors develop resistance to these harsh drugs, known as chemoresistance, which can complicate matters, to say the least. Chemoresistance also leads to other complications.

Hence researchers are looking for effective chemosensitizers that can help overcome such resistance. This strategy basically uses one drug to enhance the activity of another, by modulating the mechanisms that cause the resistance.

A number of natural products and compounds have been shown to act as effective chemosensitizers. Two of the most promising are resveratrol and curcumin, which I'll address here. Last year, several interesting studies were published on these two products, pertaining to their value in the treatment of cancer.

The Key Vitamin to use with Vitamin D to Help Reduce Osteoporosis by 25 Percent

By Dr. Mercola

You may be aware that vitamin D and calcium are a powerful duo for bone health, including the prevention of osteoporosis. One of the undisputed benefits of vitamin D is that it helps you ABSORB calcium – this link has been known for many decades.

But there is also evidence that vitamin K, and specifically vitamin K2, is another key player in your bone health, and may be just as crucial in helping you prevent bone fractures as you age.

Why Water With Meals Changes The Way We Eat

Another article published by:


Water could change the way we eat. That's the conclusion of new research by T. Bettina Cornwell of the University of Oregon and Anna R. McAlister of Michigan State University. Their findings appear online this week ahead of regular publication by the journal Appetite.



The paper featured separate studies. One involved a survey of 60 young U.S. adults (ages 19-23) about the role of food-and-drink pairings. The second involved experiments with 75 U.S. children (ages 3-5) to determine the role of drinks and vegetable consumption. The same preschoolers were tested on different days under differing scenarios involving drinks served with vegetables.

Why Did Russia Ban The Use Of Microwave Ovens?

Consumers are dying today in part because they continue to eat dead foods that are killed in the microwave. They take a perfectly healthy piece of raw food, loaded with vitamins and natural medicines, then nuke it in the microwave and destroy most of its nutrition. Humans are the only animals on the planet who destroy the nutritional value of their food before eating it. All other animals consume food in its natural, unprocessed state, but humans actually go out of their way to render food nutritionally worthless before eating it. No wonder humans are the least healthy mammals on the planet.



In Russia, microwave ovens were banned in 1976 because of their negative health consequences as many studies were conducted on their use. The ban was lifted after Perestroika in the early 90’s. Numerous documents can be found online relating to this topic.

ASA rules against Patrick Holford product

Tuesday 15 May 2012 18:46
SAPA

The company advertising Patrick Holford's "SMART KIDS Brain Boost" must stop making claims that it can result in improved mental or school performance until it can substantiate them, an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling released on Tuesday said.

It also found that the product's name was misleading. "The directorate is satisfied that the name 'SMART KIDS Brain Boost' creates an expectation that this product will boost mental performance and/or abilities in children," the ASA said.

"Clearly such an implied claim is capable of objective verification. However, as the respondent's substantiation is not found adequate at this time, there is nothing before the directorate to show that the name is justified and reasonable."

Move Over Formula: Breast Feeding Is The Best Feeding For Babies

Please visit

May 15, 2012

Many new mothers struggle with breastfeeding their newborns, especially in the first few weeks. However, when comparing the quality of breast milk to formula, there really is no competition. Breastfeeding is the best feeding and formula has little to offer an infant in terms of nutrition, digestion and immunity.

Breast milk is the perfect food for baby, with numerous advantages over baby formula, especially in the first four months or so. Here's why:

25 Health Benefits of Lemon

1 ) Lemon is found to be Anti-Carcinogenic which lower the rates of Colon, Prostate, and Breast Cancer. It prevents faulty metabolism in the cell, which can predispose a cell to becoming carcinogenic. Also blocks the formation of nitrosamines in the Gut.

2 ) Lemon being a citrus fruit, fights Against İnfection. It helps in production of WBC's and antibodies in blood which attacks the invading micro-organism and prevents infection.

3 ) Lemon is an Antioxidant which deactivates the free radicals preventing many dangerous diseases like stroke, Cardiovascular Diseases

4 ) Lemon Lowers Blood Pressure and increases the levels of HDL (Good Cholesterol)

5 ) A few drops of lemon juice in lukewarm water are believed to Clear the Digestive System and Purify Liver as well.

Truth About Labelling

Monosodium Glutamate, monosodium glutamate, MSG, glutamate - separating MSG-fact from MSG-fiction and industry propaganda

This Web site is dedicated to people with problems that once defied medical diagnosis -- people who discovered that elimination of MSG from their diets let them be well.

_____________________________

Please think about joining the California Initiative to Label GMO’s.  Don’t know what GMO’s are?  Find out. We would guess you will want to avoid them.

RAISING AWARENESS!  TRUTH IN LABELING has three pages on FACEBOOK.  Please visit and share.

TRUTH IN LABELING CAMPAIGN is our talk-back and newsletter.  We'd love to have you as a fan. (It's free.)  It’s there that you can share your experiences with MSG with others.

MSG ALIASES EXPOSED! is our outreach page. The Truth in Labeling Campaign has dedicated this page to sharing information that will allow consumers and medical practitioners to identify the ingredients in infant formula, food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and protein drinks and powders that contain neurotoxic processed (manufactured) free glutamic acid (MSG).  

Methylcobalamin: A Potential Breakthrough in Neurological Disease

ProHealth.com
by Source: Health Watch
February 1, 1999

Japanese scientists have identified a form of vitamin B12 that protects against neurological disease and aging by a unique mechanism that differs from current therapies. Some of the disorders that may be preventable or treatable with this natural vitamin therapy, called methylcobalamin, include chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's disease, peripheral neuropathies, Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy and neurological aging. Americans have immediate access to this unique and new form of vitamin B12, and, unlike prescription drugs, it costs very little and is free of side effects.

vitamin B12 is a general label for a group of essential biological compounds knows as cobalamins. The cobalamins are structurally related to hemoglobin in the blood, and a deficiency of vitamin B12 can cause anemia. The primary concern of conventional doctors is to maintain adequate cobalamin status to protect against anemia.

U.S. is the Fattest Country In The World: The Top Food Offenders That Make Us Fat

Well, at least in terms of very developed nations with larger populations. The evidence is all around us and even a brief public outing will confirm it. We are one fat country. We love to eat and all the wrong foods. The problem is more related to what we eat rather than how much we eat. The culprits are not always so obvious either. Gone are the days when it was only fast food that would add to our waistline. Today it's everyday foods that are suspect.

MRI scan of a morbidly obese 250 pound woman (left) and healthier 120 pound woman (right). The areas of pronounced subcutaneous fat are evident on the obese woman. In this upright standing position, notice the subcutaneous fat around the neck, shoulders, arms, chest, waist, thighs, and even calves. Also, notice the repositioning of her shoulder joint and hip joint, pronounced angle of the humerus (arm bone) and angle of femur (thigh bone), and the positioning of knee and ankle joints. Other anomolies include the enlarged heart and greater omentum (fat deposition that hangs down from the stomach in front of the small intestines).

The growing problem of obesity is associated with multiple morbidities, including increased risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, sleep apnea, and cancer. Obesity promotes disability, decreases productivity, and shortens life span. Although much attention has been focused on diet and exercise, these strategies alone are not effective in preventing obesity and maintaining weight loss.

50 Important Fitness and Fat-Loss Facts You Need to Know

These thoughts will change the way you think about your fitness and fat-loss lifestyle.

1. Carbohydrates, protein, fat, and alcohol have 4, 4, 9, and 7 calories per gram respectively.
2. It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 pound.
3. Insulin and growth hormone have an inverse relationship.
4. The average person can store 500 grams of glycogen.
5. Only fat and protein are essential macronutrients – carbohydrates aren’t.
6. Muscle glycogen is about 3 parts water to 1 part glucose.
7. You burn more calories during the 23 hours you don’t exercise than the 1 hour you do.
8. You don’t need to do cardio to lose weight.
9. The fat burning zone does not burn more total fat calories – only a higher percentage of calories from fat.
10. You’re never too old to do squats.

The deadly toll of sitting

Have a desk job? Like to watch “Dancing With the Stars” or “CSI” every night? Does your sofa have a permanent imprint of your butt in it? Then stand up while you read this, because I’m talking to you.

I’ve told you before how too much time on your rear can boost your risk of disease and an early death, and the latest word out of Australia shows just how quickly it can happen to you.

All it takes is an office job and a little too much TV time, because a look at data on 222,000 Australians 45 years old and up finds that people who sit for 11 hours a day or more have a 45 percent higher risk of death over three years.

Don’t sit quite that much? Don’t get comfy in your sofa yet — because keeping your meat in that or any other seat for between 8 and 11 hours a day will boost your risk of death by 15 percent.

In other words, keep your butt in a seat long enough… and your next position won’t be sitting.

Contact-Poisonous Plants of the World

Touching certain plants can be dangerous. Many plants are highly poisonous when ingested, this is common knowledge. It is remarkable, however, that simply touching certain plant species can also be a serious health hazard. The infamous Stinging Nettles are rather harmless in this respect, but there are much more dangerous contact-poisonous plants in many parts of the world, especially in the tropics. They can cause severe pain, rashes, blisters and leave scars. Some trees are reported to be so powerful that even raindrops falling from them can irritate the skin. Other plant species can cause blindness through the smoke of burning wood or by rubbing the eyes after touching the leaves.

This document wants to give a concise overview of all contact-poisonous plants that may be of interest for travellers. Part 1 briefly introduces the active principles, effects, treatments, and geographical distribution. Part 2 describes about 35 important plant species.

Information about this interesting subject is usually hard to find, as it is scattered across many different sources like scientific works about dermatology or botany, regional field guides, travel literature, and magazines. The rare scientific tomes on the subject usually describe thousands of plant species in medical and botanical detail, focusing on their effects on workers who are exposed to the same plant species for years. Only a small number of plants listed there is dangerous after an occasional contact, which means that useful information for travellers is hidden among huge piles of irrelevant data. So the aim of creating this document was to gather, filter, and densify the lots of available information to be useful to travellers.

Latest update: 25 December 2011 (text revised).

To visit this page click HERE

Breaking the Weight-Loss Plateau

This article is a kind of follow-on to an earlier blog-post called :
The Top 8 most common-sense ways to lose weight fast

Even the most dedicated dieter may be hitting a wall. Why? After a few weeks or even months of steady weight loss, it’s common for the scale refuse to budge. When this happens, you’ve hit a weight loss plateau. The problem is that our bodies are very efficient energy-burning machines and, after a while, they don’t have to work as hard because they become used to your workout routine and diet. With some simple changes, you can start losing weight again. Here are a number of ways to rev up your metabolism, burn calories, and continue to shed pounds.

Thousands exposed to unsafe tap water in South Africa

Thembi Mogoba gives her son, Kgothatso, water from a tap outside their home in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg. Diepsloot residents experienced problems with drinking water in the area earlier this year Picture: LAUREN MULLIGAN

Thousands of South Africans, mainly in rural areas, could be exposed to life-threatening waterborne diseases from drinking unsafe tap water.

It emerged that drinking water from 14 municipalities in seven provinces was unsafe for human consumption .

The startling findings, contained in the 2012 Blue Drop Report, were released by Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa yesterday.

"Residents and visitors are hereby warned not to consume the tap water supplied in these towns without some form of acceptable disinfecting treatment at home [boiling or the addition of bleach]," the report says.

Weight Loss after Pregnancy

“Well, it’s time to change your wardrobe! You can’t fit into your old clothes after having a baby”, – your friends are giving you a teasing advice. Here is how you can make fun of them after just half a year. Now that you checked out of maternity hospital and made your baby comfortable at home, you could finally take a breath. You looked at yourself in a mirror closely and winced! “My body will never be the same!” – a common fear among young mothers. So let’s get this straight. Yes, you will never be the same. But you can get your slim body back!

Why Do We Gain Weight during Pregnancy?
All pregnant women put the weight on. But you can’t say these pounds are unwanted because your body gains them naturally during the pregnancy. Enlarged uterus makes 9-10 pounds, lactating breasts – 2 pounds, increased blood volume – 3 pounds, overall volume of intercellular fluid – 2 pounds. Now add the weight of your baby (5.5-9 lb), and the total is how much you are supposed to gain during the pregnancy.

Why Do Pregnant Women Gain Excess Weight?
Did you get more? Well, your pregnancy is not to blame for the excess then. What is to blame are double portions of ice cream with syrup you indulged yourself in and wrong advice to “eat for two”.

Physical Activity and Hormones during Pregnancy
There are other reasons, too. First, future moms are less active. Some women can hardly walk during last months of their pregnancy. Second, your hormone profile is different. Progesterone and lactation hormone direct metabolism to produce more fat deposits.

You will need nine months to lose the “pregnancy weight”.
The Pregnancy Maths
Let’s do the math. Eating more, reduced physical activity, changes in hormone profile and that’s for forty weeks running. I hope you don’t expect your pregnancy pounds disappear as if by magic the day you deliver your baby.

Time a Woman Needs to Lose the “Pregnancy” Weight
You’ve been gaining pounds for nine months. Theoretically, it will take you three trimesters to shed it. Each period is specific. We are going to discuss them in details in the upcoming articles. What is going on inside your body? What prevents you from losing weight? And what, alternatively, could help to make it happen? This plan will help you lose approximately 2-4 lb monthly. It makes 33 lb a year after childbirth – exactly the number of your pregnancy pounds.
Related content:

1. Mum’s the word
2. Lose Your Weight In 10 Days -Without Diet?

Physical Activity and Hormones during Pregnancy,
Why Do Pregnant Women Gain Excess Weight?,
Why Do We Gain Weight during Pregnancy?

For original SVR News article click HERE

Black Pepper's Secrets As A Fat Fighter

Sun 06 May 2012

A new study provides a long-sought explanation for the beneficial fat-fighting effects of black pepper. The research, published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, pinpoints piperine — the pungent-tasting substance that gives black pepper its characteristic taste, concluding that piperine also can block the formation of new fat cells.  

Dried Black And White Pepper Corns

Credit: Wikipedia

“The FDA is Attacking One of the Basic Tenets of a Free Society” For the Sake of Corporate Interests

Mike Adams "The Health Ranger" was recently on RT talking about why it is that the FDA has come after raw milk producers. It's not about health. It's about controlling a commodity.

As people continue to abandon processed, shipped foods, the food industry, in this case the established dairy industry, has grown increasingly weary. They don't want to see farmers markets go totally mainstream. They do not want people contracting for produce among themselves. This is a fundamental threat to their business and it appears, via the recent Food Modernization Safety Act, they have found a way to insulate their businesses that much more (dairy is already chock full of subsidies and weird rules which discourage entry into the market.)
Mike Adams makes the point that if someone contracts with another for eggs, or milk, or steaks, or strawberries, what business is it of the federal government? The answer of course is that it is none of the federal government's business. There is no interstate commerce here. Just 2 people who share a love of raw milk, one selling, one buying. Here in the foothills of Virginia people do this all the time.
The anchor of the show makes a couple of good points of her own. One is how is it that we can buy knives (which can kill people) but we can't buy or sell raw milk? Also she makes the point that it is perfectly legal to sell genetically modified foods to the consumer with no indication that the food is GMO, but one can't buy milk that one knows is raw?
Milk is now a focus of the federal government. Milk.
What's next federal regulation of the selling of used cars? I could see this.
The feds say that cars are dangerous potentially and so the individual can't be trusted to contract with another for the selling and purchase of said car. No, the federal government prefers, nay demands, that you sell your car to an intermediary first which meets specific federal regs. For the saftey of the public of course. Carmax don't get any ideas.
This kind of micromanagement is disasterous for the economy, and it costs you and me money, time, quality, and variety all the while enriching vested interests and the evergrowing burocracy.
To watch video click HERE

Artificially Sweetened Soft Drinks Linked to Preterm Delivery

Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study in 59,334 Danish pregnant women.
American Journal of Clinical Nutritian.

Daily consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks may increase the risk for preterm (premature) delivery, according to the results of a Danish prospective cohort study reported in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Artificially sweetened soft drinks are often promoted as an alternative to Sugar-sweetened soft drinks. However, the safety of artificial sweeteners has been disputed, and consequences of high intakes of artificial sweeteners for pregnant women have been minimally addressed." write Thorhallur I. Halldorsson, fromStatens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues.

The goal of the study was to evaluate the association between consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks and preterm delivery.

Participants were 59,334 women enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort from 1996 to 2002. The main study endpoint was preterm delivery, defined as less than 37 weeks of gestation.

Consumption of artificially sweetened carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks was associated with an increased risk for preterm delivery when compared with women who did not drink artificially sweetened carbonated soft drinks. Women who drank at least 1 serving daily was higher and women who drank at least 4 servings daily was much higher than those who did not drink artificially sweetened carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks. Increased risk was stronger for early preterm and moderately preterm delivery vs late-preterm delivery.

For sugar-sweetened carbonated or noncarbonated soft drinks, no apparent association with the risk for preterm delivery was observed. However sugar-sweetened soft drinks are associated with weight gain.

"Daily intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks may increase the risk of preterm delivery," the study authors write.

"The relative consistency of our findings for carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks and the absence of an association for sugar-sweetened soft drinks suggest that the content of artificial sweeteners might be the causal factor." the study authors conclude.

The European Union (EU) Integrated Research Project EARNEST supported this study. The Danish National Birth Cohort has been financed by the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Danish Heart Association, the Danish Medical Research Council, and the Sygekassernes Helsefond Danish National Research Foundation, Danish Pharmaceutical Association, Ministry of Health, National Board of Health, Statens Serum Institut.

Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutritian. 2010 Sep;92(3):626-33. Epub 2010 Jun 30.Halldorsson TI, Strøm M, Petersen SB, Olsen SF.Centre for Fetal Programming, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.