The Good News about Nuts and Seeds

Eat Fat or Don’t Eat Fat, That is the Question; by Dr. Joel Fuhrman www.drfuhrman.com
The major determinant of your long term health is the nutritional quality of the calories you eat. It is the quality of the fat you eat, the quality of the protein and the quality of the carbohydrate that influences your health.
Ask yourself, is the food I am about to eat a whole, natural plant source of calories? Is it packaged with fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals? Does it contain not just discovered nutrients, but plenty of undiscovered nutrients too? Or were most of those fragile, but beneficial nutrients lost in the way the food was processed or prepared? These are the questions, to ask yourself, not whether it is a low fat or high fat food.
You may have heard that nuts, seeds and avocados are fatty and fattening and are foods to be shunned. However, recent evidence from many different studies showing a wide variety of health benefits from eating these foods has finally buried this myth. It is important to emphasize that the health problems associated with high fat diets are from consuming animal fats, processed oils and trans fats, not from the consumption of avocados, and raw nuts and seeds. There has never been a study that showed any negative health outcomes from consuming these natural, high fat, whole plant foods. In fact, the studies that have been done only show positive health benefits, and conclude that these foods should be an important part of a well-rounded, healthy diet.
Macronutrients are the three sources of calories—fat, carbohydrate and protein. Americans eat too much of all three and we need to reduce all of them. I intentionally do not give a preferred percentage of each macronutrient in the diet and I do not recommend fat be significantly limited. Trying to micromanage the precise amount of each caloric source misses the most critical issue in human nutrition. The real critical issue in human nutrition is meeting your macronutrient needs without excess, for all three macronutrients, and getting sufficient micronutrients in the process (vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals—the parts of food that do not contain calories). There is a broad acceptable range in the macronutrient ratio as long as one is not overeating calories.
However, adhering to a diet that is less than 10 percent of calories from fat is not an appropriate recommendation for ideal health and often results in less than ideal health outcomes. One could be on a healthful diet that is 15 percent of calories from fat or a healthful diet that is 30 percent of calories from fat too. As long as the diet is rich in micronutrients and does not exceed our need for calories, the lower fat diet has no advantage in the prevention and treatment of disease. There is no evidence to suggest that a diet of equal calories that is much lower in fat is an advantage for prevention or treatment of heart disease or any other disease. Studies that compare dietary fat percentages suggest that it is not the fat level, but other more critical qualities that make the diet more or less beneficial.
To achieve an ideal level of phytonutrients and other micronutrients it necessitates eating a large amount of green vegetables each day. Any diet that does not recommend sufficient consumption of vegetables is lacking. When you eat lots of vegetables, especially green vegetables, you meet your body’s need for fiber and micronutrients with very little calories. Then to comprise the balance of the diet and fill our caloric needs we can choose an assortment of other foods, preferably ones that are of the highest nutrient quality. Unlike some other doctors and authors advocating a plant-based diet, I recommend more vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds and use less bread, potato, and rice. With the addition of nuts and seeds, which average about 175 calories an ounce, one or two ounces a day brings the diet up to the 15 – 30 percent of calories from fat range. My recommend diet is definitely not under 10 percent of calories from fat and because of the addition of seeds and nuts it is also considerably higher in protein too.
It might seem logical to restrict higher fat foods like nuts seeds and avocado because high fat foods are higher in calories and fat is 9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories a gram for carbohydrates and protein. Of course one should take care not to eat too many calories and adjust the level of these foods to maintain a slim body and not to overeat on them or any other food. However, there are lots of good reasons to include at least some of these higher fat foods in one’s diet.
Evidence is accumulating that a diet as low as 10 percent of calories from fat Is too low, even for the overweight, diabetic or heart disease patient and that the judicious use of these higher fat foods is beneficial for not just heart disease, but for weight loss and diabetes too. The scientific literature corroborates my clinical experience over the last 15 years caring for thousands of patients with obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and provides evidence to show that for every calorie removed from the diet from rice, potato, bread or animal products and substituted with raw seeds and nuts you get many health benefits, such as:
• Lower blood sugar• Lower cholesterol• Lower triglycerides• Better LDL/HDL ratio• Better antioxidant status• Better absorption of phytochemicals from vegetables• Better diabetic control• Lower weight• More effective reversal of heart disease• Prevention of cardiac arrhythmias in heart patients• More weight loss, not weight gain• Better nutritional diversity and satisfaction with less calories• Increased protection against cancer• Better muscle and bone mass with aging
With the growing awareness of the health properties of nuts and seeds, we must also realize that they must be eaten in moderation. Should we all sit in front of our TV’s, eat the entire bag of nuts in an hour, and complain when we gain weight? Of course not. Healthy eaters avoid excessive calories and do not eat for recreation. Eat only an ounce a day if you are significantly overweight, but if thin, physically active, pregnant or nursing eat 2 – 4 ounces according to your caloric needs.

The Truth About Energy Drinks

by Dr. Robert Young; www.phmiracleliving.com
The energy drink business is now a billion dollar industry. Currently, there are at least 200 energy drinks on the market and they are all acidic to theblood and tissues."There was a time when we would get our caffeine intake from coffee and cola, but now there are a number of caffeine containing beverages and we need to be careful because over a period of 24 hours that caffeine intake is cumulative," says Dee Rollins, R.D., PhD, dietitian with Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine.In fact, energy drink consumers should keep careful track of the amount of caffeine they get in a day."If you know that 400 milligrams a day is the upper limit you can check the back of the labels and make sure that you don't get more than that," explains Dr. Rollins. It may sound like a lot, but 400 milligrams is roughly the equivalent of just one energy drink and two cups of coffee. Getting more than that can lead to jitteriness, nausea, heart palpations -- and in extreme cases more severe acidic symptoms."It can be so bad that if you take too much caffeine you can end up in the hospital thinking you have flu-like symptoms and really it's caffeine overdose.""So remember as you're sipping -- you are literally drinking an acid drink not an energy drink that isstealing the life right out of you. ALL of these so called energy drinks have a pH of around 2.5 to 3.5 with a proton saturation that runs in thepositive 350mV to 450mV. This means with every sip you are causing the body to use its stored energy to ionize the acidic energy drink which results in an energy loss not an energy gain,"states Dr. Robert O. Young, of the pH MiracleLiving Research Center. For most people are getting more than around 400 milligrams of caffeine a day making these energy drinks unsafe for human ingestion. The following are some important things to remember if you decide to drink an acidic energy drink:1 ) Don't drink any acidic energy beverages while exercising. It can lead to severe fatigue, lethargy and dehydration. 2) Don't ever mix these acidic energy drinks with alcohol -- it's popular -- but doing so can not only mask on how intoxicated you really are, it again can be extremely fatiguing and dehydrating. 3) Don't drink acidic energy drinks for energy because they only stimulate the body to buffer the acidic ingredients giving you the illusion of more energy when in reality you are losing energy. This can lead to extreme fatigue, lethargy and dehydration. 4) If the energy drink does not contain the acid caffeine it will surely contain some form of acidic sugar. Sugar in any form is a strong acid that robs the body of energy and should never be ingested. This would include all sugars that end in "ose" such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, or dextrose or that end in "ol" such as sorbitol or xylitol. Sugar in all forms is an acidic contributor to all sickness, dis-ease and disease.5) There are currently no energy drinks on the market that will give you any sustainable energy. What they give you is a quick release of electrical energy designed for releasing alkaline buffers to neutralize the poisonous acids in theso-called energy drink. When you drink a so-called energy drink, all you prove is you can ingest a certain amount of poison and still manage to get through the day functioning. I n addition to caffeine and sugar, most of these energy drinks contain high amounts of carbonic acid which can be dangerous for diabetics or those with high blood pressure. "The best advise is to drink alkaline water with a pH/ORP of 9.5/-250mV and to avoid all acidic sport and energy drinks," states Dr. Young.

Diet Drinks

Diet Drinks for Preventing Diabetes? No way!!
by Dr. Joel Fuhrman http://www.drfuhrman.com/

Recent studies link the use of artificial sweeteners to a 2-fold increase in diabetes. Hard to believe that physicians often advise patients predisposed to diabetes to use artificial sweeteners as a means of prevention! Another example of how being misinformed, about the impact of food and nutrition on our health, does so much harm and is a major contributor to our healthcare crisis.
June 15, 2009 (Washington, DC) -- People who use artificial sweeteners are heavier, more likely to have diabetes, and more likely to be insulin-resistant compared with nonusers, according to data presented at ENDO 2009, the 91st annual meeting of The Endocrine Society.
Sugars and other nutrients within the digestive tract activate sweet taste receptors called enteroendocrine cells, leading to the release of hormones like incretin and insulin. These hormones result in increased absorption of glucose and other caloric sugars. Non caloric (artificial) sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose have many of the same effects on these "gut taste receptors" as do energy (calorie) containing sugars.
One theory suggests that ingestion of non caloric (artificial) sweeteners may prepare the gut for the presence of nutrients in the same manner as the nutrients themselves, but in the absence of a source of calories, the balance between taste receptor activation, nutrient assimilation and appetite may be disturbed, leading to an increase in appetite and overeating of unnecessary calories when they are readily available.1
A study analyzed data, from participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), to determine whether weight status and health risk measurements differed among artificial sweetener users and non-artificial sweetener users. The primary sweetener consumed was aspartame followed by saccharine and sucralose. Although the group who used sweeteners was younger and heavier, they did not consume any more calories than those who did not use sweeteners yet they were twice as likely to develop diabetes.2
Other reasons to avoid artificial sweeteners:
linked to cancer
triggers headaches and migraines
causes brain tumors and seizures in animals
All of the possible dangers of artificial sweeteners are still unknown. Utilizing such artificial products is gambling with your health. Aspartame also exposes us to a methyl ester that may have toxic effects. Play it safe and stick to natural foods.
The bottom line here is, try to enjoy your food choices without refined or artificial sweeteners of any kind. Fresh fruit and occasionally dried fruits or ground dates is the safest way to go to satisfy a sweet tooth. I recommend dropping colas, sodas, sweetened teas, and juices - diet or not. If they don't contain artificial sweeteners, they are loaded with sugar. Eat unrefined food and drink water. Melons blended with ice cubes and dates for added sweetness make delicious, cooling summer drinks.
Find out how this "big business" is maintained, avoids negative press, and contributes to keeping Americans in the dark about their health at http://www.on2url.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=64260&AdID=437721

Advertising Passed Off as Research- Confuses the Public Again!

Vegetarian Diet “Weakens Bones” (Worldwide headlines July 2, 2009)
A joint Australian-Vietnamese meta-analysis of 9 observational studies of 2,749 people found that vegetarians had bones five percent less dense than meat-eaters and vegans were six percent weaker. However, the results were of such little significance that the authors ended their paper by saying: “In conclusion, the results of this meta-analysis suggest that there is a modest effect of vegetarian diets, particularly a vegan diet, on BMD, but the effect size is unlikely to result in a clinically important increase in fracture risk.”
This article, released ahead of scheduled publication, which gives the public the perception that the news was so important that it could not wait, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition was by the same authors as the vegan-osteoporosis article I discussed in my June 2009 newsletter. The article I reported on received little press worldwide and showed results very favorable for a vegan diet and bone health. Published in the April 2009 issue of the journal Osteoporosis International, the same researchers directly examined 105 postmenopausal Mahayana Buddhist nuns, and compared them to 105 omnivorous women and found, “…although vegans have much lower intakes of dietary calcium and protein than omnivores, veganism does not have (an) adverse effect on bone mineral density (BMD) and does not alter body composition.”
The highly publicized study showing negative effects of a vegan diet was a meta-analysis—a selected compilation of similar studies. This kind of analysis is notorious for showing bias and is easily manipulated by the choice of studies included or excluded in the research paper. Because of the ease of exploitation, meta-analysis has been referred to as an exercise in “mega-silliness.” Their original research found 922 studies, but after applying exclusion criteria there were only 9 studies left, which included 2749 individuals; 5 studies were of Asians, populations where osteoporosis-related fractures are much lower because of their healthier diet and greater physical activity, than Westerners.
This analysis found no correlation between dietary calcium intake or protein intake and BMD. The results comparing diets of vegetarians and omnivores with BMD were considered clinically insignificant by the authors. Furthermore, BMD is a poor predictor of future fracture risk. The criticisms could go on, making this one of the worst studies ever published in a respected journal. So why did this article condemning eating a vegan diet get so much attention?
This flawed research telling people worldwide that vegan diets are bad for the bones was funded by the AMBeR alliance incorporated in Malaysia, which owns Amber F&B Nutrition Sdn Bhd, a dairy products producer and wholesaler. This company’s business is the “manufacturing of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and dairy products.” Once a study is published then the public relations department of the industry takes over and sends “Press Releases” to the media worldwide. Because people love to hear “good news about their bad habits (eating beefsteaks, fried chicken, cheese, and ice cream),” the press and the public revel in this good news, even when the conclusions are untrue as in this case. You might think there would be at least one curious reporter who would read the research before spreading the lie.
You can write the authors at: tuan.nguyen@unsw.edu.au and ask your questions about the two studies and why the one funded by a dairy industry showing no relevance to a person’s choice of a vegan diet and the risk of fracture received so much worldwide attention.

© 2009 John McDougall All Rights Reserved McDougall Wellness Center P.O. Box 14039, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 http://www.drmcdougall.com/

Apricot Seeds Kill Cancer Cells Without Side Effects

by Paul Fassa, citizen journalist, (NaturalNews)
Are apricot seeds a source for a natural substance that kills cancer cells without destroying the cancer victim's health and wealth? The essential ingredient has been called laetrile or vitamin B 17. If there is any merit to it, why is this information being suppressed? Why are people who have been cured or have cured others being censured and imprisoned? Could be there is something to the claims. Keep in mind that the cancer industry world wide is estimated at a 200 billion dollar a year industry. There are many in various associated positions within that industry who would be without a job if that cash flow dried up suddenly with the news that there are cheaper, less harmful, and more efficacious remedies available. Big Pharmacy would virtually vanish. What is B17, or Laetrile Anyway? In 1952, a biochemist named Dr. Ernst Krebb, Jr. in San Francisco decided that cancer was a metabolic reaction to a poor diet, and a missing nutrient from modern man's diet could be the key to overcoming cancer. His research led to a compound found in over 1200 edible plants throughout nature. That compound is amagdylin. Amagdylin is found with the highest concentration and necessary enzymes in apricot seed kernels. A primitive tribe, the Hunzas, were known to consume large amounts of apricot seed kernels. The hard pit had to be broken to get into the soft kernels. There was no incidence of cancer with them at all, ever. And they had long, healthy life spans. Laetrile was created by simply extracting amagdylin from the soft apricot kernels, purifying it and putting it into a concentrated form. Amagdylin is a nitrioloside. Nitriolisides are difficult to categorize since they are in foods but not foods themselves. As a nitrioloside, amagdylin resembled the B complex structures, so Dr. Krebb called it B17 since by that time 16 types of B vitamins had been isolated. Dr. Krebb injected himself with laetrile to ensure there would be no toxic side effects. He conducted further lab animal and culture experiments to conclude that laetrile would be effective in the treatment of cancer. By the way, the FDA standard for drug safety is known as LD 50, LD stands for lethal dose, and the 50 is the percentage threshold of lab animals poisoned to death by the drug tested. As long as the percentage killed is under 50%, FDA will approve it! Since laetrile is derived directly from a food substance in nature and not chemically developed in a laboratory, it is impossible to patent. And of course it's not toxic. In other words, just as with all natural healing substances, Big Pharma and the AMA can't make a fortune from the substance and from the remedies for the long term side effects. There have been several testimonies from cancer victims who cured themselves by chewing large quantities of the apricot seeds alone. The seeds are more available to consumers now than laetrile because in 1971 the FDA banned laetrile. Laetrile is difficult, but not impossible, to purchase. The seeds are actually the soft almond shaped, bitter tasting kernels from inside the pits. A few users prefer extracting those soft kernels from the pits themselves. But the soft kernels are available and inexpensive. So How Does It Work? Amagdylin contains four substances. Two are glucose; one is benzaldyhide, and one is cyanide. Yes, cyanide and benzaldyhide are poisons if they are released or freed as pure molecules and not bound within other molecular formations. Many foods containing cyanide are safe because the cyanide remains bound and locked as part of another molecule and therefore cannot cause harm. There is even an enzyme in normal cells to catch any free cyanide molecules and to render them harmless by combining them with sulfur. That enzyme is rhodanese, which catalyzes the reaction and binds any free cyanide to sulfur. By binding the cyanide to sulfur, it is converted to a cyanate which is a neutral substance. Then it is easily passed through the urine with no harm to the normal cells. But cancer cells are not normal. They contain an enzyme that other cells do not share, beta-glucosidase. This enzyme, virtually exclusive to cancer cells, is considered the "unlocking enzyme" for amagdylin molecules. It releases both the benzaldyhide and the cyanide, creating a toxic synergy beyond their uncombined sum. This is what the cancer cell's beta-glucosidase enzyme does to self destruct cancer cells. Amagdylin or laetrile in conjunction with the protective enzymes in healthy cells and the unlocking enzymes in cancer cells is thus able to destroy cancer cells without jeopardizing healthy cells. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, kills a lot of other cells and diminishes one's immune system while killing an undetermined amount of cancer cells. Those cancer cells tend to return elsewhere because the patient's general health was reduced from the pervasive chemo toxins. The cancer industry has declared the bench mark for curing cancer as being cancer free for 5 years. It's estimated that of those who undergo the AMA big three for curing cancer, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, no more than 3% make the 5 year cancer free mark. Besides the treatments' debilitating effects, they are much more expensive! But for someone with cancer, it takes a considerable amount of daily B17 consumption to enable the amagdylin to reach the cancer cells with beta-glucosidase. That's because some of the amagdylin molecules will be neutralized by the normal cells containing rhodanese.Many practitioners who use laetrile have an 85% cure rate among cancer victims who did not undergo much of the standard cut, burn, and poison that is main-stream - while the cure rate for those who come to laetrile therapy as a last resort after all that conventional medicine could only have a 15% recovery rate. There is a clinic in Mexico that claims a 100 percent cure rate! The Medical Mafia's Suppression since around 1920, practitioners of alternative cancer therapies and remedies and their messengers have been marginalized, harassed, imprisoned, and even killed. Federal agencies have been used to bring about bogus charges or IRS tax liens that are enforced by US Marshals the way Dr. Gary Glum was hassled for even writing books on Essiac Tea. See Natural News article "Essiac Tea: A Cancer Cure Big Pharma Doesn't Want You To Know About." http://www.naturalnews.com/026928_c....A young Brooklyn man, Jason Vale, was imprisoned because he refused to stop telling others on TV and in lectures how he cured himself of cancer using those nasty apricot pit kernels! Jason is a more recent public example of the Medical Mafia's grip on the legal system regarding B17. Laetrile, which is non toxic, was banned by the FDA in 1971.Shortly after the 1971 laetrile ban, a practicing physician in San Francisco, Dr. John Richardson, who had been using laetrile successfully on cancer patients, came to his friend G. Edward Griffin, a published investigative journalist, and asked Griffin if he could write up something to help him and others continue using laetrile on their cancer patients.G. Edward Griffin's research evolved into his groundbreaking book, World Without Cancer. This book not only explained laetrile and chronicled several cancer cures, but Griffin's investigative nose led him down the rabbit hole and into the underbelly of the cancer industry's efforts at keeping alternative cancer cures from the light of day. That's how he discovered that the Sloane-Kettering Cancer Institute had buried documentation from scientists' research, which proved laetrile was "highly effective" at curing cancer. Griffin received those documents himself from a Dr. Ralph Moss, who had been told to cover up that evidence and claim that laetrile was worthless. He refused and left his position as PR manager with Sloane-Kettering. Since that time in 1977, Dr. Ralph Moss has gone on to write or edit several books on cancer cure options. It's always encouraging to see an insider come out! Someone else filled Dr. Moss's vacant position and lied the lies about laetrile that filled the medical journals.And what about those medical journals? Lately, the most prestigious New England Journal of Medicine dropped its standard of not allowing articles contributed to the journal from anyone who was receiving money from Big Pharma, as long as it's less than 10 grand annually. If they didn't drop that standard, there wouldn't be enough articles to fill the journal! Of course, most medical journals are glossy ad forums for Big Pharma anyway.Both G. Edward Griffin with World Without Cancer and Phillip Day in his book Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth, make it very clear that the cancer industry does not really want a cure. Even non-profit organizations get millions in donations from the brainwashed, huddled masses along with funding for promoting Big Pharma. A non-profit organization can and will have key people working for 6 figure plus annual salaries, by the way, Doctors mostly do as they are trained and told; medical journals contain false reports and lies. Cancer foundations have breast cancer months or whatever as PR to get people into the disease industry's money mill as early as possible, and at the top, there is Big Pharma. It's all about money and career. Not about public health and "The War on Cancer."So far in mainstream medicine, it's been a losing battle with more getting cancer than ever. Around 1 out of 3 is destined to get cancer these days, and more are dying from cancer after conventional treatments. Talk about pandemics! All this with lots of cash going their way, enabling some to live a lush lifestyle and others hanging on to their comfy, secure jobs at the expense of our health. Meanwhile, too many true humanitarian doctors and herbalists and writers concerned with the truth wind up being treated like criminals or nut cases, sometimes with their lives destroyed. That's tragic. And so is the fact that millions suffer and die while being conditioned against using effective and less painless procedures. There are many success stories from people using just laetrile or apricot pit kernels. The usual recommendation for prevention is around 5 to 7 over the course of a day. For actual cancer cases use 2 to 3 times that. Some say one kernel for every 10 lbs of body weight. For maintenance after a cure, go back to 5 to 7 per day.Some laetrile therapists have patients use vitamin B15 tablets and digestive enzymes such as papaya's papain and pineapple's bromalene. Too many apricot pit kernels can create nausea or dizziness. There are no recorded deaths or disabilities from the apricot seeds or laetrile, however. Although some success has been recorded with patients undergoing conventional therapy and using laetrile, it's not recommended. Eventually most of those who combine the two get off the chemo or die anyway. There are many practitioners and writers who recommend you combine other alternative cancer therapies while taking laetrile or using the apricot pits - especially if you go for it alone at home. It should be obvious to Natural News readers that a foundation of healthy food and less stress is necessary. A fundamental lifestyle change has to be a part of any permanent cancer cure. In addition, a little eclectic mix and match with other alternative therapies seems like a good approach. For example, Gerson's cancer cure therapy's juicing protocol with the right type of juicer and using coffee enemas to detox the liver could be added with laetrile use. It's hard to go wrong with that healthy combination. See Natural News article on the Gerson Therapy for more details here:http://www.naturalnews.com/027004_c... Why waste your money and health on toxic remedies when so much is available as alternatives for far less money and negative side effects?

Cat's Claw to fight Cancer

(NaturalNews) Cat's claw, also know as Uncaria tomentosa and una de gato, is a vine from the Peruvian jungle. This plant has been used as medicine for over two thousand years by the Peruvian tribe, the Ashaninka. It is known by them as the "Sacred Herb of the Rain Forest." Cat's claw contains compounds called pentcyclic oxindole alkaloids (POAs) that have been shown to support the immune system, prevent cancers, and possibly treat AIDS. In Europe, the bark is combined with the AIDS drug AZT in some clinical trials. Cat's claw is sold as an herbal tonic in various forms: leaves, bark, and twigs. But the part of the cat's claw plant that contains the most medicine is the roots, even though the plant is named for thorns at the base of the leaves that resemble cat claws. Because of these thorns, the plant can grow as tall as 100 feet, vining around the trunk of large trees. Homeopathically, Cat's Claw is used to treat gastric disturbances, such as ulcers, parasites diverticulitis, leaky gut syndrome, and Crohn's disease and Alzheimer's. In herbal medicine, Cat's Claw has been used to treat hormonal problems, such as PMS, CFS and prostate problems, and there has been some success in treating diabetes as well. The POAs in Cat's Claw work by supporting the white blood cells (WBC). These are the cells that help with immunity. One of the functions of the WBC is to gobble up, and eliminate bacteria and viruses. POA does this by increasing the production of interleukin by the WBC. POAs also help a type of cell called B cells. B cells create antibodies against one type of virus or bacteria. After taking Cat's claw, research discovered an increase in the number of B cells. This is an important function, especially with new viruses mutating, such as Swine Flu H1N1.Cat's Claw also helps the body create more T cells. T cells attack cancer cells and also AIDS viruses found in the blood stream.Some Cat's claw plants do not contain POAs, but instead contain an alkaloid called tetracyclic oxindole (TOAs). This substance does not have the beneficial health effects of the POAs, so it is important to read the labels on supplements to make sure the product has the requisite amount of active substance. Studies are underway at the National Institute on Aging that are investigating the role of Cat's Claw on the brain and in treating Alzheimer's disease. Some of the compounds in the Cat's Claw plant are able to block inflammation and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Scientists are therefore hopeful that this will lead to a cure for arthritis. Side effects for Cat's Claw are few, but do include dizziness, vomiting and headaches. It can cause abortion, so pregnant women, or those hoping to become pregnant, should avoid it.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/catclaw/

"Update" after Chemo #15

If you have been looking for my update and blogs the last few days, sorry---I have been dealing with allergies that make me too congested to lie down for long at night. Lack of sleep fosters the depression. So I am battling allergies, depression, and still swollen lymph glands--the worst is under my chin the size of a tennis ball! Lately, when I lay on the unaffected side, my left side of the face is swollen as is the right- upon wakening, pushing my lips out like a bad silicone injection job. I look like a "block head", or a "no neck gangster"! I can't get my wedding band on the non affected hand till mid day. The lymphatic clinic does massages to the valve areas of the lymphs twice a week---giving me minimal relief for a little while, I also do these massages myself often. My right arm and hand is constantly swollen. I have been fitted with a different compression sleeve for the problem, the new material is kinder to my skin---no more rashes. My fingers look like sausages when I wear the sleeve, it does seam to push the swelling upwards, but after a few minuets after removal---the arm and hand is back to the same as pre-sleeve. My right breast is also edematous. The scales show a two pound weight gain for the last couple of treatment days. I have asked the oncologist for a gentle diuretic---since all the evidence points to the need of one, but he says that I need to go to my family physician. Now let's replay this: I took myself off of the Decadron that they give as an anti-emetic because the side effects of that "steroid" (that is to aid in fluid removal), is fluid retention!! One of the side effects of the chemo that I am on is fluid retention; but they won't treat me for this side effect---I have to make an appointment that will take more time and money, and in the meantime, I have to deal with all this edema!! I am RN, and I know what is going on with my body, but they think I am branded as one of their herd--and have to play this "game" by their rules. This is why, my friends, it is so important to prevent illness rather than waiting until you have to treat one!! Educate yourself now on proper nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, proper sleep, sunshine, and faith. "Preventiveness is the BEST medicine"!!
As far as my labs this week, all was the same as it has been except the WBC's have dropped to 4.9, and the ANC (total calc. of the immune system) is now down to 3,986--still way above the required 1,500, but a significant drop from last week. Chemo will deplete your immune system, but mine had been doing well until this week, my theory is lack of sleep and stress from worry. These two elements have been repeatedly documented to greatly diminish the immune system. I have recently added another immune booster to my nutritional supplements, it is called "Cat's Claw", I will post an article about it on tomorrow's blog.
In the meantime, I am taking Guaifenesin to thin the congestion, napping when I am tired, enjoying the sun--when we can get it, and being grateful for my life!

United in Health, Humanity and the Environment; Laura

Solve the Sleep Problem

(NaturalNews) When it comes to good health, sleep is a key element, ranking right up there with nutritious food, clean water and regular activity. If you're having trouble getting the sleep your body needs, read on -- help is at hand.Like air, water and food, sleep is one of those things that humans cannot live without. During high-quality, restful sleep, our bodies recharge. But when sleep is disrupted, especially on a regular basis, we become vulnerable to a host of health problems, including emotional difficulties, cardiovascular problems, weight gain and even cancer. Clearly, sleep is tremendously important to our health. Yet the statistics on sleep deprivation show that Americans are in the midst of an epidemic. Instead of getting the recommended seven to nine hours nightly, millions of individuals are living on far less - and paying the price. For proof, look no further than the National Sleep Foundation's last few surveys.- In 2006, the poll revealed that lack of sleep on school nights affected some 45 percent of adolescents, resulting in mild depression, irritability, reliance on caffeine to get through the day, "drowsy driving" and nodding off in class, habits that tend to become more serious as children grow older;- In 2007, sixty percent of women in this country said that getting a good night's sleep was the exception rather than the rule. And nearly 70 percent reported frequent sleep difficulties. Not surprisingly, 43 percent struggled with daily tasks because of sleep issues.- Overworked Americans were the focus of the 2008 sleep deprivation study. Consequences of the extended, "5 to 9" workdays included drowsy driving (36 percent), sneaking snoozes at work (29 percent) and being too sleepy for sex (20%).- Most recently, the nation's economic woes are causing sleep difficulties, with fully 30 percent of Americans reporting financial worries and the U.S. economic downturn causing them to lose sleep. In response to the rampant, double-digit reports of sleeplessness, the pharmaceutical industry has developed a number of prescription drugs. But reports of serious side effects caused by these sleep aids are not encouraging, and keep too many people from getting the rest they need.Now for the good news! There is hope for the chronically weary. If sleep is an issue for you, a family member or a friend, the first step to getting adequate rest involves having a thorough physical to determine if an underlying medical condition is disrupting your sleep. Depression, anxiety, aches and pains caused by arthritis or fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, low iron levels and restless leg syndrome are just a few of the common causes of sleep difficulties. Clearly, treating the medical issues that interfere with restful sleep can be a major help.If, on the other hand, sleeplessness is not related to a health condition, there are plenty of other options to consider. Lifestyle changes, for example, could be easy fixes for what's keeping you up at night. Here are some possibilities:- Aim for consistency and routine in scheduling sleep. Going to bed and waking up at the same times each day (including weekends), helps your body get into a sleep/wake cycle rhythm.- The ideal bedtime for most people is before 11 p.m. The bulk of recharging and renewal that takes place in the body occurs from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., so missing out on this crucial event can be disruptive.- Sleep in a completely dark room to encourage production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin has been shown to protect us against a long list of serious ailments, including cancer. But the pituitary gland, where melatonin is manufactured, functions best in darkness.- Avoid electronic devices, including TV and computer, for at least two hours before bedtime. Furthermore, It is recommended that you switch off your fuse box (there is a remote control device that does this) to eliminate the radiation from electrical fields coming from your home's wiring.- Caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, large amounts of liquids and heavy meals before bedtime all interfere with sleep, as do day-time naps and exercising late in the day.- To encourage relaxation, try a warm bath, shower or sauna before bedtime. Aromatherapy with essential oils known for their relaxing qualities (lavender or linden, for instance) are helpful, too.- Turn your bedroom into a peaceful oasis. Focus on comfort (a good mattress and pillows), quiet (a white-noise machine can disguise annoying environmental sounds) and a soothing room temperature (between 60 and 70 degrees for most of us). If your feet tend to be cold at night, socks help make up for poor circulation in extremities.- Sample some of the many non-prescription sleep aids that are now available. ***Many of these remedies -- including herbs like valerian and hops, and the hormone melatonin -- have been found helpful for relaxation and sleep disturbances. Furthermore, they're free from the troubling side effects found in pharmaceuticals.***As individuals, we each have different sleep needs. Once yours are met, you'll find that waking up each day is a whole new experience. And your body will thank you for providing it with the rejuvenating rest it needs. RESOURCES: National Sleep Foundation: http://www.sleepfoundation.org

Chlorophyll, Chlorophyllin, and Selenium in Reversing a Cancer

by Dr. Robert Young, www.phmiralceliving.com : Research from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University suggests that natural compounds of chlorophyll, chlorophyllin, and selenium compounds, which previously have been studied for their ability to preventing a cancerous condition, may be able to play a more significant role in reversing a cancerous condition. A new study just published in the International Journal of Cancer examined the activity of chlorophyllin and found that, on a dose-by-dose basis, it was 10 times more potent at causing death of colon cancer cells than hydroxyurea, a chemotherapeutic drug commonly used in cancer treatment. Beyond that, chlorophyllin kills cancer cells by blocking the same phase of cellular division that hydroxyurea does, but by a different mechanism. This suggests that it – and possibly other “cocktails” of natural products – might be developed to have a synergistic effect with conventional cancer drugs, helping them to work better or require less toxic dosages, researchers said.“We conclude that chlorophyllin has the potential to be effective in the clinical setting, when used alone or in combination with currently available cancer therapeutic agents,” the researchers wrote in their study. The concept of combining conventional or new cancer drugs with natural compounds that have been shown to have anti-cancer properties is very promising, said Rod Dashwood, professor and director of the Cancer Chemoprotection Program in the Linus Pauling Institute.“Most chemotherapeutic approaches to cancer try to target cancer cells specifically and do something that slows or stops their cell growth process,” Dashwood said. “We’re now identifying such mechanisms of action for natural compounds, including dietary agents. With further research we may be able to make the two approaches work together to enhance the effectiveness of cancer therapies.”Chlorophyllin is a water-soluble derivative of chlorophyll – the green pigment found in most plants and many food products that makes possible the process of photosynthesis and plant growth from the sun’s energy. Chlorophyllin is inexpensive, and animal studies plus human clinical data suggest that it can be ingested at relatively high levels without toxicity. In the new study, researchers found that pharmacologic doses of chlorophyllin caused colon cancer cells to spend more time than normal in their “synthesis phase” in which DNA is duplicated. Timing is critical to the various phases of cell growth, researchers said, and this disruption started a process that ultimately led to cell death, the study found. In particular, the presence of high levels of chlorophyllin caused a major reduction in the level of ribonucleotide reductase, an enzyme critical to DNA synthesis, researchers found. This is also the mechanism of action of hydroxyurea, one drug already being used for cancer chemotherapy.“In cancer research right now there’s interest in approaches that can reduce ribonucleotide reductase,” Dashwood said. “At the doses used in our experiments, chlorophyllin almost completely stops the activity of this enzyme.”Further research is needed both in laboratory and animal studies, with combinations of chlorophyllin and existing cancer drugs, before it would be appropriate for human trials, Dashwood said. Chlorophyllin, in general, is poorly absorbed from the human gastrointestinal tract, so it’s unclear what levels might be needed for therapeutic purposes or how well they would work.Other dietary agents also might have similar potential. Work just published by LPI researchers in the journals Carcinogenesis and Cancer Prevention Research explored the role of organic selenium compounds in killing human prostate and colon cancer cells. Colorectal and prostate cancers are consistently among the leading causes of cancer mortality in the United States, and will account respectively for 18 percent and 9 percent of all cancer deaths in 2009, according to estimates from the American Cancer Society. In the recent studies, a form of organic selenium found naturally in garlic and Brazil nuts was converted in cancer cells to metabolites that acted as “HDAC inhibitors” – a promising field of research in which silenced tumor suppressor genes are re-activated, triggering cancer cell death.“Whether it’s HDAC inhibition leading to one manner of cancer cell growth arrest, or loss of ribonucleotide reductase activity leading to another, as seen with chlorophyllin, there’s significant promise in the use of natural products for combined cancer therapies,” Dashwood said. “These are areas that merit continued research.”These studies were supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Other collaborators included researchers from the New York Medical College and the Penn State College of Medicine.Chlorophyll is identical to your hemoglobin except for the center atom. Dr. Robert O. Young's, at the pH Miracle Living Center in San Diego, California suggests, "as one increases their consumption of chlorophyll from green foods and green drinks the quality and quantity of the red blood cells improve. This can be noted on a CBC medical test as the red blood cell count increases and the hemoglobin increases to a healthy range. Liquid chlorophyll and chlorophyllin can be added to any water or green drink to improve the concentration of this powerful blood building compound."
http://www.phmiracleliving.com/p-306-liquid-chloropheal-4-oz.aspx

Chlorophyll--Chlorophyllin is abundant in wheatgrass! Take a look at these sites: http://www.healfastwithgrass.com/ and http://www.phsolutions4you.com/

In Time For Cold and Flu Season

Stay Home and Treat Your Cold the Natural Way: by Elizabeth Walling, citizen journalist(NaturalNews)
You know cold season is hitting its peak when crumpled tissues start piling up next to bottles of cough syrup and antibiotics. It seems the moment someone gets the sniffles they feel compelled to visit their doctor, and more often than not, they leave their appointment with multiple prescriptions in hand. You have to wonder: is all this medication necessary? The answer is no. Home treatment for colds can be even more effective than medications, and without the harmful side effects. Old-fashioned cold remedies can often be made with what you already have in your pantry, and the cost is much less prohibitive than the expense of a doctor`s visit and several prescriptions. Next time you feel a cold coming on, try some of these simple remedies to alleviate your symptoms and shorten the duration of your cold. Avoid Over-the-Counter Drugs although these medications claim to be helpful, they can turn your cold into a nightmare. A runny nose may be irritating, but drying up nasal passages with decongestants is a surefire way to encourage the build-up of bacteria. Instead, keep you sinuses clear with natural saline sprays.You can also make your own saline solution at home with a half teaspoon of salt dissolved in a cup of warm water. Use a bulb syringe to place three or four drops of the liquid into each nostril. Gently breathe in and avoid blowing your nose for at least thirty seconds. This gives the mixture time to break down some of the build-up in your sinuses. Repeat this several times each day until nasal passages are clear. Over-the-counter cough syrups should also be avoided. Instead, mix lemon juice with warm water and add a bit of honey. This home remedy can soothe your cough and works equally well for sore throats. Sinus pressure and pain is often treated with over-the-counter pain medication like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. These are only moderately effective and are known for their potential toxic side effects. Try placing a heating pad or warm washcloth over the area instead. Repeat as needed.To speed your recovery, try natural supplements like Vitamin C, zinc and Echinacea. Taken at the first sign of a cold, these can often prevent a bad cold from developing. These supplements can also shorten the duration of your cold. Stay Hydrated--Lack of fluids prevents healing and sets the stage for infection. Staying hydrated can prevent an advanced sinus infection which is more difficult to treat at home. Drink 8-10 glasses of water each day while you`re sick. Avoid ice water which can irritate your throat. You can also get more fluids into your system by drinking herbal teas and sipping warm broth. Chamomile tea is known for soothing coughs and sore throats. Chicken broth, especially real broth made at home, is known for its strong healing effects. The warmth of the liquids alone can often alleviate many of your cold symptoms. Since dry conditions exacerbate cold symptoms and drain your body of fluids, setting up a humidifier can speed the healing process. Just be sure to change the water regularly and keep the system clean. Detoxify--A cold weakens your immune system and causes the build up of toxins. It is highly beneficial to help the body flush out these toxins by practicing a few simple methods of detox. You should start each day with several minutes of dry skin brushing. With a natural hair brush, make sweeping strokes toward the heart over all parts of the body. After dry brushing, take a hot shower. Hot water will encourage perspiration, which rids the body of toxins. At the end of your shower, turn the water to cool for up to 60 seconds. Switch back to hot water for another 60 seconds. Alternate hot and cold water like this for at least three cycles. This entire process should be done at least once every day until your cold is gone. When you`ve got a cold, it`s more important than ever to get your rest and make healthy food choices. A rested and well-nourished body is the best medicine for fighting off a cold.

A Help To Bridge The Gap

Hi, I got this column today from Robert Cohen, the "Notmilk man" and thought I would pass it on for those of you that are not familiar with what a Vegan diet can offer you. Vegan means; nothing is eaten that comes from animals--so no dairy products either. Most meat eaters think that being a vegetarian means our choices are limited to eating vegetables in your familiar state and salads, so please take a look at the site offered in the column below. Even better, try ordering from them, or go to a good Vegetarian restaurant before you explore what is available to you in your local health food freezers, (not all of them are good tasting, and I wouldn't want you to be turned off with your first attempt. Once you are on your way, you will discover what to buy to make these-- easy to prepare--healthy-- dishes on your own at home. Bon Apetite!

"Spectacular! Awesome! Stunning! Brilliant!I tried to think up four words to describe the vegan food I feasted upon last evening, as if I was awarding four Michelin stars **** to the best restaurant in America. I might have started with brilliant, because I've never before imagined that vegan cuisine could be created which could fool the palates of the most discerning meat eaters. I was wrong. I have traveled from coast-to-coast and have enjoyed the finest gourmet vegan restaurants in America. I have dined in England, Canada, and Korea, and attended vegetarian conferences at which great vegan chefs have prepared food to die for. Men and women such as Ken Bergeron, Ron Pickarski, Juliano, Fran Costigan...I attended the Culinary Institute of America as a student and have owned restaurants and dined in many of New York's finest restaurants when I was a meat eater. Places like the Box Tree, Quilted Giraffe, Four Seasons, La Tulipe, La Caravelle...I pride myself on being a gourmet, and am appreciative when I find great food. I've got a discerning palate and my favorite television show is anything on the Food Channel. So, without further ado, let me state with the self-appointed authority within me that I've found the greatest gourmet food provider in North America: The Veggie Brothers. http://www.veggiebrothers.com/ Toll Free Tel: 877-VEGAN-55 (877-834-2655) I began my experience with the Veggie Brothers by ordering nine dishes which turned out to be enough to easily serve four with plenty of leftovers for the dog. I ordered: Charcoal grilled flank steak au jus, Salisbury steak with mushroom gravy, Grilled soy chicken cutlet with garlic lemon sauce, Vegan chicken noodle soup, Grilled Mahi Mahi fish steaks, Meatballs in marinara sauce, Hot & spicy soy chicken buffalo wings, Hamburger Soy chicken cacciatore, The range of tastes and textures were unbelievably true to the essence of the meat-dish equivalent. The presentation (appearance) of each dish was a pleasant surprise. Before the package of foods arrived at my home I anticipated a disaster. Each dish was plastic-sealed in its own package and the entire box was shipped with dry ice. Grill marks appeared on the chicken cutlet and mahi-mahi and perfect large sprigs of fresh rosemary accompanied the faux fish dish which actually came with a whiff of the ocean's bouquet. How do they do that, I wondered? Even Tyke (my Boston Terrier) loved just about everything although she was not too enthusiastic about the Spicy chicken wings. That makes one of us. I adored them and will order these delights by the platter in the future. Speaking of the future...Fantasy Super Bowl Party/Feast this year, I'll start by eating Southern-style ribs and spicy buffalo chicken drumsticks. In the second half, I'll enjoy crab cakes and meatballs. Will there be room for dessert? That depends upon whether or not my New Jersey Giants are beating my New Jersey Jets by a big score. Otherwise, it will be nail-biting time. Human fingernails aren't vegan. Everything else will be. I'll be ordering my food a few days before the big game from the fabulous Veggie Brothers. Room for dessert? I'll keep it simple by asking Michael to prepare a platter of chocolate chip cookies." Robert Cohen: http://www.notmilk.com/

Breast Cancer Prevention

By Neal Barnard, M.D.
Ask any doctor what women can do to prevent breast cancer, and the response will probably be to get an annual mammogram after age 50, or perhaps after age 40. Mammograms certainly are important. But they do not prevent cancer. They find cancer. Biopsy, surgery, or chemotherapy then follow.
What is largely unknown to the American public—and sadly underemphasized in medical schools—is that breast cancer is often a preventable illness. When I was a medical student, I was not taught that breast cancer had any relationship to dietary factors. At that time, breast cancer attacked one in every 11 women. When I was a resident in the early 1980s, most doctors remained ignorant of any risk factors that could be controlled, and the rate went up to one in ten. The failure to prevent cancer has exacted an increasing toll; today, the disease attacks one woman in eight.
It is not that scientists do not have the information. As long ago as 1982, the National Research Council published a report called Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer,1 showing the mountain of evidence already available linking specific dietary factors to cancer of the breast and other organs. But brochures with watered-down recommendations have sat collecting dust at cancer research centers. There was never an organized effort to give women the information they need to make decisions about cancer prevention.
The dietary factors emerged in comparisons of different countries. In Japan, for example, breast cancer is rare. But Japanese women who move to the United States soon have the same risk of cancer as American women—at least 400 percent higher than in Japan. The differences in cancer risk between the U.S. and Japan are not due to genetics. Nor is it something in the air or water. The critical factor is the amount of fat, particularly animal fat, in the diet.2,3 In Japan, only about 15 percent of the calories in the diet come from fat. In the U.S., the fat content of the diet has been more than two times higher, around 35 percent. The more fat women consume, the greater their cancer risk. Similar findings have been made within other countries.
When the link between fat and cancer was found, researchers did not have to look far for an explanation. Several possibilities presented themselves. First of all, it is known that many breast tumors are "fueled" by estrogens, the female sex hormones for both women and men. But the more estrogen there is, the greater the driving force behind some kinds of breast cancer. The principal estrogen is estradiol, and the amount of estradiol produced by the body is linked to the amount of fat in the diet. On high-fat diets, estradiol production increases. On low-fat diets, it decreases.4-6 When women first adopt low-fat diets, their estradiol levels drop noticeably in a very short time. Vegans (people who consume no animal products) have significantly lower estrogen levels than non-vegetarians, perhaps because of the lower fat content of the vegan diet.
In addition, estradiol is carried in the blood on special carrier molecules. On high-fat diets, more estradiol breaks free from its carrier molecules and becomes biologically active, like soldiers jumping off a jeep and starting their attack. So high-fat diets may promote cancer by increasing the amount in addition to promoting the biological activity of estradiol in the body.
Another problem with high-fat diets is that the meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products that usually make up such diets are devoid of fiber. Fiber is the part of plant foods that resists digestion in the intestinal tract. Evidence suggests that fiber helps reduce estrogen levels by trapping it in the digestive tract. In addition, soybeans, which are a mainstay of Asian diets, contain phytoestrogens, which are very weak estrogens which can compete with and blunt the effect of normal estrogens. In the process, soybean products have been shown to reduce cancer risk.
So high-fat diets increase estrogen production, apparently increasing cancer risk. Low-fat, high-fiber diets reduce estrogens to a more biologically normal level. Since meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products contain no fiber at all, they increase the fat content and reduce the fiber content of the diet by displacing plant foods.
Since most Americans are on high-fat diets, one might ask if the resultant elevation of estrogen has other effects. The answer is almost certainly yes. During my medical education, I worked for a time at an inner-city clinic in Washington, D.C. There, girls of 12 and 13 would come in asking for birth control pills. Many had already had their first child and did not want to become pregnant again. I wondered why nature designed the human body to become sexually mature at an age when girls are not old enough to care for a child or even to sustain a long-term relationship. It appears that nature is not to blame. In fact, evidence suggests that the boy is designed to reach puberty a bit later.
According to the World Health Organization, the average age of puberty in girls in western countries in 1840 was about 17 years of age. Today we take it as a matter of course that girls will reach puberty at 11, 12, or 13. One-hundred-fifty years ago, high-fat diets were limited to a small, wealthy portion of the population.7 Today, high-fat diets have spread to the entire population, and puberty has occurred earlier and earlier, possibly due to the estrogen increase caused by high-fat diets. Early puberty has been associated with increased risk of breast cancer. A comparison of different countries lends further support to this theory. In China, low-fat diets are still the rule. There, the age of puberty ranges between 15 and 19. Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell University has studied the Chinese diet, which is centered on rice and vegetables, with little meat and no dairy products. The apparent effect is not just a higher age of puberty, but also phenomenally low rates of heart disease, obesity, and cancer.
High-fat diets may also encourage the absorption of carcinogens into the body. Researchers have observed, for example, that when the carcinogens in cigarette smoke are absorbed through the lung tissue, they tend to travel along with fats in the blood. It may be that on a low-fat diet, the body is less able to absorb and transport carcinogens.
Evidence suggests that other factors also play important roles. The mineral selenium, found in grains, helps prevent cancer, as does physical exercise and avoiding alcohol.
We can dramatically reduce the toll, not only of breast cancer, but of other cancers as well. As everyone now knows, a low-fat, high-fiber, plant-based diet helps protect against colon cancer.
And there is more: we now have clues to preventing cancer of the ovary. A complex and fascinating study by Dr. Daniel Cramer of Harvard University elucidated the relationship between cancer and diet. Dr. Cramer studied hundreds of women with ovarian cancer, and had them record in detail what they normally ate. He compared them to a group of women who were similar in age and other demographic variables but did not develop cancer. There was one thing that the women with cancer had eaten much more frequently than women without cancer: dairy products, especially the supposedly "healthy" products, such as yogurt.
The culprit may be a normal breakdown product of the milk sugar lactose. Lactose is broken down in the body to another sugar called galactose. In turn, galactose is broken down further by enzymes in the body. According to Dr. Cramer,8 when dairy product consumption exceeds the enzymes' capacity to break down galactose, there is a build-up of galactose in the blood, which may damage a woman's ovaries. Some women have particularly low levels of these enzymes, and when they consume dairy products on a regular basis, their risk of ovarian cancer can be triple that of other women. The problem is the milk sugar, not the milk fat, so it is not solved by using non-fat products. In fact, yogurt and cottage cheese seem to be of most concern because the bacteria used in their production increase the production of galactose from lactose.
There is a great deal of evidence that dietary factors can help prevent cancer. But what about improving survival for those who have cancer? The evidence is not all in, but there is reason to believe that foods can have an important effect here, too. The immune system is our line of defense against both initial cancers and the spread of cancer. Substantial evidence shows that certain foods can bolster immune function, while others impair it. For example, natural killer cells are specialized white blood cells that seek out and destroy cancer cells. A recent German study showed that vegetarians have more than twice the natural killer cell activity of non-vegetarians.9 It is not yet known whether the immune strength of vegetarians comes from their having double the number of natural killer cells or from each cell having double the killing power. Whichever it is, vegetarians have a defense against cancer cells that is far beyond that of their meat-eating fellows. The immune strength of a vegetarian diet probably comes from its low fat content and from vitamin-rich vegetables and fruits.
Low-fat diets strengthen the immune defenses against cancer cells. Researchers in New York tested the effect of low-fat diets on immunity.10 They put healthy volunteers on a diet which cut the fat content to 20 percent. Three months later, the researchers took blood samples from the volunteers and examined their natural killer cells. As in the German study, the natural killer cell activity was greatly increased, although not as much as on the vegetarian diet used by the German researchers. It appears that all fats and oils—animal or vegetable—can impair the immune system.11,12 Even fish oils interfere with natural killer cells.13,14
Certain vitamins can be immune boosters. Beta-carotene is naturally found in yellow and dark green vegetables. Several research studies at the National Cancer Institute have shown that those who consume generous amounts of beta-carotene-rich vegetables cut their cancer risk substantially. Beta-carotene's power comes partly from its ability to neutralize free radicals, molecules which tend to form in the body and which can attack the cells and cause cancer. Vitamins C and E also have some of this ability. But beta-carotene also increases the number of natural killer cells and increases the number of another kind of white blood cell, called the T-helper cell, which helps direct the immune response.15 The minerals selenium, zinc, and iron are also important to immune function, although for zinc and iron, both too much and too little can spell problems.
A cancer prevention diet has to be very different from even the diet recommended by the National Cancer Institute. The NCI still recommends a 30-percent fat diet, in spite of strong evidence that a 30-percent fat limit is far too high. The Japanese and Chinese do not eat a 30-percent fat diet. Their diets have half the fat of the NCI-recommended diet. A study by Dr. Willett and his colleagues at Harvard showed that a diet drawing 30 percent of its calories from fat had no measurable effect on cancer incidence.16 A cancer prevention diet should contain no more than 10 to 15 percent fat and should be vegetarian.
All together, the new knowledge on prevention is powerful artillery in the war on cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, as much as 80 percent of cancers can potentially be stopped before they ever start. Tobacco amounts for 30 percent of cancer cases. Dietary factors account for even more, from 35 to 50 percent. As the consumption of meat, dairy products, and fried foods has become a daily routine, the female body has been assaulted by altered hormonal function, an unnatural age of puberty, and a much greater risk of cancer. By eliminating unhealthful dietary factors and encouraging the diets that diminish risk, we can hope to turn the tide on this epidemic.

Longevity and Nutrition from Cultures Around the World

(NaturalNews) This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni's Rawkathon, which can be found at http://www.Rawkathon.com. In this excerpt, Viktoras Kulvinskas shares on what we can learn about longevity and living nutrition from other cultures around the world. Viktoras Kulvininskas is an author and researcher interested in life foods and living nutrition. Kevin: What does it take to extend the life span?Viktoras: The work has been done, it's very interesting enough. First of all, the potential of life extension was clearly marked out by Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel Prize recipient. He's written many books on man's higher consciousness. In the book, he refers to his classic experience with chicken heart tissues. In the experiments, he was able to eliminate waste on a regular basis and provide superior nutrition for the tissues, optimal nutrition. Twenty five years later, the chicken's heart tissues were still alive and going and reproducing. They had allowed it to grow to a full capacity where it filled up the room in terms of tissue development so that indicates the possibilities of tissue development are ad infinitum if the there is detoxification an optimal nutrient availability.The current research in the longevity field basically states that we're capable of about 80 to 100 cellular reproductions. That is really what it is with optimal nutrition that is propagated by our traditionally oriented research community. However as soon as you add an extra nutrient, extra vitamin E, C, all of a sudden it starts going up to a 150, and 200. So basically the question is, is there such an optimal optimization. Yes, and primarily the work was done with Dr. Julian Huxley, who was a very noted Biologist at the University of Chicago, and Dr. Chihal, who was a noble prize recipient; they work with basically worms. In a sense we are a kind of a worm, gastrointestinal, that's what the worm is with skinning. Well we got a little you know extrusions like hands and feet; overall, it's kind of similar in nature. The key things was letting the worms eat what is natural for the worms, mainly going to high quality dirt with all kind of organic matter in there, and then fasting them periodically. That was the whole thing, fasting and optimal nutrition. So that they found 17 generations later that the ones that were fasted were still young and vital.The studies that are published in longevity all emphasize that by reducing the caloric content by 60 percent and the protein intake by 60 percent you will create 3-400% increase in longevity. A classic study of human subject is the situation were if you were to look at, first of all looking at example of raw foodism, mainly the Eskimos, though it was not vegan oriented. It was actually animal oriented, but they ate everything in the raw, and that's what they basically means Eskimo. Eskimo the word means one who eats raw. As long as they ate raw their civilization had no doctors, no medicine man, there was no disease, no colds even, as long as they remained enzymatically active. Then civilization came in; pioneers came in, missionaries and they taught them the way of the stove. Well those who adapted to it within one generation the longevity went from 90 to around 45, and cancer, heart diseases, rheumatism, developed as being the killing forces. Otherwise they died in their 90s due to acidification and over exposure to the natural environment. But they lived right into their 90s with their full lock of hair, with their teeth and everything else like that and never being sick and being very mystical. Now growing up to little more humane environment is the situation of the study which was published... Then the next is in January of 1973; National Geographic put out expedition teams to three locations which had been noted for extreme longevity, to our standards of individuals, many of them a 120, 150, riding horses, and well attested records of their birth, OK? So they brought in nutritionists and doctors to study them. They found interesting enough their protein intake was around 32-35 grams per day, which is very low; in the USA we're more like 200 grams of protein on a daily basis, and heat treated protein. The studies that were done by Dr. Sumner of the Institute of Traumatology shows there's an inverse relationship between longevity and heat-treated protein consumption, the more you consume the shorter you live. So basically their work showed a low protein and low calorie, around 1500 calories and low fat, about one fifth of what is consumed in USA and technologically advanced countries, and they were very fit, agricultural people. They had their Stairmaster which was everyday; they were forced to climb mountains in the most pure air; they drank the water; they ran out of food usually enduring the end of the winter and the beginning of spring. So what did they do? They fasted. So they were forced in a yearly cyclic pattern. But you take a look at the photo essays of their children, they had triple chins; they were now trading their Hunza apricots for Twinkies with the tourists. They were not going to live like their grandparents who were very vital.I had the good fortune of being in Ecuador. I saw a whole bunch of these people who were 120. They were kind of lonely, disoriented individuals, drinking a lot, entertaining themselves and flirting and chasing girls and stuff like that. Still very healthy, radiant skin but it's a good photo essay of extreme longevity. Basically in longevity if you were to do live foods, fast weekly, as they advocate at Hippocrates Institute, one day a week, stay on liquid juices and also basically couple times a week go on a longer fast. You want to detoxify yourself so that your iris, like I started off with a black iris with four circular lines, which are called stress rings, it was black iris right now as you can see it is blue iris. Detoxification, your iris will go through changes. For American, Mediterranean and Asiatics will have a light brown but clean iris when they detox. You will not have any of the markings of leftover meat, leftover starches, leftover garbage. Enzymes will clean you out, clean out the interior; it will build up your immune system functions. Dr. Kovar, Elias Kovar, K-O-V-A-R, showed in his research published in medical journal, orally administer enzymes increases your natural killer cells by 1300 percent, macrophages by 700 percent, which says basically most doctors will agree if you could jump start the immune system you could cure any disease. Well hey, get enzymized.And then of course on Oprah Dr. Oz, who's a cardiologist, he says if you want to prevent all diseases you've got to stay alkalized. How are you going to stay alkalized every day? You've got to have a green soup, raw green soup. It's happening. Oprah herself did a week of vegan detox. Look, the most popular diet right now is raw veganism among the Hollywood set. And more and more athletes are fueling themselves with plant-based enzymatic nutrition. All the Olympic stars, Olympic coaches have their competitors on enzymes because it improves performance, reduces energy loss associated with digestive stress, allows rapid recovery from injuries. Practically 85 percent when injuries occurs and as much as 60 to 80 percent reduction in overall injuries. One of the major culprits in success in athletics and Olympics, you have injuries that can easily occur due to over exertion, and as a result you can be backsliding for a whole month, two months in recovery time. This does not happen with enzymatic therapies. Kevin: Yeah. What about blue-green algae? I know that you're a big proponent of blue-green algae. What are some of the specific benefits of it as a protein source and as a nutritional source in terms of minerals? Viktoras: Yeah. In terms of minerals. And they're extremely important; you have a full spectrum of minerals because the lake of the blue-green algae referred to as alpha or alphonazoma plus aqua which is the scientific term which is algae that grows in extremely alkaline, around 9.5 lake, and very nutrient dense. It is many ocean you might say all these minerals springs, hot and cold pour into it. Five thousand acres that surround it, a natural wonder and it's basically a very Eco friendly reserve. So you have a place where very nutrient dense and result, it has much higher nutrient profile, especially in reference to minerals. And the minerals really drive the concentration of, in particular, of the protein structuring. Basically algae fixate the nitrogen from the air, hooking it up to hydrogen, oxygen, and carbons to create the high 65 percent or so protein profile with a very high enzymatic makeup. Depending on how you harvest and how you dry it you're going to have it enzymatically active or not. I know we are enzymatically active with an extremely high chlorophyll profile, about five times higher than in wheat grass. Also the high mineral, the presence of the protein in a form of, predominately in a form of peptides, polypeptides and small chain amino acids, which act as precursors to neuropeptides, which facilitates clear mental faculty of functioning. We took a group.. this is in terms of profile; like if you were to take the blue-green algae and put it in a quart size, maybe four inch in diameter glass container, and put in about a half a teaspoon of blue-green algae into this water tower about, you know, twelve inches high, four inches across, mix it in, let it sit for about twenty minutes, and then look at it with high intensity light from the top. The top will be purple, magenta purple, then about eighty percent of it will be blue, and about ten to fifteen, twenty percent will be green. There's no other food that will have that kind of a color signature. The blue pigments are an indication of a high metallic influence on the brain activity, and this is the place where it has the most outstanding influence. Spirulina does not; chlorella does not have that kind of spectrum neither does it have a major influence on the brain. It's a good source of many nutrients. But the blue-green algae if you've done research, our company pioneered research in the blue- green algae, and we're the only ones that have spent all the money in terms of research associated with blue-green algae. So we've got a study that was done in Nicaragua; we took 2,000 children which had the lowest academic performance in all of Nicaragua, took a quarter of a teaspoon twice a day, the morning and evening, of blue-green algae, and then they were tested again at the end of school year. They were shown not to be...they went up by two grades and to be the highest academic performance in all of Nicaragua.

"UPDATE" After Chemo # 14, and Sleep Tips Article

Hi all! I am sitting in a small room that has two recliners and a TV---getting my 14th treatment of chemotherapy. The other patient sharing my room, similar disease and treatment just left. I have my laptop with me, so I am "blogging" to help pass the 2- 1/2 hrs this will take. My labs are again unchanged and still in the great category. Wbc = 7.5, Hgb= 12.3, Hct= 36.3, Platelets = 443, ANC= 5,687.5--which is the calculation to measure the immune system, (it should be above 1,500). I said a prayer on my way to treatment--as I always do, to ask God to protect my good cells, blood, organs, and bones, to keep the chemo agent targeting and killing only the cancer cells. I asked for all the cancer cells to be flushed from my body and that the tumors to shrink and disappear, while the many swollen lymph nodes to go back to their normal size and function as they were meant to. I also asked--again, to help me be receptive to any messages He has for me so I will know when to stop allowing chemotherapy treatments, and how I may be of service to Him. This is what I try to focus on during and after treatments--it fortifies my soul. I brought my green smoothie of Kale, lemon, and banana with me to fortify my body. The nurses don't even ask me anymore if I would like the provided lunch of white bread, deli meats with cheese, chips, and pop, they know that I want to improve my health through nutrition---although they may not understand or condone it. Lead by example.

Sleep Tips to Improve Your Waking Health / by The Cancer Nutrition Center Newsletter
You may have a hard time eating the right mix of foods for your health, and with all the fast food temptations around us, who wouldn't? It may also be nearly impossible for many of you to find the time to exercise, despite all the good it can do. No doubt, it takes great effort in many areas of your life over the long haul to improve your health. That said, one of the best and easiest things you can do is getting the right amount of restful sleep every night. A very persuasive argument can be made that sleep is the foundation upon which good health is built. Recent studies have linked sleep problems -- too much and too little -- to a litany of problems. Among them: Diabetes, Depression- particularly among teens and children,
Rheumatoid arthritis, Retaining memories, Heart disease, The stability of interpersonal relationships, and
a greater risk of falling among the elderly.
People Need Their Beauty Sleep, but unfortunately, almost all that is known about why humans need sleep has been collected only over the past half-century, thus research in this field is still a work in progress. Even as scientists continue to learn why our bodies need sleep, studies on animals are discovering a broad list of benefits that keep growing by the day. For example, researchers believe sleep may have evolved as a way for animals to protect themselves from disease naturally by bolstering their immune systems. In a more recent study on a broad array of species, UCLA scientists learned sleep may be a necessary component to an animal's survival. Arguably, the best evidence may be the more than 70 disorders associated with sleep deprivation, contributing to some $16 billion in medical costs, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The most popular culprits: sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy and insomnia. A Sleep Check list; There's no question we need our sleep to survive, so our bodies and brains can function more optimally (giving credence to the term "beauty sleep"). Experiencing the stages leading up to the deepest levels -- rapid eye movement (REM) -- and avoiding the many disorders associated with a lack of sleep is the real trick, however.
What follows is a compilation of common sense list of tips, tricks and pointers you can use to get the right amount of sleep every night. Although some of these suggestions sound unconventional, all of them are safe and none require taking a drug:
1. Turn off the laptop, PDA and mobile phone, and keep them out of your bedroom when you retire for the night. And, while you're at it, move that huge and gorgeous flat screen LCD TV out too. Bedrooms are for resting and sleeping, not entertaining! But, if you must watch a little TV to relax before going to sleep, stay away from watching the news. Choose an episode of Seinfeld or The Simpsons to watch instead, in your living room.
2. Even though this suggestion may sound like heresy to pet owners, if you're fighting for space and sleep time on your bed with, for example, three cats craving your undivided attention simultaneously, it may be better for your mind and body to evict them too.
3. The cooler you keep your bedroom, even in the winter, the better you'll sleep.
4. Your parents said, "Lights out!" for a reason. The bedroom is the one place in your home where you'll want to completely stay in the dark when sleeping.
5. Don't go cheap on your mattress and pillows, at the very least, to protect your back. Learn more about picking out the right mattress and pillows for your needs at Spine-Health.com.
6. Establish a relaxing sleep routine and stick to it, which means going to sleep and waking up at the same times every day, even on weekends.
7. Cut your consumption of stimulants, namely nicotine and caffeine, and liquids before bedtime. Stay away from eating heavy meals late in your waking day too.
8. Plan to make a trip or two to the bathroom before you turn in for the night.
9. Although the jury is divided on the benefits of an afternoon nap, make it short and do it earlier in your day.
10. He or she who hesitates often loses sleep. When you're ready to go to sleep, just do it. If sleep doesn't come very soon after your head hits the pillow (give it 15-20 minutes), get up and read a book or watch another Seinfeld episode. You'll get to sleep sooner or later.
11. If none of these tips improve your sleep, don't hesitate to make an appointment with your doctor. While you're at it, schedule a physical especially if you want to avoid a cancer diagnosis in your future.