Category Archives: Supplements

Pesticides and Diabetes

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A recent Medscape article recounts the link between specific agricultural pesticides and an increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes in wives of farmers using the pesticides.

This was in farming communities in Iowa and Connecticut.

What is the chance, however, that the same does not hold good in our local communities? In fact, during a demonstration of an agricultural product to grape farmers in an unnamed area famous for its grapes, the farmers candidly declared that they never eat their own produce, because they are fully aware of the pesticides they have used during the process!!!

But we buy, eat and relish the same grapes – because we don’t know better or because we don’t have a choice.

 

So the bottomline is – our food is exposing us to the risk of chronic illness when it is supposed to nourish us. Scary, isn’t it?

Simply underlines the need for protection. We have seen in an earlier post, that what we eat affects our genes and this information is passed on to our offspring and also our grandchildren.

How can we protect ourselves? Through liberal intake of anti-oxidants in fruit and vegetables. By eating organic as far as possible. By avoiding processed foods and GMO foods. By choosing meat and dairy from grass fed animals.

Be sensible, stay healthy, avoid illness!

Cancer – Causes and Prevention

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Causes of Cancer

  • Genetic – only 10%.

Having a genetic predisposition does NOT condemn us to actually suffering from the disease.

  • Poor Nutrition – 30%.

Sugar feeds cancer. Green tea, 5 – 8 cups a day, reduces recurrence of breast cancer.

  • Inflammation and Infections
  • Obesity
  • Environmental Toxins.

 

So this means that if we can maintain a healthy lifestyle, we can beat our genetics.

What constitutes a healthy lifestyle?

  • Optimum nutrition. 9-13 servings of vegetables, including 1-2 fruit, per day. Ideally free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Definitely free of Genetic Modification.
  • Nutritional supplements to cover the gap between what we can consume and what our body actually needs.
  • Optimum exercise
  • Optimum sleep
  • Stress reduced, mindful living

That’s it! It’s always simple to remain healthy.

Macular Degeneration: Fight for Your Eyes

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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is characterized by a gradual loss of central vision, generally in people over age 55.  Loss of central vision can affect driving, reading, discerning fine visual detail, and other tasks that can interfere with employment, independence, and quality of life.

Experts estimate there will be about 3 million cases of AMD in the U.S. alone by 2020.

  • Studies show current smokers have a two-to-three-fold increase in risk for AMD compared to those who never smoked.
  • Another lifestyle intervention is wearing sunglasses and possibly the amber goggles designed to block blue light.
  • Nutritional strategies: increasing intake of omega-3 fats and decreasing consumption of omega-6s. Increased intake of high-glycemic carbs is associated with increased risk for AMD. An effective – and delicious – dietary step is increased intake of antioxidants and carotenoids – the ones associated with eye health, are lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Since these carotenoids are fat-soluble and are more effectively absorbed when eaten with fat, AMD is one case where great taste benefits health, eg. fresh tomatoes with olive oil, or a pat of butter on a sweet potato. The sulfur compounds in cruciferous vegetables also protect retinal tissue. Egg yolks being a good source of lutein, it seems an omelet with broccoli, kale, tomatoes, and orange peppers can be aptly thought of as “eye food.”

Be Healthy!

OD on veggies!

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Consuming  a wide variety of vegetables is the quickest way to better health for just about any ailment, including pain. There are not many instances where this is not true, nor “experts” that will challenge this advice.

Incorporating tons of seasonal, colorful vegetables on a daily basis will ensure you are covered with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and other essential micronutrients, with very little need for supplemental vitamins.

Some of the reasons vegetables are so valuable for long term health are :

1 – High in antioxidants

Antioxidants help combat the daily “exhaust products”, (otherwise known as free radicals) produced from normal functioning of our body’s cellular machinery, environmental exposure to toxins, and stress.

To keep your joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and other important organs from rusting away, aim to get about 50% of your daily caloric intake from vegetables.

2 – Low in fat

This is self-explanatory. Overconsumption of unhealthy fats (in addition to lots of highly refined carbohydrates) is the number one reason for the declining health and exploding obesity rates.

Plenty of healthy fats and a hearty helping of vegetables at each meal, will help keep the body in a more anti-inflammatory state, and with time moving it towards a more pain free state.

3 – High in fiber

Diets high in fiber help to keep your gastrointestinal tract functioning optimally to allow maximal extraction of vital nutrients and lead to timely and regular elimination of those toxic “exhaust products”.

4 – Low Glycemic Index 

Lower GI foods, whether natural or refined, are less likely to spike blood sugar. Maintaining a fairly constant blood sugar without huge peaks and troughs over the course of a day is key to successful aging.

At the cellular level, there are many reasons why you age. One particular reason is the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). This is a reaction where excess circulating sugars crosslink, or glycate, fats and proteins causing molecular rearrangements.

With molecular rearrangements, this leads to deterioration and decreased function of the tissue, the release of free radicals known to promote inflammation, and in turn – you guessed it – more pain.

AGEs are strongly linked to metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia. They are also known to promote inflammation and contribute to tendon, ligament, and joint damage.

Bottom line – next time you’re in the grocery store, make sure a minimum of 50% of what you plan to prepare comes from plant-based sources.

WHO recommends 9-13 servings of vegetables and fruit daily. Obviously this is difficult to achieve, however it is necessary to get rid of the free radicals. Hence supplementation from a good organic source is recommended.

Stay Healthy!

Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

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High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the most important risk factor for premature death, accounting for half of all deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and 13.5 percent of all deaths each year. 

Thus,  keeping your blood pressure under control is one of the most important things you can do to extend your lifespan.

Recent research suggests that even “high normal” blood pressure (120–129 / 80–84 mmHg) increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 46% on average.

Making the problem worse, studies have shown that drug therapy for “high normal” blood pressure and even mild hypertension is not effective. A large review of randomized, clinical trials performed by the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration found that anti-hypertensive drugs used to treat mild hypertension (140–159 / 90–99 mm/Hg) did not reduce disease complications or the risk of death.


But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do. Like most other chronic diseases, high blood pressure is caused by a mismatch between our genes and the modern diet and lifestyle, characterized by processed and refined foods, sedentary behavior, chronic sleep deprivation, a lack of sun exposure and excess use of caffeine, alcohol and tobacco.
If you have “high-normal” blood pressure or mild hypertension, here are three recommendations for decreasing your blood pressure naturally.
Diet

• Sugar. Increased consumption of sugar is associated with high blood pressure, and reducing sugar intake has been shown to lower blood pressure.
• Potassium. High dietary intake of potassium is associated with lower blood pressure.
• Cold-water fish. DHA, in particular, is very effective at reducing blood pressure.
• Magnesium. A high dietary intake of magnesium has been shown to reduce blood pressure, though its effect is not as strong as what is observed with potassium. Nuts, seeds, spinach, beet greens, and chocolate are the highest food sources of magnesium. Magnesium’s effect on blood pressure is magnified when combined with increased potassium intake. In fact, increasing potassium and magnesium intake together while moderately reducing sodium intake can lower blood pressure as much as a single medication.
What about salt? We’ve been told for years that a high salt intake is one of the primary risk factors for high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, but it’s time to shake up the salt myth. Though some studies do suggest that restricting salt can lower blood pressure, the evidence supporting a connection between salt intake and cardiovascular disease is weak at best. What’s more, some evidence suggests that restricting salt too much may be harmful to our health. There’s no strong evidence that reducing salt intake below one and one-half teaspoons is beneficial.
Lifestyle
There are a number of steps you can take in terms of behavioral and lifestyle change to lower your blood pressure. These include:
• Weight loss. Excess body fat can raise blood pressure, and reducing it can lower blood pressure.
• Exercise. Endurance exercise, strength training, high-intensity interval training and simply moving around more during the day have all been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure.
• Sleep. Both short sleep duration and poor sleep quality increase the risk that you’ll develop high blood pressure. (
• Sunlight. Exposure to ultraviolet light increases the production of a chemical in our bodies called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a powerful vasodilator; it helps our blood vessels to relax, which in turn lowers blood pressure.
• Meditation. Several studies have shown that meditation can be effective for lowering blood pressure, possibly via its relaxing effects on the nervous system.
• Deep breathing. Deep breathing is part of many traditional practices such as yoga, qi gong and certain forms of meditation. Even short periods of deep breathing have been shown to modestly lower blood pressure, and using deep-breathing techniques over weeks to months may lead to long-term reductions in blood pressure. Research suggests that three to four fifteen-minute sessions per week of deep breathing are sufficient to have this effect.
• Biofeedback. Biofeedback, the process of becoming aware of the body’s physiological functions, has been shown to effectively reduce blood pressure, with no side effects or risks.
First get your weight loss, exercise, sleep and sun exposure started. Then choose either meditation, deep breathing, or biofeedback and stick with it for a month. You’ll be amazed at the results.
Supplements
Several supplements have been shown to be quite effective for lowering blood pressure. In fact, research suggests that when combined together, diet and lifestyle changes and supplements can be even more effective than drug treatment.
Here’s a list of the supplements you should consider:
• CoQ10. Coenzyme Q10 is an antioxidant that plays an important role in protecting the heart. Levels of CoQ10 decrease with age and are lower in patients with diseases that are characterized by inflammation and oxidative stress, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. At doses of 100–225 mg per day, CoQ10 reduces systolic blood pressure by 15 mgHg and diastolic blood pressure by 10 mgHg.
• Garlic. Clinical trials have shown that garlic supplements have a modest but significant impact on blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, with an average reduction of 8.4 mmHg (systolic) and 7.3 mmHg (diastolic).
• Magnesium. Magnesium taken in supplemental form at doses of 500–1,000 mg/d over an eight-week period has been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure.
• Vitamin C. Vitamin C has been shown to modestly reduce blood pressure and improve arterial health in clinical studies.The recommended dose is 1,000 mg a day.
• Potassium. Potassium may help reduce blood pressure. The main dietary sources of potassium are starchy vegetables like potato, sweet potato and plantain, fruits like banana, and some species of fish, like halibut, rockfish, and salmon.

You’ll find that your doctor can soon reduce and even stop the antihypertensives they are giving you. What’s more, you’re saving yourself from developing the complications of high blood pressure. In a safe, easy and natural way!

Be Healthy.