Superfoods Could Help Keep You Healthy

A new generation of new superfoods that tackle heart disease and diabetes could be developed following research into a protein that helps keep cells in our bodies healthy.

Researchers at the University of Warwick found that the protein, called Nrf2, continually moves in and out of the nuclei of human cells to sense the cell's health and vitality.

When Nrf2 is exposed to threats to the cell's health it oscillates faster and activates an increase in the cell's defence mechanism, including raising the levels of antioxidant.

The researchers, from the University's Warwick Medical School, successfully increased the speed of Nrf2's movement by artificially introducing health beneficial substances – potential components of new superfoods.
The beneficial substances comprise broccoli-derived sulforaphane and quercetin, which is found in high-levels in onions.

The team used these insights to develop new food supplements, which are currently being trialled to decrease risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.

Published by Antioxidants and Redox Signalling, the research investigated the ways in which compounds in fruit and vegetables keep humans healthy.

The research team are the first to record the continual movement cycle of Nrf2, which sees the protein oscillate in and out of the cell nucleus once every 129 minutes. When stimulated by a health beneficial vegetable-derived substance Nrf2's cycle sped up to 80 minutes.

Lead researcher Professor Paul Thornalley says, "The way Nrf2 works is very similar to sensors in electronic devices that rely on continual reassessment of their surroundings to provide an appropriate response".

Discussing the health benefits of the research Professor Thornalley argues:

"The health benefit of Nrf2 oscillating at a fast speed is that surveillance of cell health is increased when most needed, that is, when cells are under threat. By understanding how this process works and increasing Nrf2's speed without putting cells under threat, new strategies for design of healthier foods and improved drugs can be devised. Current designs may have selected substances with suboptimal if not poor health benefits in some cases."

Commenting on the research, Professor Andreu Palou, coordinator of the EU-funded BIOCLAIMS research programme said "A main nutritional challenge in Europe is to substantiate the beneficial effects of foods that are advertised to the consumers. The approach of the group of Prof Thornalley is opening a fascinating new window."

What all this means to the consumer is that Standard Process is a company that is continuously working to give us all real food supplements that offer real health benefits for a long-lasting, productive life.  That is why I have switched over to Standard Process and MediHerb...especially for those suffering from chronic health problems.

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This Year's Flu and A Very Worthy Cause

According to the CDC, this year's flu shots will, at best, be only effective in about 30% of the cases...for those who are interested in an  effective method of dealing with what appears to be a very nasty flu season, I suggest prevention.

There are a few formulations that are extremely helpful in avoiding the flu, if taken as soon as the first signs of flu appear.  These are readily available for anyone who is interested.  For those with previously compromised immune systems, there are specialized formulations also available.

For those of you looking for a hostess gift or just a yummy Christmas gift, may I suggest you look at the following website?    http://www.bakingmemories4kids.com/purchase-cookies/

This organization uses 100% of the proceeds from these cookies to send a significantly ill child on a family vacation to Florida for a week.  I saw this on a morning show, today, and feel that this is a wonderful way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

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Living a High Energy, Vital Lifestyle

You can live your life with energy and vitality. Unfortunately, our fast-paced, modern life-style promotes stress causing us to choose efficiency and convenience; sacrificing our health. The fact is Americans simply do not eat the right things in the right amounts. Studies show most of us do not get enough of the nutrients our bodies need for peak efficiency - especially those found in low trans fat, high-soluble fiber diets with the recommended amount of fruits, vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids.


Don't be put off by the claims and studies stating that supplementation is unnecessary as we can get everything our bodies need through a healthy, wholesome diet. We couldn't agree more. If you're eating a diet that includes the recommended 2-3 servings of organic fruits and 6-8 servings of organic vegetables daily (remembering to include 20 gm. of soluble fiber)  and wild caught fatty fish three times per week, along with a regimen of exercise, you may not need to add a high-quality, whole food vitamin or supplement to your diet.


If, on the other hand, what you eat is not always what you need, a natural, organic whole food supplement can help you repair/maintain a healthy, active life. Additionally, men and women over 40 have special concerns and needs.


A sensible regimen of natural vitamins and supplements may begin to fill the voids that start opening due to our stressful lives and enable you to maintain a vibrant edge and enjoy life to its fullest.


I have evaluated all the products that I carry to verify they have; NO: Sugar, Yeast, gluten, Sodium, artificial coloring or favors or ingredients of animal products.

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Beware if you Use This Dryer Product

The results from a long-term study have just been released...dryer sheets as well as commonly used plastics (including containers that many use in microwaves) contain a particular group of chemicals (phthalates) that have been linked to lower IQs in children whose mothers were exposed to them while pregnant.

The researchers noted that when comparing children of the same age (7 years old), the children that were exposed as fetuses, showed a significantly lowered IQ than those that weren't exposed to higher than "allowable" or "recommended"
levels. 

Whether or not this is scientifically "provable," it should give anyone who uses dryer sheets, plastic containers in microwaves, plastic toys, water bottles, cosmetics and vinyl flooring (to name the most commonly used items), reason to pause, at the very least.  I have written many blogs about the subject of the deleterious affects that chemical exposure can cause.  Please, consider not using conventional cosmetics and body care products or plastic water bottles and dryer sheets.  There are some pretty tricky alternatives to chemical fabric softeners and detergents that we use that cost next to nothing, won't hurt our environment and won't hurt us or our children.

This is just another example of the unintended consequences that we can reap from technology and inventions that we don't take the time to study and carefully consider.

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A new Method of Lyme's Transmission

There have been a number of studies recently released that indicate that Lyme's can be transmitted like an STD.  High levels of the spirochetes have been found in vaginal secretions.  The use of a condom is suggested for anyone with Lyme's who is having active sex.

A medical doctor out of Boston who has been studying and treating patients with Lyme's has found that after the second or third course of antibiotic therapy, the Lyme's reactivates and many patients contract arthritis.  This is irrespective of the type of antibiotics that the patient is taking.

Antibiotic therapy for Lyme's has not been effective for many, many people.  Some who have been taking antibiotics for years still feel horrible and can  experience explosive diarrhea, changes in cognition, exhaustion, fibromyalgia-like symptoms, chronic arthritis, depression, anxiety and sleep problems, among other symptoms.

There are alternatives to traditional therapy, using specific formulations, which have been shown to be highly effective for those suffering from Lyme's.  There is hope for those with this condition.

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Well, It Didn't Take as Long as We Thought

A few weeks ago, I attended an extremely informative seminar about the condition, Dysbiosis.  I wrote a number of blogs about this widespread problem
which is associated with autoimmune diseases as well as other GI tract conditions.  The lecturer stated that the up-and-coming medical "cure" for dysbiosis and its associated problems would be fecal transplants....instead of treating the causes of the dysbiosis.

I just, now, received an e-mail from a medical doctor touting the "latest" in gut-related illnesses and diseases: FMT=  fecal microbiota transplants.  Wow, that was sooner than any of us thought.  The lecturer thought these transplants would be happening within the year.

Fecal Transplants------------------ Dysbiosis Protocol.... which to choose?

My guess is that we'll soon be seeing ads from the "it which must not be named" industry after it develops meds and protocols for the FMT procedures. 

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Chronic Idiopathic Constipation

Constipation is a subject that still seems to be taboo in our society.  Since topics of conversation that are deemed 'unacceptable' are generational, I guess discussion about what and how we eliminate are forbidden since we were all in diapers.  The problem is that if our doctors don't know that a patient is having problems in this area, we can't help reverse a potentially very serious imbalance.

Let's look at this condition and see what is really happening.

Chronic= All/Most of the Time
Idiopathic=  Unknown Cause
Constipation=  Difficult & Infrequent Elimination

When being encouraged to take medications for something that is, admittedly, ambiguous in origin, we run the risk of not only not addressing the underlying cause but also making things worse.

Constipation is a symptom/effect that indicates a chronically imbalanced gastrointestinal system, caused by dysbiosis...a topic that we have talked about before.  The body is crying out that it isn't digesting or assimilating food and that there are inflammatory problems going on that need immediate attention.

Please, don't ignore or downplay constipation, especially if it is chronic.  Probiotics won't help more than symptomatically.  If they are needed on a daily basis to help alleviate symptoms, it is a further indication that there needs to be serious intervention with specific protocol and dietary changes.

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Antibiotics in Your Fish and Seafood: Another Source for Dysbiosis

When we think about food raised with antibiotics, we probably picture oversized chickens and plumped-up cows. But they’re also in our fish—both farmed and wild, finds a new study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

Antibiotics are used in fish largely to treat and prevent disease, not to promote growth, says study leader Hansa Done, a PhD candidate at Arizona State University’s Center for Environmental Security. They’re dispersed into the water in fish farms and are sometimes injected into fish directly. And once they get into the fish, they generally stay there, even though their concentration diminishes over time.

 The study looked at 27 fish from 11 different countries, all bought at an Arizona supermarket. Researchers used a meat grinder to pulverize the fish and tested the meat for 47 types of antibiotics. They found residues of five antibiotics, some of which are also used to treat human diseases. Residues of a kind of tetracycline, for instance, showed up in farmed tilapia, farmed salmon and farmed trout. It was also present in wild-caught shrimp from Mexico—probably due to wastewater treatment plant runoff, Done says. Even fish marketed as antibiotic-free wasn’t off the hook: researchers found virginiamycin in one sample of farmed salmon bearing the label.
All traces of the drugs were within legal limits of what’s allowed—which is a victory for our food supply, says Done, but there is a caveat: “For there to still be something in there”—after untold stages of processing and months in Done’s freezer—“means that at one point, it was injected or fed a lot more,” she says. “We just don’t know how much.”
The problem with low-dose antibiotics isn’t that they’re immediately harmful to human health, Done says. It’s that high or low levels in our food supply can breed antibiotic resistance. “Antibiotics present at levels well below regulatory limits still can promote the emergence of drug resistant microorganisms,” the researchers write in the study. In a related meta-analysis of studies on antibiotics and seafood, Done found that antibiotic resistant bacteria in seafood has grown more than 8-fold in the past three decades.
Beyond fending off disease, it’s not clear what antibiotics are doing to the fish themselves. “There’s this rumor that high levels of [the antibiotic] oxytetracycline could lead to spinal deformities in rainbow trout if it’s fed to them during their growth stages,” Done says, though she notes a definite lack of research on the matter. In the six fish she tested, the group with normal spines didn’t have detectable levels of oxytetracycline, but the three with deformed spines did—though only very slightly detectable levels, she says.

More research is needed

Maybe, just maybe, this might be yet another reason for the explosion of autoimmune diseases and other problems related to microbiota overgrowth.

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A Simple Way to Add Soluable Fiber to Your Diet

Building on my last blog about the importance of adding soluable fiber to the diet, I've discovered (I'm sure others have already figured this out) a way of preparing the old fashioned rolled oats that doesn't take very long.

In a jar with a lid, put in your serving of oats (usually 1/3 of a cup) with water (2/3 cup) or any 1:2 ratio, cover and refrigerate overnight.  Place the mixture into a large saucepan (this stuff will boil over, easily), cover and cook on 3 or 4 setting (electric stove top) for about 12-15 minutes.  Then, after turning off the heat, cover and let sit about 5 minutes.  Voile...all done.

I made a bit of a mistake this morning and added more water because some of the oats stuck to the bottom of the jar.  It looked like a big wet mess, but after the initial 10 minutes of cooking, I turned the heat up, took the cover off the pan and continued to cook (and stir, often) the mixture until all the water was absorbed.  It was creamy and delicious.  I added 1 tbsp. of Hemp hearts, some crushed almonds, a little pink salt and some coconut palm sugar and cinnamon.  You could add some raisins, if you'd like.

Enjoy!

The Real Reason for Our Allergies and Food Reactions

We remember that there is a difference between an allergic reaction (requiring an antigen that causes anaphylaxis) and an adverse reaction to foods (causing us specific discomfort after ingesting the offending food).  Interestingly enough, discounting some genetic-mediated factors, the reason for both problems is virtually the same....dysbiosis.

 A few blogs back, I introduced the concept of dysbiosis, but not the causes.  I thought I'd discuss a bit about the etiology of this wide-spread problem.

Our intestines contain both native and acquired microbiota.  We inherit our native bacteria from our mothers....except if we are delivered via C-section.  Then, our flora becomes skin, rather than bowel-based.  We also are able to re-populate our native flora by eating specific foods....soluable fiber and fermented foods.  Without these two food groups, our native flora will diminish to the point of allowing "bad bacteria" overgrowth.  Add antibiotics to the mixture and our native bacteria don't stand a chance.

When the wrong type of bacteria overgrow our intestines, a cascade of imbalances occur to:  our anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic responses, the absorption of minerals, including iron, our population of potassium, vitamins B 5,7,9, and 12, our production of neurochemicals such as GABA, dopamine, norepinephrine, progesterone, histamine, serotonin and acetlycholine, the pH of our colon, bile acid metabolism and further small intestine bacterial overgrowth, to name a few.  The microbiota of our large intestine are trophic (synergistic to the function) to the heart, brain and pancreas...an imbalance to these areas contributes to heart disease, diabetes and cognitive dysfunction aka Alzheimer's.

Our "great American white trash food" diet, along with our propensity to take medications, especially antibiotics, for every little problem has lead us to this epidemic of dysbiosis.  Look at the increase in serious nut allergic reactions in the past 25 years, alone.  Dysbiosis has been shown to contribute to the rash of autoimmune diseases...via a phenomenon known as, "cross reactive immune response."  It is the cause of our inability to digest and assimilate foods...indicated by bloating, gas, heart burn, anemia, and the rash of bowel discomforts and diseases (most of which are caused by a corrupted autoimmune response).

The health of our native microbiota is directly related to the balanced function and health of our entire body.  Our diets are at the forefront of both the cause of and the solution to dysbiosis.  I wonder how many people are surprised to learn just how important our healthy bacteria are to us....

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