Archive for July, 2009

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NIH) found in a study of animals that diets high in omega-3 oils helped prevent and in some cases reversed age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Omega-3 lowers inflammation in the eyes as well as the rest of the body. By lowering inflammation in the eye it signals that part of the process which leads to lesion formation in the eye.

Omega-3 essential fatty acid known as DHA is closely connected with eye health beginning at a very early age in children.

One of the best sources of omega-3 that I know of is from Nordic Naturals, a world leader in omega-3 fish oils.

It was after World War II (ended in 1945 for you youngsters) that the edible oil companies took over our food supply. As they learned that refining food products, literally taking the nutrition out of our food and substituting placebos that obesity began to occur. By 1959 the fast food restaurant came into being and hydrogenated oils replaced lard, butter and tallow. They told us that margarine was better than butter, transfat better than saturated fat; eggs were filled with cholesterol and therefore unhealthy. All the real foods were being replaced with artificial ingredients that were supposed to save us from getting heart attacks and strokes.

The reality is that since WWII diabetes, strokes, heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest have increased. Dementia, Alzheimer, fibromyalgia spread among the population as people got away from “real” food and ate the plastic food off the shelf. This food had most of the nutrients taken out and preservatives added so that they had a longer self-life and it didn’t matter if you ate it this year or next. It was indestructible and indigestible.

Our human bodies are quite amazing and are capable of  overcoming many obstacles but continued abuse with poor diets and lack of exercise are taking its toll and so more than half of US citizens are obese. When we look at other countries who have not taken on Western ways we find they are much healthier.

Unfortunately we have been sold a bill of goods and only now people are beginning to realize there is a better way – there is a way to eat healthy. As scientific studies have shown we need food supplements to get the nutrients we need for a healthy body. Exercise and diet are the two main ingredients for a healthy llife-style.

Live life as it was meant to be.

“Supersize Me” advertises the fast food market, and so it happens. We eat more calories than we need and mostly empty calories at that and wonder why we become supersized. The MSG, hydrogenated ingredients and preservatives in the supersized food adds to our weight and our ill health. We wonder why our clothes don’t fit, our stomach is upset and heartburn sets in.  MSG (monosodium glutamate) was used by Japan to make food taste better for their soldiers in WWII and we copied their toxic ways. Fortunately some companies are now avoiding MSG but look at the label and you still see it all too frequently. Basically processed foods have too many toxins for people to remain healthy and so we turn to drugs to make us feel better. A healthy alternative is to eat “real” food, which hasn’t been injected with chemicals, which destroy the balance in our health. When you keep ingesting toxins the body is weakened and succumbs to all kinds of ailments.

To live the life we were born for we need to go back to eating the way our parents and grandparents did before World War II.

Dr. Russell Blaylock points out that MSG is getting negative press so the food barons come out with another substance called hydrolyzed vegetable protein that contains excitotoxins. (Excitotoxins are a group of amino acids which are building blocks of proteins that are called glutamate, aspartate, and cysteine.) The food manufacturers add tons of these excitotoxic amino acids to all kinds of food, even baby foods.

MSG is a known dangerous brain-toxic compound put in baby food. MSG not only adds tastiness to food it also causes damage to the nervous system. There are a whole class of chemicals that can produce very similar damage.

Now that you know this chemical added to food can cause brain damage in young children, and it could affect how your child’s nervous system formed that in later years may cause learning or emotional difficulties, how do we all respond? I write this blog—and read a lot of labels.

Somers, Suzanne: Breakthrough, p. 189

A survey of 6,360 retirees revealed that after four years those participating in altruistic activities showed a 14 percent lower death rate than those who chose not to volunteer.

Dr. Andrew Weil’s Self Healing newsletter, July 2009

I have disabled the opportunity to respond to my blog.

I was getting about 50 spam a day since several sites had found this website and just sent 25 or more responses of ads. I regret this action but I had so much spam I didn’t check to see if any of you had actually commented.

My friends know how to get in touch with me.

Ever since I did some consulting work for Nordic Naturals in 2008 I have noticed the lack of omega-3 in our diets. Now Harvard University researchers bring us amazing news.

“Omega-3 deficiency is the sixth biggest killer of Americans and more deadly than excess trans fat intake, according to a new study.

“The Harvard University researchers looked at 12 dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors such as tobacco smoking and high blood pressure and used a mathematical model to determine how many fatalities could have been prevented if better practices had been observed.

“The study, jointly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Association of Schools of Public Health, drew on 2005 data from the US National Health Center for Health Statistics. They determined that there were 72,000-96,000 preventable deaths each year due to omega-3 deficiency, compared to 63,000-97,000 for high trans fat intake.” (1)

There were some gaps in the study. Vitamin D was not brought into consideration and I don’t believe that Co-Q10 was looked at either. But it is amazing how we have overlooked a number of vitamins and minerals over the last 50 years. Now it’s true we didn’t know about all of the effects of poor nutrition but the process food makers knew they were leaving out a look of the nutrition in their reach for profit.

Remember, it’s your life and you are the ultimate responsible person. Read what you can and when you read scientific studies try to find independent labs that do the studies. They won’t get their funding cut if they give an honest report.

(1) Read the whole story in www.nutraingredients-usa.com June 26, 2009

The most creative thing we can do is to bring balance into our life. As we learn that process we will also bring quality and longevity into our life as well.

Business analysts estimate that the antiaging industry generates $50 billion a year in sales. It does this by offering remedies for the effects of aging – creams, lotions, injections, surgeries, and food supplements. The end result is that in these offerings of products you can never stop buying the products.

Dr. Thomas Perls of Boston University School of Medicine and his team, who are studying centenarians, found a region on chromosome 4 that is linked to exceptional longevity. If you have one of these 200 genes which slow down the aging process you can expect a longer life. But nutrition, exercise, lifestyle and environment play a 70 percent chance in longer life while genes play only a 30 percent chance.

Good healthy living plays a large part in how long we live and the quality of life we live.

You can read more in Dr. Joseph Maroon’s book, The Longevity Factor, Chap. 20

Before the “green revolution” in Punjab (from my last blog), there were 250 kinds of crops. With the green revolution it turned into a monoculture crop.

But the good news is told in northern Malawi where one project is getting the same results as the green revolution at a fraction of the cost. There are no hybrid corn seeds, free fertilizer or new roads in the village of Ekwendeni. Instead the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities (SFHC) project distributes legume seeds, recipes, and technical advice for growing crops like peanuts, pigeon peas, and soybeans, which enrich the soil with nitrogen while enriching the children’s diets. Where once the monoculture of corn, which left the soil depleted and farmers with poor yields because of the high cost of fertilizer; the children were now better nourished because of new farming practices.

One farmer tells the story that by including legumes into his crop rotation, he’s doubled his corn yield while cutting his fertilizer use in half. This left him with enough money to improve his house and buy livestock.

Canadian researchers found that after eight years of this “new” farming method the children of more than 7,000 families involved in this project showed significant weight gain.

It shows that good soil and community health are connected in Malawi.

Read the whole story in the June issue of National Geographic.

In the 1960s India was struggling to feed its people. America came to the “rescue” by developing high yielding wheat varieties for Punjab. By 1970 the new seed nearly tripled farmers’ production. As long as there was plenty of water and synthetic fertilizer and little competition from weeds and insects the yield was fantastic. The Indian government subsidized canals, fertilizer and the drilling of tube wells for irrigation.

Today the yield in Punjab has flattened since the mid 1990s. Over irrigation has led to steep drops in the water table. Thousands of acres of land have been lost to salinization and waterlogged soil.

Today the water is contaminated and poisonous yet people drink it and die of cancer. Researchers have found pesticides in the Punjabi farmers’ blood, their water table, their vegetables and even their wife’s breast milk.

The “rescue” of Punjab kept millions from starving to death only to die of cancer. Sometimes a quick fix is not the answer.

Read the rest of the story in “The End of Plenty”, National Geographic, June 2009