Archive for April, 2010

Green tea catechins could help protect against glaucoma and other eye diseases, according to a new research which found that the ingredients travel from the digestive system into the tissues of the eyes.

The results of the study from researchers based at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Eye Hospital were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and indicate that green tea consumption could benefit the eye against oxidative stress.

The scientists analyzed eye tissue from rats that drank green tea and found that the lens, retina and other tissues absorbed significant amounts of green tea catechins.

Although many antioxidants have been studied in the eye, the authors claim that theirs is the first paper to show distribution of individual catechins after ingestion of green tea extract and to evaluate their in vivo antioxidative effects in various parts of the eye.

The authors said that oxidative stress causes biological disturbances such as DNA damage and activation of proteolytic enzymes that can lead to tissue cell damage or dysfunction and eventually many ophthalmic diseases.

www.nutraingredients.com, April 26, 2010

It has been known for a long time that cold water fish are a great source of omega-3. What many people don’t know is that the industrialized food chain now produces a substantial portion of its harvest from mega fish-farms. Here the unnatural diet is soy and grain meal produce more omega-6 than omega-3.

Fish obtain their omega-3 by consuming natural sources of these fats. The original source of EPA and DHA is from marine algae and phytoplankton. Small fish eat algae and phytoplankton. Larger fish eat smaller fish so the larger fish have more omega-3. Farmed fish on the other hand are completely dependent on their feed and when it does not contain EPA and DHA, the fish will not contain it in the levels found in wild fish.

Some groups of people who are at high risk for omega-3 deficiency (and thus cardiovascular disease) are vegetarians, especially vegans. Omega-3 is absent from plant foods. Flax seeds and oil contain the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which is converted very slowly in the body to EPA and DHA.

Then there is the situation where the right amount of omega-3 for one person is not the right amount for another. Each individual may need a different amount of omega-3 to obtain the right balance between omega-3 and omega-6 in their body. Omega-3 lowers inflammation whereas omega-6 raises inflammation in the body. We need both but need to have a balance.

It’s not that our bodies have changed in what is needed for good health. It’s that our production and intake of foods has been modified. And for our health’s sake usually not to the better.

The good news is that researchers have found ways to measure the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 in our bodies. It’s a simple blood test. Your risk of sudden cardiac death can be estimated from the Omega-3 Whole Blood Score. The groundbreaking work of a team of Harvard researchers found that people with total levels above 6.1% in the blood had a 90% reduction in risk of sudden cardiac arrest compared with those whose omega-3 were 4.3% or less of their total fatty acids.

You can read more of this study in the May 2010 issue of Life Extension.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rapidly approaching epidemic levels with up to 26 million Americans suffering from some form of kidney disease. The kidneys filter 200 quarts of blood every day. Our high-pressure and toxin-rich environment to surrounding renal function makes these delicate, highly complex organs especially vulnerable to damage, dysfunction, and disease.

High blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, NSAIDs (such as ibuprofen), certain medications, and high-protein diets are the most common threats to kidney health.

Nutrients such as pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P), CoQ10, silymarin, resveratrol and lipoic acid along with Omega-3 are all clinically supported, potent interventions.

Read the whole story in May, 2010 issue of Life Extension.

It seems to me that the FDA is a political machine working for the pharmaceutical companies.

A case in point is that  in January, 2009, the FDA classified pyridoxamine, a compound found in vitamin B6, a drug, putting it out of reach of many Americans who are suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD). Pyridoxamine, through much research, has been found to halt advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which is a progressive kidney disease. (Life Extension, May, 2010)

Here again we have the FDA intervening on behalf of the pharmaceutical  companies to take away a normal supplement by proclaiming it a drug, so that the pharmaceutical companies can sell a pill at a profit.

Studies have shown that cancer and most other diseases thrive in a toxic, acid environment, but they fail to thrive in an alkaline, oxygen-rich environment.

For many years scientists thought our brains lost as much as 30 percent of their neurons as we grew older. Hence the saying you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

Now research shows that we keep most of our brain cells and that we can continue to grow neurons until we die.

Nutrients help, take those food supplements, but check out to see that you are actually getting what is on the label and that your body can absorb them. Absorption is very important and sometimes a supplement needs to have a booster for best results.

At the present time exercise is considered the most important to put your brain to work. The brain, like the heart, needs oxygen and blood flow, which in turn promotes the creation of new brain cells, even as we age. This means we have to challenge ourselves to new ventures, a new look at the world, or our ideas about the universe for example. Going in new directions actually helps our brain to grow.

So let’s start exercising.

Consuming a Mediterranean-style diet may improve brain health and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, says a new study from New York.

Scientists from Columbia University report that a diet rich in salad dressing, tomatoes, nuts, fish, cruciferous vegetables, dark and green leafy vegetables, fruits, and poultry may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by about 40 per cent.

“Our findings provide support for further exploration of food combination-based dietary behaviour for the prevention of this important public health problem,” write the researchers in the Archives of Neurology.

http://www.nutraingredients.com/Publications/Food-Beverage-Nutrition/FoodNavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Food-brain-study-shows-benefits-for-Med-diet/?c=rCNCK0bdjBZXpXpnQcOUaA%3D%3D&utm_source=Newsletter_Subject&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BSubject

FDA allows potato chips to be advertised as “heart healthy”

Frito-Lay® is a subsidiary of the Pepsi-Cola company. Frito-Lay® sells $12 billion a year of products that include:

Lays® Potato Chips, Doritos®, Tostitos®, Cheetos®, and Fritos®

You might not associate these mostly-fried snack foods as being good for you, but the FDA has no problem allowing the Frito-Lay® website to state the following:

“Frito-Lay snacks start with real farm-grown ingredients. You might be surprised at how much good stuff goes into your favorite snack. Good stuff like potatoes, which naturally contain vitamin C and essential minerals. Or corn, one of the world’s most popular grains, packed with Thiamin, vitamin B6, and Phosphorous – all necessary for healthy bones, teeth, nerves and muscles.

And it’s not just the obvious ingredients. Our all-natural sunflower, corn and soybean oils contain good polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which help lower total and LDL “bad” cholesterol and maintain HDL “good” cholesterol levels, which can support a healthy heart. Even salt, when eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet, is essential for the body.”

Wow! Based on what Frito-Lay® is allowed to state, it sounds like we should be living on these snacks. Who would want to ingest walnuts, pomegranate, or green tea (which FDA now says are illegal drugs) when these fat-calorie laden, mostly-fried carbohydrates are so widely available?

According to the Frito Lay® website, Lays® potato chips are now “heart healthy” because the level of saturated fat was reduced and replaced with sunflower oil. Scientific studies do show that when a polyunsaturated fat (like sunflower oil) is substituted for saturated fat, favorable changes in blood cholesterol occur.

Fatally omitted from the Frito-Lay® website is the fact that sunflower oil supplies lots of omega-6 fats, but no omega-3s. The American diet already contains too many omega-6 fats and woefully inadequate omega-3.

Excess omega-6 fats in the diet in the absence of adequate omega-3s produces devastating effects including the production of pro-inflammatory compounds that contribute to virtually every age-related disease including atherosclerosis.

For the FDA to allow Frito-Lay® to pretend there are heart benefits to ingesting their high-calorie snack products, while censoring the ability of walnut companies to make scientifically-substantiated claims, is tantamount of treason against the health of the American public.

Medicure Pharma, Inc. (“Medicure”) is requesting that the Commissioner of Food and Drugs stop food supplement companies from selling vitamin B6 under penalty of law. Actually vitamin B6 contains pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (P5P). and Medicure wants to prohibit anyone from selling P5P because they have a product called MC-1 which has P5P in it.

The pharmaceutical companies are trying to prohibit the food supplement companies from producing and selling supplements at a reasonable price by proclaiming everything it a drug and needs to be regulated by the FDA (which they currently control).

It took my own research to take myself off of Lipitor almost two years ago. I know they say it has been researched for 16 or 17 years and approved. How many other drugs have been approved only to be taken off the market as people keep dying for these drugs.

The pharmaceutical companies also want to call cherries and walnuts drugs.

On February 22, 2010, the FDA sent a warning letter to a distributor of packaged walnuts called Diamond Foods, Inc.

The FDA said that walnuts sold by Diamond Foods cannot be legally marketed because the walnuts “are not generally recognized as safe and effective” for the medical conditions referenced on Diamond Foods’ website.

According to the FDA, these walnuts are now classified as “drugs” and the “unauthorized health claims” cause them to become “misbranded,” thus subjecting them to government “seizure or injunction.”

The FDA sent similar letters to a wide range of food distributors including those who sell green tea and pomegranate juice.

To read about the FDA’s latest attempt to obliterate the First Amendment, scientific rationality and health freedom click here: http://www.lef.org/featured-articles/FDA-Says-Walnuts-Are-Illegal-Drugs.htm

Lignans contain powerful agents that assist in cancer and heart disease prevention and help maintain bone strength.

Lignans don’t get much press but research shows the many ways these dietary components help maintain optimal health.

Lignans represent one of the four major classes of chemical compounds referred to collectively as phytoestrogens.

Large quantities of legnans are present in foods ranging from whole grains to berries, vegetables, legumes, and other fruits.

The March issue of Life Extension tells a whole story on Lignans. www.lef.org