Little Bit of Exercise, Big Benefits

October 6th, 2011

ScienceDaily: A new University of Colorado Boulder study shows that a small amount of physical exercise could profoundly protect the elderly from long-term memory loss that can happen suddenly following infection, illnesses or injury in old age.

In the study, CU-Boulder Research Associate Ruth Barrientos and her colleagues showed that aging rats that ran just over half a kilometer each week were protected against infection-induced memory loss.

“Our research shows that a small amount of physical exercise by late middle-aged rats profoundly protects against exaggerated inflammation in the brain and long-lasting memory impairments that follow a serious bacterial infection,” said Barrientos of the psychology and neuroscience department.

“Strikingly, this small amount of running was sufficient to confer robust benefits for those that ran over those that did not run,” Barrientos said. “This is an important finding because those of advanced age are more vulnerable to memory impairments following immune challenges such as bacterial infections or surgery. With baby boomers currently at retirement age, the risk of diminished memory function in this population is of great concern. Thus, effective noninvasive therapies are of substantial clinical value.”

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Better Than Broccoli?

September 4th, 2011

By Dr. John Dempster: Broccoli is part of the powerhouse brassica family of vegetables. Broccoli contains important phytochemicals that are released when they’re chopped, chewed, fermented, cooked or digested. The substances are released then break down into sulphorophanes, indole-3-carbinol and D-glucarate, which all have a specific effect on detoxification.

Broccoli sprouts can actually provide more benefit than regular broccoli as they contain 20 times more sulfurophane. Add these to your salads and get creative with them in your meals.

What do Broccoli Sprouts have in common with Beet Root, Sea Vegetables, Dandelions, Flax Seeds, Lemons, Garlic, Artichokes, Tumeric & Apples? All are natural, powerful detoxifiers and simple to add to our daily diets!

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Healing Properties of Broccoli Sprouts: Continue reading »

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NutritionFacts.Org

August 29th, 2011

What’s better for you than green tea?  Cold-steeped green tea! Here is great info about antioxidants in tea, and more:

There is much more research-based information on Dr. Michael Gregor’s comprehensive website: NutritionFacts.Org — Meet Dr. Gregor:

Lose weight sleeping, supress cancer growth, decrease inflamatory markers, destroy cholesterol, lower risk of heart attack — with these tasty snacks?  Continue reading »

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Western Diets Are Making the World Sick

April 16th, 2011

From NPR’s ‘Fresh Air’: When physician Kevin Patterson described his experiences working at the Canadian Combat Surgical Hospital in Afghanistan, he noticed that the Afghan soldiers, police and civilians he treated in Kandahar had radically different bodies from those of the Canadians he took care of back home.

“Typical Afghan civilians and soldiers would have been 140 pounds or so as adults. And when we operated on them, what we were aware of was the absence of any fat underneath the skin,” Patterson says. “Of course, when we operated on Canadians or Americans or Europeans, what was normal was to have most of the organs encased in fat.”

In a conversation on Fresh Air, Patterson tells Terry Gross that the effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.

“Type 2 diabetes historically didn’t exist, only 70 or 80 years ago,” says Patterson. “And what’s driven it is this rise in obesity, especially the accumulation of abdominal fat. That fat induces changes in our receptors that cells have for insulin. Basically, it makes them numb to the effect of insulin.”

He explains that the increase in abdominal fat has driven the epidemic of diabetes over the last 40 years in the developed world — and that he’s now seeing similar patterns in undeveloped regions that have adopted Western eating patterns.

Patterson explains that in his Canadian practice, where he takes care of indigenous populations near the Arctic Circle, there is a marked increase in the number of diabetic patients he sees.  “The traditional Inuit culture of relentless motion and a traditional diet consisting mainly of caribou, Arctic char, whale and seal has been abandoned over this period of time for Kentucky Fried Chicken and processed food and living a life very similar to ours,” he says.

Part of the problem, says Patterson, is that it’s so much cheaper for processed food to be flown into the Arctic Circle than fresh food.  “There’s no roads or rail access to any of those communities,” he says. “So a 4 liter jug of milk can cost you $10 or $11. But there’s a very clear parallel between that and the inner city. In poorer neighborhoods in North American cities, fresh food is either not available or extremely expensive compared to — on a calorie-by-calorie basis — compared to fast food available on every street corner.” Continue reading »

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Warnings About Statins Grow Louder

January 27th, 2011
There are many alternatives to statins.  Please call and make an appointment if you’d like to discuss your options! — Cathie

By Tom Jacobs: Statins have been marketed — and widely described in the media — as wonder drugs which help ensure heart health by lowering cholesterol. But as we reported in 2009 (“Cholesterol Contrarians Question Cult of Statins”), an outspoken group of researchers warn their use is too widespread, and their potential dangers underestimated.A study just published in the journal The Cochrane Collaboration suggests their doubts are valid.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine reviewed previous studies on the risks and benefits of statins for people at low risk of heart disease and found many of the studies were deeply flawed.

The researchers conclude, in a note to physicians: “Caution should be taken in prescribing statins for primary prevention among people at low cardiovascular risk.”

Independent researchers in the U.S. and Canada have found links between statin use and a variety of cognitive disorders ranging from depression to dementia.

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