Weight a Primary Factor For High Blood Pressure

"A person’s weight has more bearing on his predisposition to developing high blood pressure than his current fitness level, Texas study says."

Weight a Primary Factor For High Blood Pressure, Experts Say

In a new study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, researchers established a concrete link between a person’s weight and the incidence of high blood pressure.

It appears that exercising is not enough to keep blood pressure down, because according to Susan Lakoski, MD, obese or overweight individuals are still at high risk for hypertension if they do not get their weight down, despite of their continued efforts at being physically fit.

What does this mean? According to the researchers, the main target when you want to lower your blood pressure is to get your weight down with your best efforts.

It’s not enough that you get some minutes of exercise per week, though this has not been discredit. What the researchers are saying is that you have exert every healthy effort to keep your weight down and keep it from going up.

Weight, according to the Texas study, takes precedence to physical activity when it comes to determining the risk for developing high blood pressure. According to the CDCP, nearly 1/3 of all adult Americans suffer from high blood pressure.

Half of those who suffer from high blood pressure are within the 55+ years range, which means more and more of our seniors are at greater risk of suffering from stroke, coronary heart disease and other dangerous medical conditions.

According to the study’s data, it appears that only the people within the normal weight range experience palpable blood pressure benefits when they exercised.

The bottom line? People should focus on getting their weight within the normal range and start moving. Because obesity and a sedentary lifestyle can increase mortality and risk for many negative health conditions, including heart problems.

Natural ways to keep your blood pressure down

If you have high blood pressure, follow these guidelines to naturally keep your blood pressure down:

1. It would do your heart a world of good if you quit smoking today – because cigarettes have been proven to contribute to the development of hypertension in both men and women.

2. If you are presently overweight, cut down on fatty foods and start exercising to lose the extra pounds.

3. Exercise 30 to 40 minutes everyday. Experts recommend 150 minutes of exercise for both men and women for general wellness. Regular exercise is also a general preventive for many diseases and negative health conditions.

4. Cut down on your coffee intake, as caffeine has been shown to increase blood pressure. Limit your intake of regular coffee to 1 to 2 cups per day to reduce your caffeine load. Substitutes to coffee like green tea are a good idea, because green tea only has half of the caffeine content of regular coffee.

5. Reduce your salt intake, because sodium directly increases a person’s blood pressure. More than 2,300 milligrams of the stuff per day can cause your blood pressure to spike.

6. Control your stress level, because stress can cause hypertension and can also affect your mental health in the long term. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, stretching, meditation and aromatherapy are options that you can explore when it comes to de-stressing.

7. Natural supplements like fish oil, garlic, hawthorn and folic acid have been known to reduce oxidative stress of the heart and the other organs in the body, which may help in your overall effort to reduce your blood pressure. Coenzyme Q10 or Co-Q10 has also shown great promise when it comes to protecting the heart and reducing a person’s blood pressure.

Technorati Tags: high blood pressure, excess weight, weight and high blood pressure, exercise, hawthorn, coenzyme Q10, fish oil, folic acid

Is This the Biggest Medical Breakthrough Since the Discovery of Antibiotics?

Imagine, grapes being our best friend. Harvarde researchers are saying that resveratrol which helps keep your blood pressure in the normal range, helps your heart health and better controls the aging process. Read on....

Purple Defense | Resveratrol, Antioxidant Source

Some Harvard-educated researchers believe they’ve discovered a proverbial ‘fountain of youth’.*

They’re talking about resveratrol, calling it a miracle ingredient, and the greatest discovery since antibiotics.*

Resveratrol is a compound found in the skin and seeds of grapes.

Researchers have been mystified for years about how the French can smoke cigarettes and eat high-fat foods, yet still have extremely low rates of cancer and heart disease. They call it the French paradox.

Harvard researchers Dr. Christoph Westphal and David Sinclair conducted genetic research to investigate the French paradox.

Until now, scientists believed drinking red wine had health benefits*… but couldn’t put their finger on exactly why.

Now they believe the resveratrol in wine activates cells into behaving more youth-like in a number of ways.*

The biggest hurdle with resveratrol is finding a way to consume the large concentrations required to provide you with a benefit. You’d need several bottles of wine per day to get the anticipated benefit from resveratrol. Drinking large amounts of wine or other alcoholic beverages will increase your insulin levels, which will eventually have a negative impact on your health in a number of ways.

I’ll tell you in a minute how you can get your highly-concentrated resveratrol without the alcohol, sugars and calories of red wine.

But first, let’s discuss how to control your free radical levels…
Neutralizing the Free Radical Threat

Every day of your life you face exposure to dangerous free radicals. No matter how healthy a lifestyle you lead or how healthy your diet is, this is simply a fact of life.

Fortunately this is not all bad – as your normal bodily functions (breathing, metabolism, and physical activity) naturally generate free radicals. Your immune system also generates free radicals to help neutralize viruses and bacteria.

But some free radicals are the result of environmental factors such as pollution, radiation, pesticides, and cigarette smoking.

The problem starts when these free radicals attack your healthy cells and cause them to weaken and become more susceptible to health disorders. Plus, this can also have a profound effect on how you age.

Read more here.

Technorati Tags: resveratrol, grapes, heart health, blood pressure, aging, free radicals, antioxidants, polyphenols, quercetin

New Warning About Excessive "Agent Orange" Toxin in Baby Formula and Breast Milk

How sad! Our biggest source of exposure to dioxin is through meat, dairy products and seafood. Dr. Mercola recommends cutting out virtually all seafood unless you can verify that is very low in contaminants! Yikes! What have we done to our earth!! For one thing, don't use chemical cleaners in your house, especially bleach. I will blog on this soon.

New Warning About Excessive “Agent Orange” Toxin in Baby Formula and Breast Milk…

The Environmental Protection Agency has held public hearings to review a proposed safe exposure limit for dioxin, a known carcinogen and endocrine disruptor.

Dioxin is nearly impossible to avoid, as women exposed to it pass it on to fetuses in the womb, and both breast milk and formula have been shown to contain it.

Research done has shown that a nursing infant ingests an amount 77 times higher than what the EPA has proposed as safe exposure. Adults are exposed to 1,200 times more dioxin than the EPA suggests is safe.

According to Inhabitots:

"Because dioxin is such a common pollutant -- it's a waste product of incineration, smelting, chlorine bleaching and pesticides manufacturing -- its health effects are well documented ...

Studies have shown that ongoing low-level exposure can result in heart disease, diabetes, cancer, endometriosis, early menopause and reduced testosterone and thyroid hormones."

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Dioxin, which was a toxic component of the Agent Orange used to defoliate jungles during the Vietnam War, is easily one of the most dangerous chemicals known to man.

In the United States, chlorinated dioxins form as a byproduct of industry, particularly smelting, chlorine paper bleaching and pesticide manufacturing, as well as through waste incineration. The chemical is pretty much everywhere in the environment, and because it breaks down very slowly it easily accumulates in the food chain, where it’s especially prominent in animal fat.

Meat, dairy products, fish and shellfish are all common routes of exposure for adults, and even unborn babies are exposed to the chemical while still in the womb. Dioxin also exists in breast milk and formula, which means infants are not only born with dioxin in their bodies, but continue to receive a steady supply of it after birth.

Infants, Adults Ingesting Far More Dioxin than Safe

Ingesting any dioxin at all is far from “safe,” but the amounts infants are being exposed to daily is even higher than the level the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set for endocrine and immune system safety -- 77 times higher at that, according to Environmental Working Group (EWG) research.

Since food is currently the primary route of exposure to dioxin for most, and children eat more food, pound-per-pound, compared to adults, experts say children aged 1-10 get the highest dietary exposures.

Further, the general public is exposed to up to 1,200 times more dioxin than the EPA says is safe on a daily basis, according to EWG. In an EWG letter to the EPA Science Advisory Board, it was even noted that “a 130-pound adult who eats a cheeseburger and drinks a glass of milk can consume a third of EPA’s proposed safe daily dose of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds… ”

EPA safety limits for dioxin, meanwhile, have been in the works for nearly 30 years but have been pushed back time and time again due to chemical and defense industry pressure. It’s been so long since the EPA’s initial safety limit proposal that EWG believes the levels need to be tightened even more, given the increasing evidence that dioxin is more dangerous than scientists initially thought.

In July, the EPA finally met to discuss issues related to dioxin toxicity, and public comments on the EPA’s proposal are being accepted until September 20.

Read more here.

7 Ways to slash Cancer Risk

Some of the same again but it always bears repeating, exercise, limit salt, limit alcohol, eat well and if you are over weight, lower your weight. Same ole, same ole, but it works!! Read on...

7 Ways to Slash Cancer Risk | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

Would you change your lifestyle if you could slash your risk of getting cancer by a third or even half? That’s the challenge posed by a huge new report just released by The American Institute for Cancer Research that pulls together and analyzes the most comprehensive data on cancer prevention yet.

Okay, I admit it, you’re not going to like some of this advice, and neither are your family members. I know I don’t. Give up salami, one of my favorite lunch options? Yikes. And alcohol? As native Californians who grew up going wine tasting in the Napa Valley whenever possible, my siblings would be really sad if family dinners were no longer accompanied by a bottle of good zinfandel or pinot. And what’s a burrito without a cold beer and lime to go with it?

But this evidence is so compelling that I think all of us in Cancer World are going to have to look twice at some of our lifestyle choices and may feel newly motivated to make changes, or nag at our loved ones to do so. Imagine, by following these guidelines, we could prevent:

* More than 45 percent of colon cancer cases
(Translation: 49,000 people would not get colon cancer)
* 38 percent of breast cancer cases
(Translation: 70,000 people would not get breast cancer)
* One third of all the most common cancers

This report is a big deal because the experts who compiled it looked at every major study and based their recommendations on hard evidence of what really works to reduce cancer risk. “This is the practical application of five years of work sorting through what the science really says,” said panel member Steve Zeisel, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

7 Ways to Slash Your Risk of Getting Cancer

1. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day. As well as helping prevent weight gain, research shows that activity itself helps prevent cancer by keeping hormone levels healthy, which is important because having high levels of some hormones can increase cancer risk.
2. Lower your weight to the lower end of the body-mass index for your height. Even more important, banish belly fat, which acts like a ‘hormone pump’ releasing estrogen into the bloodstream as well as raising levels of other hormones. This is strongly linked to colon cancer and probably to cancers of the pancreas and endometrium (lining of the uterus), as well as breast cancer, particularly in postmenopausal women.
3. Avoid sugary drinks and high-calorie foods. Cutting out foods made from white flour and sugar, such as candy, pastries, and other baked goods that aren’t whole grain, is one of the fastest ways to lose weight, and is also healthier for blood sugar balance.
4. Eat more fruits and vegetables. This one’s been pretty thoroughly covered in a previous post on anti-cancer foods.
5. Eat less red meat and little or no processed meat. Experts say there’s no longer any doubt that eating beef, pork, and other red meats raises the risk of colorectal cancer. Red meat contains heme iron and other substances that damage the colon lining, making way for tumor growth. Processed meat is even worse. When meat is preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by the addition of preservatives, cancer-causing substances (carcinogens) are formed that damage cells in the body, leading to cancer. While studies show we can eat up to 18 ounces a week of red meat without raising cancer risk, research shows that cancer risk starts to increase with any portion of processed meat.
6. Limit alcohol to two drinks a day for men, 1 for women — but none is best of all. Unfortunately for all those of us who like a drink now and then, there’s convincing evidence that alcohol increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, and colon. This one got hit with a double-whammy of evidence this week; the National Cancer Institute alsoreported the results of a huge study detailing the risks of alcohol for women. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, cancer blogger for the American Cancer Society, spelled it out inblack and white : “there is no level of alcohol consumption that could be called safe.” Scientists are still researching how alcohol causes cancer. One theory is that alcohol can directly damage DNA, increasing our risk of cancer. Research shows that alcohol is particularly harmful when combined with smoking.
7. Limit salt intake. Salt and salt-preserved foods are linked to stomach and other digestive cancers; limit salt to 2400 milligrams to be safe.

One last thing; this report did not even address smoking, because experts consider that such a no-brainer at this point. Smokers increase their chances of getting almost all kinds of cancer every time they light up. So the only recommendation is, don’t.

Technorati Tags: reduce cancer risl, healthy lifestyle, colon cancer, breast cancer

ADHD Myth Mostly Based on Nonsense

As a teacher in a school system, too often I heard and saw children being told there children have ADHD by teachers! Parents believed them and they took them to the doctor, only to be prescribed medication!!! Often, those children would then come to my classroom and I would always tell the parents to take them off the drugs. Most parents were VERY relieved and the children were much happier and healthier. Of course, they were allowed to move around in my room. They did not have to just sit and listen to the teacher or stay in their desks doing tedious work! Engaging children and allowing normal behavior works way better than drugs! Also, discipline means to teach, not to drug! Read on...

ADHD myth mostly based on nonsense : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

by Charles Davenport Jr.

There is something profoundly unseemly, if not criminal, about diagnosing normal behavior as a disease and using medication to eliminate the offending conduct. The practice is particularly egregious when the offenders, "the diseased," are children. But this is precisely what physicians and mental health professionals are doing to millions of healthy American kids.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 10 percent of children between the ages of 4 and 17 in North Carolina have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Nationwide, the figure for that age group is 4.4 million, of which 2.5 million are medicated to treat the alleged disorder.

But ADHD is not a disease. Virtually all children display behaviors that could be perceived as "symptoms" of the disorder. (Those symptoms include hyperactivity, inattentiveness, forgetfulness, impulsivity and disorganization.) ADHD is a myth that serves as an "out" for teachers and parents who would rather not have to deal with unruly children. Why discipline Little Johnny when he could simply be medicated to conform to behavioral standards?

An ADHD diagnosis is not only simple to obtain, but it also allows parents to evade responsibility for their child's rogue behavior. A spoiled brat diagnosed with a "disease" is no longer a spoiled brat, and most conveniently, no one is responsible for his conduct.

A new book penned by Dr. Bose Ravenel and John Rosemond, "The Diseasing of America's Children: Exposing the ADHD Fiasco and Empowering Parents to Take Back Control," exposes ADHD as a myth created and perpetuated by pediatricians, mental health professions and pharmaceutical companies. ADHD, the authors write, is "a fiction" from which these vested interests benefit.

Ravenel, a pediatrician in High Point, and Rosemond, a family psychologist and acclaimed parenting expert in Gastonia, present an eloquent and trenchant case against ADHD. Their claims, contrary to those asserted by "the ADHD Establishment," are supported by rigorous studies and compatible with common sense. Ravenel and Rosemond pull no punches in debunking the "science" behind ADHD: "No ADHD genes have been discovered, no ADHD gene transmission theories have been proven, no ADHD biochemical imbalance has been quantified, and no specific ADHD brain condition has been identified."

Parents willing to do independent research can quickly verify the claims of Ravenel and Rosemond.

The largest ADHD-affiliated organization is called Children and Adults with ADHD, or CHADD (www.CHADD.org). Its Web site, too, is a valuable source of information -- or propaganda, depending on your perspective. CHADD admits that, other than "scientific consensus," there is little evidence behind the causes or diagnosis of ADHD. But this is not persuasive. After all, there used to be consensus that the world is flat, and only a few decades ago, that we are heading into another Ice Age.

The ADHD Establishment endorses a "disease model" of behavioral problems, despite a lack of science in support of that position. Far more likely, and buttressed by overwhelming evidence, is the "developmental model" advanced by Rosen and Ravenel. Their argument, in short, is that the misbehavior of children is caused by a lack of parental discipline, the modern child's excessive indulgence of electronic media and nutritional deficiencies.

Among the Amish, a diagnosis of ADHD is almost unheard of. Not coincidentally, Amish parents raise their children with traditional disciplinary methods -- as opposed to "time out" -- and their kids do not waste innumerable hours watching television and playing video games. (According to Rosen and Ravenel, the average American child has watched 5,000 hours of television when he reports to kindergarten.) Electronic media has contributed mightily to the short attention spans that cripple the learning ability of children.

Another sacred cow summarily slaughtered by Rosen and Ravenel is self-esteem, an overrated virtue that leads to counterproductive parenting and educational decisions. Parents and teachers worry that disciplining or correcting a child could diminish his self-esteem. According to several studies, however, excessive self-regard can lead to contempt for others. The authors remind us that gang members and prison inmates have extraordinarily high self-esteem.

Parents of children diagnosed with ADHD should take the time to research the possibility of other causes behind their child's behavioral issues. In some cases, there could be legitimate, biological problems, such as a hearing deficiency; in others, parents may discover the root of the problem by simply gazing into a mirror.

Charles Davenport Jr. (daisha99@msn.com) is a freelance columnist who appears alternate Sundays in the News & Record.

Technorati Tags: ADHD, ADD, hyperactivity, discipline, normal behavior

5 Gas-Station Dangers

I know this is not really a natural remedy but it certainly will save your life. I felt it was so important for people to know that I had to post it. Read on....

5 Gas-Station Dangers | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

By Allison Ford, DivineCaroline

In what may be one of Hollywood’s most truly tragic death scenes, three really, really ridiculously good-looking male models meet a fiery end at a gas station. The trio is innocently cavorting and spraying each other with gasoline when one of them has the unfortunate urge to light a cigarette and … KABOOM.

Freak gasoline-fight accidents aside, fires, especially those caused by static electricity, are a serious safety concern at service stations. The potent mixture of gasoline, diesel, and other volatile chemicals on the premises—just waiting to be ignited by an errant spark—makes these seemingly boring businesses potential powder kegs. To reduce the chances of reenacting your own version of Zoolander, follow these simple tips for safe pumping.

1. Don’t get back in your car.
Many drivers make the mistake of getting back into their cars to wait for the pump to finish. In fact, drivers who get in and out of their cars are responsible for about 50 percent of filling-station static fires, according to the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI). As the driver slides across the seat, she is more likely to build up static electricity on her body. Once she touches the gas pump, a spark could ignite spilled gasoline or its vapors. Interestingly, women trigger about 80 percent of static fires. Some experts believe this is because of women’s increased propensity for getting back into their cars to tend to children or to look for a purse or wallet. It could also simply be that women, more than men, prefer not to wait outside when the weather’s bad. Cold weather is especially conducive to static electricity, so cold-weather drivers (men and women alike) should be extra careful to wait outside their cars while pumping gas. If you must get back into your car while refueling, be sure to touch a piece of metal (such as the car’s door frame) when you get out; this will safely discharge any static buildup you may have accumulated before you touch the gas nozzle.

2. Turn the engine off while refueling.
While a car is idling, the engine parts are still rubbing together. The alternator is running, spark plugs are firing, and the electrical system is working, as are a host of other components that generate either heat or sparks. Gasoline or its vapors could ignite if exposed to any of these moving parts. Most states have laws requiring drivers to turn off their cars before refueling, but the practice is also common sense.

3. Don’t smoke.
Even a model idiot like Derek Zoolander knew this one; still, the sight of someone enjoying a quick cigarette as his car refuels is an all-too-common one. Just don’t do it.

4. Try to avoid spills.
Spilling gas may not seem like much of an inconvenience beyond a few wasted pennies, but every drop of gas on the ground makes it more likely that a fire will start. Never prop open a gas pump if it’s not already fitted for automatic filling, and never overfill or top off the gas tank. Once you’ve stopped refueling, leave the nozzle in place in the tank for a few moments to allow any gas in the line to flow back. The less gas on the ground, the less chance of a fire igniting.

5. Let go of the cell phone.
A few years ago, a popular email cautioned that using a cell phone near a gas station could potentially trigger an explosion. The allegation, perfect for breathless news coverage and hysterical email forwards, was that the phone’s signal was capable of igniting gas vapors in its immediate vicinity. Fortunately, you can consider this one less thing to worry about, because there has never been a single substantiated case of a cell phone causing a gas-station fire. Even though many news outlets were taken in by the claim, and many gas-station owners even put “no cell phone use” stickers on their pumps, the warning has been downgraded to a mere urban legend. It has been thoroughly debunked by everyone from PEI, Snopes.com, colleges such as Purdue University and the University of Oklahoma, and even the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters (twice). In the instances when fires have broken out around people who happened to be using cell phones at gas stations, the real culprit has turned out to be static electricity from another source. Although it is technically possible for a phone to discharge static, the actual likelihood of it is so small that you should feel comfortable answering your phone if it rings while you’re at a gas station—just don’t slide across the seat to grab it.

PEI still recommends not using any electronic device during fueling, but only because such devices promote distraction.

Gas stations are such a part of our daily routine that it’s easy to dismiss safety concerns. However, it’s worth taking a few extra moments to adopt these precautions. Despite advances in automobile and engine technologies, they are still necessary. Static fires at gas stations are relatively rare—help keep them that way by practicing these simple safety tips each time you visit.

Technorati Tags: gas station dangers, General Health, On The Go, Transportation, Travel, driving, fuel, gas, gas station

What Nasties Are In Your Cosmetics?

Yikes! Again! Toxic chemicals in our cosmetics. Get the lead out! Sign the petition!

Do You Know What Nasties Are In Your Cosmetics? | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

Annie Leonard does it again with a new, powerful animated short. This time her target is the cosmetics industry. She examines the pervasive use of toxic chemicals in our everyday personal care products, from lipstick to baby shampoo. She describes bathrooms all over America that are minefields of chemical nasties, most of which have links to asthma, learning disabilities, birth defects, and cancer.

We may think that the products we buy in the drugstore are safe, particularly the ones for kids with reassuring words on the label like gentle, natural, pure, dermatologists approved. But when you read the fine print it’s a different story.

Leonard says that when she spoke with scientists and did the research she “got so mad about this I joined with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to make [this] new video.”

The video concludes with a call for viewers to support legislation aimed at ensuring the safety of cosmetics and personal care products, asking us to tell our representatives in Congress to support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 which will strengthen FDA oversight and regulation of the cosmetics industry. Also, sign this petition to ban all lead from cosmetics. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/536/490/732

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-story-of-cosmetics-with-annie-leonard-video.html

Technorati Tags: chemicals in cosmetics, lead in cosmetics, cosmetics, asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, petition

20 Ways to Add More to Your Life

Dr. Frank Lipman wrote a wonderful article about what he has learned about living a better, healthier life. I love it! Simple, straightforward and insightful. Read on....

20 Ways to Add More to Your Life | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

As I get older and hopefully wiser with every year, certain insights become clearer. Here are some of them gleaned from the wisdom I have gained from 30 years of marriage, having a 22-year-old daughter, 30 years of practicing medicine and being a perpetual student of life.

1. More Real Food, Less “Food-like Substances”
2. More Fruit and Vegetables, Less Sugar, Wheat and Corn
3. More Organic, Less Toxic
4. More Chewing, Less Eating
5. More Water, Less Soda
6. More Recycling, Less Waste
7. More Walking, Less Driving
8. More Exercising, Less Watching TV
9. More Outdoors, Less Indoors
10. More Sleep, Less Worry
11. More Calm, Less Chaos
12. More Being, Less Doing
13. More Consciousness, Less Ignorance
14. More Smiles, Less Anger
15. More Love, Less Hatred
16. More Play, Less Serious
17. More Letting Go, Less Holding On
18. More Forgiving, Less Blaming
19. More Generosity, Less Greed
20. More Ubuntu, Less Me!

Technorati Tags: eating for health, healthy living, inspiration, resolutions, health & wellness

Brown Rice or White?? That is the question!

I have always liked white rice but I know it is not that good for me. For the past 2 years if I eat rice, I now eat brown. Brown rice has so many qualities. Eat up!

Diabetes Risk Increased by White Rice and Reduced by Brown | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health completed a study in which they found eating five servings of white rice per week was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Eating two or more servings of brown rice was associated with a lower risk of the disease. They also found replacing 50 grams of white rice with the same amount of brown rice, (one third of a daily serving) could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 16%. Replacing the same amount of white rice with whole wheat or barley was associated with a 36% reduced risk.

Qi Sun was one of the lead researchers. She remarked about the study, “Rice consumption in the U.S. has dramatically increased in recent decades. We believe replacing white rice and other refined grains with whole grains, including brown rice, would help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.”

Fiber content, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals, are found in higher amounts in brown rice. Also it often does not generate as large an increase in blood sugar levels after a meal, as does white rice.

Qi Sun and Frank Hu examined white and brown rice consumption in relation to type 2 diabetes risk in 157,463 women and 39,765 men. In their study they discovered brown rice consumption was not associated with ethnicity. The connection was to a health-conscious diet and lifestyle.

Hu said of their study, “From a public health point of view, whole grains, rather than refined carbohydrates, such as white rice, should be recommended as the primary source of carbohydrates for the U.S. population.”

Diabetes Insider reported that almost 70% of rice consumed in the U.S. and the UK is white rice.

5 Top Top to Protect Your Brain

My mom has dementia and I do not want it if I can help it!! I try to exercise it as much as I can. The supplements that interest me are Ginkgo and tumeric!

5 Top Tips to Protect Your Brain | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

New studies show the heart and brain are connected by more than just poetry and puns. Indeed, researchers say high levels of heart-busting cholesterol might also make brain cells more prone to brain-busting dementia.

My family tree is riddled with heart disease. Growing up I listened to my father and aunts swap hospital stories and cardiologists’ phone numbers over buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Eventually, their conversations about stents and statins gave me a ticking-time-bomb mentality about my own heart. I don’t deserve to be labeled a hypochondriac, but I did see my doctor roll her eyes the last time I asked her to double check my cholesterol. She assured me I’m one of her healthiest clients. Aside from swearing off meat, I feast on organic fruits and veggies, lope around the neighborhood with my dog, and twist myself into yoga poses that make my relatives wince.

But as the years tick by, I’ve worried that protecting my heart is only half the battle. When I’ve blanked on the name of a street or the title of a favorite book, I’ve wondered if I should expend more energy preserving my gray matter. After all, 30 years from now what satisfaction will I glean from a healthy low-density lipoprotein (LDL, the “bad” cholesterol) score if I don’t remember to care? But a spate of new studies has eased my anxiety and added new resolve to my heart-healthy habits. According to the experts, the efforts I’m making to protect my heart now may be the brain boost I’m after in the future.

In fact, new studies show a healthy heart actually may be one of the best-kept secrets to preventing dementia. And holding onto one’s wits is no small feat. Roughly 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, the leading cause of dementia. By 2050, the Alzheimer’s Association expects that number to potentially quadruple to 16 million. Aging baby boomers are only partially to blame for the senility glut. Added to the equation are the effects that rising tides of heart disease and diabetes will have. Truth be told, the more scientists discover about the roots of dementia, the more they are shifting their focus from the brain to the heart.

What affects the heart also affects the brain

The recipe for heart health rattles off the tongue as easily as the Pledge of Allegiance: fill your plate with fruits and vegetables, get plenty of exercise and steer clear of artery-clogging evils such as trans fats. But while Americans are conditioned to strive for clean arteries, we rarely apply the same logic to the blood vessels in our brains. Yet, both heart and brain rely on healthy circulation.

Indeed, the brain is a voracious consumer of the body’s blood and oxygen supply. Of the blood flow from the heart, roughly 20 percent goes straight to the head. Although a tissue-paper thin barrier protects the brain from direct contact with blood (a safeguard against potentially harm-ful toxins), nutrients easily pass through the blood-brain barrier. Circulation is what connects heart disease to dementia, says Decker Weiss, ND, a naturopathic physician at the Arizona Heart Hospital in Phoenix. “The same things that help the heart to beat help the brain to work.”

Factors that impede blood flow to the heart, such as high cholesterol, also slow blood flow to the brain. “When you’re looking at heart disease and dementia, what you really have is micro and macro circulation issues,” Weiss says. In other words, what damages large arteries like those in the heart also affects the tiny ones such as those found in the brain–only sooner because of their size. As examples he points to arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), hypertension and diabetes. “They are all systemic diseases,” he says. “The smallest blood vessels are affected first, including those in the brain.”

Experts know that vascular disease, such as stroke and diabetes, ups a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease. But the exact relationship between the two problems is murky. Vascular disease and Alzheimer’s clearly overlap, according to Kenneth Langa, MD, PhD, a dementia expert at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “Tantalizing research says these two things are not just coexisting but that the vascular risks actually cause Alzheimer’s,” he says.

Recent long-term, observational studies support the idea that heart disease in middle age spells trouble for the brain. Rachel Whitmer, PhD, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., studies the connections between midlife risk factors for heart disease and dementia. For one of her most recent studies, published last January in the journal Neurology, Whitmer and colleagues traced the medical records of nearly 9,000 seniors (all Kaiser patients) from present day back to “midlife,” when the patients were between the ages of 40 and 44. They compared who had heart disease risk factors at middle age with who’d been diagnosed with dementia. What they found supports the heart-brain connection.

Each one of the four heart-disease risk factors the researchers charted carried a significant risk of dementia. Participants with hypertension had a 24 percent increase in risk, smokers a 26 percent increase, those with high cholesterol a 42 percent increase and diabetes a 46 percent increase. “I was surprised by the strength of these findings and the fact that we found an effect for all four risk factors,” Whitmer says, “given the fact that all the patients were members of a health maintenance organization and probably received corresponding treatments.”

Likewise, Langa notes a connection between high cholesterol at midlife and an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s published in a review study last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The two defining characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease are amyloid plaques, (protein fragments that clump outside the brain’s nerve cells) and neurofibrillary tangles (twisted strands of a different protein inside brain cells). Langa believes high cholesterol leads to the buildup of the protein that eventually becomes amyloid plaque.

“Early evidence shows that too much cholesterol causes changes in how brain cells process this protein,” he says. “High levels of cholesterol might make brain cells more prone to Alzheimer’s.”

Langa says his research armed him with new tools to coerce his heart-disease patients into eating right and exercising. “For some people, the idea that brain health is connected to heart health is a radical idea,” he says. During office visits, he tells his patients to do what their mothers and doctors have been telling them forever–watch their diet and stay active. “It’s not rocket science,” he says. “The key is to remember you’re getting two bangs for the buck. You’ll not only prevent a heart attack, but also keep your mind sharp as you age.” While Langa’s advice is a good starting place, consider acting on one or more of the following tips to avoid a future brain drain.

Five steps to keep your wits

1. Take B vitamins
All vitamins help keep the body running like a well-oiled machine, but your brain, in particular, benefits from Bs. New research highlights the importance of B vitamins in protecting seniors from stroke and dementia, two main causes of disability in the elderly. Specifically, B vitamins can help quench homocysteine, an amino acid that damages blood vessels. In 2002, a study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association found people with moderately high levels of homocysteine had a more than fivefold increased risk of stroke and a threefold increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease compared to those with low levels of the substance in their blood.

Vitamin B3 (niacin) also has been linked to brain health. Researchers at the Chicago-based Rush Institute for Healthy Aging found in 2004 that seniors with flagging levels of niacin were more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s than those with niacin to spare. Although researchers have yet to pinpoint what’s going on, they suspect that B vitamins protect and nurture dendritic growth, a key component of the nervous system and brain health. “You’ve got to get in the habit of taking B vitamins every day,” Weiss says.

2. Try ginkgo
Extracted from the ancient ginkgo tree, ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is considered the best of all brain-boosting supplements on the shelf. Studies of people with Alzheimer’s disease show that ginkgo enhances blood flow to the brain and ameliorates memory recall. It also adds tone and spring to aging blood vessels. In addition, ginkgo is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. “Ginkgo will be one of the most valuable herbs for the next 100 years,” Weiss says.

For minor memory loss associated with aging, take 40 to 60 mg of ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) three times a day. For Alzheimer’s disease, up each dose to 80 to 120 mg three times per day. Ginkgo is generally safe for long-term use; however, the extract does thin the blood and can clash with some medications, especially blood thinners. So if you take prescription drugs, consult with your doctor before tossing ginkgo into the mix and make sure not to take it before a surgery.

3. Watch inflammation
Inflammation comes to the rescue when the body is hurt or ill, but the immune system’s Dr. Jekyll can morph into Mr. Hyde if the inflammation switch gets stuck in the “on” position.

Chronic inflammation, whether from an irritated bowel, inflamed gums or autoimmune disease, weakens arteries in both the heart and the head. Making the arteries more vulnerable to rupture, the damage opens the doorway to heart attack and stroke. The key to prevention is keeping an eye on the early warning signs. “Inflammation is cumulative. It may end up in the blood vessels, but that’s not where it starts,” Weiss says. “If you have inflamed joints, gums or gastrointestinal tract, your whole body is loaded, and the immune system will hype up heart disease progression.”

The good news is you can combat inflammation naturally by bulking up on specific foods, herbs and supplements. Start with omega-3-rich fish. People who eat two servings a week of coldwater fatty fish, such as mackerel, wild salmon and tuna, cut their risk of heart attack, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease, according to dozens of scientific studies. If you aren’t a fish fan, consider taking fish oil supplements ( between 1,000 and 2,000 mg daily). Other supplements to help douse the fire include turmeric (400 to 600 mg three times per day) and ginger (500 to 1,000 mg twice per day).

If you’re still concerned about inflammation, ask your doctor to test your C-reactive protein levels (CRP for short). A blood marker for inflammation, levels of CRP creep up as inflammation heats up. Although the CRP test is not yet considered standard fare, its use is becoming more mainstream. Two studies in the January 2005 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine indicate CRP may be as important as cholesterol in establishing cardiovascular risk. The CRP test is most useful for people with a moderate heart disease risk whose cholesterol levels are seemingly normal. As more doctors subscribe to the importance of uncovering inflammation, CRP tests may rival cholesterol tests as a diagnostic tool.

Another test to consider is one that measures levels of white blood cells (WBC). After studying the link between high levels of WBC and heart disease in the 72,000 participants of the Women’s Health Initiative, authors of a study published in the March issue of Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that unusually high levels of WBCs may be useful for detecting heart disease in otherwise healthy-looking people. (Food allergies, especially to wheat, gluten and dairy, also create inflammation in the body over time; so does over reliance on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics.)

4. Exercise your brain
You know exercise ensures muscular brawn, but it’s easy to forget the brain’s need for heavy lifting. The importance of performing mental gymnastics was first foretold by a 2002 study published in JAMA. For the research on mental acuity and aging, scientists at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center recruited 801 Catholic nuns, priests and brothers from around the United States. All were at least 65 years old, and none had a clinical diagnosis of dementia. The seniors completed a survey designed to measure, among other things, how much time they devoted to seven different activities, ranging from watching television to playing card games. Over the next 4.5 years, the scientists periodically evaluated the seniors’ brainpower for signs of slippage. During the study, more than 111 participants were diagnosed with shades of Alzheimer’s. When researchers compared those struck by the disease with their activity level, they found that those who flexed their mental muscles the most were 47 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those who taxed their brains the least. Weiss wasn’t surprised by the results. “In the brain, there is a big, big difference between watching television and reading a book,” he says. “Your brain makes new neurons when you process information. I see lots of older folks who are readers stay sharp while those who watch TV melt into the couch.”

5. Get diabetes under control
If you have diabetes, you have extra incentive to pamper your brain. Diabetes puts people at a higher risk of dementia. Experts know that diabetes is damaging to blood vessels, but they are just beginning to understand the relationship to dementia. A groundbreaking study published last March in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease confirmed not only that the brain makes insulin but also that people who die from Alzheimer’s disease lack insulin in key areas of their brains. “Some people think of Alzheimer’s disease as diabetes of the brain,” Whitmer says. “More and more evidence shows that insulin plays a direct role in the neurodegeneration seen with Alzheimer’s.”

If there’s a final analysis to be made here, it might be that while eating right, exercising and taking vitamins and supplements might not be, as Weiss says, a rocket-science Rx for heart and brain health, it’s one each of us can follow with relatively little pain in exchange for considerable long-term gain.


By Catherine Guthrie, Natural Solutions

Technorati Tags: Alzheimer's, Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, General Health, Health & Wellness, Healthy Mind,