Vit D, Toothpaste, Soy, Niacin, NSAIDS, High blood pressure, Vit C

More good news about Vitamin D keeps coming out

Dr. Michael Cutler explains:
Dr. Cutler: "The results of a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute indicated that higher vitamin D levels correlated with a 72 percent reduced risk for colon cancer. Other findings indicate this vitamin could possibly even improve survival of those who have the disease. Studies also show vitamin D can be beneficial for breast and pancreatic cancer.

"But that's only the beginning of the incredible health benefits of vitamin D...

"Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, which also aids in creating and maintaining strong bones. A study in Arthritis & Rheumatism revealed that women who took vitamin D had a 33 percent reduction in rheumatoid arthritis.

"According to a report published in Neurology, 40 percent of those participants taking vitamin D were immune to multiple sclerosis compared to those not taking the vitamin. "A study reported in Epidemiology showed that men with higher vitamin D levels reduced their risk of diabetes by 72 percent over a period of 22 years.

"Plus, the good news is... you can get high levels of vitamin D from fish, egg yolks, bone meal, organ meats and specific types of mushrooms, as well as high-quality Vitamin D-3 supplements. In addition to getting it from your diet, the oils of the skin produce vitamin D in the presence of sunlight."

Are you using regular commercial toothpaste like Crest or Colgate? If you are, you may want to look at healthier alternatives.

Most toothpaste products are truly a joke -- they're loaded with synthetic chemicals that simply can't be considered safe for human consumption by any reasonable person. Cleaning your teeth only requires a type of soap, some water and some brushing action. You don't need dyes, sweeteners, sand and other harsh ingredients. Avoid the dangers of chemical toothpaste products

Do you want to know what's in Colgate Whitening Oxygen Bubbles Brisk Mint Toothpaste?

• Sodium Monofluorophosphate
• Hydrated Silica
• Propylene Glycol
• Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate
• Sodium Bicarbonate
• Sodium Saccharin
• Pentasodium Triphosphate
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Carrageenan
• Artificial flavor
• Sodium Hydroxide
• Calcium Peroxide

Sodium Hydroxide is lye, by the way. Yep: Drain cleaner. Maybe that's why conventional toothpaste tubes come with a poison control center warning printed on the side...

Unfortunately, many parents still push these chemical toothpaste products onto their own children! "Brush your teeth," they're told. "It's good for you!"

And while we’re at it, I don’t recommend using toothpaste that has fluoride. Fluoride is an industrial waste by-product and a poison. It doesn’t belong in our toothpaste or our drinking water.

Some other brands of tooth products

There are some good natural brands of toothpaste available. Check the ingredients and know what you are putting in your family’s mouths. Weleda, Jason, Tom’s, Nature’s Gate and Tooth Soap are some examples that can be found everywhere. You can find a great selection of toothpastes and other natural products at health food stores like Super Supplements.

If you like your toothpaste to be a little sweet then look for products that use Xylitol which is a natural sweetener that is actually good for your teeth, or Stevia as the sweetener. If you aren’t a fan of the strong mint flavor found in most toothpaste then try Jason’s PowerSmile Vanilla-Mint with Xylitol. It has a pleasant vanilla flavor that is unique and great tasting. It also has Grapefruit Seed extract which is great for killing stubborn bacteria and germs and protecting gum tissue.

Just an FYI that some small natural health brands are now owned by large corporations. Tom's of Maine is owned by Colgate-Palmolive, one of the largest corporations selling consumer products made with synthetic chemicals. Burt's Bees, by the way, is now owned by Clorox.

Frightening new soy product on the horizon

People who understand the problems that come with eating soy think that things are already bad, but they are about to get even worse.

Mad scientists burning through USDA dollars are hard at work trying to create even more deceptive soy products that look, taste and feel like real food -- but make no mistake, most things based on soy are a nutrition-free demon in disguise. This latest lab monster is created through a new high- moisture process, and is supposed to mimic chicken... although the researchers admit it tastes more like turkey.

In any case, it's no bird at all -- it's "meat analogue." I don't know about you, but I wouldn't eat anything called a "meat analogue." It may look like chicken and taste like turkey, but I smell a meat-free rat here... because the researchers are using some pretty bizarre logic to make the case that their non-bird is actually nutritious.

One problem with Soy is that it mimics estrogen to the point where your body thinks it's getting a hormonal boost. And for most people, that's bad news. This fake food has been linked to heart disease, cancer, thyroid problems, sex problems and other mental disorders. Even if they do manage to concoct a soy "meat analogue" that looks, tastes and feels just like meat... your body will always know the difference. Do yourself and your body a favor: Insist on the real thing.

Don’t get caught up in the soy fad. Soy can be harmful especially to women by causing estrogen related hormonal issues. It is best to limit your intake of soy as much as you can. But because soy is a cheap protein it is added to thousands of products which makes it difficult to avoid.

Niacin works better for Cholesterol

The utter worthlessness of Big Pharma's cholesterol drugs was demonstrated recently by a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which showed that niacin (a low-cost B vitamin) out-performs Merck's drug Zetia for preventing the build-up of arterial plaque, a symptom of cardiovascular disease.

As the study reveals, Zetia failed miserably. Patients taking niacin showed a "significant shrinkage" in artery wall thickness, while those on Zetia showed no such improvement. At the same time, the rate of "cardiovascular events" in the niacin group was only one-fifth that in the Zetia group, demonstrating that niacin is far more effective at preventing heart attacks and other similar events than Zetia.

But curiously, (and no surprise) as soon as niacin started to show a real benefit over Zetia, researchers cancelled the study. The premature ending of the clinical trial stopped the process by which even more useful information about the benefits of niacin might have been learned.

Common Painkiller Acetaminophen Linked to Asthma

The common painkiller acetaminophen may increase the risk of asthma and other allergies in both children and adults, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of British Columbia-Vancouver and published in the journal CHEST.

Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol, is the active ingredient in the painkillers Tylenol, Anacin, Panadol, and others. Because it does not increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding the way aspirin, ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) do, it has become the favored analgesic and fever-reducer used in young children.

Researchers reviewed 19 prior studies on a total of 425,000 children and adults. They found that children who had been treated with the drug in the past year were 60 percent more likely to suffer from asthma than children who had not, while adults who had used the drug in the past year were 75 percent more likely to suffer from the condition.

People who had taken higher doses of the drug had a higher risk of asthma than people who had taken lower doses. The data also showed a connection between acetaminophen use and wheezing, eczema, runny nose and itchy eyes.

The study was not designed to prove cause and effect, however.

Researchers have been looking for causes of the significant increase in asthma rates over the past 20 years. Suggested culprits have included air pollutants and overly sterile living environments, but the current study points to another potential contributor.

According to co-author Mark FitzGerald, it was roughly 20 years ago that doctors began to recommend acetaminophen rather than aspirin for the treatment of fevers and pain in children."There was a change in practice and in the succeeding 20 years or so the prevalence of asthma has increased also," he said.

Although ibuprofen does not appear to increase the risk of asthma, it may cause liver and brain damage in some children. "For adults, ibuprofen is probably the safer of the two in terms of asthma risk," co-author Mahyar Etminan said. "For kids, pediatric guidelines still point to acetaminophen use -- at least until we have a more definitive study."

Celery Juice Keeps High Blood Pressure at Bay

Blood pressure is the force exerted by blood pushing against the walls of one's arteries. If the pressure rises significantly and remains there for an extended period of time, it can cause damage to the body. Lucky for us, one of the most common vegetables we use today - celery - with its stringy stems and crisp texture provides a natural way to lower blood pressure. It decreases a potentially dangerous situation without the risk of possible side effects that might accompany prescribed medication.

A blood pressure reading is measured by two numbers. The top number referred to as systolic is the measure of pressure the blood exerts while the heart is beating. The lower number, diastolic, is the measure of pressure the blood exerts while the heart is relaxed. The suggested optimal blood pressure is 120/80.

Just how could celery juice affect this measurement? This versatile veggie contains active compounds named phthalides. These compounds provide health benefits by naturally relaxing the muscles in and around the walls of the arteries which cause those vessels to dilate, creating more space inside the arteries that permits the blood to flow at a lower pressure. Phthalides also have been reported to lower blood pressure and promote a healthy circulatory system by reducing what are known as stress hormones. This biennial vegetable also contains high amounts of magnesium, potassium, and calcium. The beneficial effect of these minerals in celery serves to calm the nervous system, automatically counterbalancing stress levels.

Although Hippocrates (a Greek physician considered the Father of Medicine, c. 460 BC - c. 377 BC) prescribed the juice of this leafy-topped stalk to patients suffering from nervous tension and although Chinese medicine has long recognized celery juice to reduce high blood pressure, only recently has it been studied in the Western world. The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) is credited with one of the first studies of celery's effects on blood pressure. In one instance, the father of a scientist at UCMC experienced a drop in his blood pressure from 158/96 to 118/82 after just one week of eating about four stalks a day.

To test this theory, a physician at the Whitaker Wellness Center and her father both drank celery juice for thirty days, mixing it with a little orange juice to camouflage the slightly bitter taste of juiced celery. Their results? The father's systolic level dropped from 148 to 128, and the physician's went from 120 to 105.

Including this most nutritious juice as a part of a healthy diet and lifestyle just may help keep the risks of high blood pressure from ever becoming an issue

More Vitamin C benefits

In a UK study, researchers found that middle-aged and older subjects with the highest levels of vitamin C were more that 60 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to subjects with the lowest levels of the vitamin.

That's the good news.

Now for the bad advice... When a local newscast in Baltimore featured this study, the anchor introduced it by suggesting that a couple of glasses of orange juice every day might help prevent type 2 diabetes.

In fact, a glass of orange juice is practically a full day's serving of type 2 diabetes! And that's why newsroom copywriters with a background in newsroom copywriting should not give nutrition advice. The fruit of an orange is high in unrefined, water-soluble fiber. And that makes it very different (and healthier) than orange juice. Many types of fruit juices (such as orange, grapefruit and grape juices) actually contain as much sugar per serving as a soft drink.

A Tulane School of Public Health study analyzed dietary and medical records in more than 70,000 subjects. Results showed type 2 diabetes risk increased by nearly 20 percent among subjects who drank one serving of fruit juice daily. The study also found that three daily servings of whole fruit LOWERED type 2 diabetes risk by about the same amount. I repeat: Whole fruit, not fruit juice........ But that didn't make the headlines in Baltimore.

Natural Way To Treat Skin Cancer

If you have the most common form of cancer, you probably also have a safe and inexpensive treatment for it in your home right now. Basal cell cancer appears on the skin as a small lump or sore that doesn't heal properly. This type of cancer is annoying and unsightly, but rarely dangerous.

The Orthomolecular Medicine News Service has posted an article that explains how to use vitamin C to treat small spots of basal cell carcinoma by mixing a paste of powdered vitamin C with a small amount of water and then applying it directly to the spots. After three applications per day for two weeks, many of the spots become dry and drop off.

So is this a revolutionary new breakthrough? Not quite. This information comes from research that was published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition…more than 35 years ago!

3 Easy Steps to Prevent Cancer

"In fact, there are three simple things you can do that will dramatically reduce your risk. And for those who are already fighting the disease, these three steps are mandatory. "

Here they are:
1. Optimize your levels of the 'sunshine hormone' Vitamin D3 (4,000 to 5,000 IU per day)
2. Optimize your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio (eat fish, flax seed and chia seeds - take cod liver or fish oil)
3. Eat a low-glycemic diet to keep your insulin and blood sugar low (reduce your carb intake)

If you ignore these three factors, it will create an environment in your body that fuels cancer.

Painkillers Can Also Kill Your Hearing

Time to tune out that one-a-day painkiller mantra before those painkillers force you to tune out everything -- because the latest research links these overused meds to hearing loss in men.

In fact, men who use the most painkillers have the worst hearing -- especially those under 50, according to a study of 26,917 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow- up Study.

You can read more on this for yourself in the pages of the American Journal of Medicine. May as well get used to it now -- you'll be doing a lot more reading when your hearing's shot to bits.

The study found all painkillers to be hard on the hearing... but some were worse than others. Men who used acetaminophen more than twice a week had double the risk of hearing loss, while ibuprofen and other NSAIDs increased that risk by two-thirds. Regular aspirin use increased the odds of hearing loss by a third.

Since the researchers only studied white men, they say the results only apply to white men... but would it really surprise you if it turned out these things deadened everyone's ears?

Painkillers don't just kill hearing -- they tear apart your insides and increase your risk of ulcers, bowel problems, kidney disease, high blood pressure and even the heart problems some of these drugs claim to prevent.

Yet some dummy docs are STILL telling their patients to gobble one down every single day. That's bad enough -- but plenty of other patients use these drugs to self-medicate every minor ache.

It just confirms that no matter how common or how cheap these meds are, there's no such thing as a safe painkiller. These are serious drugs, and anyone who uses them regularly is begging for trouble. Take them long enough, and eventually you won't even be able to hear the warnings.


My Comment:
Even with study after study showing the benefits of vitamins for so many health conditions, the medical establishment clings to their naive mantra that in general, supplemental vitamins are not needed or of any benefit.

Could the doctors possibly be any more in the dark when it comes to the value of nutrition?

Don't wait the typical 20 year delay for medical doctors to catch up with alternative medicine. Do your own research and include nutritional supplements and healthy foods in your family's diet. You will be so happy you did 10 or 20 years from now when everyone you know is taking multiple medications every day just to survive and living in a drug induced stuper.

But that's not much of a life if you ask me.

Until next time, stay healthy and happy

JD Roma