Tame Inflammation with Whole Grains

Swapping refined grains for whole ones could lower your levels of a protein linked to heart disease and diabetes, suggests a new study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. For 12 weeks, 50 obese adults ate low-fat dairy, lean protein, five daily servings of fruits and veggies, and either whole or refined grains. Both groups lost an average of 8 to 11 pounds, but only study members on the whole-grain-rich diet had a decrease in C-reactive protein, an inflammation marker associated with a number of diseases.

By cooking a pot of brown rice, barley, or quinoa each week and refrigerating it, you can add whole grains to every meal, says Robin Asbell, author of The New Whole Grains Cookbook. Serve grains with scrambled eggs, stir into soups, and reheat with leftover vegetables for a quick stir-fry.

Water Bottle Warning

Think twice before drinking hot liquids from plastic bottles. New research from the University of Cincinnati shown that bottles made of polycarbonate plastic can release a certain endocrine-disrupting chemical up to 55 times faster when exposed to hot water. A synthetic chemical also found in baby bottles, bisphenol A (BPA) is known to mimic female hormones and alter endocrine function. Although there's limited research on BPA's human-health effects, a number of animal studies have concluded that the chemical may interfere with reproduction and hamper brain development.

Even when they're not filled with hot liquid, polycarbonate bottles can leak BPA. But occasionally drinking cold water from plastic isn't likely to drastically increase your exposure, says Kirby Donnelly, Ph.D., head of Texas A&M University's Environmental and Occupational Health department. Still, he notes, opting for glass or stainless-steel bottles is the best way to avoid BPA and other potentially harmful synthetic chemicals.

Straight From The Shelf

Want to live a richer life? Start by investing in the most incredible resource of all: the one between your ears. In Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, James Arthur Ray points out that last year, 85 percent of North American households didn't buy a nonfiction book and 90 percent of those who did didn't read it. Yet our Tv's run an average of more than six hours per day. "I've never met one massively high achiever who has time to sit in front of the plug-in drug," he writes. Instead, Ray suggests hitting the books and giving yourself a break from the 24/7 news cycle. "You may need to be informed," Ray notes, "but you don't have to be inundated."

Clean the Air

According to the EPA, an estimated 20 percent of respiratory-related hospital visits in summer have ozone pollution to blame. Breathe easier and do your part for cleaner air by updating your lawn mower. Operating a pre-1997 model for one hour can pollute just as much as driving a car for 65 miles.

Exercise Improves Your Body and Your Brain

Exercise is a critical component of good health, especially as you age. Exercise will help you:

• sleep better
• Lose weight, gain weight, or maintain weight, depending on your needs
• Improve your resistance to fight infections
• Lower your risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes
• Help your brain work better, making you smarter

Key points to remember when exercising:

• Listen to your body
• Be consistent
• Start with walking if you are overweight
• Increase your intensity regularily
• Stick with it

Simple Secrets to Living Longer and Happier

Researchers may have found a way to help people see the biggger, broader picture: Positive emotions.

In this study, researchers asked a group of nearly 90 students to watch one of three video genres: horror to induce anxiety, comedy to induce joy and laughter or "neutral" to have no effect on emotions. After viewing one of the three movies, the students were then shown 28 yearbook-style photos of college-aged people in random order for 500 milliseconde.

Findings showed:

• Students who watched the comedy had much higher positive emotions, while those who viewed the horror movie had far more negative emotions.
• In a testing phase, more images passed by and students were asked to acknowledge whether or not they had seen the photos earlier -- those in a positive mood had a far greater ability to recognize members of another race, while their ability to recognize members of their own race remained the same.

It was concluded that negative emotions create a "tunnel vision" view of the world, whereas positive emotions (i.e. joy, humor and happiness) promote big-picture thinking and allow one to become more inclusive and detail-oriented. Also, positive emotions allow one to think in terms of "us" rather than "them".

University of Michigan News Service

Does Sunshine Really Cause Skin Cancer?

Dermatologist Dr. Bernard Ackerman devotes many hours of his time diagnosing cases of cancer. On a recent trip, he didn't seem worried about the potential risk of the disease while he sunbathed without the use of sunscreen or a hat.

Ackerman, an expert in the field of dermatology, said that the connection between melanoma and the sun is both inconclusive and inconsistent.

Commonly held assumptions on the sun and melanoma:

• If a person is badly sunburned, to the point of blistering at an early age in their life, they will develop skin cancer later on in life. Ackerman pointed out there were contradictions in the studies supporting this theory.
• Another common assumption is that sunscreen is that sunscreen acts as a protetion against melanoma. To counter this theory, Ackerman referred to a study completed in a dermatology journal on the subject that didn't provide any factual evidence to support this theory.

The more intense the exposure to the sun, the greater the liklihood of developing melanoma. Ackerman claimed that much of the epidemiological research is innaccurate and doesn't evaluate cause and effect findings.

Ackerman advised keeping out of the sun if you're concerned about premature aging or if you're very fair-skinned due to the increased risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma, a less dangerous form of cancer. Otherwise, Ackerman said it was not wise to hold onto the beliefs that included avoiding the sun and using sunscreen as ways to protect against melanoma.

ContraCosta Times

All-Natural Fruit Juices Aren't Healthy

Preschoolers who are already on the heavy side and drink one to two sweet drinks a day might be at greater risk of becoming obese. Some of these sweet drinks include Kool-Aid with sugar and all-natural apple juice. This finding might come as a surprise to parents who make a point of buying fruit drinks without added sugars for their children.

Nutritionists and the new U.S. dietary guidelines both agree on the same recommendation: it is better to eat whole fresh fruit than to consume fruit juice.

Research revealed that 3 and 4 year olds who carried extra weight and consumed one to two sweet drinks a day were at double the risk of becoming seriously overweight one year later.

In order to study the effects of sweet drinks researchers followed over 10,000 Missouri children who were divided into three groups: normal and underweight, those at risk of becoming overweight and those who were already overweight.

Some of the components of the study included comparing children's heights and weights and parents' reports of what their children ate and drank over the course of a four week period.

The study uncovered a link between sweet drinks and being overweight among all three weight categories of the participants, however the statistics weren't as significant for those children who fell into the normal and underweight category.

Other factors such as ethnicity, birth weight and high-fat diets didn't change any of the effects of sweet drinks.

Pediatrics

Cut Colon Cancer Risk with Blueberries

Adding blueberries to your diet may be a natural way to prevent colon cancer, according to researchers at Rutgers University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In a study of 18 rats with colon cancer, those fed a diet supplemented with the blueberry compound pterostilbene had 57 percent fewer pre-cancerous lesions after eight weeks compared to the control group. Pterostilbene also inhibited genes involved in inflammation, which is thought to be a risk factor for colon cancer.

A past study has found that blueberries are beneficial; when blueberry skins were fed to animals, their cholesterol was lowered. It's thought that pterostilbene may prevent colon cancer by lowering lipids in your body.

Blueberries are rich in antioxidants called anthocyanins, and are a good source of ellagic acid, which in known to block metabolic pathways that may lead to cancer. There are 30 different blueberry species native to North America.

Clinical Cancer Research

Pesticides Can Cause Prostate Cancer

Farmers have an unusually high risk of prostate cancer, likely due to their use of certain pesticides, according to a study.

The results confirm previous studies that have found associations between pesticide use and risk of prostate cancer among farmers.

Researchers analyzed 55,332 farmers and nursery workers who worked with pesticides in Iowa and North Carolina.

Among the participants, 566 new cases of prostate cancer developed between 1993 and 1999, compared to 495 that would normally be expected.

Compared to the general population, the farmers who used pesticides had a 14 percent greater risk of developing prostate cancer.

Six pesticides, chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, fonofos, phorate, permethrin and butylate, raised the prostate cancer risk in men with a history of the disease, while one pesticide, methyl bromide, raised the risk in all of the men.

About 30,000 U.S. men will die of prostate cancer this year and more than 220,000 will be diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society. The largest risk factors for the disease include age and family history. Additionally, African-American men have higher rates of prostate cancer than other ethnicities.

Reuter's Health

Sleeping Patterns Are Governed by Light

Your biological clock is not the only thing that reminds you to shut your eyes every 24 hours; a new study has found that it's actually light that governs your sleeping patterns.

Your eyes use light to reset your biological clock through a mechanism that is separate from your ability to see, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found.

Researchers genetically modified laboratory mice so that a particular set of retinal ganglion cells - the ones that received input from the rods and cones of the eyes and send information to your brain - no longer functioned. The mice were still able to use light to see normally, but had great dificulty synchronizing their circadian rhythms to light or dark cycles.

The findings suggest that people who have trouble sleeping or seasonal depression may be having a malfunction that is contributing to their inability to detect light, which in turn may adversely affect their biological clocks.

Nature

5 Absolute Worst Foods You Can Eat

There are no "bad" foods, right? Only food you should eat in moderation? Well, not really. The following foods are so bad for your body that I really can't see any reason to eat them. Not only do they have zero nutritional value, but they also give your body a healthy dose of toxins, which should make the idea of eating them really hard to swallow.

1. Doughnuts because of they are full of sugar, white flour and trans fats.
2. Soda because it has about 10 teaspoons of sugar or worse aspartame.
3. French fries (and all fried foods) because of the trans fats and acrylamide.
4. Chips because of trans fats and the formation of carcinogenic substances like acrylamide.
5. Fried non-fish seafood because of the toxic mercury content.

The moral of the story is still, you are what you eat. The question is what are you eating?

Is Your Antiperspirant Causing Cancer?

Aluminum, a common ingredient added to antiperspirants to stop skin sweating, may be linked to breast cancer, a study by British scientist found.

The researchers tested breast samples from 17 breast-cancer patients who had undergone mastectomies. The women who used antiperspirants had deposits of aluminum in their outer breast tissue. Concentrations of aluminum were higher in the tissue closest to the underarm than in the central breast.

Aluminum is not normally found in the human body, and the researchers believe the metal is being absorbed from antiperspirant sprays and roll-ons.

Animal studies have found that aluminum can cause cancer, and the British researcher who led this study, Dr. Chris Exley from Keele University, has also suggested that the aluminum content of sunscreens could increase users' risk of skin cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

Further studies are needed to determine if the aluminum came from antiperspirants and whether it contributed to breast cancer.

The director-general of the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association said they do not believe that the aluminum in antiperspirants is absorbed by the body.

Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry November 2007

Fluoride Damages Your Brain!

If you still believe the myth that fluoride is good for your children's (and your) teeth, think again. There are a vast numbers of scientific research studies confirming the opposite - that fluoride is a toxin that is extremely detrimental to your body, your brain, and even to your teeth.

Recent human studies from China have confirmed the results of previous animal studies; that elevated fluoride exposure leads to reduced I.Q. in children.

Cognitive ability is further reduced if your child is deficient in iodine.

Prior to this, more than 30 animal studies produced since 1992 have reported impairment in learning and memory processes among animals treated with fluoride.

Even at levels as low as 1ppm (part per million), studies have demonstrated direct toxic effects on brain tissue, including:

• reduction in lipid content
• impaired anti-oxidant defense systems
• damage to your hippocampus
• damage to your purkinje cells
• increased uptake of aluminum
• formation of beta-amyloid plaques (the classic brain abnormality in Alzheimer's disease)
• accumulation of fluoride in your pineal gland

Fluoride Action Network

Food Allergy Hospitalizations Are on the Rise

An analysis of the rates of illness and death for allergic disorders other than asthma suggests that systemic allergic reactons, such as anaphylaxis (serious allergic reaction in several areas of the body) and food allergies, have soared in recent years.

The analysis looked at data from national surveys, consultations with primary care health practitioners, prescriptions, hospital admissions, and deaths.

Hospital admissions for anaphylaxis have risen by 600 percent, and those food allergies have risen by 400 percent. Prescriptions for all types of allergy have also increased over the past 15 years.

The cause of the increase is known, although it could be attributable to changes in the sources of allergic disease.

How can you prevent food allergies? Only eat fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy meats, along with pure drinking water.

Science Daily

Is Life Expectancy Falling in the United States?

Life expectancy has declined for many U.S. women, according to a joint study by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington.

Nearly one in five women had decline of life expectancy hold steady, starting in the 1980s.

About half of the 2,000 county units studied were poor, rural areas, and the decline was blamed on chronic diseases related to smoking, overweight and obesity, and high blood pressure.

Those worst affected by the downturn live in the south, the Appalachians, southern parts of the Midwest and areas of Texas.

"The fact that this is happening to a large number of Americans should be a sign that the US health system needs serious rethinking," said the study's co-author Christopher Murray, director of the institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Yahoo News

Is the Pain of Fibromyalgia Killing You?

The widespread pain of fibromyalgia is hard to treat, but a small clinical study published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics shows that meditation may deliver lasting benefits. For eight weks, 39 women with fibromyalgia attended weekly mindfulnes meditation classes, which focused on deepening mind-body awareness and cultivating acceptance of parts of their condition that they were unable to control. At the course's end - and at three-year follow-up - women in the meditation group coped better with fibromyalgia pain than those whose classes included relaxation training and exercise.

The meditation course partly focused on managing stressful situations, which National Fibromyalgia Association senior medical adviser Patrick Wood, M.D., considers important. "Fibromyalgia pain is often triggered by some sort of stressor," he says, "so learning to handle stress better can make a big difference in terms of symptom experience."

body+soul

Physicians Create List of Who Will Live and Who Will Die in Pandemic/Disaster Scenario

In a move that sounds eerily like a disaster-based science fiction movie, doctors have created a list of who to let die should a pandemic or other widespread disaster hit.

"If a mass casualty critical care event were to occur tomorrow, many people with clinical conditions that are survivable under usual health care system conditions may have to forgo life-sustaining interventions owing to deficiencies in supply or staffing," according to the report.

Who is out of Luck?

• People older than 85
• People with severe trauma
• Severely burned patients older than 60
• People with severe mental impairment
• People with severe chronic disease

The bottom line, to predict your future health status, look at your current health habits. Make sure you are making the best decisions possible when it comes to your health.

WashingtonPost.com May 5, 2008

Are You Drinking DEET?

Every year, 100 million Americans slather on insect repellant to enjoy their outdoor barbecues, picnics and activities without getting bitten or stung. However, in the repellants used by about one-third of the U.S. population is a powerful chemical commonly known as DEET.

And as soon as you come inside and wash DEET from your skin and clothing, that DEET gets washed down the drain, and is now showing up in rivers and lakes. According to testing done for the Chicago Sun-Times, DEET is also present in your drinking water.

Deet is a Neurological Toxin.

Deet has been shown to cause nervous-system damage, including:

• Insomnia
• Mood changes
• Disorientation and clumsiness when walking
• Seizures
• Coma
• Even death

Have your tap water independently tested to find out what, if any, contaminants exist.

Chicago Sun-Times April 21, 2008

Many Toys Contain Dangerous Chemicals

Tests on 1,200 children's items revealed that more than one-third contained lead and other potentially dangerous chemicals such as mercury, cadmium and arsenic.

The study, directd by the Environmental Health Project of the Ecology Center in Michigan, also found that jewelry products were the most likely to contain high levels of lead.

Other items, such as bedroom slippers, bath toys and card-game cases were also tainted, some with as much as five times the standard safety level of lead. One Hannah Montana card-game case, for instance, had lead levels of 3,056 parts per million.

The study was conducted to spur government officials to take action against tainted toys. Millions of toys, most of them made in China, have already been recalled in 2007

Yahoo News

Cancer Prevention

According to a recent report from the American Institute for Cancer Research, colorectal cancer has the highest relation to dietary and behavioral factors out of 17 cancers that were studied. What does this mean? It's more preventable. The AICR recommends keeping your risk low by keeping physically active, eating no more than 18 ounces of red meat per week, eating less processed meats, and eating more fruits and vegetables.

Kill Your Stress ... Before Your Stress Kills You!

Just about every illness is either directly caused, or made worse, by stress. That includes heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, along with:

• Back pain and headaches
• Stomache and digestive problems
• Tooth grinding
• Sleep loss and fatigue
• Skin problems
• Weight gain or loss
• Depression
• Confusion, irritability, forgetfulness and more

The following tips from Lifehack will help you develop practices and a mindset that disipate and reduce the inevitable stress of life itself.

1. Make quiet time
2. Eat better
3. Make family time
4. Talk it out
5. Prioritize
6. Accept interruptions gracefully
7. Pay attention to yourself
8. Love
9. Learn how to relax and center

Lifehack.org April 11, 2008

10 Ways to Hurt Your Body

People have been pushing the limits of the human body since the beginning of time. Body piercing, tattoos, ear stretching, and more were used in ancient cultures as a rite of passage, to express spiritual beliefs and, often to display varying cultural ideals of beauty.

In a modern world, body modification is still popular, though not without risk. Most dyes used in tattooing are not approved for cosmetic purposes and were produced for industrial uses such as car paint, for instance. Body piercing can also cause problems depending on the types of metal used and the location of the piercing.

Here are the top 10 things that people do to their bodies that they probably shouldn't? This LiveScience article has detailed the top 10:

10. Toe Shortening
9. Laser Hair Removal
8. Body Piercing
7. Grills
6. Permanent Makeup
5. Bariatric Surgery
4. Skin Whitening
3. Botox
2. Penis Enhancement
1. Liposuction

LiveScience April 22, 2008

2007 Vaccine Blamed for the Worst Flu Season in Four Years

The current flu season is shaping up to be the worst in four years, partly because the vaccine didn't work well against the viruses that made most people sick.

The 2007-2008 season started slowly, peaked in mid-February, and now seems to be declining. Based on adult deaths from flu and pneumonia, this is the worst since 2003-2004.

This year, the vaccine was only 44 percent effective, according to a study. It was the worst match for flu viruses since 1997-1999, when the vaccine didn't work at all against the circulating virus.

Every year, health officials make an educated guess to formulate a vaccine against three flu viruses they think will be circulating.

This year, two of the three strains were not good matches.

Dallas News April 18, 2008

Are You to Clean?

Still scrubbing with antibacterial soaps? you may be better off switching back to plain old suds, says a University of Michigan research team. In a review of 27 studies, Allison Aiello, the lead researcher, determined that most antibacterial cleansers probably don't kill more bacteria or fight off infectious illness any better than regular soaps.

Some antibacterial soaps could even squelch the effectiveness of antibiotic drugs, Aiello warns. Scientists have yet to detect such changes at the population level, but lab tests have shown that E. coli bacteria can become drug resistant when exposed to the amount of triclosan found in most commercial cleansers.

If you still feel better washing with an antibacterial, consider soaps made with tee tree oil, suggests Donald Abrams, M.D., director of clinical programs at the Universith of California, San Francisco's Osher Center for Itegrative Medicine. Native to Australia and traditionally used to treat topical infections, this essential oil has antimicrobial properties.

Choose Guilt or Your Health

Sure, we all have our guilty moments. But when you allow those feelings to flourish unchecked, you could be putting your health at risk. Medical research shows that harboring guilt taxes the immune system, leading to a host of health problems, including depression, auto-immune disorders, and chronic fatigue. So the next time you're about to do something that's guilt-worthy, think twice-or utter c'est la vie and move on with your day.

Is BPA in You?

You won't see it on any ingredients list, but you probably ingested bisphenol A today. Used to make the polycarbonate plastics found in many consumer goods - reusable water containers, baby bottles, the inside coating of tin cans - BPA can leach into foods and liquids when the plastic ages or gets heated. While the FDA recognizes the chemical as afe, some studies show low levels can disrupt hormone and immune system function, and cause insulin resistance and birth defects. It's another reason to keep a stainless-steel canteen close by.

Mold and your Mood

Not only unhealthy for your lungs, mold may play a role in depression risk, says a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. In surveying nearly 6,000 European adults, researchers found a connection between living in a moldy home and suffering from depression.

"Depressed people are probably less likely to take good care of their homes, which partly explains the link," says epidemiologist and lead study author Edmond Shenassa. But preliminary evidence also suggests that mold may weaken the function of a brain region responsible for regulating emotion. Mold-related health troubles, like wheezing and fatigue, might also influence depression risk, says Shenassa. "If you're sick from mold, and you feel you can't get rid of it, that may affect your mental health," he notes.

Controlling moisture is key to keeping your home mold-free, says University of Washington environmental and occupational health microbiologist J. Scott Meschke, Ph.D. Fix leaks as soon as possible, and check the Environmental Protection Agency's mold guide (at epa.gov/mold) for help with tackling other mold problems.

Snooze or Lose

A good night's sleep keeps blood pressure in check, sharpens memory, and tames inflammation. Now scientists are suggesting that getting enough z's may help protect against diabetes. A study published in the journal Sleep showed that adults who slept five or fewer hours a night were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who snoozed for seven hours.

Experimental research has shown that skimping on sleep might impair the body's ability to manage blood sugar. Sleep deprivation's potential to raise body weight probably impacts diabetes incidence as well, notes lead study author James Gangwisch, Ph.D.

Late-night munchies may also factor into diabetes risk, adds Larry Deeb, M.D., past president of the American Diabetes Association. "There's good evidence that our bodies become less efficient at processing blood sugar as the day wears on, so staying up and snacking could certainly be part of the problem," he warns.

BODYANDSOULMAG.COM

You Can Age Fast or You Can Age Slow

There are three primary conditions that appear to be major factors in aging. They are chronic inflammation, oxidative stress and DNA damage. Many factors contribute to these conditions to include processed, sugary and fatty foods; pesticides; chemicals; pollutants; and so forth. As we get the toxins out (and keep them out) and nurture ourselves, aging symptoms can often be reduced.

Chronic Inflammation: This condition can contribute to cellular damage causing aging and age-related diseases. Contributing factors include toxins, trauma, stress, allergens, infections, etc. Also, a diet heavy in processed sugary and high protein foods produces inflammation. Immunodeficiency, a condition where the immune response is reduced or absent, impedes the body's ability to handle inflammation properly.

Oxidative Stress: Free radicals are unstable oxygen atoms and naturally occur in the body. However, high levels of free radicals attack our cell structure causing cell death and aging. This oxidative stress causes fruit to turn brown and shrivel up. A few factors that contribute to high levels of free radicals are heavy metals, toxins, pesticides, ionizing radiation, alcohol, cigarette smoke and foods high in fat and sugar.

DNA Damage: Natural gene mutation, free radicals and environmental factors can contribute to DNA damage. The cell copies its DNA in preparation for cell division. Damaged DNA produces damaged cells, X-rays, toxins, stress, malnutrition, cigarette smoke, ultraviolet light, and low-level magnetic fields emitted by household products such as electric blankets and blow dryers, are some of the environmental factors that can damage DNA.

Ideal Lifestyles Spring 2008

Four Food Types That Zap Your Brain Power

If you ever feel foggy after lunch? Can't think straight after certain meals? It's not all in your head. The food you eat has a very real, and very significant, impact on your mind, including your ability to think clearly.

So if you value your brain power, which foods should you steer clear of?

1. Excessive Alcohol
Alcohol is a neurotoxin, which means it can poison your brain and kill your brain cells.

2. Refined Foods
If you eat mostly refined foods, it can cause imbalances in your brain that cause you to feel irratable, distracted, tired or fidgety.

3. Trans Fats
Trans fats have also been linked to other mental problems ranging from ADHD and dyslexia to autism.

4. Food Additives
MSG, which is a flavor enhancer in many packaged foods, is an exititoxin. Other food additives to avoid include the food coloring Blue 1, which has been linked to brain tumors in mice.

What SHOULD YOU EAT for BRAIN POWER?
Now that you know what to avoid to keep your brain in tip-top shape, here'e what to look for, and indulge in:

• Leafy vegetables
• Fruits
• Seeds and nuts
• Mercury free fish
• Organic eggs
• Whole grains
• Green tea

NewScientist.com