A Repost From NaturalNews

Drink to your kidney health with lemonade to avoid kidney stones Friday, May 07, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer

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(NaturalNews) Kidney stones are solid pieces of material that form in a kidney. They can stay there or they may travel down the urinary tract until they are eliminated naturally. Unfortunately, kidney stones can also get stuck in the ureter, bladder or urethra. The result can be bleeding, blockage of urine flow and excruciating pain. Thankfully, there are natural ways to greatly reduce your risk of having this most common disorder of the urinary tract, including simply drinking lemonade.

If you've ever experienced the agony of having kidney stones stuck in your urinary tract, you know this is no minor problem. In fact, kidney stones can lead to serious infections and major surgery.

"Back and abdominal pain, blood in the urine, and nausea or vomiting, are the three classic symptoms of kidney stones," Roger L. Sur, MD, director of the University of California at San Diego Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center said in a press statement. "You don't have to have all three, but any of them will come on quickly and be hard to ignore. When you have extreme pain, you should see your doctor or go to an emergency room right away, especially if a fever is present. The presence of fever indicates that you may have an infection in your blood stream which can be life threatening."

Dr. Sur explained that kidney stones composed mostly of calcium can be caused by too much salt in the diet. Excess salt stimulates calcium excretion in urine and that can lead to stone formation. Another type of fairly common kidney stones is formed from uric acid, a waste product that may be caused by a high-protein diet.

Treatment for kidney stones can involve drugs, surgery, or a shock wave procedure called lithotripsy that breaks up the stones. But even after medical treatment, they can come back. "There is a 50 percent chance of getting another stone within five to ten years if you've already had one," Dr. Sur explained.

Of course the best strategy for kidney stones is to avoid getting them in the first place. Reducing dietary salt, excess calcium and protein and drinking plenty of fluids can slash the risk of kidney stones – and now it turns out lemonade can help, too. In a recent study headed by Dr. Sur, lemonade therapy consisting of drinking four ounces of reconstituted lemon juice in two liters of water per day was found to significantly decrease the rate of kidney stone formation from 1.00 to 0.13 stones per patient.

So what is it about lemonade that zaps kidney stones? Dr. Sur pointed out in a media statement that lemons have the highest concentration of citrate of any citrus fruit -- and citrate naturally inhibits kidney stone formation. Other fruit juices not only have less citrate but they are also sometimes supplemented with calcium and oxalate, the very compounds that make up the majority of kidney stones.

Natural health tip: skip homemade or store bought lemonade if it's loaded with sugar. Instead, sweeten lemonade to taste with healthier choices -- honey or stevia.

For more information :
http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2010/4-...
http://www.naturalnews.com/kidney_s...

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A Repost From NaturalNews

New research shows grapes reduce risk for heart disease and diabetes Thursday, May 06, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer

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(NaturalNews) The millions of Americans with heart disease and type 2 diabetes didn't develop these diseases out of the blue. Their disorders are the result of a cascade of problems including high blood pressure, insulin resistance, abdominal fat and other symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Now University of Michigan (U-M) scientists say they've found something that could help put the brakes on this downward spiral of ill health. It's not a new drug but a delicious and easy lifestyle change: just eat grapes.

The U-M research findings, announced April 26th at the Experimental Biology convention held in Anaheim, California, showed grape consumption lowered blood pressure, improved heart function and reduced other risk factors for heart disease and metabolic syndrome, a condition affecting an estimated 50 million Americans that often leads to type 2 diabetes. The scientists stated the beneficial effects of grapes appear to be due to the rich supply of phytochemicals in the fruit.

The research team tested a mixture of green, red and black grapes on laboratory rats that are prone to being overweight. For three months, one group of the animals ate powdered grapes mixed into their regular feed, which was devised to imitate a typical high-fat, American style diet. A control group of similar rats received no grape powder in their food (which was supplemented so it had the same number of calories as the grape-added diet).

The results of the experiment showed the rats eating the grape-enriched diet had lower blood pressure, better heart function, and reduced indicators of inflammation in the heart and the blood than rats who received no grape powder. What's more, the grape eating rats had lower triglycerides and improved glucose tolerance even though there was no change in their body weight.

"The possible reasoning behind the lessening of metabolic syndrome is that the phytochemicals were active in protecting the heart cells from the damaging effects of metabolic syndrome," Steven Bolling, M.D., heart surgeon at the U-M Cardiovascular Center and head of the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory, said in a statement to the media.

While this was an animal study, the scientists noted there's good reason to think eating grapes -- along with tried-and-true natural strategies such as eating little saturated fat, keeping weight under control and exercising regularly -- could have broad effects on the development of heart disease and metabolic syndrome in people.

"Reducing these risk factors may delay the onset of diabetes or heart disease, or lessen the severity of the diseases," said E. Mitchell Seymour, Ph.D., lead researcher and manager of the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory. "Ultimately it may lessen the health burden of these increasingly common conditions."

As NaturalNews has previously reported, researchers have found that components of grapes contain a myriad of health benefits. For example, grape seed extract has been found to kill leukemia cells (http://www.naturalnews.com/025248_c...) and drinking grape juice appears to improve memory in older adults (http://www.naturalnews.com/023591_g...).

Editor's note: NaturalNews is opposed to the use of animals in medical experiments that expose them to harm. We present these findings in protest of the way in which they were acquired.

For more information :
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/cardiac....
http://www.naturalnews.com/024656.html

Reposted From NaturalNews

A Repost From NaturalNews

Eat brown rice to prevent high blood pressure, lower heart attack risk

Monday, May 03, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer

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(NaturalNews) The rate of cardiovascular disease is much lower in Japan than in the U.S. and now scientists at the Cardiovascular Research Center and Department of Physiology at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia think they know why. People in Japan eat rice virtually every day and rice -- especially the brown and only partially "polished" varieties -- contains a natural compound that appears to guard against high blood pressure and heart disease.

Brown rice is already well known as a healthy food choice because it's a good source of fiber, B vitamins and other nutrients. But new research just presented by Temple University researcher Satoru Eguchi at the American Physiological Society's Experimental Biology conference held in Anaheim, California, reveals another powerful health benefit. A specific natural compound found in a layer of tissue surrounding grains of brown rice inhibits an endocrine protein known as angiotensin II. In excess, angiotensin II can trigger serious cardiovascular problems.

This is enormously significant news because angiotensin II is a well documented culprit in the development of hypertension and atherosclerosis. Angiotensin II constricts arteries, increases blood pressure and forces the heart to work harder. It also thickens and stiffens the walls of the heart and blood vessels.

Big Pharma has created a huge industry producing angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) -- prescription drugs that lower blood pressure by putting the brakes on angiotensin II. Sold under brand names such as Atacand, Teveten, Avapro and Cozaar, the medications are designed to block angiotensin II, thereby relaxing blood vessels so blood pressure is lowered.

But the side effects of these drugs can be serious and even deadly. They include fetal harm (possibly death) if the drugs are taken during pregnancy, dizziness, blurred vision, fainting, decreased sexual ability, infection, chest pain, swelling, trouble breathing and more.The new discovery about rice indicates brown rice or even half-milled rice could be a natural, side-effect free angiotensin II blocker.

Dr. Eguchi, an associate professor of physiology, and his colleagues investigated the subaleurone layer of Japanese rice. Located between the white center of the grain and the brown fibrous outer layer, this sub-layer of rice is loaded with oligosaccharides (complex carbohydrates known to benefit the digestive system) and dietary fibers. But when brown rice is polished to turn it into white rice, this subaleurone layer is ripped off, taking away some of the nutrients. However, the subaleurone layer is preserved not only in brown rice but also in two types of rice popular in Japan -- half-milled (Haigamai) rice or incompletely-milled (Kinmemai) rice.

The Temple research team, working with conjunction with scientists at the Wakayama Medical University Department of Pathology and the Nagaoka National College of Technology Department of Materials Engineering in Japan, removed subaleurone tissue from Kinmemai rice and ran a variety of lab tests that demonstrated the components of this rice layer inhibited angiotensin II activity in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells. Bottom line: the subaleurone rice layer could offer powerful protection against high blood pressure and atherosclerosis by blocking the endocrine protein that can trigger those conditions.

"Our research suggests that there is a potential ingredient in rice that may be a good starting point for looking into preventive medicine for cardiovascular diseases," Dr. Eguchi said in a media statement. "We hope to present an additional health benefit of consuming half-milled or brown rice (as opposed to white rice) as part of a regular diet."

For more information :
http://www.healingfoodreference.com...
http://www.newswise.com/articles/br...

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