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This low-sugar fruit cuts your risk of diabetes, high blood pressure

Thursday, September 23, 2010 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
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(NaturalNews) Two new studies add to the growing body of research about the many health benefits of consuming blueberries. Researchers from Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC) have found that blueberries help to prevent obesity-related insulin resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes, while researchers from Oklahoma State University (OSU) have found similar success in using blueberries to prevent hypertension.

Published in the October issue of The Journal of Nutrition, the PBRC study found that obese participants who consumed blueberry-rich smoothies twice a day for 42 days experienced an increase in insulin sensitivity compared to participants who consumed an equally nutritious, but blueberry-free, smoothie twice a day for the same time period.

None of the participants had diabetes at the time of the study, but the blueberry compounds appeared to actually regulate the obesity-related insulin factors that are implicated in causing pre-diabetes and diabetes.

"We now know that compounds in blueberries may help obese, non-diabetic individuals maintain healthy blood glucose levels," explained Dr. April Stull, a researcher at PBRC.

In the OSU study, which was also published in The Journal of Nutrition, researchers observed that patients with pre-hypertension -- that is, elevated blood pressure levels that are not quite at full hypertension levels -- responded well to drinking a beverage once a day for eight weeks that contained two cups of blended blueberries.

According to Arpita Basu, professor of nutritional sciences at OSU and author of the study, the blueberry group saw an average drop of seven-to-eight points in systolic blood pressure by the end of the evaluation period.

"Many patients rely too heavily on medication to help control blood glucose," explained Basu. "A diet that includes blueberries is a component of a healthier lifestyle that also includes diet and exercise."

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Alkalize Your Way to Great Health

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 by: Dr. David Jockers, citizen journalist
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(NaturalNews) The human internal ecosystem is stabilized by several different buffering systems that keep the body functioning at a high level for as long as possible. One of these buffering systems is pH. Our blood stream should be slightly alkaline at 7.365 at all times. If it rises or falls one or two tenths of a pH unit it is catastrophic and potentially fatal to the body. Maintaining pH balance through proper diet and lifestyle is one of the most critical tools to optimizing your health.

The body has both short-term and long-term methods for buffering blood pH. In the short-term the kidneys will flush out more acidic wastes and the speed of breathing will increase to pump more alkalizing oxygen into the system and acidic forming carbon dioxide out of the system. If the blood pH becomes too acidic for a chronic period of time it turns to the various tissues to help stabilize the pH. The body will naturally excrete alkaline minerals such as calcium from our bones & teeth. Magnesium is taken from blood vessels, potassium from our neuromuscular system, and sodium from our joints. If these minerals are not replaced, the tissues become weak and degenerate quickly.

The primary alkalizing elements in our body include calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, vitamin C, selenium, oxygen, zinc, and the various B vitamins. The best sources of these essential nutrients are in fresh organically grown fruits and vegetables, apple cider vinegar, certain nuts & seeds, & natural pink salts.

The most acidic forming foods include sugars, grains, grain-fed meat & dairy products, coffee, and processed foods of any kind. Perhaps the worst culprit of all is soda. Soda is loaded with sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and phosphoric acid. These are all extremely acidic forming substances. Soda measures out at a pH around 3. This powerfully dehydrates the body as water is needed to help detoxify all the acidic waste.

When a person eats too much acid forming foods for a long period of time the body becomes deficient in alkaline forming elements and the digestive system becomes impaired. Food is then inadequately digested and mucous is secreted into the bowel to protect itself. Chronic conditions can cause the mucous to become hardened creating a mucoid plaque that impairs food absorption. This plaque build-up lodges into the walls of the colon and becomes a breeding ground for parasites and other unfriendly organisms

Parasites such as worms, fungal yeast, and antagonistic bacteria will steal valuable nutrients and secrete toxins and acidic particles back into the bloodstream. This multiplies the relative acidity of the system and profoundly lowers our energy and immunity. This also causes excessive strain on major organs depleting them of life-staining enzymes and nutrients in the battle to maintain blood pH. This onslaught of stress on the body eventually leads to disease and death.

Fortunately, our bodies were created with an incredible ability to heal and restore themselves. If we begin taking action with steps to move back into balance, our body will respond and we will dramatically improve our health.

Begin Alkalizing Now with these 7 simple tips:
1.Drink 1/2 - 1 gallon of clean, purified water daily
2.Squeeze fresh lemon in water
3.Use Apple cider vinegar instead of salad dressing or other vinegars
4.Use pink salts (such as Himalayan salt) instead of other salts.
5.Use oregano, dill, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, & fennel
6.Make a Green Drink every day
7.Try to eat 75% raw alkaline forming foods

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A Repost From NaturalNews

Vitamin C Prevents Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes and Heart Disease

Monday, September 20, 2010 by: Melanie Grimes, citizen journalist
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(NaturalNews) Vitamin C is a vital nutrient that can prevent major diseases such as diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and even cancer. Most other animals (for instance monkeys and guinea pigs) produce their own vitamin C but a few other animals, as well as human beings, do not. Because vitamin C cannot be manufactured in the human body, intake from foods or supplements is necessary. Vitamin C is easily sourced in citrus fruits, as well as cherries and many other fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin C Functions in the Body
Vitamin C has a number of important functions in the body. It helps create collagen, which is needed for healthy skin, as well as bones and tendons. It helps stimulate neurotransmitters and aids brain function. Vitamin C also stimulates the production of carnitine, an important part of the body's energy conversion system. Vitamin C is important in reducing cholesterol and in preventing gallstones. It's also an antioxidant, and in this capacity, prevents colds and flu.

Vitamin C Deficiency
A severe deficiency of vitamin C leads to the disease scurvy. Scurvy can be diagnosed by blood tests to detect either carnitine or norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter.

Vitamin C Prevents Heart Attacks
With only 50 mg a day of vitamin C, heart disease was reduced by over 40 percent in a study with men. In the same study, women showed a 25 percent reduction.

Vitamin C and Diabetes
Research has shown that individuals with high amounts of vitamin C in their blood have a lower incidence of diabetes. This research was conducted at the Addenbrooke Hospital by reviewing medical records.

Vitamin C Lowers Cancer Risk
Research on over 800 men with lung cancer during a 25 year period showed a 64 percent reduction by taking only 83 mg of vitamin C a day. Further research has shown a 50 to 75 percent reduction in cancers in laboratory mice by adding vitamin C to the diet. This has fueled the National Cancer Institute to recommend five to ten servings of vegetables or fruits each day.

Vitamin C Reduces Risk of Stroke
Over two thousand participants in a Japanese study showed a 54 percent lower risk of stroke. These individuals ate fruit at least six times a week, compared to those who ate fruits less than twice a week.

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Pistachios increase levels of antioxidants in the blood

Thursday, September 16, 2010 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer

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(NaturalNews) A diet high in pistachios can increase the level of disease-fighting antioxidants in your blood, according to a study conducted by an international researcher team and published in the Journal of Nutrition.

"Our previous study showed the benefits of pistachios in lowering lipids and lipoproteins, which are a risk factor for heart disease," said researcher Penny Kris-Etherton of Penn State University. "This new study shows an additional effect of pistachios so now there are multiple health benefits of eating pistachios."

Researchers assigned study participants to eat four different diets for two weeks each, with a two-week break between each diet. Levels of the antioxidants beta-carotene, gamma-tocopherol and lutein were measured after each step of the process, along with levels of oxidized LDL ("bad") cholesterol.

Because oxidation can transform LDL cholesterol into a form more likely to lead to inflammation and to plaque buildup inside the body's blood vessels, antioxidants are expected to reduce levels of oxidized LDLs and thereby reduce the risk of heart disease.

Participants began the study by eating a typical U.S. diet, getting 11 percent of their total calories from saturated fat and 24 percent from unsaturated fats. This was followed by a cholesterol-lowering Step I Diet, then by a modified Step I Diet in which 10 percent of its calories from pistachios, and finally by a modified Step I Diet in which 20 percent of total calories came from pistachios.

Pistachio consumption was roughly 1.5 ounces per day in the 10 percent diet and 3 ounces per day in the 20 percent diet. While on the 10 percent diet, participants got 8 percent of their calories from fat and 22 percent from unsaturated fats; on the 20 percent diet they got 8 percent from saturated fat and 26 percent from unsaturated fats.

While participants were on the pistachio diets, blood levels of all three antioxidants increased significantly compared to the initial diet. Levels of oxidized LDLs decreased relative to the unmodified Step I Diet.

"Our results suggest that a heart-healthy diet including pistachios contributes to a decrease in serum oxidized-LDL levels," Kris-Etherton said.

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Nutrition discovery: black rice rivals blueberries as source of healthful antioxidants Tuesday, September 14, 2010 by: S. L. Baker, features writer

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(NaturalNews) In ancient China, nobles commandeered every grain of a variety of black rice known as "Forbidden Rice" for themselves and forbade the common people from eating it. Now 21st century scientists have discovered that black rice truly is a treasure -- at least when it comes to nutrition. In fact, a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, plus the rice bran has less sugar, more fiber and an abundance of vitamin E.

That's the conclusion of Zhimin Xu, Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Xu just announced his research team's findings at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) being held in Boston.

Many fruits are known to be rich sources of anthocyanin antioxidants and these phytochemicals show promise for fighting heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. But according to Dr. Xu and his colleagues, research shows black rice is also rich in these health-protecting phytochemicals -- so adding black rice bran to the diet or the bran extracts to breakfast cereals, beverages, and other foods could help protect and improve health.

"If berries are used to boost health, why not black rice and black rice bran? Especially, black rice bran would be a unique and economical material to increase consumption of health promoting antioxidants," Dr. Xu said in a statement to the media.

Brown rice is the most widely produced variety of rice in the world. It has a brown color because only the outer husks, or "chaff", are taken off the rice grains during milling. When rice is processed more and the underlying nutrient-dense bran is removed, the result is white rice. If you eat brown rice instead of the white kind, you are making a far healthier diet choice because the bran of brown rice contains higher levels of gamma-tocotrienol, one of the vitamin E compounds, and gamma-oryzanol antioxidants, which are lipid-soluble antioxidants.

A large body of research has concluded these antioxidants can reduce blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol) and potentially lower the risk for heart disease. In fact, as previously reported in NaturalNews, Temple University scientists have found that a specific natural compound in brown rice can reduce high blood pressure and protect blood vessels (http://www.naturalnews.com/028705_b...) and Harvard University research suggests consuming brown rice may prevent type 2 diabetes (http://www.naturalnews.com/029143_b...).

As healthy as brown rice is, however, Dr.Xu and his colleagues think black rice may be even healthier. They analyzed samples of black rice bran from rice grown in the southern United States and found it possesses higher level of anthocyanins antioxidants than brown rice bran. The scientists also discovered that pigments in black rice bran extracts can produce a variety of different colors, ranging from pink to black, and may provide a healthy, natural alternative to the artificial colorings manufacturers often add to some foods and beverages. Several studies have found an association between artificial food coloring and cancer, behavioral problems in children, and other health concerns.

Currently, black rice is used mainly in Asia for food decoration and in sushi, noodles, and puddings. Dr. Xu stated that farmers in Louisiana are interested in growing black rice and he is optimistic Americans may soon embrace this nutrient-rich rice variety.

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Drinking Coffee can Help Reduce the Risk of Diabetes

Monday, September 13, 2010 by: Mariam Antony, citizen journalist
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(NaturalNews) Coffee lovers across the world have been disheartened by all the bad things that coffee is supposed to do. Caffeine, the major culprit in coffee, is said to cause addiction, dehydration, panic attacks and emotional fatigue. Pregnant and lactating mothers are often advised not to drink coffee at all. However all is not lost! Several studies have found that drinking coffee actually helps in fighting heart diseases, headaches, asthma and Parkinson`s disease. New studies have confirmed that coffee can also help reduce diabetes.

Fumihiko Horio and colleagues at the Department of Applied Molecular Bio-science, Nagoya University found that coffee may help in preventing diabetes. As a part of their study, they fed either water or coffee to two different groups of lab mice that were prone to diabetes. The group that was fed on coffee showed improved insulin sensitivity and they also did not develop high blood sugars. The research which was published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that coffee has beneficial effects in fatty liver and inflammatory adipocytokines, linked to a decreased risk of diabetes.

Previous studies have also indicated that drinking coffee lowers the risk of diabetes. In one study researchers looked at more than 28,000 post-menopausal women over a period of eleven years. Women who drank more than six cups a day were 22 percent less likely to develop diabetes compared to women who drank no coffee. The researchers found that the more coffee a person drank, the more beneficial effects it had in reducing diabetes. The study also found that women benefited more than men. The improved levels of insulin sensitivity were present regardless of whether decaf or regular coffee was consumed. This indicates that an ingredient other than caffeine may be responsible for the beneficial effects of coffee.

In another study published in the journal of American Diabetes Association, the relation between coffee consumption and risk of diabetes was studied in 88,259 women aged between 26 and 46 years. The objective was to assess the risk of diabetes on lower levels of consumption of coffee. The study found that the risk of diabetes decreased proportionately with the number of cups of coffee consumed. The risk decreased from 0.87 for women who drank one cup of coffee per day to 0.53 for four or more cups per day compared with nondrinkers. According to the journal, associations were similar between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.

Coffee is found to be especially useful in preventing type II diabetes. Type II diabetes starts with the onset of insulin resistance, a condition when the cells in the body show resistance to insulin. Insulin is the hormone which is the carrier of glucose molecules to the cells. The pancreas compensates for this by producing larger quantities of insulin. As cells become more and more insulin resistant, even the higher levels of insulin produced by the pancreas may not be sufficient. This results in a concentration of glucose molecules in the cells and is called hyperglycemia. Prolonged cases of hyperglycemia lead to diabetes.

Diabetes, a lifestyle disease, is a leading cause of death in the United Sates and in the world. Fortunately, it has been found that diabetes can be prevented to an extent by certain lifestyle and diet changes. A combination of healthy diet and regular exercise can often postpone the offset of type II diabetes in most people.

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A simple massage could keep you from getting sick

Saturday, September 11, 2010 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
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(NaturalNews) Massages are a great way to release tension and stress and promote relaxation. But a new study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine has revealed for the first time that massages also provide a measurable, therapeutic benefit to the immune system as well.

Dr. Mark Rapaport and his team of researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., evaluated 53 people, 29 of which received 45-minute Swedish massages--one of the most common forms of massage used in the U.S.--and 24 who received gentler, light touch massages. Researchers took blood samples at intervals before and after the massages and found that those who received even just one Swedish massage experienced significant, positive changes in blood composition.

"This research indicates that massage doesn't only feel good, it also may be good for you," explained Dr. Rapaport in a press release. "People often seek out massage as part of a healthy lifestyle but there hasn't been much physiological proof of the body's heightened immune response following massage until now."

Besides experiencing a significant increase in lymphocytes, the white cells in the body that help fight and prevent disease, the Swedish massage group experienced lower cortisol levels as well. Cortisol is the hormone released by the adrenal gland in response to stress.

The Swedish massage group also experienced a decrease in arginine vasopressin, a hormone linked with aggressive behavior.

"European-style massage is often used to treat back pain, sleep disorders, and other stress-related disorders," explain Bradley J. Willcox, D. Craig Willcox and Makoto Suzuki in their book The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health.

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