Alternative Health News January 31, 2008
In the UK, demand for raw, unpasteurized milk is growing as increasing numbers of people spread the word about its
health benefits and rich, refreshing flavor.
The Food Standards Agency maintains that raw milk can contain illness-causing pathogens, but that hasn’t stopped its fans from traveling miles to
purchase a liter. In England and Wales, raw milk sales are restricted to farmer’s markets and farm shops, and must contain a label warning of the
risk.
Much of the increase in popularity has stemmed from anecdotal reports about raw milk’s healthy properties, which may:
- Strengthen your immune system
- Improve digestion
- Combat arthritis and arterial stiffening
Further, because raw milk is not pasteurized, it is loaded with beneficial gut bacteria and digestive enzymes.
Pastuerizing milk, on the other hand, destroys much of the nutrition in milk, according to raw milk proponents. Other beneficial properties of
raw milk include:
- It contains 10 percent more B vitamins and 25 percent more vitamin C than regular milk.
- It’s rich in CLA, a “superfat” that promotes weight loss and may fight cancer.
- It contains the enzyme lactase, which breaks down lactose. Because of this, people who are lactose-intolerant can enjoy raw milk.
- It contains more omega-3 fats, and they’re not corrupted by heat treatment.
Although opponents say the risk of drinking raw milk is great, farmers point out that raw milk is made to a strict
standard, and that their cows are healthier than those on commercial farms.
“Think about it: healthier cows mean healthier milk,” says Celia Haynes, a farmer who specializes in unpasteurized milk and cream.
Sources:
To read the full article, follow this link :
Raw Milk is Catching On in the UK by Dr. Mercola - November 29, 2007
A study of more than 2,000 women has found those with higher vitamin D levels showed fewer aging-related changes in their DNA, as well as
lowered inflammatory responses.
A second study, examining almost 1,000 patients in West Africa, showed that low vitamin D levels are common among tuberculosis (TB) patients.
Lack of vitamin D has been linked in previous studies to multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and other diseases.
Cells have built-in DNA clocks, known as telomeres. Measuring the length of these strands of DNA is one way of examining the aging process at
a cellular level.
Women with higher levels of vitamin D are more likely to have longer telomeres, and vice versa. This means that people with higher levels of
vitamin D may actually age more slowly than people with lower levels of vitamin D.
No wonder vitamin D has a protective effect on so many diseases, ranging from MS and TB, to heart disease and cancer -- it keeps your body
young!
Sources:
To read the full article, follow this link :
New Research on How Sunshine Decreases
Infections by Dr. Mercola - November 29, 2007
A company that supplies berry extracts and concentrates for the
global health market has warned of an unusually bad European berry harvest that may lead to a shortage in supply.
Harsh weather including a spring freeze, high humidity and severe heat and floods led to an unusually short berry harvest in Europe earlier this
year, cutting it down from four weeks to only one or two. In its preliminary harvest report, nutraceutical company Berry Pharma anticipated
supply shortages and prices increases, although it conceded that it is still "too early to estimate prices for [next year]."
The dismal harvest comes at a time of unprecedented berry demand, driven by a growing market for "superfoods" and berry-derived health
supplements. Berries as a group are high in antioxidants, including a type called anthocyanins that help fight aging, bacterial infections,
cancer, diabetes, inflammation and neurological diseases.
The demand for blueberries is now at an all-time high, making it one of the fastest-growing fruits in popularity in the United Kingdom. U.K.
sales have surged £55 million ($110 million) in only two years, from a May 2005 level of £40 million ($81 million) to a May 2007 level of £95
million ($191 million). Other berries, such as blackcurrant, have also seen explosions in
demand, with the price more than doubling in the last two years.
But the poor harvest is already making its effects felt on the supply of these popular foods. This year's blackcurrant harvest was 40 percent
lower than the previous years, Berry Pharma said, and "blackcurrant frozen storage warehouses are already empty for the first time in many
years."
Berry Pharma says that the global demand for berry products is expected to continue increasing, particularly due to "aging populations in the
United States, Asia and Europe."
To read the full article, follow this link :
As market demand grows for superfood berries, freak weather patterns devastate supply by NewsTarget - November 27, 2007
Research spanning a century has shown that strontium, a naturally occurring trace mineral, is an important component of
healthy bone tissue. Researchers from around the world have found that, in pharmaceutical doses, it dramatically increases bone density and
reduces risk for fractures in women with osteoporosis.
National Osteoporosis Foundation statistics indicate that “osteoporosis causes more than 1.5 million fractures annually: 700,000 vertebral,
300,000 hip, 250,000 wrist and 300,000 fractures at other sites”. [1] Sadly, “an average of 24% of hip fracture patients aged 50 and over dies in
the year following their fracture.” [2]
As our population ages in huge numbers, finding a safe and effective treatment for osteoporosis is more important than ever before. Dr. Susan
Brown, director of the Osteoporosis Education Project (OEP) in East Syracuse, N.Y., says “Our bone crisis worsens each year, despite intensive
public health and disease treatment efforts”. [3]
So, exactly what is strontium? It is element number 38 on the periodic table of elements. It is in the same group of elements as calcium and
magnesium. That means it has similar chemical properties as these better known elements.
To read the full article, follow this link :
Strontium reduces risk of vertebral fractures by NewsTarget - November 28, 2007
Mice that ate a high-fat diet gained weight and experienced a disruption in their circadian clocks, which regulate metabolic
functions such as when they go to sleep, wake up and become hungry.
The disruption threw off the timing of the animals’ internal signals, including appetite control. As a result, the mice ate extra calories during
the time when they would have otherwise been asleep or resting. For humans, this would be the equivalent of raiding the refrigerator in the
middle of the night.
The high-fat diet and resulting weight gain also triggered diminished expression of genes that encode the clock in the brain and in peripheral
tissues.
The findings suggest that changes in metabolic state that occur with obesity and diabetes affect not only circadian rhythms of behavior but also
physiology.
Past studies have found that a misaligned body clock can throw off your metabolism, and increase your risk of obesity and diabetes.
This represents a “vicious loop,” according to researchers, because once weight is gained, your internal clock is disrupted, and a disrupted
clock makes the original problem worse.
"Timing and metabolism evolved together and are almost a conjoined system," said one of the study’s authors Joe Bass, M.D., assistant professor
of medicine and neurobiology and physiology at Northwestern and head of the division of endocrinology and metabolism at ENH. "If we perturb the
delicate balance between the two, we see deleterious effects."
Sources:
To read the full article, follow this link :
Do High-Fat Foods Disrupt Your Body Clock? by Dr. Mercola - December 1, 2007
High levels of sugar in your bloodstream can turn off the gene
that controls your sex hormones.
The simple sugars, glucose and fructose, are metabolized in your liver, with the excess stored as fat lipids. Excess fat synthesis deactivates
your SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) gene, causing your levels of SHBG protein to drop dramatically, and it is this SHBG protein that
controls your testosterone and estrogen levels.
Too little SHBG protein means your body will produce too much testosterone and estrogen, which increases your chances of acne, infertility,
polycystic ovaries, uterine cancer, and heart disease.
Said Dr. Geoffrey Hammond, lead researcher, “We discovered that low levels of SHBG in a person’s blood means the liver’s metabolic rate is out
of whack – because of inappropriate diet or something that ‘s inherently wrong with the liver – long before there are any disease symptoms.”
This new study also challenges the previous conventional thought that high levels of insulin are to blame for the drop in SHBG, and that
it’s actually the liver’s metabolism of sugar that counts.
Sources:
To read the full article, follow this link :
Too Much Sugar Kills Your Sex Life by Dr.
Mercola - December 1, 2007
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