Scientist: GM Food Safety Testing Is “Woefully Inadequate”
- By Ken Roseboro
According to Judy Carman, Ph.D., very little safety testing is done on genetically modified foods, and when it is done, biotechnology companies conduct minimal testing. Dr. Carmen says that more extensive testing of GM foods is needed to ensure they are safe. Her recommendations seem prophetic in light of a recent Austrian government study that found reduced fertility in mice-fed GM corn.
Dr. Carmen is director of the Institute of Health and Environmental Research, Inc., a non=profit research institute based in Australia focusing on the safety of genetically modified food. She earned a doctorate degree in medicine from the University of Adelaide in the areas of metabolic regulation, nutritional biochemistry, and cancer. She has investigated outbreaks of disease for an Australian state government.
Ken Roseboro, editor of The Organic & Non-GMO Report, interviewed Dr. Judy Carmen during her recent visit to the United States.
Can you tell me about your research on the health impacts of GM foods?
We are conducting one the very few long-term, independent animal feeding studies with GM foods. To date, most of these types of studies have been done by biotechnology companies or scientists associated with biotechnology companies. Of the few independent studies being done, a study by the Austrian government recently made public found reduced fertility in mice fed GM corn. Another recent study done in Italy showed immune system problems in mice fed GM corn. The studies done by biotechnology companies tend to show no health problems associated with eating GM food. The independent studies are finding adverse effects.
Do you have any comments about the Austrian study showing reduced fertility?
I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. It is interesting that (Russian scientist) Irina Ermakova had similar findings (of reduced fertility) with mice fed GM soy. It is disturbing that the study showed a gradually worsening effect on mice that ate the GM corn. I am worried that something similar is happening in humans. If it is, it could take many years for problems to become apparent, and by then it could be too late to do anything about it.
What are the challenges of doing this type of research?
There are two major challenges. First, it is very hard to get GM seed to conduct the research. In order to buy GM seed, you have to go to a licensed seed dealer, and sign a technology licensing agreement, which states that you won’t do any research on the seed, which includes agronomic, health, and environmental research. Also, scientists who try to research health impacts of GM food get harassed and intimidated by people with vested interests in GM technology. I’ve had 10 years of abuse from such people who’ve defamed me, driven me out of a university, and tried to get me fired from jobs. With that kind of intimidation, scientists often decide not to do any research. Vested interests have been trying to find out about research I’m doing. They filed a freedom of information request with the Western Australian government to find out. The government denied their request. It could have ended up in court. My research protocol could have been stolen.
Funding for studied looking at health effects of GM foods is difficult to find in the United States. Do tyou find that universities and organizations in Australia also don’t want to fund such studies?
Yes, it is very difficult to get funding. If you want to do medical research, you have to go to an organization that funds such research. In order to get funding you need to have a proven track record in that area of research. However, in a new area of research such as GM food safety, no one has a track record, so it is difficult to get the funding. It’s a Catch-22. We are thankful that the Western Australian government gave us funding. The research protocol was sent to 15 scientists worldwide for review and then approved by a steering committee. I wanted people to know that I was doing a thorough job with this research.
If your research finds negative health impacts caused by GM foods, are you prepared to del with a negative onslaught from biotech companies?
Yes, I understand that will happen. I’ve been attacked many times. GM food advocates want to make people who do this type of work frightened of losing their jobs to make them stop working on the issue. They can’t get me fired now. I work within my own organization, the Institute of Health and Environmental Research, which I established along with others who are committed to finding out if GM foods are safe to eat. The behavior of GM food advocates makes me ask, “What are they frightened of?” If they believe GM foods are safe, they would be confident that I would not find any problems. Instead they are paranoid. What do they know that I don’t know? What are they trying to hide? It makes me more curious and determined to find out.
GM foods are widely consumed in the United States, and the US government opposed labeling GM foods. What are your thoughts about that?
The big surprise is the lack of GM food labeling here. In Australia, we hear all the time from the US that you are the land of the free. I find it amazing that Americans have no choice about eating GM foods. The most basic democratic right is being denied to you. For those who don’t want to eat GM food, it is being shoved down your throats against your will because it seems that nearly all foods have ingredients from GM corn or soy. With every US citizen exposed to GM foods, if something goes wrong it could go very badly wrong. If one person in a thousand gets sick from GM foods, that’s 300,000 people sick.
GM food advocates often claim that “no one in the US has ever gotten sick from eating GM foods.”
It’s rubbish to say that no one ever has ever gotten sick eating GM foods. The fact is that no one knows. Since GM foods have been introduced, millions of Americans have been hospitalized and millions have died, and no one has investigated to see if any of those cases have been due to eating GM foods. The HIV/AIDS epidemic went unnoticed for decades, and the relationship between smoking and lung cancer went undetected for generations. With the current level of safety testing, if GM foods do cause human health problems, it will be very difficult to determine this, even though there may be many cases of illness.
What type of safety testing do you think should be done on GM crops?
We need long-tern safety tests that are relevant to human health done by people independent of GM vested interests. The safety testing done now is woefully inadequate. Biotechnology companies often don’t even use the whole GM grain in feeding studies. Instead they tend to use only a protein extract that doesn’t even come from the GM plant. The feeding tests are also only done for few days or a few weeks. Safety tests should involve comparing animals fed GM foods with animals fed the equivalent non-GM food. The animals should be fed long enough and involve tests that, at a minimum, measure risks of cancer and allergy and threats to reproduction and organ health.
Do you believe that scientific research will conclusively show that GM foods pose significant health risks?
You never know what will happen. Independent research is finally being done and is showing adverse effects. There’s been an avalanche of bad news for the GM industry lately.
Source:
Organic Consumers Association · 6771 South Silver Hill Drive, Finland MN 55603
5 FAKE Health Foods to Avoid
Source: Uploaded by UndergroundWellness on Feb 3, 2011 to YouTube
BMI – Calculating Your Body Mass Index
Source : Uploaded by bradpilon on Oct 23, 2008 to YouTube
http://www.EatStopEat.com – fasting for weight loss. Brad Pilon answers a question on BMI (Body Mass Index) and how to calculate your BMI using the Body Mass Index Equation.
Brad talks about why your waist to height ratio is better than your BMI as an easy way to determine when and if you need to lose weight.
A healthy BMI still may not be a good indicator of body fat.
Brad Pilon is the author of Eat Stop Eat, an easy and effective weight loss program based on the combination of flexible intermittent fasting and resistance training.
Learn more about the ease and simplicity of fasting for weight loss by visiting http://www.EatStopEat.com
Benefits of Goji Berry on Diabetes
by Diabetic Discovery
(submitted 2011-02-27)
Diabetes is a medical condition that affects more than 23 million Americans. Identified by continuous abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood because the body fails to produce sufficient insulin or the body’s cells resist using the insulin produced. This chronic condition has potential life-threatening complications and is believed to have affected humans for centuries. In recent years, many people have turned to alternative medicines and "super-fruits" like Goji berries to treat their conditions.
While there are various forms of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2 are generally diagnosed the most. Type 1 diabetes is when cells of the pancreas fail to produce an amount of insulin needed to allow blood glucose to enter cells to produce energy. Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed when the cells resist insulin’s action, resulting in too much glucose in the blood (see resources below).
Goji berries, also called wolfberry, are found in the moderate to sub-tropic regions of Asia, including China, Mongolia, and in the Himalayas of Tibet. The origin of the word goji is believed to come from the simplified Mandarin word for the plant. Similar to other nightshade family plants like tomatoes and chili peppers, wolfberry is a flowering plant that produces a berry that tastes like a cross between a raspberry and a cherry. In southern regions of China, goji berry plants are generally more than 3 feet tall, but in northern China, the plants can grow to more than 9 feet.
While they are closely related and both are in the genus Boxthorn (Lycium), Himalayan goji berries (Lycium barbarum) should not be confused with Chinese wolfberry (Lycium chinense). The two species of the wolfberry plant (the names have little to do with the geographies of the species), are both rich in antioxidants and are thought to be beneficial in boosting the immune system and promoting longevity.
A perennial that produces flowers with five petals, the goji berry plant produces an oblong, red-orange berry–containing 10 to 60 tiny seeds–that is normally 1 to 2 centimeters long. Ripening in the northern hemisphere usually occurs from mid-summer to mid-fall.
For more than 6,000 years, herbalists and alchemists have used goji berries to make tonics and teas to boost the immune system, protect the liver from damaging toxins and disease, improve circulation (particularly in the legs), increase fertility, and promote longevity.
Studies have shown that goji berries are rich in antioxidants, specifically carotenoids, which are known to protect the retina of the eye and believed to decrease the risk of developing macular degeneration, a disease associated with complications from diabetes. Goji berries have also been found to help increase circulation and are believed to be beneficial in preventing and treating a number of cardiovascular diseases, including angina and coronary heart disease (see resources below). Studies have also shown that goji berries stimulate the nervous system (responsible for all internal organs) and causes relaxation of arterial walls, allowing them to expand and lower blood pressure.
Goji berries have been proclaimed by proponents of alternative medicine as the "super-fruit" that can decrease the risk of developing diabetes, in addition to treating those who already have it. However, the Food and Drug Administration has yet to verify and approve these claims.
Studies also suggest that goji berries (consumed as tea) may hinder anticoagulant metabolism and may react with certain medications. It important to consult with healthcare providers before consuming anything that may have a negative reaction with other medications.
For more information please contact us at http://www.diabeticdiscovery.com.
About the Author
The Health & Wellness Experts www.diabeticdiscovery.com
Source: GoArticles.com © 2011, All Rights Reserved.
Just Say No 2 GMO
Source : Uploaded by SAYNO2GMO on Jan 22, 2010 to YouTube
Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke
Education Programs
On this page:
-
- What is diabetes?
- What is pre-diabetes?
- What is the connection between diabetes, heart disease, and stroke?
- What are the risk factors for heart disease and stroke in people with diabetes?
- What is metabolic syndrome and how is it linked to heart disease?
- What can I do to prevent or delay heart disease and stroke?
- How will I know whether my diabetes treatment is working?
- What types of heart and blood vessel disease occur in people with diabetes?
- How will I know whether I have heart disease?
- What are the treatment options for heart disease?
- How will I know whether I have had a stroke?
- What are the treatment options for stroke?
- Points to Remember
- Hope through Research
- For More Information
Having diabetes or pre-diabetes puts you at increased risk for heart disease and stroke. You can lower your risk by keeping your blood glucose (also called blood sugar), blood pressure, and blood cholesterol close to the recommended target numbers-the levels suggested by diabetes experts for good health. (For more information about target numbers for people with diabetes, see “How will I know whether I have heart disease?”.) Reaching your targets also can help prevent narrowing or blockage of the blood vessels in your legs, a condition called peripheral arterial disease. You can reach your targets by:
- choosing foods wisely
- being physically active
- taking medications if needed
If you have already had a heart attack or a stroke, taking care of yourself can help prevent future health problems.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism-the way our bodies use digested food for energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the body’s main source of fuel.
After digestion, glucose enters the bloodstream. Then glucose goes to cells throughout the body where it is used for energy. However, a hormone called insulin must be present to allow glucose to enter the cells. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach.
In people who do not have diabetes, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into the cells. However, diabetes develops when the pancreas does not make enough insulin, or the cells in the muscles, liver, and fat do not use insulin properly, or both. As a result, the amount of glucose in the blood increases while the cells are starved of energy.
Over time, high blood glucose levels damage nerves and blood vessels, leading to complications such as heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death among people with diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes can eventually lead to other health problems as well, such as vision loss, kidney failure, and amputations.
Diabetes can lead to heart and blood vessel disease.
What is pre-diabetes?
Pre-diabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Pre-diabetes is also called impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance. Many people with pre-diabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years. In addition, they are at risk for heart disease and stroke. With modest weight loss and moderate physical activity, people with pre-diabetes can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes and lower their risk of heart disease and stroke.
What is the connection between diabetes, heart disease, and stroke?
If you have diabetes, you are at least twice as likely as someone who does not have diabetes to have heart disease or a stroke. People with diabetes also tend to develop heart disease or have strokes at an earlier age than other people. If you are middle-aged and have type 2 diabetes, some studies suggest that your chance of having a heart attack is as high as someone without diabetes who has already had one heart attack. Women who have not gone through menopause usually have less risk of heart disease than men of the same age. But women of all ages with diabetes have an increased risk of heart disease because diabetes cancels out the protective effects of being a woman in her child-bearing years.
People with diabetes who have already had one heart attack run an even greater risk of having a second one. In addition, heart attacks in people with diabetes are more serious and more likely to result in death. High blood glucose levels over time can lead to increased deposits of fatty materials on the insides of the blood vessel walls. These deposits may affect blood flow, increasing the chance of clogging and hardening of blood vessels (atherosclerosis).
What are the risk factors for heart disease and stroke in people with diabetes?
Diabetes itself is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Also, many people with diabetes have other conditions that increase their chance of developing heart disease and stroke. These conditions are called risk factors. One risk factor for heart disease and stroke is having a family history of heart disease. If one or more members of your family had a heart attack at an early age (before age 55 for men or 65 for women), you may be at increased risk.
You can’t change whether heart disease runs in your family, but you can take steps to control the other risk factors for heart disease listed here:
- Having central obesity.
- Central obesity means carrying extra weight around the waist, as opposed to the hips. A waist measurement of more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches for women means you have central obesity. Your risk of heart disease is higher because abdominal fat can increase the production of LDL (bad) cholesterol, the type of blood fat that can be deposited on the inside of blood vessel walls.
- Having abnormal blood fat (cholesterol) levels.
-
- LDL cholesterol can build up inside your blood vessels, leading to narrowing and hardening of your arteries-the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Arteries can then become blocked. Therefore, high levels of LDL cholesterol raise your risk of getting heart disease.
- Triglycerides are another type of blood fat that can raise your risk of heart disease when the levels are high.
- HDL (good) cholesterol removes deposits from inside your blood vessels and takes them to the liver for removal. Low levels of HDL cholesterol increase your risk for heart disease. - Having high blood pressure.
- If you have high blood pressure, also called hypertension, your heart must work harder to pump blood. High blood pressure can strain the heart, damage blood vessels, and increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, eye problems, and kidney problems.
- Smoking.
- Smoking doubles your risk of getting heart disease. Stopping smoking is especially important for people with diabetes because both smoking and diabetes narrow blood vessels. Smoking also increases the risk of other long-term complications, such as eye problems. In addition, smoking can damage the blood vessels in your legs and increase the risk of amputation.
What is metabolic syndrome and how is it linked to heart disease?
Metabolic syndrome is a grouping of traits and medical conditions that puts people at risk for both heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It is defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program as having any three of the following five traits and medical conditions:
Traits and Medical Conditions
Definition
Elevated waist circumference
Waist measurement of
- 40 inches or more in men
- 35 inches or more in women
Elevated levels of triglycerides
- 150 mg/dL or higher
or - Taking medication for elevated triglyceride levels
Low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol
- Below 40 mg/dL in men
- Below 50 mg/dL in women
or
Taking medication for low HDL cholesterol levels
Elevated blood pressure levels
- 130 mm Hg or higher for systolic blood pressure or
- 85 mm Hg or higher for diastolic blood pressure
or
Taking medication for elevated blood pressure levels
Elevated fasting blood glucose levels
- 100 mg/dL or higher
or - Taking medication for elevated blood glucose levels
What can I do to prevent or delay heart disease and stroke?
Even if you are at high risk for heart disease and stroke, you can help keep your heart and blood vessels healthy. You can do so by taking the following steps:
- Make sure that your diet is “heart-healthy.”Meet with a registered dietitian to plan a diet that meets these goals:
- Include at least 14 grams of fiber daily for every 1,000 calories consumed. Foods high in fiber may help lower blood cholesterol. Oat bran, oatmeal, whole-grain breads and cereals, dried beans and peas (such as kidney beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas), fruits, and vegetables are all good sources of fiber. Increase the amount of fiber in your diet gradually to avoid digestive problems.
- Cut down on saturated fat. It raises your blood cholesterol level. Saturated fat is found in meats, poultry skin, butter, dairy products with fat, shortening, lard, and tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil. Your dietitian can figure out how many grams of saturated fat should be your daily maximum amount.
- Keep the cholesterol in your diet to less than 300 milligrams a day. Cholesterol is found in meat, dairy products, and eggs.
- Keep the amount of trans fat in your diet to a minimum. It’s a type of fat in foods that raises blood cholesterol. Limit your intake of crackers, cookies, snack foods, commercially prepared baked goods, cake mixes, microwave popcorn, fried foods, salad dressings, and other foods made with partially hydrogenated oil. In addition, some kinds of vegetable shortening and margarines have trans fat. Check for trans fat in the Nutrition Facts section on the food package.
- Make physical activity part of your routine. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. Think of ways to increase physical activity, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you haven’t been physically active recently, see your doctor for a checkup before you start an exercise program.
- Reach and maintain a healthy body weight. If you are overweight, try to be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. Consult a registered dietitian for help in planning meals and lowering the fat and calorie content of your diet to reach and maintain a healthy weight. Aim for a loss of no more than 1 to 2 pounds a week.
- If you smoke, quit. Your doctor can help you find ways to quit smoking.
- Ask your doctor whether you should take aspirin. Studies have shown that taking a low dose of aspirin every day can help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, aspirin is not safe for everyone. Your doctor can tell you whether taking aspirin is right for you and exactly how much to take.
- Get prompt treatment for transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Early treatment for TIAs, sometimes called mini-strokes, may help prevent or delay a future stroke. Signs of a TIA are sudden weakness, loss of balance, numbness, confusion, blindness in one or both eyes, double vision, difficulty speaking, or a severe headache.
How will I know whether my diabetes treatment is working?
You can keep track of the ABCs of diabetes to make sure your treatment is working. Talk with your health care provider about the best targets for you.
A stands for A1C (a test that measures blood glucose control). Have an A1C test at least twice a year. It shows your average blood glucose level over the past 3 months. Talk with your doctor about whether you should check your blood glucose at home and how to do it.
A1C target
Below 7 percent
Blood glucose targets
Before meals
90 to 130 mg/dL
1 to 2 hours after the start of a meal
Less than 180 mg/dL
B is for blood pressure. Have it checked at every office visit.
Blood pressure target
Below 130/80 mm Hg
C is for cholesterol. Have it checked at least once a year.
Blood fat (cholesterol) targets
LDL (bad) cholesterol
Under 100 mg/dL
Triglycerides
Under 150 mg/dL
HDL (good) cholesterol
For men: above 40 mg/dL
For women: above 50 mg/dL
Control of the ABCs of diabetes can reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke. If your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels aren’t on target, ask your doctor what changes in diet, activity, and medications can help you reach these goals.
What types of heart and blood vessel disease occur in people with diabetes?
Two major types of heart and blood vessel disease, also called cardiovascular disease, are common in people with diabetes: coronary artery disease (CAD) and cerebral vascular disease. People with diabetes are also at risk for heart failure. Narrowing or blockage of the blood vessels in the legs, a condition called peripheral arterial disease, can also occur in people with diabetes.
Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary artery disease, also called ischemic heart disease, is caused by a hardening or thickening of the walls of the blood vessels that go to your heart. Your blood supplies oxygen and other materials your heart needs for normal functioning. If the blood vessels to your heart become narrowed or blocked by fatty deposits, the blood supply is reduced or cut off, resulting in a heart attack.
Cerebral Vascular Disease
Cerebral vascular disease affects blood flow to the brain, leading to strokes and TIAs. It is caused by narrowing, blocking, or hardening of the blood vessels that go to the brain or by high blood pressure.
Stroke
A stroke results when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off, which can occur when a blood vessel in the brain or neck is blocked or bursts. Brain cells are then deprived of oxygen and die. A stroke can result in problems with speech or vision or can cause weakness or paralysis. Most strokes are caused by fatty deposits or blood clots-jelly-like clumps of blood cells-that narrow or block one of the blood vessels in the brain or neck. A blood clot may stay where it formed or can travel within the body. People with diabetes are at increased risk for strokes caused by blood clots.
A stroke may also be caused by a bleeding blood vessel in the brain. Called an aneurysm, a break in a blood vessel can occur as a result of high blood pressure or a weak spot in a blood vessel wall.
TIAs
TIAs are caused by a temporary blockage of a blood vessel to the brain. This blockage leads to a brief, sudden change in brain function, such as temporary numbness or weakness on one side of the body. Sudden changes in brain function also can lead to loss of balance, confusion, blindness in one or both eyes, double vision, difficulty speaking, or a severe headache. However, most symptoms disappear quickly and permanent damage is unlikely. If symptoms do not resolve in a few minutes, rather than a TIA, the event could be a stroke. The occurrence of a TIA means that a person is at risk for a stroke sometime in the future. See page 3 for more information on risk factors for stroke.
Heart Failure
Heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart cannot pump blood properly-it does not mean that the heart suddenly stops working. Heart failure develops over a period of years, and symptoms can get worse over time. People with diabetes have at least twice the risk of heart failure as other people. One type of heart failure is congestive heart failure, in which fluid builds up inside body tissues. If the buildup is in the lungs, breathing becomes difficult.
Blockage of the blood vessels and high blood glucose levels also can damage heart muscle and cause irregular heart beats. People with damage to heart muscle, a condition called cardiomyopathy, may have no symptoms in the early stages, but later they may experience weakness, shortness of breath, a severe cough, fatigue, and swelling of the legs and feet. Diabetes can also interfere with pain signals normally carried by the nerves, explaining why a person with diabetes may not experience the typical warning signs of a heart attack.
Peripheral Arterial Disease
Another condition related to heart disease and common in people with diabetes is peripheral arterial disease (PAD). With this condition, the blood vessels in the legs are narrowed or blocked by fatty deposits, decreasing blood flow to the legs and feet. PAD increases the chances of a heart attack or stroke occurring. Poor circulation in the legs and feet also raises the risk of amputation. Sometimes people with PAD develop pain in the calf or other parts of the leg when walking, which is relieved by resting for a few minutes.
How will I know whether I have heart disease?
One sign of heart disease is angina, the pain that occurs when a blood vessel to the heart is narrowed and the blood supply is reduced. You may feel pain or discomfort in your chest, shoulders, arms, jaw, or back, especially when you exercise. The pain may go away when you rest or take angina medicine. Angina does not cause permanent damage to the heart muscle, but if you have angina, your chance of having a heart attack increases.
A heart attack occurs when a blood vessel to the heart becomes blocked. With blockage, not enough blood can reach that part of the heart muscle and permanent damage results. During a heart attack, you may have
- chest pain or discomfort
- pain or discomfort in your arms, back, jaw, neck, or stomach
- shortness of breath
- sweating
- nausea
- light-headedness
Symptoms may come and go. However, in some people, particularly those with diabetes, symptoms may be mild or absent due to a condition in which the heart rate stays at the same level during exercise, inactivity, stress, or sleep. Also, nerve damage caused by diabetes may result in lack of pain during a heart attack.
Women may not have chest pain but may be more likely to have shortness of breath, nausea, or back and jaw pain. If you have symptoms of a heart attack, call 911 right away. Treatment is most effective if given within an hour of a heart attack. Early treatment can prevent permanent damage to the heart.
Your doctor should check your risk for heart disease and stroke at least once a year by checking your cholesterol and blood pressure levels and asking whether you smoke or have a family history of premature heart disease. The doctor can also check your urine for protein, another risk factor for heart disease. If you are at high risk or have symptoms of heart disease, you may need to undergo further testing.
What are the treatment options for heart disease?
Treatment for heart disease includes meal planning to ensure a heart-healthy diet and physical activity. In addition, you may need medications to treat heart damage or to lower your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol. If you are not already taking a low dose of aspirin every day, your doctor may suggest it. You also may need surgery or some other medical procedure.
For additional information about heart and blood vessel disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, call the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center at 301-592-8573 or see www.nhlbi.nih.gov on the Internet.
How will I know whether I have had a stroke?
The following signs may mean that you have had a stroke:
- sudden weakness or numbness of your face, arm, or leg on one side of your body
- sudden confusion, trouble talking, or trouble understanding
- sudden dizziness, loss of balance, or trouble walking
- sudden trouble seeing out of one or both eyes or sudden double vision
- sudden severe headache
If you have any of these symptoms, call 911 right away. You can help prevent permanent damage by getting to a hospital within an hour of a stroke. If your doctor thinks you have had a stroke, you may have tests such as a neurological examination to check your nervous system, special scans, blood tests, ultrasound examinations, or x rays. You also may be given medication that dissolves blood clots.
What are the treatment options for stroke?
At the first sign of a stroke, you should get medical care right away. If blood vessels to your brain are blocked by blood clots, the doctor can give you a “clot-busting” drug. The drug must be given soon after a stroke to be effective. Subsequent treatment for stroke includes medications and physical therapy, as well as surgery to repair the damage. Meal planning and physical activity may be part of your ongoing care. In addition, you may need medications to lower your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol and to prevent blood clots.
For additional information about strokes, call the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at 1-800-352-9424 or see www.ninds.nih.gov on the Internet.
Points to Remember
- If you have diabetes, you are at least twice as likely as other people to have heart disease or a stroke.
- Controlling the ABCs of diabetes-A1C (blood glucose), blood pressure, and cholesterol-can cut your risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Choosing foods wisely, being physically active, losing weight, quitting smoking, and taking medications (if needed) can all help lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
- If you have any warning signs of a heart attack or a stroke, get medical care immediately-don’t delay. Early treatment of heart attack and stroke in a hospital emergency room can reduce damage to the heart and the brain.
For More Information
National Diabetes Education Program
1 Diabetes Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3600
Phone: 1-800-438-5383
Fax: 703-738-4929
Internet: www.ndep.nih.gov
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
P.O. Box 30105
Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
Phone: 301-592-8573
Fax: 301-592-8563
Email: nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov
Internet: www.nhlbi.nih.gov
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Brain Resources and Information Network (BRAIN)
P.O. Box 5801
Bethesda, MD 20824-5801
Phone: 1-800-352-9424
Fax: 301-402-2186
Internet: www.ninds.nih.gov
Weight-control Information Network
1 WIN Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3665
Phone: 1-877-946-4627
Fax: 202-828-1028
Email: win@info.niddk.nih.gov
Internet: www.win.niddk.nih.gov
American Diabetes Association
National Call Center
1701 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311-1742
Phone: 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383)
Fax: 703-549-6995
Email: askADA@diabetes.org
Internet: www.diabetes.org 
American Association of Diabetes Educators
100 West Monroe, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60603-1922
Phone: 1-800-338-3633
Diabetes Educator Access Line: 1-800-TEAMUP4 (1-800-832-6874)
Fax: 312-424-2427
Email: aade@aadenet.org
Internet: www.diabeteseducator.org
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
120 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005-4001
Phone: 1-800-533-2873
Fax: 212-785-9595
Email: info@jdrf.org
Internet: www.jdrf.org
American Heart Association
7272 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, TX 75231-4596
Phone: 1-800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)
Fax: 214-369-3685
Internet: www.americanheart.org
Source:
The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse is a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
1 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3560
Phone: 1-800-860-8747
TTY: 1-866-569-1162
Fax: 1-703-738-4929
Email: ndic@info.niddk.nih.gov
Internet: www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov
How The Food Industry is Deceiving You: Parts 1, 2 & 3 of 5 – With Peter Jennings
PART 1
Source: Uploaded by herbspecialists on Jan 26, 2010 to YouTube
Terrific Peter Jennings video exploring how billions of dollars are spent to sabotage your health.
PART 2
PART 3
How The Food Industry is Deceiving You: Parts 4 & 5 of 5 – With Peter Jennings
Part 4
Source: Uploaded by herbspecialists on Jan 26, 2010 to YouTube
Terrific Peter Jennings video exploring how billions of dollars are spent to
sabotage your health.
PART 5 (Last)
Diabetes Focal Neuropathy
By: mark en lee
Diabetes focal neuropathy strikes an individual nerve, usually in your wrists, feet or thighs. It may also threaten particular nerves inside the chest area, your upper back as well as those which control the muscles having to do with your eyes.
Focal neuropathy is appreciably less widespread when compared with peripheral or autonomic neuropathy, and additionally it mostly has an effect on more elderly people suffering from diabetes. This specific variety of neuropathy comes along abruptly and customarily shows improvement on its own over a number of months without bringing about any kind of long-term injury.
Certain focal diabetic neuropathy signs might include:
Dual Vision Problems
This comes about when neurological issues result in your eyes getting to be out of alignment and gives the brain not one but two very different images. To be able to make up for that difference, the brain subsequently does away with a picture emanating from one of the eyes. This may lead to a false feeling of wellbeing because your dual vision does seem to go away completely, but the truth is the underlying reason for your difficulty continues.
Eye Discomfort
You might have painfulness to the rear of a single eye or even have a hard time actually moving it around. This happens due to injury to an individual cranial nerve.
Face Paralysis
Paralysis commonly takes place on just one side of one’s face because the nerve which controls your face muscles is impaired. The well-known term for this issue is Bells Palsy. Having no muscle management can cause the face to droop and can make it tough to shut your eye on the damaged side.
Painful Legs, Feet and Lower Back
Pains from your lumbar region can occasionally bring about paralysis. Yet again this is injury to a very specific nerve.
Chest or Stomach Pain
These types of aches and pains may on occasion possibly be mistaken for cardiac arrest or appendicitis. That’s the reason why detailed tests are needed to determine whether focal neuropathy could be the reason.
Though these kinds of signals or symptoms don’t certainly indicate you might have nerve deterioration, they might be symptoms of some other serious health conditions. Regardless, an early diagnosis together with the most effective treatment method provides you the best possible opportunity for averting even more problems and lessening the actual symptoms.
Focal neuropathy may also take place in cases where a solitary nerve is compacted. For any person with diabetes, the most typical variety of neural compression is known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Signs of carpal tunnel syndrome could be:
* Your thumbs, and the two to three fingers nearest to them, may experience numbness or a tingling feeling on either hand or both hands
* Some weakness or damage to the muscles of either hand resulting in trouble with lifting or grasping an item
* Discomfort inside your wrists which commonly extend outwards to your elbow
The most effective technique to address focal neuropathy is actually managing blood glucose. Your health care professional may additionally suggest physical therapy treatments in order that you continue using the body regions which have been damaged. Occasionally, your physician might suggest braces or splints as well as other equipment that may help you with your range of motion.
There are many drugs that help deal with the very painful symptoms associated with focal neuropathy, for instance pregabalin, gabapentin, pehnytoin and carbamazepine. Anti-depressants including nortriptyline, desipramine, amitriptyline, imipramineor and duloxetine are often recommended by doctors in an effort to minimize the unpleasant symptoms.
Due to the fact pretty much all prescribed medicines feature problematic side effects, some are most likely not proposed for older people suffering from diabetes as well as anybody having cardiovascular illnesses. Considering that quite a few non-prescription medications such as acetaminophen in addition to ibuprofen probably won’t be useful in reducing neural anguish, these medicines really should be avoided as they could also have undesirable side-effects.
Focal neuropathy is often very agonizing not to mention debilitating. Any treatment strategy begins with getting blood sugar levels inside of normal range. Appropriate blood glucose control can help put off or possibly avoid any more problems.
Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com
About the Author:
Are you experiencing a few of the symptoms of diabetes? Early recognition is essential to avoiding truly serious health issues like focal neuropathy.
Retailers Backing Michelle Obama’s Push to bring Fresh Foods into Impoverished areas
Wal-Mart, Supervalu, Walgreen among those pledging to open stores or expand in so-called food deserts.
By Emily Bryson York, Tribune reporter
July 21, 2011
Some of the nation’s largest retailers are joining first lady Michelle Obama’s effort to bring fresh foods to impoverished neighborhoods by opening and expanding more than 1,500 U.S. grocery stores in those areas.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Supervalu Inc. and Walgreen Co., along with a number of regional grocers, announced plans to increase the availability of fresh food in locales that have been designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “food deserts.”
In recent months, the retailers have described food deserts as fertile ground for growth, and they already have made inroads in Chicago. Supervalu, Wal-Mart and Walgreen have promised to open new stores or expand offerings in nearly 100 stores in the next three to five years to serve areas that don’t have access to fresh produce. Wednesday’s announcement underscores that commitment.
At a White House press conference with the first lady, Dr. James Gavin, chairman of the Partnership for a Healthier America, estimated that 23.5 million Americans don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their neighborhoods. Over the next five years, he said, these retail commitments will serve 10 million people and provide jobs for tens of thousands.
Gavin added that the retailers have signed commitments to open stores, and his organization will be reporting on their progress.
Obama’s office hopes to spur additional food-desert development through federal funds. The Healthy Food Financing Initiative will award $35 million in grants this year to make healthy food available to more Americans. An additional $330 million has been earmarked for 2012.
An Obama spokeswoman said the funds will be used to “leverage hundreds of millions more from the private and nonprofit sectors” for further development.
“This is a really big deal,” Obama said during the press conference. “The commitments that you all are making today have the potential be a game changer for our kids and our communities all across this country.”
In many cases, these stores have been planned or previously announced.
Jim Hertel, managing partner of Willard Bishop, a Barrington-based grocery consulting firm, described the announcement as “a situation where current plans dovetail nicely with a hot topic.”
“It does represent an opportunity for people to talk about their plans that they were probably largely going to be following whether or not this announcement had come along,” Hertel said.
Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, intended to combat childhood obesity in America, has garnered widespread participation in the food industry. It also has provided a platform for some participants to announce programs under way.
In February 2010, Northfield-based Kraft Foods Inc., Downers Grove-based Sara Lee Corp. and 38 other food companies signed on to the initiative by promising to create healthier products. However, most major food companies had been reducing fat, calories, sodium and trans fats for several years in response to consumer demand.
By contrast, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart took the grocery industry by surprise, according to two experts, when the company and Obama held a joint press conference in January to announce Wal-Mart’s commitment to making its private-label food healthier and more affordable. In so doing, the nation’s largest grocer put pressure on other retailers to follow suit.
At the time, Wal-Mart also promised to build grocery stores in food deserts and to pressure food manufacturers to ramp up their own product reformulations.
Such efforts could help Wal-Mart with its expansion strategy. The retailer has encountered strong opposition to plans to expand into urban areas, particularly in Chicago, where it has one store and nine more planned, with 59 more in the surrounding area.
“There’s a lot more receptivity today” to some of the contested locations, Leslie Dach, Wal-Mart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, said in a call with reporters Wednesday. Dach pointed to “the recognition of the contributions these stores … make to the local economy, the jobs they create, the affordable food they provide and the fact that we have become a better neighbor and better company over the last several years.”
Wal-Mart plans to open 275 to 300 stores in food deserts by 2016. Dach said these stores haven’t all received approval, and none is in New York City, where the retailer also has encountered opposition. Wal-Mart has opened 218 stores nationwide in food deserts since 2007.
Minneapolis-based Supervalu plans 250 Save-A-Lot stores in food deserts over the next five years. The company has announced plans to double the size of its bargain chain, including 35 stores in the Chicago area. Most Save-A-Lot stores are owned by franchisees.
In an interview, Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert said that being part of announcements like this, as well as one with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel earlier this summer, help underscore support for the new stores and, over the long term, hopefully will create goodwill in neighborhoods.
In the short term, Herkert said, he’s pleased the company will be providing nearly 4 million people with access to fresh foods in areas where there isn’t a grocery within short walking distance. The stores also represent 6,000 new jobs.
“It’s a really good business opportunity, and it’s good for America,” he said.
Deerfield-based Walgreen plans to add fresh-food options at 1,000 locations in food deserts over the next five years. The drugstore chain is undertaking a major expansion into grocery. In the Chicago area alone, Walgreen expects to have expanded 50 stores to offer fresh fare in food deserts by 2013.
“We’ve always been committed to communities and the role of the community pharmacy,” said Rachel Bishop, divisional vice president for strategic planning and analysis in Walgreen’s merchandising division. By also providing fresh fruits and vegetables, she said, Walgreen is “serving the community by giving them access to products (that) help support their health and wellness goals.”
Source: Organic Consumers Association/Los Angeles Times
5 Easy Weight Loss Tips For Kids (UK)
By Andrewd
Kids are often loved when they are chubby and rotund, instead of being skinny and small. But it is this mindset that puts kids ate the risk of obesity and overweight issues. Why would you condone a kids binge eating and snacking on unhealthy food like chips and fires, when it is the toddlers who fall prey to obesity most often? Well, to ease your worries if you have a kid who is fat, we have some easy weight loss tips for you to follow through on.
If you were worried that weight loss in UK was only dependent on exercise and safe slimming pills & natural slimming pills had no impact whatsoever on health, these tips might just change your mind. For the better or for the worse, is for you to decide!
1. Send The Kids to The Playground: Kids these days seem to be glued to the TV, computers or their PlayStation & Xbox. No matter how much fun this might seem to be (even to you, as an adult yeah gaming is addictive!), it damages the prospects of good physical health by a sledgehammer. Send them kids to play outside. This will not only help kids achieve weight loss, UK physicians believe it will also improve their horrendous social skills so rampant today.
2. Healthy Eating Should Run in the Family: Remember, your kids are not going to eat a lettuce dish unless you are eating it too and in ample amounts that make the kids feel they are better off than the adults! Healthy eating should be a part of the family plan for effective weight loss in UK & beyond and it serves all purposes involved.
3. Mind that Dinner: A lot of parents feel that since their kids could not lunch properly at school, they should force-feed the toddlers triple the amount that a healthy dinner should be restricted to. Dinners should be light, especially as most kids go to sleep right after, without any trace of physical activity at all.
4. Ensure the Kids Have Healthy, Full Meals: Lunchboxes should not be made into dripping chunks of fat and calories just to get the kids to eat up. Compensate the green lunch with healthy food, and throw in a candy bar or a similar goodie to freshen up the eating schedule for the toddlers. Weight loss will come up as a natural result from such steps.
5. Make Weight Loss Tips Fun for Them: Remember, your kid is not a 30-year old parent like you and would be bored quickly if you use the same weight loss tips every day. Make weight loss fun for them incorporating weight reduction strategies into games and fun activities. You will slim down the kids and will also win new fans of you in them!
The best weight loss in UK is with the help of safe slimming pills as well as novel techniques to execute flawless weight loss. But for kids, you need to be extra careful. Not only does the flab-fighting be safe, but it also needs to be fun for the kids too!
Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com
Why American’s Can’t Afford to Eat Healthy
By David Sirota
The easiest way to explain Gallup’s discovery that millions of Americans are eating fewer fruits and vegetables than they ate last year is to simply crack a snarky joke about Whole Foods really being “Whole Paycheck.” Rooted in the old limousine liberal iconography, the quip conjures the notion that only Birkenstock-wearing trust-funders can afford to eat right in tough times.
It seems a tidy explanation for a disturbing trend, implying that healthy food is inherently more expensive, and thus can only be for wealthy Endive Elitists when the economy falters. But if the talking point’s carefully crafted mix of faux populism and oversimplification seems a bit facile — if the glib explanation seems almost too perfectly sculpted for your local right-wing radio blowhard — that’s because it dishonestly omits the most important part of the story. The part about how healthy food could easily be more affordable for everyone right now, if not for those ultimate elitists: agribusiness CEOs, their lobbyists and the politicians they own.
As with most issues in this new Gilded Age, the tale of the American diet is a story of the worst form of corporatism — the kind whereby the government uses public monies to protect private profit.
In this chapter of that larger tragicomedy, lawmakers whose campaigns are underwritten by agribusinesses have used billions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize those agribusinesses’ specific commodities (corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.) that are the key ingredients of unhealthy food. Not surprisingly, the subsidies have manufactured a price inequality that helps junk food undersell nutritious-but-unsubsidized foodstuffs like fruits and vegetables. The end result is that recession-battered consumers are increasingly forced by economic circumstance to “choose” the lower-priced junk food that their taxes support.
Corn — which is processed into the junk-food staple corn syrup and which feeds the livestock that produce meat — exemplifies the scheme.
“Over the past decade, the federal government has poured more than $50 billion into the corn industry, keeping prices for the crop … artificially low,” reports Time magazine. “That’s why McDonald’s can sell you a Big Mac, fries and a Coke for around $5 — a bargain.”
Yes, it is a bargain, but one created by deliberate government policy that serves the corn industry titans, not by any genetic advantage that makes corn derivatives automatically more affordable for the budget-strapped commoner.
The aggregate effect of such market manipulation across the agriculture industry, notes Time, is “that a dollar [can] buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit.”
So while it may be amusing to use Americans’ worsening recession-era diet as another excuse to promote cultural stereotypes, the nutrition crisis costing us billions in unnecessary healthcare costs is more about public policy and powerful special interests than it is about epicurean snobs and affluent tastes. Indeed, this is a problem not of individual proclivities or of agricultural biology that supposedly makes nutrition naturally unaffordable — it is a problem of rigged economics and corrupt policymaking.
Solving the crisis, then, requires everything from recalibrating our subsidies to halting the low-income school lunch program’s support for the pizza and French fry lobby (yes, they have a powerful lobby). It requires, in other words, a new level of maturity, a better appreciation for the nuanced politics of food and a commitment to changing those politics for the future.
Impossible? Hardly. A country that can engineer the seemingly unattainable economics of a $5 McDonald’s feast certainly has the capacity to produce a healthy meal for the same price. It’s just a matter of will — or won’t.
- David Sirota is a best-selling author of the new book “Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live In Now.” He hosts the morning show on AM760 in Colorado. E-mail him at ds@davidsirota.com, follow him on Twitter @davidsirota or visit his website at www.davidsirota.com.
Source: Organic Consumers Association/Salon.com News
What is Processed Food?
Source: Uploaded by incontinencedoc on Dec 14, 2009 to YouTube
Dr. Andrew Siegel discusses the unhealthy effects of processed foods and why we should all try to avoid them.
Spinal Cord Injury Aerobic Workout: Paraplegia
Source: Uploaded by NCPAD on Jun 24, 2010 to YouTube
For more information: http://www.ncpad.org/videos/fact_sheet.php?sheet=271
NCPAD presents "Exercise Program for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries: Paraplegia". This video is funded by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center and developed in conjunction with the Rehabilitation.
Institute of Chicago and the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability.
When Your Child is Diagnosed with Diabetes: PARENT’s QUESTIONS
NDEP is a partnership of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 200 public and private organizations.
- I Have Diabetes
- Am I at Risk?
- Health Care Professionals, Businesses & Schools
- Partners & Community Organizations
About NDEP | Contact Us | Site Map
You are here: NDEP Home
When Your Child Is Diagnosed with DIABETES: PARENTS’ QUESTIONS for the Health Care Team
Parents of children with diabetes often have concerns about the disease, its impact on their family, and how to keep their children safe and healthy. Use these questions to talk with your child’s health care team and learn about your child’s diabetes care needs… at diagnosis and later on as well.
What are the different types of diabetes?
- Which type of diabetes does our child have?
- Will it ever go away?
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents
What does this mean for other members of our family?
- Does it mean our other children will get diabetes too?
- What about other family members?
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents
What are my child’s treatment goals?
- How can we help our child meet these goals?
- How often will our child need to visit you each year?
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents
(See Treatment Goals and Family Support)4 Steps to Control Your Diabetes. For Life
NDEP Teen page
(See Tip Sheets for Kids with Type 2 Diabetes)
What other health care team members can help care for our child’s diabetes?
- How do we contact them?
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (See Visiting the Health Care Team)
How can we work together as a family to help our child?
- How can we help our child check blood glucose, take insulin, eat healthy foods, be more active, and learn about diabetes?
- Who can help us work together as a family?
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (See Helping Children Manage Diabetes)
What emotional issues might our child and family face?
- Will diabetes affect the way our child behaves?
- When do we start letting our child manage his/her own diabetes care?
- Who can help us cope with these issues?
Tips for Teens with type 2 Diabetes: Dealing with the Ups and Downs of Diabetes
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (See Transition to Independence )
Learn about age-related issues and diabetes on the American Diabetes Association website
Learn about reactions to being diagnosed with diabetes on the American Diabetes Association website
Should we tell friends and family about our child’s diabetes?
Who can help us if we don’t have medical insurance?
Insure Kids Now! A national initiative to linking families to low-cost insurance programs
What resources are there to help our child in school?
Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (See Diabetes at School)
What research is going on?
Three large nation-wide studies are under way.
The TODAY study wants to find the best ways to care for type 2 diabetes in children and teens and has begun in 13 medical sites. To find out if you can join go to www.TODAYstudy.org.
Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet is a group of studies looking at ways to prevent or to treat type 1 diabetes early. To find out if you can join go to www.diabetestrialnet.org/public.html or call1- 800- HALT- DM1(1-800-425-8361).
The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study will help us learn about how type 1 and type 2 diabetes differ, what medical problems arise, the health care children receive, and how diabetes shapes their daily lives. www.searchfordiabetes.org
A lot of other research is going on. To find studies in your area, talk to your health care team and visit the JDRF and ADA (links below).
Additional Resources for Parents and Children
National Diabetes Education Program
www.ndep.nih.gov or call 1-800-438-5383
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF)
www.jdrf.org or call 1-800-223-1138
Children with Diabetes
www.childrenwithdiabetes.com
American Diabetes Association (ADA)
www.diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383)
- In This Section
- Source :
Source: Uploaded by IowaPatients on Nov 16, 2009 to YouTube A “paralyzed stomache” patient testifies to the Iowa Board of Pharmacy during a Des Moines hearing on medical marijuana. Part 1 Source: Uploaded by psychetruth on May 7, 2007 to YouTube Nutrition by Natalie What is the difference between organic food and conventional food? Is organic really more healthy for you? The USDA lays out certain guidelines that farms have to follow in order to be able to claim the food is organic. In this video Natalie discusses what each of those guidelines are. What is surprising to learn is some of the growing practices of conventional farming and food processing. As an example, chemical plants and waste water treatment facilities will actually sell their toxic waist to conventional farms to use for fertilizer. What you eat is an important part of health and nutrition. Part 2 This OnEarth column was written by Laura Fraser. We all know that Americans — leading the way for the rest of the developed world — are getting fatter. We hear about the “obesity epidemic” on the TV news, with footage of people depicted from the waist down shuffling around in XXL sweatpants and carrying supersized sodas. The majority of us are overweight, complaining about how our jeans are getting tighter and wondering why, despite all our efforts to diet and go to the gym, the number on the scale keeps edging higher. For years, the explanation for weight gain was straightforward: it was all about energy balance, or calories-in versus calories-out. This Gluttony and Sloth theory held that obesity simply came from overeating and under-exercising, and the only debate was about dieting — whether it was better to join the low-fat or the low-carb camp. Some scientists explored genetic differences associated with fat, but others said genes couldn’t possibly explain the rate at which Americans were gaining weight: “We just aren’t evolving that fast,” one obesity expert noted. Environmental scientists have long suggested that there were likely external factors at work, but until recently, the traditional obesity-research community rejected such claims. Now it seems thatthe tide is turning: This month’s issue of Obesity Reviews features an extensive look at the accumulating body of research linking the environment with obesity. The idea of our surroundings contributing to weight gain is nothing new, of course. But past discussions about the role of the “environment” focused mostly on the fast-food culture that we live in, where highly processed, highly caloric foods are constantly available, eating times are chaotic, kids run around drinking sugar-saturated sodas all day, no one has time to cook, fruits and vegetables are scarce in low-income urban areas, a venti frappuccino has 760 calories, and muffins are the size of melons. Add to that our changing physical environment — the fact that everyone sits in front of computers every day, instead of working out or working on the farm — and the “calories in” excess of the weight equation seems obvious, and obesity over-determined. But even allowing for such influences, something wasn’t adding up. There are plenty of people out there who eat well and exercise like Gwyneth Paltrow and still feel like their weight is out of control. Then there are those annoying people who eat everything they desire, never work out, and stay thin. There had to be more to it than calories. We know that hormones — the chemical messengers produced by our endocrine system to control things like blood pressure and insulin production — can fatten up animals for slaughter; that some drugs increase your weight; and that a change in hormones at midlife shifts where your fat is distributed. Researchers began to recognize that obesity is much more complicated than calories in and out, and that a lot of other mechanisms involving the hormonal regulatory system are involved in our bodies’ delicate weight balance. Paula Baillie-Hamilton, an expert on metabolism and environmental toxins at Stirling University in Scotland, was among the first to make the link between the obesity epidemic and the increase in the chemicals in our lives. “Overlooked in the obesity debate,” she wrote in 2002 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, “is that the earth’s environment has changed significantly during the last few decades because of the exponential production and usage of synthetic organic and inorganic chemicals.” Exposure to those chemicals, said Baillie-Hamilton, can damage the body’s natural weight-control mechanisms. She calls toxic chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors — mimicking hormones, and blocking or exaggerating our natural hormonal responses — “chemical calories,” and those in question include Bisphenol A, phthalates, PCBs, persistent organic pollutants such as DDE, a breakdown product of the insecticide DDT, and pesticides containing tin compounds called organotins. Many studies have shown that endocrine disruptors have been linked to early puberty, impaired immune function, different types of cancer, birth deformities, and other diseases. Now obesity and metabolism are on that list. Environmental researchers call these chemical calories “obesogens.” Bruce Blumberg, a University of California at Irvine professor of developmental and cell biology, studies the effects of endocrine disruptors on obesity in mice and sees clear differences between those who are exposed to them and those who aren’t. “Pretty much anyone who observes people knows that obesity is way more than eating and exercise,” says Blumberg. Instead, metabolism, appetite, and the number and size of fat cells you have come into play, all of which are affected by hormones, and therefore by hormone disruptors. Blumberg has shown that the organic pollutants tributyltin and triphenyltin derail the hormonal mechanisms that control the weight of mice. He’s found that when pregnant mice are fed a dose of organotins that is equivalent to normal human exposure to those chemicals, their offspring have 10 percent more fat cells than normal mice, the fat cells grow bigger than normal, and they end up, overall, 10 percent fatter than your average mouse. Other compelling research that fat is not just about eating and exercise comes from studies that show that animals that live in human environments get fatter just by virtue of being around people. Researchers at the University of Alabama recently found that chimpanzees, macaques, mice, rats, dogs, cats, and other species that lived in proximity to humans got fatter than animals that didn’t live in an industrialized environment — even when their lab chow and exercise was highly controlled. The authors suggested that endocrine disruptors were one likely culprit in this cross-species obesity epidemic. For her article in the new Obesity Reviews, Jeanett Tang-Peronard, of the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen, looked at some 450 studies on endocrine disruptors and obesity and found that nearly all of them showed a correlation between exposure to those chemicals — particularly in utero and in early childhood, when hormonal mechanisms are vulnerable — and an increase in body size. She says that in early life, chemicals seem to alter the epigenetic regulation of certain genes, disrupting the programming of hormonal signaling pathways that affect fat storage, fat distribution, and appetite. (The epigenome governs patterns of gene expression.) This reprogramming could explain how we are indeed evolving so fast. Tang-Peronard says that it is impossible, now, to tease out how much of obesity is caused by chemicals, and how much by energy balance. They’re intertwined, anyway, with imbalances in appetite-regulating hormones like leptin and ghrelin causing us to want to eat more of the available food. “Endocrine disruptors may play a significant role in obesity,” she says. But the research is in its infancy. She also points out that only a few of the tens of thousands of known environmental chemicals have been tested for their association with obesity. “We are only scratching the surface,” she says. What to do about the problem of endocrine disruptors and obesity? It’s hard to say, given that virtually all humans have been exposed. Pediatrician Maida Galvez is involved in the Mt. Sinai “Growing Up Healthy“ study of 330 children in East Harlem, monitoring their exposure to endocrine disruptors and their body weight. “Even if these chemicals play a small role in obesity, it’s a preventable exposure,” she says, explaining that if certain substances can be determined to have deleterious effects, we can avoid them at critical stages of development and ultimately replace them with safer alternatives. For now, Galvez recommends that parents steer clear of Bisphenol-A — present in many plastic water and baby bottles, and in microwavable and dishwasher-safe food containers. (If you find a printed “7″ on the bottom, get rid of it.) She also suggests avoiding shampoos, cosmetics, and soaps containing phthalates — up to 70 percent of “top-selling products,” according to a 2002 report by the Environmental Working Group. (Look for fragrance-free products, which are less likely to contain phthalates, or for anything from the Illumina Organics range or The Body Shop. And, she says, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of foods that are processed and/or packaged in plastic. That’s one point on which traditional obesity researchers and environmental scientists agree: Eat plenty of fresh, organic vegetables. And while you’re at it, get out into the fresh air and get some exercise. Featuring great stories and great solutions, OnEarth magazine is a survival guide for the planet. Source: Organic Consumers Association (OCA)/ OnEarth Magazine Greasy Foods – The Holy Grail Of African American Diet I do not know about you, but when I was growing up, my mom cooked fried chicken (no, not oven “fried” chicken, we are talking about southern deep fried chicken), macaroni and cheese topped with tons of butter and mounds of cheese, collard greens cooked in chicken fat, hot buttered biscuits and brown gravy for dinner – at least twice a week. Yes, I know you are salivating right about now. Here is another past time favorite to which I am sure you can relate – deep fried catfish, red beans and rice soaked in oil, candied yams with tons of butter, sugar, and cinnamon and deep fried pork chops. I can relate. I grew up in a family of 9 where food portions were humongous. I mean we are talking about a 9-year-old whose plate was filled to the edges that was even too much for an adult! Years later, with the same poor dietary habits intact, I ballooned up to 213 pounds! My Food History Repeated Itself So there I was 20 years later weighing 185 pounds. I thought I could control it. The smallest I had ever been was 140 pounds. But my weight went up and down my whole life. Finally, I crossed the line where I could not stop eating. I was addicted to fried foods, white flour and sugar, but I did not know that until 3 more years of food agony and an additional weight gain of 18 pounds. My Health Deteriorated I come from a long line of strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and high blood pressure. At age 29, severely overweight and a heavy smoker, I was headed down the same path as my ancestors. My Aha Moment There was a voice inside me that said, “Shalisha, you are lost when it comes to food. Get help.” I did. I was introduced to a food plan that was abundant, healthy, delicious, and made me lose 90 pounds in 6 months. This was no diet. It was a lifestyle change. So here are the top 5 reasons I think the African American diet is in dire need of an overhaul: 1.The African American diet is extremely high in fat If you want to start eating healthy and lose weight: 1.Stop deep frying and start broiling One more thing – dare to be different! Demand that your neighborhood Key Food supermarket carry Fage Fat-Free Greek Yogurt. Demand that your friendly neighborhood Met Food supermarket carry organic fruits and vegetables. All it takes is one person to lead the way. Be a power of example and show other African Americans in the community that it is not only okay to eat healthy – it is a matter of life and death. By making those 6 small dietary adjustments, you will go a long way to improving your health and losing weight. Shalisha Alston is an African American weight loss consultant. She lost 90 pounds in 6 months and you can do the same. Source: GoArticles.com © 2011, All Rights Reserved.
Medical Marijuana Patient Jeff Elton – Diabetic Neuropathic Gastroparesis
What’s the Deal with Organic Foods? Parts 1 and 2
Is Your Shampoo Making You Fat?
African American Diet
by Shalisha Alston
2.The African American diet is extremely high in sugar
3.The African American diet lacks fruit
4.The African American diet lacks vegetables
5.The African American diet is extremely high in sodium
2.Cut out sugar and white flour
3.Include at least 5 servings of vegetables daily
4.Include at least 3 servings of fruit daily
5.Drink plenty of water (8-12 cups)
6.Take the salt shaker off the tableAbout the Author
7 Nutrition Fundamentals for Losing Fat
Source: Uploaded by DrClayFitness on Mar 15, 2007 to YouTube
Dr. Clay shares 7 fundamental nutrition tips that serve as the foundation of any good diet.
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