BLOOMINGTON - Depression leads to elevated inflammatory proteins in the human body, according to researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Led by Dr.JesseStewart, researchers found that depressive symptoms are associated with increases over time in interleukin-6, an inflammatory protein that predicts cardiovascular events.
On the other hand, levels of interleukin-6 were not linked to subsequent increases in depressive symptoms.
The new study is the first to examine both directions of the depression-inflammation connection and to measure the physical symptoms of depression, such as fatigue and sleep disturbance, in addition to the cognitive-emotional symptoms, such as pessimism and sadness.
While many previous studies have linked depression to increased inflammatory protein levels measured at the same time, but they couldn’t speak to which is the cause and which is the effect.
“There is two-way communication between the brain and the immune system, so we had to determine whether activation of the body’s immune system sent a signal to the brain to affect mood and behavior or whether the depression activated the immune system,” said Dr.Stewart.
The participants in the study consisted of 263 healthy men and women aged 50-70 years at the start of the study.
They were tested at baseline and again six years later to determine their levels of depressive symptoms and interleukin-6.
Levels of C-reactive protein, another inflammatory protein, were also measured but were not related to depression.
Stewart said that the strength of the association of depression with future heart disease is similar to that of traditional risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol.
“Promotion of inflammation may be one pathway through which depression may ‘get under the skin’ to negatively influence cardiovascular health. The link to cardiovascular disease demonstrates that there may be physical as well as mental health reasons to treat depression,” said Stewart.
The study has been published in the latest issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
PALO ALTO - In a study on laboratory mice, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that bouts of relatively short-term stress can boost the immune system and protect against one type of cancer.
The researchers also said that the beneficial effects of this occasional angst could last for weeks after the stressful situation has ended.
The finding is surprising because chronic stress has the opposite effect-taxing the immune system and increasing susceptibility to disease.
“This is the first evidence that this type of short-lived stress may enhance anti-tumor activity. This is a promising new way of thinking that calls for more research. We hope that it will eventually lead to applications that help us to care for those who are ill, by maximally harnessing the body’s natural defenses while also using other medical treatments,” said Dr.FirdausDhabhar.
The researchers studied a particular type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma that is known to be vulnerable to attack by the immune system.
Certain types of stress, such as the so-called fight-or-flight response to an immediate but temporary threat, has been shown to increase the recruitment of immune cells to the surface of the skin and the surrounding lymph nodes-presumably in preparation for imminent injury.
“Acute stress galvanizes an organism’s protective systems. But although it’s one of nature’s fundamental survival systems, thus far it’s been rather underappreciated,” said Dhabhar.
The researchers focused on understanding the physiological effects of both acute and chronic stress.
They investigated the effect of short-term, or acute, stress on 30 laboratory mice exposed for 10 weeks to thrice-weekly doses of cancer-causing ultraviolet light.
They found that fewer of the mice that had been acutely stressed developed skin cancer during weeks 11 through 21, and that those that did exhibited a lower total amount of tumors (a measurement called tumor burden) than the non-stressed mice.
The stressed mice weren’t protected indefinitely-almost 90 percent of the mice in both groups developed cancer after week 22, though the stressed group continued to have fewer tumors until week 26.
“It’s possible that the pre-tumor cells were eliminated more efficiently in the group that was stressed.
There may also have been a longer-term enhancement of immunity as we have seen in our non-cancer-related studies. However, acute stress did not lower tumor burden beyond week 26. We are in the process of determining why,” said Dhabhar.
However, other stress-induced changes lingered for weeks.
The researchers found that, during the same time period, the skin of the stressed mice had higher levels of immune-activating genes than did the control group, almost as if the mice were preparing for battle.
He compared the effect to how drug-makers often increase the potency of vaccines by including generic immune-activating molecules called adjuvants.
But he is convinced that acute stress may be better for us than most of us think, and that bio-behavioral interventions are worth investigating.
The study will be published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
EDINBURGH - A protein present in all cells in the body could help scientists better understand how we store fat.
University of Edinburgh (U-E) researchers have found that the protein invadolysin, essential for healthy cell division, is present in lipid droplets — the parts of cells used to store fat.
The study also found that lower levels of invadolysin were linked to reduced amounts of fat deposits.
The findings could ultimately help scientists better understand obesity-related complications, which can include diabetes, blood clotting and heart disease.
MargaretHeck, professor at the U-E Centre for Cardiovascular Science, said: “The presence of this protein in lipid droplets may suggest that it has a role in obesity.”
“What we would like to understand is whether its presence is related to obesity, and if so, whether the protein’s activity aggravates obesity and its consequences. Understanding its role will help us better understand how the body stores fat,” she said.
Invadolysin was first identified by Heck’s lab in fruit flies. The latest study looked at the protein in human cells, pinpointing its presence in the part of cells used to store fat.
The researchers also found that when invadolysin was absent in fruit fly larvae, fat storage was impaired.
Further studies will look at how the protein affects metabolism to better understand its role in obesity-related disorders.
These findings were published in the Journal of Cell Science.
TEL AVIV - Tel Aviv University researchers have invented a technique to destroy malignant cells in the breast while leaving healthy ones untouched. If the results produced in lab tests on mice can be applied to human patients, the result could be a revolution in cancer care, though human clinical tests are years away, at best.
The killing of cancerous cells in the lab was accomplished by using a chemical generally used to treat strokes. The work by Prof.MalkaCohen-Armon of TAU’s Sackler Medical School was just published in the open online journal, BioMed Central.
The international research team she headed found that potent phenanthridine derived polyADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors that were originally designed to protect cells from cell death under stress conditions such as stroke or inflammation efficiently eradicate MCF-7 and MDA231 breast cancer cells without impairing normal cells.
Cohen-Armon said they made the discovery “by chance,” but that the findings provide “a new therapeutic approach for a selective eradication of abundant human cancers.”
TORONTO - In a major breakthrough for early cancer detection, Canadian researchers have developed an inexpensive microchip that is sensitive enough to detect the type and severity of the disease.
The microchip has been successfully tested on prostate cancer, and head and neck cancer models.
It can also be used to diagnose other cancers, as well as infectious diseases such as HIV and the H1N1 flu.
Researchers at the University of Toronto here used nanomaterials for the first time to build the sensitive microchip.
In their work reported in Nature Nanotechnology this week, the researchers say the new device will make sophisticated molecular diagnostics easily available soon.
“The remarkable innovation is an indication that the age of nanomedicine is dawning,” DavidNaylor, who is president of the University of Toronto and professor of medicine, was quoted as saying in a university statement.
The device quickly picks up the ‘biomarkers’ that hint at the presence of cancer at the cellular level, even though these biomolecules - genes that indicate aggressive or benign forms of the disease - are generally present at low levels in biological samples, the statement said.
Analysis can be completed in 30 minutes, compared to days taken by the current diagnostic procedures.
“Today, it takes a room filled with computers to evaluate a clinically relevant sample of cancer biomarkers and the results aren’t quickly available,” said research leader and medicine professor ShanaKelley.
“Our team was able to measure biomolecules on an electronic chip the size of your fingertip and analyse the sample within half an hour. The instrumentation required for This analysis can be contained within a unit the size of a BlackBerry,” she said.
Since the current conventional, flat metal electrical sensors are inadequate to sense cancer’s particular biomarkers, the Toronto team fabricated a chip and decorated it with nanometre-sized wires and molecular ‘bait’ to make it more sensitive.
“Uniting DNA with speedy, miniaturised electronic chips is an example of cross-disciplinary convergence,” said co-researcher TedSargent.
“By working with outstanding researchers in nanomaterials, pharmaceutical sciences, and electrical engineering, we were able to demonstrate that controlled integration of nanomaterials provides a major advantage in disease detection and analysis,” he said.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men with earlier-stage prostate cancer may have better survival odds if they get a little more than the recommended amount of vitamin B6 everyday, a new study suggests.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, do not prove that vitamin B6 improves prostate cancer survival. But they do point to an association between survival and amounts of the vitamin that are readily attainable through a balanced diet.
Researchers found that among 525 Swedish men with prostate cancer, the one-quarter with the highest B6 intakes were 29 percent less likely than those with the lowest intakes to die of the disease during the study period.
Men in the former group averaged 2.2 to 2.9 milligrams of vitamin B6 per day, while those in the latter group got 1.3 to 1.9 milligrams daily. The recommended vitamin B6 intake for men age 50 and younger is 1.3 mg per day, while older men are encouraged to get 1.7 mg.
The protective effect of B6 appeared confined to men whose tumors had not yet spread beyond the prostate at the time of diagnosis.
When the researchers considered only these men, they found that those who got the most B6 had only 5 percent of the risk of dying as their counterparts with the lowest intakes of the vitamin.
The results offer “exciting preliminary support” for dietary factors in long-term prostate cancer survival, according to lead researcher Dr.JulieL.Kasperzyk, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
However, she told Reuters Health, the findings “will need to be confirmed or refuted in additional, larger studies before recommendations can be made to the general public or to prostate cancer patients.”
Vitamin B6 is found in a range of foods, including beans, potatoes, bananas, meat, chicken, peanut butter and certain fish, like salmon and tuna. It serves a variety of functions in the body — one being its role, together with other B vitamins, in DNA synthesis and repair.
Cancer arises from the uncontrolled growth of genetically abnormal cells — which, in theory, means that the B vitamins could affect the development or spread of certain cancers.
For their study, Kasperzyk and her colleagues looked at the intakes of vitamins B6, B12, folate, riboflavin and methionine among 525 prostate cancer patients who were followed for up to 20 years. Few men took dietary supplements, Kasperzyk said, so the study focused on consumption from food.
Overall, 42 percent of the men died of prostate cancer during the study period. The odds were lower, however, among those with the highest vitamin B6 intakes — although there was no evidence of protection among men diagnosed with advanced cancer.
None of the other nutrients was linked to prostate cancer survival.
Kasperzyk said that vitamin B6 has a number of functions in the body that are not shared by the other nutrients her team studied.
“What is most relevant to prostate cancer,” she explained, “is the potential link between vitamin B6 and reduced responsiveness of the prostate to testosterone.”
CHINA — Researchers in China, who conducted a review of research studies, say a diet that includes flaxseed may help lower cholesterol levels.
The review of 28 studies, which involved more than 1,500 people, found cholesterol reduction linked with eating whole flaxseed was stronger in women than men.
Study leader Dr. Xu Lin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai says one tablespoon daily of whole flaxseed or flaxseed oil is usually associated with reductions in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, the “bad” cholesterol — particularly post-menopausal women, more than men, and in people with higher cholesterol concentrations at the outset.
However, the whole flaxseed did not appear to significantly alter trigylceride levels or affect the amount of high-density lipoprotein, or HDL, the “good” cholesterol.
Flaxseed is considered healthy for the heart because it contains high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and alpha linolenic acid.
The review was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
COPENHAGEN - Men and women with thighs over 60cm (23.6in) in circumference have a lower risk of heart disease and early death, a study of 3,000 people suggests.
The relationship remains even when body fat, smoking and blood cholesterol are taken into account, a Danish team says.
Those with narrow thighs may not have enough muscle mass to deal with insulin properly, raising the risk of diabetes and, in turn, heart disease, they say.
Experts cautioned that the research needed corroborating.
Some said it was too early to change current advice on eating and exercise for heart health, but the researchers said thigh size could be used as a marker for at-risk patients.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, followed men and women in Denmark for more than 10 years.
They were measured for height, weight and thigh, hip and waist circumference and their overall percentage of body fat was calculated.
It’s a very simple, very crude measure but it seems to have an individual effect. And it may be a way for doctors to assess risk
The thigh measurement was taken just below the gluteal fold, which is the crease caused by your buttocks.
Researchers also looked at the activity levels of the participants, whether they smoked, their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
They then monitored incidence of heart disease over 10 years and death rates over 12-and-a-half years.
During this time, 257 men and 155 women died, 263 men and 140 women developed cardiovascular disease and 103 men and 34 women suffered from heart disease.
The team at the Copenhagen University Hospital found that those with the smallest thighs - below 55cm - had twice the risk of early death or serious health problems.
ProfessorBeritHeitmann, who led the research, said: “The increased risk was independent of abdominal and general obesity and lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure.
“Additionally we found that the risk was more highly related to thigh circumference than to waist circumference.
“It’s a very simple, very crude measure but it seems to have an individual effect. And it may be a way for doctors to assess risk.
“The nice thing is that if you have a small thigh you can do something about it through exercise.”
Previous studies have suggested that a waist circumference of over 35in (88.9cm) for a woman and 40in (101.6cm) for a man indicated a high risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
ProfessorHeitmann’s team says the risk of narrow thighs could be associated with too little muscle mass.
They say this can lead to the body not responding to insulin properly, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and, in the long-run, heart disease.
Too little fat can also lead to adverse changes in the way the body breaks down food.
British Heart Foundation senior cardiac nurse JudyO’Sullivan said: “There is insufficient evidence to confirm that a low thigh circumference affects a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
“However, low muscle mass is associated with low levels of physical activity which is an established risk factor for developing heart disease.”
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, agreed that the research needed further corroboration, saying: “This is a very interesting and slightly counter-intuitive piece of work but it has to be respected because of the numbers looked at and the duration of the research.
“This must be great news for people with larger thighs. What I find fascinating is that researchers are now going back to the drawing board and looking for every possible way of mitigating obesity.”
A molecule found in a curry ingredient can kill esophageal cancer cells in the laboratory, suggesting it might be developed as an anti-cancer treatment, scientists said on Wednesday.
Researchers at the Cork Cancer Research Center in Ireland treated esophageal cancer cells with curcumin, a chemical found in the spice turmeric, which gives curries a distinctive yellow color, and found it started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.
The cells also began to digest themselves, they said in a study published in the British Journal of Cancer.
Previous scientific studies have suggested curcumin can suppress tumors and that people who eat lots of curry may be less prone to the disease, although curcumin loses its anti-cancer attributes quickly when ingested.
But Sharon McKenna, lead author of the Irish study, said her research suggested a potential for scientists to develop curcumin as an anti-cancer drug to treat esophageal cancer.
Cancers of the esophagus kill more than 500,000 people across the world each year. The tumors are especially deadly, with five-year survival rates of just 12 to 31 percent.
The curcumin used “an unexpected system of cell messages” that caused the cancer cells to die, McKenna said.
Normally, faulty cells die by committing programmed suicide, or apoptosis, which occurs when proteins called caspases are “switched on” in cells, the researchers said.
But these cells showed no evidence of suicide, and the addition of a molecule that inhibits caspases and stops this “switch being flicked’ made no difference to the number of cells that died, suggesting curcumin attacked the cancer cells using an alternative cell signaling system.
In 2007, U.S. researchers said they had found curcumin may help stimulate immune system cells in Alzheimer’s disease.
Take this myth, for example: You should drink at least eight glasses of water per day.
Here they claim as “fact,”
“Over the years, “fluid” turned to water. But fruits and vegetables, plus coffee and other liquids count.”
Hold it right there. Coffee counts toward your daily fluid intake?
Every day you lose water from the body through urine and sweat, and this fluid needs to be replenished. Coffee is a natural diuretic, which – logically, I might add – depletes your body of fluids.
Your body is equipped with a mechanism that tells you when you need to replenish your fluid supply — it’s called thirst! So although I have stopped recommending drinking a specified amount of water per day, fulfilling your body’s request for fluids by drinking coffee is simply not going to do the job.
Without going into all the negative health ramifications that can be attributed to coffee (which I’ve reported in many previous articles, all of which you can find on my site), let it suffice to say that not only are they completely overlooking the fact that coffee simply cannot replace the biological benefits of plain water, they also fail to answer the question of: if not eight glasses of water, then how much water do you need?
Setting the Record Straight on the Water Myth
We know you can exist without food for months, but without water you can only survive for a few days. Your body is made up mostly of water, which:
Is essential for digestion, nutrient absorption and elimination
Aids circulation
Helps control your body’s temperature
Lubricates and cushions joints
Keeps your skin healthy
Helps remove toxins from your body
I have refined my recommendations to this: use the color of your urine as a guide to how much water you should be drinking.
As long as you are not taking riboflavin (vitamin B2), which fluoresces and turns your urine bright yellow (it is also in most multi-vitamins), then your urine should be a very light-colored yellow. If it is a deep yellow then you are likely not drinking enough water.
Of course, if it’s hot outside or you are engaged in exercise or other vigorous activity, you will require more water than normal so be sure to stay well hydrated in these cases. Additionally, as we grow older our thirst mechanism works less efficiently so older adults will want to be sure to drink water regularly, and again make sure their urine is a light, pale color.
More Myths Most Conventional Experts Fail to Inform You About
The myths studied and “clarified” through science in this article are not really a matter of life and death however. Fortunately, believing in them will not necessarily ruin your health in the long run.
But there are many other medical myths out there that are actually taking lives because even your doctors fail to realize they are perpetuating a myth and giving out misguided advice.
Here are a few more of my top medical myths that you REALLY need to know the real answers to:
Myth: Sun Exposure Causes Skin Cancer – This is perhaps the most pervasive and destructive myth in today’s society, reinforced by expensive media campaigns for sunscreen protection of all kinds. Unfortunately, that trend is contributing to one million unnecessary deaths each and every year, causing about 600,000 deaths from breast and colorectal cancer alone.
You also need to know that using sunscreen is NOT a good way to limit your sun exposure; in fact, sunscreen is one of the last things you want to put on your body, and sunblock does not stop skin cancer.
As natural health expert Krispin Sullivan explained during my interview with her last year, when you wear sunscreen you may not realize you’re creating sun damage because it prevents you from burning – but the damage is still being done on a cellular level — simply because now you’re staying out in the sun too long, thinking it’s okay since you’re covered in goop. Adding insult to injury, sunscreens contain many toxic chemicals that can cause additional problems in your system, and increase your risk of disease.
Myth: Milk Does Your Body Good – Another case where back-in-the-days before pasteurization, this was true. However, commercial pasteurized milk is not healthy for your body, and should be avoided if you want to be optimally healthy. For a great explanation on the differences between healthy raw milk versus pasteurized milk, don’t miss Mark McAfee’s excellent video on this subject.
And, of course there is the issue of the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that are used in modern milk dairies, and the fact that nearly all commercial dairy cows are raised on grains, not grass, like they were designed to. This changes the composition of the fats in the milk they produce, especially the CLA content.
Myth: Whole Grains are Good for You – Even though I do agree that whole grains are better for you than refined grains, whole grains are still not healthy for most people. Why? Because so many Americans are either:
Myth: Fish is Good for You – Again, prior to the industrial pollution that has now devastated the waters world wide, this was true. But not anymore. Fish (and shellfish) easily accumulate very high levels of chemical residues from the water they live in. Residues in fish can be as much as 9 million times the amount found in the water!
Sadly, due to the release of 40 TONS, or 80,000 pounds, of mercury into the air and water each year, this once healthy food has now been rendered largely unfit for human consumption. Some of the contaminants now found in fish flesh include:
Toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and arsenic
Fortunately, there are still some viable alternatives for obtaining the nutritious benefits of fish, such as regularly consuming high-quality purified krill oil or fish oil. Some wild Alaskan salmon are also still good, as well as very small fish like anchovies and sardines.
Myth: Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease – I recently published an article about this very topic. If you missed it, I’d recommend reading it in its entirety: The Truth About Saturated Fat. Saturated fats from sources like meat, dairy, some oils and tropical plants such as coconut actually provide a concentrated source of healthy energy in your diet. They also:
Provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone like substances
Slow down absorption so that you can go longer without feeling hungry
Act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
Are necessary for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other biological processes
Part of the scientific confusion relates to the fact that your body is capable of synthesizing saturated fats that it needs from carbohydrates, and these saturated fats are principally the same ones present in dietary fats of animal origin. However, and this is the key, not all saturated fatty acids are the same. In fact, there are more than a dozen different saturated fats with subtle differences that have profound health implications, and if you avoid eating all saturated fats you will suffer serious health consequences.
There is still a link between fat and heart disease. But it’s most likely dangerous TRANS FAT, and not saturated fats that is the problem and the missing link between fat and heart disease.
TEL-AVIV - Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed a novel drug that delivers anti-cancer compounds straight to the tumor.
Lead researcher Dr.RonitSatchi-Fainaro believes that the new invention may alleviate particularly malicious forms of cancers like osteosarcomas and bone metastases and combat resistance to anti-cancer drugs like Taxol, keeping other normal healthy cells around the tumor safe.
Most of us have small tumors in our body at all times. They start the size of a pinhead and usually remain at that size as dormant and asymptomatic tumors. Then, at some point, cancer cells proliferate and the tumor grows in mass.
At that point the tumor cells migrate to the bones and start recruiting blood vessels using a chemical attractant in order to draw blood for their continued growth in a process called angiogenesis.
The researchers looked into the chemical that causes the blood, or endothelial cells, to gravitate to the activated, newly malignant cancer cells.
According to Satchi-Fainaro, the innovative drug delivery system delivers compounds like Taxol known to stop blood vessel growth to cancerous tumors.
She bound existing cancer drugs to an inert polymer that doesn’t react with the immune system.
“Like a stealth airplane,” she says, the polymer passes through the body’s defense system unnoticed.
Then, programmed to find the tumour using the bisphosphonate drug Alendronate, a drug that binds to bones, the carrier delivers its cancer-killing payload.
The study conducted over animal models, found that the researchers were able to reverse the growth of bone cancer tumors.
In a second study, she found that loading her polymer with the anti-cancer drug Taxol could inhibit tumor growth by 50pct, compared to a Taxol dose that had no effect on tumor growth at all.
The study is published is published in prestigious journals AngewandteChemie and PLoS One.
JohannaBudwig (30 September 1908–19 May 2003) was a Germanchemist, pharmacologist and author. She developed and promoted (from 1952) the Budwig protocol/Budwig diet, which is based on the regular consumption of foods rich in linolenic and linoleic acids, such as Flaxseed oil, low fat cottage cheese and vegetable juices. Budwig claimed this diet would cure or prevent many forms of cancers.
Basic Introduction to Dr.Budwig’s Diet, Fats, Essential Fatty Acids and Related Subjects
The basis of Dr. Budwig’s diet or protocol is the ingestion of a special oil-protein mixture in the form of organic cold-pressed flaxseed oil plus cottage cheese or “quark” (a dairy product readily available in German-speaking countries made from various types of milk and roughly similar to cottage cheese), to balance an oversupply of omega 6 fatty acids and hydrogenated fats in the Western diet and to provide an immediately available abundant supply of essential omega 3 acids. Of all plant oils, flax oil is the richest source of these omega 3 acids (naturally occurring variations not considered, 100 g of oil contain 72g of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 54g of which are omega 3 acids).
This oil is combined with protein (or more precisely, sulphurated amino acids** such as liberally found in quark/cottage cheese) to allow the highly unsaturated fatty acids to become water-soluble, thus bypassing the need for an (often) diseased or impaired liver to break down the unsatured fat by its own efforts. Quote: “The lipotropic protein connections, e.g. Cystein, as they are found in … cottage cheese or nuts are able to make water-soluble the …highly unsaturated fatty acids in seed oils. And that is what matters.
When you mix together … cottage cheese and linseed oil in your blender the fat becomes water-soluble” and thereby immediately available for use by the body. In this manner, the necessary “spark plugs” are provided for cells to “breathe”, optimally detoxify and function, even more so when additionally combining the flax oil cottage cheese mix with an optimised sugar-free diet devoid of respiratory poisons [substances which inhibit cellular respiration] but containing much raw organic food.
Dr. Budwig’s diet (which, when properly applied, is an entire protocol and involves not only ingestion of the above oil-protein mixture, but also a healthy minimally processed vegetarian diet, freshly ground flaxseeds, sunlight, stress management, “Eldi” oils, etc.*, has literally pulled people back from death’s doorstep. Based on this evidence and its ease of implementation, it may be the quickest and easiest move to take for many stricken with a cancer challenge and/or those who are looking for an often fast-working approach to health recovery. In fact, eminent alternative & conventional cancer treatment researcher LotharHirneise considers Dr.JohannaBudwig’s protocol the indispensable nutritional basis of any healing plan for cancer patients.
Dr.OttoWarburg, twice Nobel Laureate, awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1931 for his research on cellular respiration, explains: “The growth of cancer cells is initiated by a relative lack of oxygen. Cancer cannot live in an oxygen-rich environment…Cancer has only one prime cause. It is the replacement of normal oxygen respiration of the body’s cells by an anaerobic (i.e., oxygen deficient) cell respiration.” Going into greater detail in The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer, he writes: “…the cause of cancer is no longer a mystery, we know it occurs whenever any cell is denied 60% of its oxygen requirements. Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes.
But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar. All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation. All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes.”
Budwig Books Translated to English:
* The Oil-Protein Diet Cookbook, Apple Publishing Co. Ltd., Vancouver (Canada) (1994) ISBN-10: 0969527225 ISBN-13: 978-0969527220
* Flax Oil As A True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer And Other Diseases, Apple Publishing Co. Ltd., Vancouver (Canada) (1994) ISBN-10: 0969527217 ISBN-13: 978-0969527213
* Cancer: The Problem and the Solution Nexus Hirneise - Handels GmbH; (2008) ISBN-10: 3981050215 ISBN-13: 978-3981050219
* The Budwig Cancer & Coronary Heart Disease Prevention Diet: The Revolutionary Diet from Dr.JohannaBudwig, the Woman Who Discovered Omega-3s Freedom Press (2010) ISBN-10: 1893910423 ISBN-13: 978-1893910423
Comprehensive Eating Disorders Dictionary for Parents Launched by F.E.A.S.T.
F.E.A.S.T. has launched a free online dictionary for parents that explains the complex terms and concepts used in the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders, eating disturbances and a wide range of co-existing conditions.
An international eating disorders organization has launched the world’s first comprehensive dictionary on eating disorders for parents and caregivers.
The F.E.A.S.T. Eating Disorders Glossaryprovides definitions and explanations for more than 400 terms and concepts used in the eating disorders field. F.E.A.S.T. (Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders Treatment) is an international non-profit organization supporting parents and caregivers of children suffering from eating disorders.
The new free online reference — http://glossary.feast-ed.org — contains entries for 35 different eating disorders and disturbances, along with 25 disorders or conditions that often are associated or co-exist with a clinical eating disorder. In addition, detailed explanations are provided for hundreds of terms used in the modern science of eating disorders, including diagnosis, psychological and therapeutic approaches, medical management of symptoms and complications, biology, pharmacology and clinical research.
The aim of the glossary is to give parents facing an eating disorders crisis an authoritative, easy-to-use reference that will help them quickly “get up to speed” on the technical terms and concepts they will encounter as they consider various treatment options for their child or adolescent, said Laura Collins, executive director of F.E.A.S.T.
“The eating disorders field is filled with arcane vocabulary and very complex concepts,” Ms.Collins said. “Parents need to understand these terms and concepts so they can understand what their doctors are telling them. This will enable them to ask the right questions and will ultimately empower them to play a productive role as a key member of the treatment team they put together to manage their child’s recovery.”
Though edited for a lay public, the F.E.A.S.T. eating disorders dictionary may also prove useful to non-specialist professionals and general practitioners, Ms. Collins said, noting that many nutritionists, psychologists and generalist doctors have not received formal training in the modern science of eating disorders.
Among the eating disorders explained in the glossary are: Anorexia Nervosa, Binge eating disorder, Bulimia nervosa , Compensatory Behaviors, Compulsive or compensatory exercise, Compulsive Overeating , Diabulimia, Eating Disorder not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS), Extreme exercising, Feeding Disorder of Infancy or Early Childhood , Female Athlete Triad , Food avoidance emotional disorder, Food refusal , Functional dysphagia, Hyperphagia, Marasmus , Muscle dysmorphia (also called Reverse anorexia or Bigorexia), Night Eating Syndrome (NES), Obesity, Orthorexia, PANDAS , Pathorexia, Pervasive refusal syndrome, Pica, Picky eating, Prader Willi syndrome (PWS), Purging disorder, Restrictive eating, Rumination disorder, and Selective eating.
The cause of heart disease is not animal fats and cholesterol but rather a number of factors inherent in modern diets, including excess consumption of vegetables oils and hydrogenated fats; excess consumption of refined carbohydrates in the form of sugar and white flour; mineral deficiencies, particularly low levels of protective magnesium and iodine; deficiencies of vitamins, particularly of vitamin C, needed for the integrity of the blood vessel walls, and of antioxidants like selenium and vitamin E, which protect us from free radicals; and, finally, the disappearance of antimicrobial fats from the food supply, namely, animal fats and tropical oils. These once protected us against the kinds of viruses and bacteria that have been associated with the onset of pathogenic plaque leading to heart disease.
While serum cholesterol levels provide an inaccurate indication of future heart disease, a high level of a substance called homocysteine in the blood has been positively correlated with pathological buildup of plaque in the arteries and the tendency to form clots—a deadly combination. Folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and choline are nutrients that lower serum homocysteine levels. These nutrients are found mostly in animal foods.
The best way to treat heart disease, then, is not to focus on lowering cholesterol—either by drugs or diet—but to consume a diet that provides animal foods rich in vitamins B6 and B12; to bolster thyroid function by daily use of natural sea salt, a good source of usable iodine; to avoid vitamin and mineral deficiencies that make the artery walls more prone to ruptures and the buildup of plaque; to include the antimicrobial fats in the diet; and to eliminate processed foods containing refined carbohydrates, oxidized cholesterol and free-radical-containing vegetable oils that cause the body to need constant repair.
Here we examine the composition of vegetable oils and other animal fats in order to determine their usefulness and appropriateness in food preparation:
Duck and Goose Fat are semisolid at room temperature, containing about 35% saturated fat, 52% monounsaturated fat (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and about 13% polyunsaturated fat. The proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids depends on what the birds have eaten. Duck and goose fat are quite stable and are highly prized in Europe for frying potatoes.
Chicken Fat is about 31% saturated, 49% monounsaturated (including moderate amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and 20% polyunsaturated, most of which is omega-6 linoleic acid, although the amount of omega-3 can be raised by feeding chickens flax or fish meal, or allowing them to range free and eat insects. Although widely used for frying in kosher kitchens, it is inferior to duck and goose fat, which were traditionally preferred to chicken fat in Jewish cooking.
Lard or pork fat is about 40% saturated, 48% monounsaturated (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and 12% polyunsaturated. Like the fat of birds, the amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids will vary in lard according to what has been fed to the pigs. In the tropics, lard may also be a source of lauric acid if the pigs have eaten coconuts. Like duck and goose fat, lard is stable and a preferred fat for frying. It was widely used in America at the turn of the century.
It is a good source of vitamin D, especially in third-world countries where other animal foods are likely to be expensive. Some researchers believe that pork products should be avoided because they may contribute to cancer. Others suggest that only pork meat presents a problem and that pig fat in the form of lard is safe and healthy.
Beef and Mutton Tallows are 50-55% saturated, about 40% monounsaturated and contain small amounts of the polyunsaturates, usually less than 3%. Suet, which is the fat from the cavity of the animal, is 70-80% saturated. Suet and tallow are very stable fats and can be used for frying. Traditional cultures valued these fats for their health benefits. They are a good source of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid.
Olive Oil contains 75% oleic acid, the stable monounsaturated fat, along with 13% saturated fat, 10% omega-6 linoleic acid and 2% omega-3 linolenic acid. The high percentage of oleic acid makes olive oil ideal for salads and for cooking at moderate temperatures. Extra virgin olive oil is also rich in antioxidants. It should be cloudy, indicating that it has not been filtered, and have a golden yellow color, indicating that it is made from fully ripened olives.
Olive oil has withstood the test of time; it is the safest vegetable oil you can use, but don’t overdo. The longer chain fatty acids found in olive oil are more likely to contribute to the buildup of body fat than the short- and medium-chain fatty acids found in butter, coconut oil or palm kernel oil.
Peanut Oil contains 48% oleic acid, 18% saturated fat and 34% omega-6 linoleic acid. Like olive oil, peanut oil is relatively stable and, therefore, appropriate for stir-frys on occasion. But the high percentage of omega-6 presents a potential danger, so use of peanut oil should be strictly limited.
Sesame Oil contains 42% oleic acid, 15% saturated fat, and 43% omega-6 linoleic acid. Sesame oil is similar in composition to peanut oil. It can be used for frying because it contains unique antioxidants that are not destroyed by heat. However, the high percentage of omega-6 militates against exclusive use.
Safflower, Corn, Sunflower, Soybean and Cottonseed Oils all contain over 50% omega-6 and, except for soybean oil, only minimal amounts of omega-3. Safflower oil contains almost 80% omega-6. Researchers are just beginning to discover the dangers of excess omega-6 oils in the diet, whether rancid or not.
Use of these oils should be strictly limited. They should never be consumed after they have been heated, as in cooking, frying or baking. High oleic safflower and sunflower oils, produced from hybrid plants, have a composition similar to olive oil, namely, high amounts of oleic acid and only small amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids and, thus, are more stable than traditional varieties. However, it is difficult to find truly cold-pressed versions of these oils.
Canola Oil contains 5% saturated fat, 57% oleic acid, 23% omega-6 and 10%-15% omega-3. The newest oil on the market, canola oil was developed from the rape seed, a member of the mustard family. Rape seed is unsuited to human consumption because it contains a very-long-chain fatty acid called erucic acid, which under some circumstances is associated with fibrotic heart lesions.
Canola oil was bred to contain little if any erucic acid and has drawn the attention of nutritionists because of its high oleic acid content. But there are some indications that canola oil presents dangers of its own. It has a high sulphur content and goes rancid easily. Baked goods made with canola oil develop mold very quickly. During the deodorizing process, the omega-3 fatty acids of processed canola oil are transformed into trans fatty acids, similar to those in margarine and possibly more dangerous.
A recent study indicates that “heart healthy” canola oil actually creates a deficiency of vitamin E, a vitamin required for a healthy cardiovascular system. Other studies indicate that even low-erucic-acid canola oil causes heart lesions, particularly when the diet is low in saturated fat.
Flax Seed Oil contains 9% saturated fatty acids, 18% oleic acid, 16% omega-6 and 57% omega-3. With its extremely high omega-3 content, flax seed oil provides a remedy for the omega-6/omega-3 imbalance so prevalent in America today. Not surprisingly, Scandinavian folk lore values flax seed oil as a health food. New extraction and bottling methods have minimized rancidity problems. It should always be kept refrigerated, never heated, and consumed in small amounts in salad dressings and spreads.
Tropical Oils are more saturated than other vegetable oils. Palm oil is about 50% saturated, with 41% oleic acid and about 9% linoleic acid. Coconut oil is 92% saturated with over two-thirds of the saturated fat in the form of medium-chain fatty acids (often called medium-chain triglycerides).
Of particular interest is lauric acid, found in large quantities in both coconut oil and in mother’s milk. This fatty acid has strong antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Coconut oil protects tropical populations from bacteria and fungus so prevalent in their food supply; as third-world nations in tropical areas have switched to polyunsaturated vegetable oils, the incidence of intestinal disorders and immune deficiency diseases has increased dramatically.
Because coconut oil contains lauric acid, it is often used in baby formulas. Palm kernel oil, used primarily in candy coatings, also contains high levels of lauric acid. These oils are extremely stable and can be kept at room temperature for many months without becoming rancid. Highly saturated tropical oils do not contribute to heart disease but have nourished healthy populations for millennia. It is a shame we do not use these oils for cooking and baking—the bad rap they have received is the result of intense lobbying by the domestic vegetable oil industry.
Red palm oil has a strong taste that most will find disagreeable—although it is used extensively throughout Africa—but clarified palm oil, which is tasteless and white in color, was formerly used as shortening and in the production of commercial French fries, while coconut oil was used in cookies, crackers and pastries. The saturated fat scare has forced manufacturers to abandon these safe and healthy oils in favor of hydrogenated soybean, corn, canola and cottonseed oils.
In summary, our choice of fats and oils is one of extreme importance. Most people, especially infants and growing children, benefit from more fat in the diet rather than less. But the fats we eat must be chosen with care.
Avoid all processed foods containing newfangled hydrogenated fats and polyunsaturated oils.
Instead, use traditional vegetable oils like extra virgin olive oil and small amounts of unrefined flax seed oil. Acquaint yourself with the merits of coconut oil for baking and with animal fats for occasional frying.
Eat egg yolks and other animal fats with the proteins to which they are attached. And, finally, use as much good quality butter as you like, with the happy assurance that it is a wholesome—indeed, an essential—food for you and your whole family.
Organic butter, extra virgin olive oil, and expeller-expressed flax oil in opaque containers are available in health food stores and gourmet markets.
And what about cholesterol? Here, too, the public has been misinformed. Our blood vessels can become damaged in a number of ways—through irritations caused by free radicals or viruses, or because they are structurally weak—and when this happens, the body’s natural healing substance steps in to repair the damage. That substance is cholesterol. Cholesterol is a high-molecular-weight alcohol that is manufactured in the liver and in most human cells. Like saturated fats, the cholesterol we make and consume plays many vital roles:
Along with saturated fats, cholesterol in the cell membrane gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability. When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane, so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is “driven” into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet.
Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer; and to the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
Cholesterol is a precursor to vitamin D, a very important fat-soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and nervous system, proper growth, mineral metabolism, muscle tone, insulin production, reproduction and immune system function.
The bile salts are made from cholesterol. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet.
Recent research shows that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant. This is the likely explanation for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer.
Cholesterol is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain.48 Serotonin is the body’s natural “feel-good” chemical. Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicidal tendencies.
Mother’s milk is especially rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme that helps the baby utilize this nutrient. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system.
Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall. This is why low-cholesterol vegetarian diets can lead to leaky gut syndrome and other intestinal disorders.
Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease but rather a potent antioxidant weapon against free radicals in the blood, and a repair substance that helps heal arterial damage (although the arterial plaques themselves contain very little cholesterol.) However, like fats, cholesterol may be damaged by exposure to heat and oxygen. This damaged or oxidized cholesterol seems to promote both injury to the arterial cells as well as a pathological buildup of plaque in the arteries. Damaged cholesterol is found in powdered eggs, in powdered milk (added to reduced-fat milks to give them body) and in meats and fats that have been heated to high temperatures in frying and other high-temperature processes.
High serum cholesterol levels often indicate that the body needs cholesterol to protect itself from high levels of altered, free-radical-containing fats. Just as a large police force is needed in a locality where crime occurs frequently, so cholesterol is needed in a poorly nourished body to protect the individual from a tendency to heart disease and cancer. Blaming coronary heart disease on cholesterol is like blaming the police for murder and theft in a high crime area.
Poor thyroid function (hypothyroidism) will often result in high cholesterol levels. When thyroid function is poor, usually due to a diet high in sugar and low in usable iodine, fat-soluble vitamins and other nutrients, the body floods the blood with cholesterol as an adaptive and protective mechanism, providing a superabundance of materials needed to heal tissues and produce protective steroids. Hypothyroid individuals are particularly susceptible to infections, heart disease and cancer.
