Family Care Wellness & Rehab

Alan Tang wants you to join SugarSync

2011-09-26T17:52:00.001-05:00

SugarSync is a cool new service that gives you 5 GB of free storage to backup, sync, and share your data (music, photos, videos, documents) from all of your computers. SugarSync also lets you access all of your data right from your mobile phone!

Join SugarSync today and you'll earn 500 MB of bonus storage and give Alan Tang an extra 500 MB too!

Join SugarSync

Thanks,
Team SugarSync

Get our app: iPhone Android Other

To stop receiving invites from SugarSync, click here.

Eczema clearing up naturally?

2011-05-10T14:04:00.002-05:00

Please watch the videos and then make your complimentary 15-minute consultation today to see if we can accept your case by calling 630-789-8080 and let our staff know how you heard about us!

See what Raymond's father has to say about baby's eczema.

How long has Steve had eczema?

Dr. Alan Tang, DC, FIAMA, MUA, NAET, CCPTS

805 Plainfield Rd, Suite 112

Darien, IL 60561

630-789-8080

www.FamilyCareWellness.com

Say goodbye to your food-induced headaches

2011-05-05T13:42:00.002-05:00

Please watch the video and then make your complimentary 15-minute consultation today to see if we can accept your case by calling 630-789-8080 and let our staff know how you heard about us!

Dr. Alan Tang, DC, FIAMA, MUA, NAET, CCPTS

805 Plainfield Rd, Suite 112

Darien, IL 60561

630-789-8080

www.FamilyCareWellness.com

Asthma helped lessen medications!

2011-05-04T12:38:00.003-05:00

Please watch the video and then make your complimentary 15-minute consultation today to see if we can accept your case by calling 630-789-8080 and let our staff know how you heard about us!

Listen to Shawn's Story:

Dr. Alan Tang, DC, FIAMA, MUA, NAET, CCPTS

805 Plainfield Rd, Suite 112

Darien, IL 60561

630-789-8080

www.FamilyCareWellness.com

Lactose Intolerance and Milk Allergies

2011-05-04T12:18:00.002-05:00

Dr. Tang shares his story:

Please watch the video and then make your complimentary 15-minute consultation today to see if we can accept your case by calling 630-789-8080 and let our staff know you heard about us on Facebook!

Dr. Alan Tang, DC, FIAMA, MUA, NAET, CCPTS

805 Plainfield Rd, Suite 112

Darien, IL 60561

630-789-8080

www.FamilyCareWellness.com

Nicholas' ADHD is improving in just a month?

2011-05-04T09:25:00.006-05:00

Nicholas wanted Dr. Tang to be in the video and he kept his promise.

Please watch the video and then make your complimentary 15-minute consultation today to see if we can accept your case by calling 630-789-8080 and let our staff know you heard about us on Facebook!

To learn more about the NAET treatment,

you may visit www.naet.com and purchase the book "Say Goodbye to Illness" by Dr. Devi Nambudripad and watch the video below.

Dr. Alan Tang, DC, FIAMA, MUA, NAET, CCPTS

805 Plainfield Rd

Darien, IL 60561

630-789-8080

www.FamilyCareWellness.com

Fender-benders: worry about your neck, not your bumper

2011-03-15T11:54:00.001-05:00

March 14, 2011
Fender-benders: worry about your neck, not your bumper

Your head sits atop of your neck like an upright pendulum. Without notice, a car slams into your rear bumper. Your head extends forward, then immediately backward as your neck compensates for the sudden movement. In this split second, the ligaments, tendons, and nerves in your neck can all be torn instantaneously. Occurrences like this happen thousands of times each day. Even after all the paperwork has been accounted for and the car has been fixed, whiplash still remains.

Car accidents are one of the many causes of whiplash; other cases may be a result of sports injuries, or a serious fall. However, with an abundance of motorists on the road each year, the risk of being in a whiplash-related accident is a high probability. The slightest impact in a car can result in neck and cervical distress. "An 8mph car collision produces two times the force of gravity (or a G-2) deceleration of the car, and a 5-G deceleration of the head. This unnatural and forceful movement affects the muscles and ligaments in the neck, stretching, and potentially tearing them." Anyone that experiences pain after an accident should not ignore the symptoms.

Audrey's Experience with NAET

2011-02-11T03:20:00.000-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hQkx7c8ctk

Dr. Alan Tang
--
Information may be HIPAA protected
Sent from my iPhone

Yoplait Reformulates - But is it better?

2010-12-20T10:00:00.000-06:00

Fooducate

Yoplait Reformulates. Giving Away 1 Million Cups

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 04:13 AM PST

Big marketing move for General Mill’s Yoplait brand this week. The yogurt giant has reformulated its “Original” line of products by fortifying them with calcium and vitamin D. Calcium has moved up from 20% of the daily value to 50%, as has vitamin D.

Yoplait is also giving away 1 million cups of yogurt through a facebook campaign. Nice. Lots of PR. We’re writing about it too.

Is the calcium addition really important or is this just window dressing?

What you need to know:

Here is the product ingredient list:

Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Low Fat Milk, Sugar, Pears, Modified Corn Starch, Nonfat Milk, Tricalcium Phosphate*, Kosher gelatin, Citric Acid, Pectin, Natural Flavor, Colored with Turmeric Extract, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3*
*Ingredients Not in Regular Yogurt

As you can see, the increase in Calcium and vitamin D is by adding these nutrients indiviually.

Calcium is important for bone health. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium better. Increasing the calcium and vitamin D levels in yogurt (that were already fortified with calcium and vitamin D) seems like a good idea.

But let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture. If manufacturers continue to fortify products, we will eventually reach a point where any edible item contains 100% of all our daily vitamin and mineral needs. We won’t need real food anymore…

You should ask yourself two questions:

- Without the fortifications, is this product still a healthy choice for me? Does it bring any nutrition built in?

- What foods can provide the nutrients my body needs, without resorting to fortification?

So how does Yoplait stand test?

Healthy choice? In general, yogurts are healthy choices. And yogurts can provide nutrients our bodies need, even without fortification. Just not 50% of the daily value in one sitting. If you’re saying to yourself that you are not getting enough calcium, and Yoplait will now solve your problems, challenge yourself to get the additional calcium from other foods that are naturally high in calcium. You’ll not only get the calcium, but also many other nutrients naturally found in that food.

But the biggest problem with flavored yogurt is the exorbitant amount of added sugar in the product. For example, the pear yogurt here has 26 grams of sugar. 6 grams are from the lactose in the milk used to make the yogurt. At best, another 8 grams are from the pears. Which leaves us with 12 grams, or 3 teaspoons of added sugar. That’s a lot of sugar to add to 6 ounce cup of yogurt. And 48 additional calories. You wouldn’t add 3 teaspoons of sugar to a plain yogurt, would you?

What to do at the supermarket:

Yogurt should be incorporated into your daily diet. But opt for the non-flavored kinds. Add your own flavoring and control the added sugar by simply tossing in berries, dried fruit pieces, or a teaspoon of honey.

Upcoming winter tricks for an easier winter.....

2010-12-02T20:34:00.001-06:00

SEND THESE TIPS TO YOUR COLD WEATHER FRIENDS

Helpful Hints For Winter

Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights - lasts 6 weeks.

Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity.

Ice-proof your windows with vinegar! Frost on it's way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water---preventing water from freezing!

Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber

Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.

De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems solved!

Insomnia, anxiety meds shorten lives

2010-10-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

Insomnia, anxiety meds shorten lives

If you're doping yourself to sleep each night the Big Pharma way, you could be medicating yourself right into an early grave. Same goes for those of you who rely on anti-anxiety drugs to take the edge off life.

Because according to a new study, people who take sleep and/or anxiety drugs -- even occasionally -- have a higher death risk.

I don't know about you, but the very idea would make me MORE anxious, not to mention unable to sleep. But if it's any consolation, the study was based on a survey so it's not exactly rock-solid science.

But there's a warning in here just the same, so let's take a look at the details.

Canadian researchers kept tabs on 14,000 volunteers who answered questions about their meds, lifestyle, and health every two years. During the 12-year study period, 15.7 percent of the patients who took a sleep or anxiety med at least once a month ended up dead... versus just 10.5 percent of those who didn't take the drugs.

While the study in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry didn't pinpoint exactly why these meds led to the higher death risk, the researchers are pretty sure it's the meds and not the conditions that led to drugs in the first place.

As sure as you can be using a survey, anyway.

That's because even after adjusting for factors such as lifestyle, health, physical activity, and symptoms of depression, they still found a 36 percent increase in the risk of death among drug users.

Now, don't think tossing and turning is any better for you -- because another study found that men with insomnia who don't get enough sleep have quadruple the risk of an early death.

That study, published in the journal Sleep, also found that insomnia combined with diabetes or high blood pressure increased that death risk by seven times.

But don't worry, if you're suffering from sleepless nights, there's plenty you can do -- safely and naturally -- to help you get some much-needed shut-eye.
---
Therapies that actually get to the heart of the problem (for those who understand traditional Chinese medicine principles, that was a pun). The heart meridian is called the "emperor" and it rules the meridians with the pericardium "prime minister". When they become out of balance by some type of excessive stress, whether it be emotional (excessive pressure from a boss or spouse), physical (overexertion from manual labor or exercise, or subluxation from poor ergonomics) or chemical (poor nutrition or food poisoning). This is where your Shen is seated. Shen is "spirit" or "essence", nothing we can see, but when it is unseated it may cause common conditions such as depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness, amongst other issues.

The ROOT solution is to harness your Shen with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, and to correct for any other stresses such as with proper diet or supplements to build back up the nutritional imbalance. The human body is complex and there is no "magic bullet", but it must be systematically addressed and if one of the three stressors is not addressed then one sets themselves up for failure.

Dr. Tang

Woman with Seizures Helped with Chiropractic - Case Study

2010-10-02T23:34:00.001-05:00

A case study documenting the improvement of a 25 year old woman suffering from seizures who was helped by chiropractic was published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. In this case the woman was diagnosed at age 14 with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), and had suffered with the problem for more than 10 years.
The woman's history showed that the seizures started at age 14 shortly after a neck injury and just after her first menstrual cycle. She had been diagnosed with JME by the Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders in 1998, 11 years before starting chiropractic care. She reported that at age 14 she fell out of bed and hit her head on a desk 2 to 3 months before the seizures began. At the time of her initial chiropractic visit she was taking 200 mg of lamotrigine per day to control the seizure activity. Over the previous 11 years, she reported that she experienced 1 to 2 seizures per month. She also noted that her menstrual cycles were severely abnormal lasting approximately 10 days, with 10 to 15 days between cycles.
Chiropractic examination was specifically focused on the upper cervical spine and care was initiated to correct a first cervical vertebrae (atlas) subluxation using specific chiropractic adjusting procedures geared toward the correction of atlas subluxations. The study reported that the woman received this chiropractic care over a 12 week period.
The results showed that the woman did report one seizure a few days after the beginning of chiropractic care. After that point she reported having 6 episodes of minor twitching that did not progress into seizure. According to the study the woman did not experience any additional seizures from this point forward. In addition to the seizure benefits she also reported that her last 2 menstrual cycles lasted less than 7 days and were 28 days apart.
In their conclusion the authors wrote, "This case study demonstrated improvement in a young woman with a seizure disorder after she received upper cervical chiropractic manipulation. This case suggests the need for more rigorous research to examine how upper cervical chiropractic techniques may provide therapeutic benefit to patients with seizure disorders."
Top
Back Pain Sufferers Benefit from Chiropractic Care
A study published in the June 2010 issue of The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, showed that people who used what the study called "Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)" received a "great deal" of benefit. Chiropractic was included in what this medical study defined as CAM care.
The study received attention in a number of news stories including an article in the July 4, 2010 Medical News Today, and in a June 30, 2010 Business Wire release by the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. The study surveyed people who had suffered from back pain and had used at least one CAM therapy in the last 12 months. Of these participants the results showed that over 60% found remarkable relief using the top six CAM treatments. Those treatments were chiropractic care, massage, yoga/tai chi/qi Cong, acupuncture, herbal therapies, and relaxation techniques - with chiropractic care being the most popular choice.
The Medical News Today story reported that back pain is the second leading reason people walk into a doctor's office in the U.S. The survey looked at a total of 17 CAM therapies choices. Of those, Chiropractic care was the most popular approach at 74 percent, with massage a distant second at 22 percent.
Dr. Gerard Clum, Foundation for Chiropractic Progress spokesperson and president of Life Chiropractic College West noted, "What we are seeing with these studies is compelling evidence that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for back pain sufferers – more and more, that light is chiropractic care and other CAM approaches."
One of the interesting findings of the study was that an overwhelming number of the people in the survey did not go to a CAM practitioner because of a referral from a medical doctor. In fact only 24 percent of respondents with back pain who received CAM stated that care came at the suggestion of their conventional medical practitioner.
In their study conclusion, the authors of the study stated, "CAM is used by 40% to 60% of the population yearly, and back pain is the most common medical condition for which people use CAM. Using a nationally representative survey, our analyses documented that the majority of respondents who used CAM for back pain perceived great benefit and identified specific factors associated with perceived benefit."
In the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress release on the study Dr. Clum summed up the study by stating, "Back pain sufferers should be made aware of all treatment options, especially alternatives that have been scientifically proven to provide relief. While chiropractic care has in the past been considered alternative there is now a case to be made for making it the first choice for patients and in the process making interventions like injections and surgery the alternative approach."
Top
40 Million Swine Flu Vaccines Written Off As Trash
The above is the headline from a July 1, 2010 story in Medical News Today documenting the large overproduction and waste of swine flu vaccines. Even amidst an ongoing push from the pharmaceutical companies and medical groups trying even now to persuade people to get a vaccine against a problem that never really materialized millions of doses of US taxpayer paid vaccine doses must be destroyed with millions more to follow.
According to the Medical News Today story, a full one quarter of the produced and paid for swine flu vaccines expired at the end of June 2010, and were to be incinerated. As more vaccines expire, that number will go higher and may mean that as much as half of all the swine flu vaccine produced will need to be destroyed. The cost for the vaccines that are being destroyed to date is estimated to be about $260 million.
The H1N1, swine flu turned out to be less serious than the normal seasonal flu and claimed less lives than the normal flu does. Criticism mounted as a review of the so called pandemic showed that the death toll was only one-third of what normally occurs during a normal flu season. Additionally, countries from all over the world are also destroying their stockpiles of vaccines as they also become worthless.
A July 2, 2010 story in the New American, reported on an investigation conducted by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that exposed improper conflicts of interest among World Health Organization (WHO) scientists. The inquiry found that at least three of the organization's "experts" were paid by vaccine manufacturers. The BMJ wrote, "Despite repeated requests, the WHO has failed to provide any details about whether such conflicts were declared by the relevant experts and what, if anything, was done about them."
In Europe the Council of Europe strongly criticized the World Health Organization's fear-mongering and vaccine promotion by saying, "The handling by the WHO of the H1N1 pandemic led to a waste of large sums of public money and unjustified scares and fears about health risks faced by the European public. They went on to note that, "(There was), overwhelming evidence that the seriousness of the pandemic was vastly overrated by WHO."
Dr. Ulrich Keil, a WHO advisor, conceded in an interview with the Associated Press, "Each time the so-called experts told us that millions of people would be killed worldwide by the respective viruses. We have learned that the experts were utterly wrong."

Yours in good health, happiness, and gratitude,

Dr. Alan Tang

Sent from my iPhone

Information may be HIPAA protected.

Traditional Oriental Medicine "Music"

2010-09-29T09:39:00.001-05:00

As there are 12 keys of music so too are there the 12 organ channels of Chinese medicine; 6 yin and 6 yang:

Yin	Yang
Kidney	Urinary Bladder
Liver	Gall Bladder
Heart - Pericardium	Small Intestine - Triple Heater
Spleen	Stomach
Lung	Large Intestine

Prescriptive music requires the correct key in order for the music medicine to work properly. By rebalancing the proper organ system through acupuncture or Chinese Medicinal herbs symptomatic relief can be achieved. So, for each individual there are 6 yin keys and 6 yang keys. Mapping of the organ system can proceed from the patient's tone (1 of the 12 tones yielding 12 basic energetic mappings). The prescriptive music also must contain other elements regulated by Chinese medicine. Simply playing a tune in the right key will attain neither optimum nor even mediocre results.

But what of the 8 extraordinary channels: Governing, Conception, Yang Heel, Yin Heel, Yang Linking, Yin Linking, Thrusting & Belt? These channels are reservoirs of energy that work especially well with cases of depletion and genetic pre-dispositions. They are powerful and can be used for other types of cases also; as long as the patient shows tolerance and effectiveness for the prescription.

Even more powerful than the 8 extraordinary channels are Yin Essence and Yang Essence. Another word for essence is jing and it is said that it is fixed in quantity (pre-natal Jing). Musically it is possible to replicate this vibration and direct it to the needy organ so perhaps original jing is thereby conserved.

It is the union of two primary essences that produce the Governing Vessel and the Conception vessel from which the other 18 channels derive.

The Governing Vessel (Sea of Yang Qi) forms the nine Yang rivers, including 3 other extraordinary channels:

1. Urinary Bladder

2. Gall Bladder

3. Small Intestine

4. Triple Heater

5. Stomach

6. Large Intestine

7. Yang Heel

8. Yang Linking

9. Belt

The Conception Vessel (Sea of Yin Qi) forms the nine Yin rivers including 3 other extraordinary channels:

1. Kidney

2. Liver

3. Heart

4. Pericardium

5. Spleen

6. Lung

7. Yin Heel

8. Yin Linking

9. Thrusting

Stay "Tuned",

Dr. Tang

Traditional Chinese Recipe for Coughs

2010-09-28T16:39:00.001-05:00

Metal element healing recipe
Traditional Chinese Recipe for Coughs

Fall is a time when coughs can appear. Here's a simple yet very effective recipe to help soothe those coughs:

Ingredients
4 cups of water
¼ cup of almonds (about a handful)
2 pears (any variety), cut into pieces
1 or 2 large pieces of tangerine peel (organic!)
2 to 3 tablespoons of honey

Directions
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the almonds, pears and tangerine peel. Allow the mixture to boil down to two cups. Stir in the honey. Drink while warm once or twice a day for about a week.

Water or Coke?

2010-09-15T18:29:00.002-05:00

Water or Coke?
I could not believe this..... Very interesting

(well, really, I've believed it for a long time.-Dr. Tang)

WATER
#1.   75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.   (Likely applies to half the world population)

#2.     In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak
that it is mistaken for hunger.

#3.    Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.

#4.   One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs     for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

#5.     Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

#6.    Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of       water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain
for up to 80% of sufferers.

#7.    A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term       memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on
the computer screen or on a printed page.

#8..   Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of     colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast
cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop
bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water
you should drink every day?

COKE

#1.    In many states the highway patrol carries       two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from
the highway after a car accident.

#2.     You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke
and it will be gone in two days.

#3.    To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the     toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour,
then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes
stains from vitreous china.

#4.    To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers:       Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds
Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
#5.    To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour      a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble
away the corrosion.
#6.   To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola
to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

#7.    To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into   the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake.
Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix
with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

#8...   To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke   into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen
grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your
windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

#1     the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.
It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric
acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major
contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.

#2.   To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the
commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place
cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

#3.    The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean
engines of the trucks for about 20 years!

   Now the question is, would you like a glass of water?
or Coke?

Quick! send this helpful info on to your friend health conscious or not!!!!

Fwd: Daily Health News: Just a Little Belly Fat Can Damage Blood Vessels

2010-09-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

Just a Little Belly Fat Can Damage Blood Vessels
Raises risk for high blood pressure, other heart problems, study finds

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- People who put on even a little weight around their middle hinder the function of cells that line their blood vessels, increasing the risk for high blood pressure and other problems, a new study finds.

These cells, called endothelial cells, are vital for proper functioning of blood vessels. They control the ability of the vessel to contract and dilate, which in turn controls blood flow. Damage to the endothelium can lead to the vessel not functioning properly and eventually high blood pressure and blood vessel disease, the researchers noted.

And "when people put on a modest amount of weight, if the fat is in the belly, those people tended to have a greater impairment of endothelial function," said lead researcher Dr. Virend K. Somers, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. "Endothelial function is a marker of health of the blood vessel."

"There is something about fat deposited in the belly that makes it potentially hazardous to health, because impaired endothelial function has been linked to increased risk of high blood pressure and blood vessel disease," Somers said.

The report is published in the Aug. 17 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

For the study, Somers' team randomly assigned 43 normal-weight adults to either gain about nine pounds or keep their current weight.

The researchers measured endothelial function in the brachial artery, which is located in the arm. Specifically, they looked for the ability of the artery to dilate.

Measurements were taken before the study started, after eight weeks of weight gain and again after 16 weeks of weight loss.

People who gained weight showed a decrease in the ability of the artery to dilate, the researchers found.

However, when they shed the weight again, the ability of the brachial artery to dilate properly snapped back to normal.

People tend to ignore minor weight gain, such as the few pounds they can put on over the holidays, Somers said. "It's only 10 pounds, and that's not much, but even this modest amount of weight gain has potentially harmful effects for blood vessels," he said.

Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center at the University of California, said that "increased body fat has been linked to both premature cardiovascular disease and endothelial dysfunction."

This study nicely demonstrates that weight gain and increases in abdominal fat are directly contributing to endothelial dysfunction, he said. "Further, this endothelial dysfunction is entirely reversible after the excess weight and abdominal fat is lost through diet. This is yet another reason to maintain a healthy weight and avoid excess belly fat," Fonarow said.

More information

For more information on risks for high blood pressure, visit the American Heart Association.
SOURCES: Virend K. Somers, M.D., Ph.D., professor, medicine, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Rochester, Minn.; Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., professor, medicine, and director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, University of California, Los Angeles; Aug. 17, 2010, Journal of the American College of Cardiology

I can't believe my order arrived so fast. Some companies will tell you 3 shipping days BUT that means AFTER they ship it??????? But, you actually got it here in 3 days. Unbelievable!!! Thanks for a job Well Done.

By Myra B See more customer testimonials

Copyright ™ 2010 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Natural Jif: What’s The Dif? -Lisa Cain, Ph.D.

2010-09-05T12:32:00.002-05:00

Natural Jif: What’s The Dif?

Posted: 04 Sep 2010 05:32 AM PDT

This is a guest post by Lisa Cain, PhD, a.k.a Snack-Girl

Recently, one of Snack Girl’s readers asked me to define the difference between Regular Jif and “Natural” Jif.So, I went to the store and purchased them to evaluate. Here are the ingredients in regular Jif:

Here is Natural Jif:

I looked and couldn’t understand what the difference was because the nutritional facts are exactly the same. Then, I phoned Jif (note the phone number for questions).
It seems that the major difference is that Natural Jif includes palm oil as an ingredient while Regular Jif has hydrogenated vegetable oils (rapeseed and soybean). Why does this make Natural Jif natural?
The Jif representative informed me that palm oil hasn’t gone through the processing of “hydrogenation”.
I’m a bit of a geek, so I actually have taken a year of organic chemistry in 1993 (I am also old). Hydrogenation is simply adding hydrogens to a compound. So the rapeseed and soybean oils have added hydrogens which helps them to be solid at room temperature. Why would you do this?
The Regular Jif that I purchased will last until June of 2012. Basically, it helps the peanut butter to be shelf stable.
Okay, I bet your eyes are glazing over right about now, but I am not done. Palm oil is a highly saturated vegetable fat. What “saturated” means is that every carbon is bound to as many hydrogens as possible. Basically, palm oil already has a bunch of hydrogens added to its carbons. So, it didn’t need to be artificially hydrogenated because it is NATURALLY hydrogenated.
The Natural Jif that I purchased will last until June of 2011 (one year less that Regular Jif).
Okay, so I am a big advocate of healthy peanut butter see: How To Choose Healthy Peanut Butter. My definition is that the ingredients list should have one ingredient: peanuts.
Does it matter which one you choose (especially if you are a choosy mother)?
With natural peanut butter you get per serving:
*1 gram more fiber
*2 grams more protein
*1 gram less sugar
compared to Jif (Natural or Regular). These differences can add up if you eat a lot of peanut butter.
My suggestion is to question the term “natural” on the front of the package. This term is not regulated by the FDA and two products that say “natural” can be two VERY different things.
Clearly, Smuckers (which owns Jif), is trying to compete with the REAL natural peanut butters of the world.
Lisa Cain, Ph.D. writes about healthy snacks on Snack-Girl.com. She is a published author, mother of two, and avid snacker.

Training: Nutri-Q: cNAQ Notification

2010-09-02T16:58:00.000-05:00

All,

When a patient completes the Nutri-Q, a notification will be sent to me. This notification will then be forwarded to the administrative staff, who will please log in to http://www.nutri-q.com with log-in name as info@familycarewellness.com and the same common password.

A sample of the email that you are to look for to perform the steps.

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Nutri-Q: cNAQ Notification
Date:	Wed, 1 Sep 2010 22:04:36 -0500
From:	Nutri-Q Notification Manager<notification-DO-NOT-REPLY@nutri-q.com>
Reply-To:	Nutri-Q Notification Manager<notification-DO-NOT-REPLY@nutri-q.com>
To:	info@familycarewellness.com

This message is being sent to Dr. Alan C. W. Tang:  This message is to notify you that one of your clients (Diana Balsevicius) has just completed a cNAQ.  PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL, it is being sent from an unmonitored mailbox.  Thank for using Nutri-Q.  Sincerely, The Nutri-Q Development Team

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please print out the patient's results by the following instructions:

Enter name of patient to query

Click view.

Click cNAQ Queue
Checkbox report and accept

Click the Questionnaire/History Reports tab and check the appropriate box. and click generate report

Generate the three reports of:
1. Symptom burden graph
2. Symptom Burden Report
3. Client Recommendations

AND print out for the doctor to review with the patient

Also import into Eclipse, either by using the import function in the EHR (recommended) or by scanning the report to the scanner. The former (import) requires knowledge of where the PDF is saved, but is not difficult. There is a standard report name generated by the computer.

The reports will look like this. Inform the doctor and schedule the patient for a review of the exam. Also color code appropriately the type of appointment for the patient's next appointment so the doctor knows what is to be done next. e.g. light blue background with red text. The doctor will review the results with the patient and prescribe the appropriate nutritional protocol.

Brown Rice Tied to Better Heart Health in Study

2010-08-30T17:32:00.001-05:00

Brown Rice Tied to Better Heart Health in Study
Conversion to white rice strips vital ingredient, researchers believe

(HealthDay News) -- Two kinds of rice -- brown and half-milled rice -- may reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure by interfering with a protein linked to those conditions, research suggests.

In a new study, researchers report that the findings could indicate that brown rice is better than white rice when it comes to protecting the body from high blood pressure and artherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

"Our research suggests that there is a potential ingredient in rice that may be a good starting point for looking into preventive medicine for cardiovascular diseases," said researcher Satoru Eguchi, an associate professor of physiology at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Eguchi and colleagues said their experiments show that an ingredient in brown rice appears to combat a protein known as angiotensin II that contributes to high blood pressure and clogged arteries.

The ingredient is in a layer of rice that is stripped away when brown rice is converted to white rice. But the layer can be preserved in half-milled (Haigamai) and incompletely milled (Kinmemai) rice, which are popular in Japan.

SOURCE: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, news release, April 26, 2010

Tests Show Top Tuna Brands Have High Mercury Levels

2010-08-28T18:37:00.001-05:00

Tests Show Top Tuna Brands Have High Mercury Levels
White typically has greater levels of the toxin than light, researchers say

(HealthDay News) -- Tests on more than 300 samples of canned tuna from the top three brands in the United States revealed that more than half contained mercury levels above what's considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Researchers from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), found that 55 percent of the samples had mercury levels higher than the EPA standard of 0.5 parts per million (ppm) and 5 percent had levels higher than the 1.0 ppm safety level set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for commercially sold fish.

The health effects of mercury poisoning include central nervous system damage, hearing loss and vision problems.

"Canned tuna accounts for up to a quarter of the nation's seafood consumption and creates some significant regulatory challenges," study author Shawn Gerstenberger, an environmental and occupational health professor, said in a UNLV news release. "With pregnant women and children the most susceptible to mercury poisoning -- yet also among the top consumers of canned tuna -- federal agencies need to urge distributors to expressly state mercury levels in their products."

The researchers found significant differences in mercury concentration by type (white and light) and brand. One brand had consistently elevated mercury levels, and white tuna from all three brands had the highest concentrations of mercury. White tuna comes from albacore, a different species of fish than "light" tuna.

"Mercury concentration in fish has a lot to do with the environment they're in, but since the locations of where the fish are harvested are not made available to consumers, it is very difficult to positively identify and reduce the source of the exposure," Gerstenberger said.

The researchers said federal regulators should require canned tuna producers to provide detailed information to consumers about the mercury content of each product and to disclose tuna harvest locations. In addition, the EPA and FDA need to have similar tuna consumption guidelines to lessen consumer confusion.

The study is published in the February issue of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry.

Many states have adopted EPA guidelines on tuna consumption, which suggest an average child consume only one can of tuna roughly every two weeks to ensure an acceptable level of mercury exposure.

More information

The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has more about the health effects of mercury.
-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: University of Nevada, Las Vegas, news release, Jan. 31, 2010

Fwd: FooducateDoes High Fructose Corn Syrup cause Diabetes/Cancer/Purple Pimples?

2010-08-25T20:55:00.001-05:00

Does High Fructose Corn Syrup cause Diabetes/Cancer/Purple Pimples?

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 05:20 AM PDT Fooducate

High Fructose Corn Syrup must be the most vilified food ingredient of the current millennium. A cheap alternative to sugar, HFCS has found its way into soft drinks, candy, bread, sauces, and thousands of other products over the past 30 years. At the same time, obesity rates in the US have skyrocketed. While some will draw a direct connecting line, most serious studies don't pin obesity on just this one ingredient.

And yet, every once in a while we read about HFCS causing a new disease.We've written about links to diabetes, mercury poisoning, and now – cancer!

The latest headlines pertain to pancreatic cancer cells thriving in the presence of fructose. Note: fructose, not HFCS. And yet the anti-HFCS camp instantly translates this to another reason to avoid HFCS. Never mind the fructose found in regular table sugar, or in fruit, or the "healthy" agave nectar.

Truth of the matter is that HFCS is just as bad for us as sugar. Is sugar bad?

The answer depends on how much you consume. If you take in added sugars like most Americans, then you are consuming too much. Way too much.

So the best advice is to cut your consumption of added sugars, regardless of their ingredient source.

What to do at the supermarket:

Read the nutrition facts panel to learn how much sugar is in the product you are about to buy. Every 4 grams of sugar equals one teaspoon.

For example – 12 grams in a kid's cereal equals 3 teaspoons of sugar. That's a lot of sweet before 9am!

For those looking for the most bang for their buck – The easiest way to reduce your added sugar intake is to skip the beverage aisle in the supermarket altogether.

A Tale of Two Pizzas

2010-08-24T23:39:00.000-05:00

Fooducate

Four Cheese Pizza – DiGiorno's vs. Newman's Own

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 05:34 AM PDT

Everyone loves pizza. It's the #1 looked up entry in yellow pages and very popular in google searches as well. While dining at a pizzeria or getting delivered to your home are the most popular consumption modes, people are going to want this goodness on call in their freezer as well. There's an entire section of a supermarket aisle to support this claim.

While we enjoy pizza outside the home about once a month, and every couple of months make our own, many families keep some frozen pizzas in the freezer for those evenings when you barely have the energy left to turn on the microwave/oven.

We decided to take a look at two brands of pizza and see where they were similar, and what set them apart from each other. Here's the nutrition comparison between Newman's Own and DiGiorno's Four Cheese thin crust pizzas.

What you need to know:

Calorically both pizza's are similar – a 2 slice serving is about 300 calories. Both are fatty, including 6-7 grams of saturated fat (1/3 of the daily value). DiGiorno's includes 1 gram of trans-fat, a nutrient that we should consume ZERO grams of daily. Both are high in sodium (over 600mg per serving, about a quarter of the daily max).

Nutritionally, pizza is not your best friend, as you can see from the above.But if you're going to enjoy pizza, at least have a pizza with real ingredients. This is where DiGiorno and Newman's Own's philosophy vastly differ. DiGiorno uses cheap oils, artificial flavors, and other food manufacturing tricks to put together its pizza. Newman's ingredient is actually understandable by a layperson. See below:

DiGiorno's ingredients:

Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese (Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes), Water, Wheat Flour, Tomato Paste, Contains Less than 2% of Modified Food Starch, Grated Cheese Blend (Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano Cheese Made from Cow's Milk [Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes], Cellulose Powder to Prevent Caking), Yellow Corn Meal, Vegetable Oil (Soybean Oil and/or Corn Oil), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, White Corn Meal, Salt, Sugar, Yeast, Spice, Garlic, Artificial Flavor, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Beta Carotene (Color).

Newman's ingredients:

Ingredients: MULTIGRAIN CRUST (WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, VEGETABLE OIL [CORN OIL, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL], FLAXSEED, YEAST, SUGAR, SALT, WHOLE OAT FLOUR), LOW MOISTURE PART-SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART-SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), SAUCE (TOMATOES [DICED TOMATOES, TOMATO JUICE], WATER, TOMATO PASTE, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, RED WINE VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, SPICES, GARLIC*, ONION*), CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), PARMESAN CHEESE (PART-SKIM PASTEURIZED COW'S MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, RENNET), ASIAGO CHEESE (PASTEURIZED PART-SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES). *DRIED. CONTAINS: MILK, WHEAT.

Obviously Newman's is the winner here. Too bad it's more expensive. But hey, you get what you pay for, both good and bad.

What to do at the supermarket:

When buying a frozen pizza look for products that use as many natural sounding ingredients as possible. Avoid products with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil – that's the source of trans-fat. Look out for sodium bombs reaching 1000 or more mg per serving.

Choose products low in saturated fat (less than 3 grams per slice if possible). Opt for pizzas without added cheese or meats, rather added veggies.

Egg Beaters or Real Eggs?

2010-08-24T23:37:00.001-05:00

Egg Beaters and Cholesterol Confusion

Posted: 19 Aug 2010 05:08 AM PDT

One of the problems with nutrition science is that it changes every once in a while when new research come in, but it takes the public a long time to readjust its mindset. The result is mass confusion regarding what's truly healthy. Eggs were historically considered a nutrient rich food that were an essential part of culinary traditions the world over. But when scientists discovered cholesterol – and the high cholesterol count in eggs – this basic staple was vilified and shunned.

Cholesterol is fatty waxy substance that occurs in all animal tissues, including humans. It is produced in the liver and travels around the body in our blood. Our body needs cholesterol to maintain cell membrane structure, but too much of it can cause heart disease. All of the cholesterol in an egg is in the yolk.

In the past decade or so, science has shown that for most people, blood cholesterol levels are barely influenced by dietary cholesterol (the cholesterol in food), but rather by saturated fats and trans fats in the food. Which means that eggs have been getting a bad rap unnecessarily.

Our body manufacture 3000mg of cholesterol a day. The maximum recommended allowance of cholesterol from food is just one tenth of that – 300 mg. What causes the body to create more cholesterol is the saturated fats we consume, not the cholesterol.

One of the more popular products that were created to combat the high level of cholesterol in eggs, Egg Beaters has been around for almost 40 years. But now that we know what we do, is it still relevant?

Let's diver deeper into the details, and compare an egg to an Egg Beater…

What you need to know:

Egg Beaters, if you're not familiar, are egg whites with a "bonus", in a milk carton, courtesy of Con Agra Foods.

We're going to compare 1 Extra Large Egg to a serving of egg beaters (EB). The serving is actually composed of 2 egg whites. Here are the numbers:

Calories: Egg = 71 EB = 30
Fat: Egg = 5 grams EB = 0
Saturated Fat: Egg = 2 g EB = 0 (2 g is 10% of the daily value)
Cholesterol: Egg = 211 mg EB = 0
Protein: Egg = 6 g EB = 6 g as well (egg whites have 3 g of protein, yolks have 3 as well)

The numbers seem definitely in favor of Egg Beaters. Now lets look at the ingredients.

An egg contains one ingredient:

egg

Egg beaters contain 20 ingredients:

Egg Whites, Less than 1%: Natural Flavor, Color (Includes Beta Carotene), Spices, Salt, Onion Powder, Vegetable Gums (Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum), Maltodextrin. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Sulfate, Iron (Ferric Phosphate), Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol Acetate), Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Mononitrate), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin D3

Egg Beaters took the yolk away to remove most of the fat and the cholesterol. But because egg yolks make the egg taste better, the company had to compensate. Hence "Natural Flavor" which is a trade secret (hint: MSG is suspect). Hence spices, unspecified. They also added the gums as thickeners to add body to the egg whites. Ever tried making scrambled eggs with just egg whites? No body or fluff. Why in the world do they add a sweetener (maltodextrin) used for candy?

There are a whole bunch of added vitamins and minerals that try to mimic what was lost with the removal of the egg yolk. For example a single egg yolk contains 13% of the DV for vitamin A. Egg beaters throws in 15%.

The problem with this nutrient specific approach is that science has yet to identify hundreds of other nutrients and their interaction amongst each other when naturally present in a food. Selecting a few nutrients and focusing on them instead of on a whole food is part of a larger problem in the US food food system today.

But what about the saturated fat in an egg? Yes, you'll be paying 10% of your daily value for saturated fat if you eat an egg. But compared to the other sources of saturated fat in many people's diets (snacks, snacks, and more snacks) this is an excellent choice.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you are suffering from very high levels of blood cholesterol, the best thing to do is consult with a health professional, ideally a physician AND a registered dietitian. But if you are like most people, you need to eat a diet with more REAL food. Eggs are real food. And the price you pay in saturated fat per egg is a real bargain compared to all the real nutrients you will be getting.
We're not saying that egg beaters can't be a solution for very specific people, but for the most part an egg a day is a great way to pack in protein and nutrients in a relatively small and low calorie (70!) package. Whichever you choose, don't prepare in a ton of butter or oil!

At the supermarket, choose foods low in saturated fat and without trans-fats. Don't fret too much over the cholesterol levels as their impact is much lower than once thought.

What do Silly Putty and Chicken McNuggets Have in Common?

2010-08-05T19:36:00.001-05:00

What do Silly Putty and Chicken McNuggets Have in Common?

Posted: 22 Jul 2010 04:54 AM PDT

How could we have missed this one from CNN Health?

Q: What’s the difference between McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets in the US vs. the UK?

A: Silly Putty!

It appears that for some reason, McDonald’s USA is employing certain ingredients that are not used in the UK version of the chicken masterpiece. Yankee nuggets contain the chemical preservative TBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, a petroleum-based product. They also contain dimethylpolysiloxane, “an anti-foaming agent”. Dimethylpolysiloxane is also used in Silly Putty.

McDonald’s attributes the difference to regional taste preferences and the way the product is prepared in each country. Skeptics will say that this is a good excuse for choosing the lowest cost ingredients you can get away with without poisoning your customer. The food regulation bodies in the UK, and Europe in general, tend to be more strict in this respect compared to their American counterparts.

What you need to know:

TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone) is an antioxidant used to keep oils from going rancid. It is a petroleum derivative. Yummy. The food industry pushed the FDA for years to get it approved as a preservative despite the fact that ingestion of large doses (a thirtieth of an ounce) can cause nausea, delirium, and ringing of the ears. (Anyone remember what Jack Nicholson had for lunch in “The Shining”?) TBHQ cannot exceed 0.02% of the oil and fat content in a food.

Dimethylpolysiloxane, also called dimethicone or Antifoam A, is an antifoaming additive used in a variety of processed food products and drinks. Its’ a type of silicone and not considered toxic, according to the World Health Organization.

But despite it’s safety, it appears the Brits do not want silly putty in their nuggets, nor do they want potentially harmful additives.

Not that the McNugget is such a health food to begin with. Here’s the full ingredient list:

White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.

Are you Lovin’ it? We’re NOT.

My Oh My, There’s a Warning on that Food Dye!

2010-07-22T15:30:00.001-05:00

My Oh My, There's a Warning on that Food Dye!

Posted: 21 Jul 2010 04:53 AM PDT

Starting today, European consumers can better protect their children from risky food. The EU nations will require foods manufactured with artificial colors to present the following warning on the label

"May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children"

This warning applies to 6 artificial food colorings that have been found to negatively affect neurological activity in children. If you've been wondering why your son or daughter go wild after eating a snack, perhaps it's not a sugar rush, rather a food dye thing.

This decision is a death notice for these colorings. No food manufacturer will want such a turnoff on their products. Which means they'll resort to natural, more expensive colorings.

Four of the 6 colors that EFSA has marked are widely used in the US. They are regarded as safe by the FDA and may be found in thousands of products across all supermarket categories. These are:

sunset yellow (E110) – known in the US as Yellow #6
tartrazine (E102) – aka Yellow #5
carmoisine (E122) – aka Red #3
allura red (E129) – aka Red #40

Some of the dyes are also suspected carcinogens.

This is great news for Europeans, who have governments that have a higher propensity to look out for consumers' needs compared to the US. Our leadership is more business friendly. While we could debate the ideal form of government and corporate relationships for days on end, we prefer not to go there in this blog post.

What's clear is this – more is being done to protect kids across the Atlantic puddle than here at home. As parents, we should be concerned. Let's hope this new labeling regulation serves as a wake up call to the FDA and Congress, so that our kids can be better protected too. House Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) has already made a statement on this issue.

What to do at the supermarket:

It's hard to imagine that labeling laws will change here anytime soon. Right now, YOU have to be vigilant about the products you buy for your family.

Scan ingredient lists of products such as cereals, yogurts, cakes, snacks, soups, and more for numbers next to colors (Yellow 5, Red 40. etc…) . If you see them, move on to an alternative product. If a product is too bright and colorful, and it's not a fresh fruit or veggie, be suspicious.

Only in America: Candy Maker to Sponsor Our Dietary Advice [Thanks Hershey!]

2010-07-21T16:16:00.001-05:00

Only in America: Candy Maker to Sponsor Our Dietary Advice [Thanks Hershey!]

Posted: 20 Jul 2010 05:00 AM PDT

The American Dietetic Association announced yesterday that it has inked a partnership with Hershey Company. The exact sum of the sponsorship was not disclosed. From the press release:

The Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition develops and supports cutting-edge scientific research for products and technologies to provide consumers with a range of snacking choices, and will collaborate with ADA on consumer and health professional initiatives including an innovative, national consumer-focused nutrition education campaign.

"The campaign will spotlight the expertise and experience of registered dietitians, the nation's front-line food and nutrition professionals, in helping people achieve a healthy, personalized, balanced eating plan." read more…

Did you understand that?

We didn't.

Sounds like high words for "Take our big money and don't forget us when it comes to consumption recommendations for candy. We'll provide scientific data to back up our propaganda through your dietitians' mouths."

Note that the sponsorship agreement is not directly with the company but with the Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition, founded in 2005 to promote the chemistry and health benefits of cocoa, chocolate, nuts and other ingredients. By "other ingredients", do they means corn syrup and sugar? artificial colors? preservatives?

The ADA is already sponsored by health promoting behemoths such as PepsiCo, The Coca Cola Company, and Mars. Why add another candy maker to the mix?

What you need to know:

First off, let us clarify that we love chocolate and candy. Our kids do too. Hershey has been a part of our life since we were babies, whether with Kisses, chocolate bars, Reeses Pieces, Jolly Rancher, or Twizzlers. While we rarely purchase these brands anymore, we won't have a heart attack if our kids enjoy these and similar snacks here and there.

However, as the kids grow older and rely less on our sphere of influence, there are more and more opportunities for them to get snacks (school, friends, parties, personal allowance, Internet, TV..). We'd like for them to eat less candy, not more, if it was up to us. But when dietitians in an already obese nation get sponsored by a candy company, you've got to wonder what support system we the parents will get.

Instead of a very simple message – "less candy" – we'll hear "moderation", "balance", "chocolate is healthy" and other messages that help nudge consumers to buy more snacks instead of less. (And they ain't gonna be buying Hershey's Special Dark, either.)

And that folks, is the endgame for all the snack companies – to sell us more of their products, not less. If they have to spend millions to set up a scientific research center and contribute to doctors and dietitians as well, so be it. Marketing expenses.

One parting thought. When you log into the ADA website, one of the first things you see in huge letter is the following copy:

Food and Nutrition Information you can Trust

By accepting funding from the corporations least contributing to American nutrition, how can the ADA convince consumers that it really is to be trusted?

RDs, ADA members and non-members, please chime in with your thoughts.

Why Diet Soda Makes You Fat

2010-07-21T14:46:00.000-05:00

Fwd: Marrow registry: Thanks to you, we won the Pepsi Refresh Grant

2010-07-14T16:53:00.000-05:00



	Yay to us! -Dr. Tang

National Marrow Donor Program

REGISTRY MEMBER E-NEWS JULY 2010

Race matters for patients and donors

People of all racial and ethnic backgrounds need transplants. Diagnosis with a life-threatening disease can happen to anyone. But when it comes to matching for transplant, a patient is more likely to find a donor from the same racial or ethnic background.
Learn more >

Transplant recipients Mary, Anna, Ricky and Hend. In 2009, the National Marrow Donor Program facilitated nearly twice as many transplants for people from racially or ethnically diverse heritage than we did five years ago, but some patients still face a challenge in finding a match.

Unusual twist of fate: Erma's donor story

When Erma’s husband Franco was told he needed a marrow transplant, Erma got involved right away, organizing to recruit members of her community to the Be The Match Registry^®. She never guessed that she would be called as a match for someone else even before her husband received his transplant.
Read Erma’s story >

Be The One Run launches in Atlanta, Long Beach and Minneapolis

Go to BeTheOneRun.org >
Post the badge >

We’re excited to announce the Be The One Run^TM, a fundraising run/walk event. With a 5K, a 1K fun run and a Tot Trot, Be The One Run is perfect for the entire family and for people of all fitness levels.

Be The One Run events will raise funds to support transplant research, help patients with uninsured costs and grow the Be The Match Registry.

You're invited
In its first year, Be The One Run will feature run/walk events in three cities:

	Atlanta – Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010
	Long Beach, Calif. – Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010
	Minneapolis/St. Paul - Spring 2011

Get Involved
You can walk, run, sponsor a participant or volunteer to give patients a second chance at life. Participation from registry members like you is crucial to make the run a success!

If you're not nearby, you can still participate. Visit BeTheOneRun.org to support a runner or make a contribution to support the effort. Or post a badge to help us spread the word across the country.

Watch for Be The One Run to expand to more cities - maybe yours - next year.

Did you know? NMDP is among the top 20 largest nonprofits in Minnesota

Be The Match Registry is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), with nearly 700 people at the NMDP’s Coordinating Center in Minneapolis and 38 locations across the United States. What keeps almost 700 employees busy every day doing their part to help save lives? Find out >

Donor Center #: 00x
Donor Record #: xxxxxx

12561 JULY 2010

We won! Thank you for voting

We are pleased to announce that Jimmie Johnson and Be The Match Foundation’s Transplant Grants for Kids won the $100,000 Pepsi Refresh grant last month.

See Jimmie's thank-you video

We couldn’t have done it without you. When we asked, you voted and put us over the top. Thank you from Be The Match, and from the patient families you’ve helped.

Nationally designated African American Bone Marrow Awareness Month

Across the nation, we're promoting donor awareness in recognition of African American Bone Marrow Awareness Month. Learn more >

Tell us what you want in your e-news

Since we launched our e-newsletter more than a year ago, hundreds of thousands of you have read the e-news each month, joined us on Facebook, followed us on Twitter, watched our videos on YouTube and invited your friends to the cause.

We want to be sure we’re giving you the stories and information that are important to you. Please take this short survey to tell us your areas of interest.

Thank you for being a part of the registry and part of our online community.

Find us on:

Improvement in Autism with Chiropractic - a Case Study

2010-07-13T09:41:00.001-05:00

A case study appearing in the July 5, 2010 issue of the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal and Family Health, documented the case of a 6 year old boy who was diagnosed with Autism by a neurologist, and was helped by chiropractic care. According to the case study authors, autism is defined as a brain development disorder that causes impaired social interaction, decreased communication ability, restrictive repetitive or stereotypical behaviors, and decreased cognitive and learning abilities.
In reviewing previous studies, the authors note that the number of autism cases in Britain in 2005 was reported to be 16.8 per 10,000 children, while in the United States in that same year, the rate was 22.0 per 10,000. The latest numbers released in a report by the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), which is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services, shows that as of 2009, a full 1% (1 per 100) of all US children currently have an autism spectrum disorder.
In this case a 6 year old boy was brought to a chiropractor's office with autism which had been diagnosed by a neurologist one year earlier. The boy exhibited loss of social skills, inability to make eye contact, constant head rocking, and a jabbering type of speech pattern with minimal vocalizations. He had been subjected to a battery of tests including an EEG and MRI along with neurological consultations. All tests were negative for brain pathology and therefore an autism diagnosis was made. The boy had received all his vaccinations and was on daily Ritalin. He was getting twice weekly speech therapy by the school psychologist, who also confirmed the diagnosis of autism.
When the boy was brought to the chiropractor's office his mother was asked to fill out an Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) in order to have a point of comparison for the monitoring of future clinical changes in the boy. This test is designed to record the patient's communication/speech abilities, sociability, sensory/cognitive awareness, and health/physical behavior. The chiropractic examination showed significant restriction of neck movement and multiple areas of spinal misalignments. It was determined that multiple vertebral subluxations were present.
Care was initiated for specific correction of the subluxations. After the 4th visit the boy's mother mentioned that her son no longer rocked his head and was jabbering less. After his 6th chiropractic adjustment, the case study documented that the child began spelling out the words on video cassette covers, which is something he had never done before. By the 7th week the mother reported that the child began to vocalize his name, as well as the words that he had been spelling. Improvement continued and by the 12th week of care it was reported that the child showed improvement in school and was performing exceptionally well in math and was reading in class.
In their conclusion, the authors of this study wrote, "This case demonstrates that there is a possible link between chiropractic care and the reduction of autistic signs and symptomatology, as seen by the improvements in subjective and objective findings."

U.S. Health Care System: Worst in the world?

2010-07-13T09:39:00.001-05:00

Multiple news sources have reported on a study released on June 23, 2010 by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based private foundation focused on health, concluding that American healthcare ranks highest in cost and last in performance among seven industrialized nations. The above headline comes from one of those stories that was published on June 24, 2010 in "The Week".
A June 23, 2010 Reuters news story starts off with the ominous statement, "Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system." The Commonwealth Fund's president, Karen Davis PhD., stated, "On many measures of health system performance, the U.S. has a long way to go to perform as well as other countries that spend far less than we do on healthcare, yet cover everyone. It is disappointing, but not surprising, that despite our significant investment in health care, the U.S. continues to lag behind other countries."
The factors looked at in the Commonwealth report were quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives. The study noted that Americans spend $7,290 per person for healthcare which is twice as much as any other country studied in the survey conducted in 2007. The study reported that New Zealanders spent the least at $2,454 per person, while in the other 5 countries the amount spent on healthcare per person was $3,357 for Australians, $3,895 for Canadians, $3,588 for Germans, $3,837 for the Dutch and $2,992 for the British.
According to a June 23, 2010 Wall Street Journal article on the report, there are several key findings that need improving. They are:
The U.S. ranked last in measures of safe care (an indicator of quality), cost-related access problems, efficiency, equity and the long, healthy lives measure.
A full 54% of U.S. adults with chronic health conditions said they didn't fill or complete a prescription, get a recommended test or treatment or visit a doctor when needed due to cost.
Of those same adults with chronic problems, 19% said they'd visited an ER for something that a regular doctor could have handled had one been available. In Germany and the Netherlands, that rate was 6%.
The U.S. has the highest "mortality amenable to health care" rate (from 2002-03), at 110 per 100,000 population. Australia was lowest, with 71 per 100,000. (That rate refers to the number of deaths before age 75 from ischemic heart disease, diabetes, stroke and bacterial infections.)
We ranked no higher than fourth on anything — for effective care and patient-centered care.
In the Commonwealth study executive summary, the authors clearly state the problems with the US healthcare system when they say, "The U.S. health system is the most expensive in the world, but comparative analyses consistently show the United States underperforms relative to other countries on most dimensions of performance. Among the seven nations studied—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—the U.S. ranks last overall, as it did in the 2007, 2006, and 2004 reports."

Resolution of Otitis Media in a Nine Month Old Undergoing Chiropractic Care

2010-07-13T09:36:00.001-05:00

- Case Study
A case study involving a 9-month-old boy with a history of recurring ear infections, who was subsequently helped with chiropractic, was documented in the June 21, 2010 issue of the scientific periodical, the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal and Family Health.

The study author points out that the most frequent reason for physician visits for children under the age of fifteen in the United States, is otitis media, more commonly known as ear infections. Acute otitis media is the most common infection for which antibiotics are prescribed for children in the United States. The study also notes that by 3 months of age approximately 10% of infants will have had an episode of acute otitis media, and by 3 years of age 50% of children will have had more than three episodes of acute otitis media.

In this case the nine month old boy was brought by his mother to a chiropractor for evaluation and possible care. The case history noted that the boy was having recurring ear infections and there was consideration given to possibly having tubes placed in his ears. The child was born via cesarean section, and had no history of falls or accidents. The mother states that the ear infections started after vaccinations at the age of four months. The boy was suffering from episodes of the ear infections about every three weeks and was taking antibiotics regularly.

The chiropractic examination noted that in addition to the ear infections there was muscle tightness in the boy's neck. Thermal scans also showed asymmetry in the neck and a determination was made that multiple subluxations were present. Subluxations (a.k.a. Vertebral Subluxations) are when one or more of the bones of the spine (vertebrae) move out of position and create pressure on, or irritate spinal nerves. Spinal nerves are the nerves that come out from between each of the bones in the spine. This pressure or irritation on the spinal nerves then causes those nerves to malfunction and interfere with the signals traveling over those nerves. This can then cause changes in function in various areas of the body.

Specific chiropractic adjustments were initiated according to the findings of subluxation. The study reports that by the second week of care the young boy's mother reported that the child was pulling at his right ear and was not sleeping well. Upon examination, both ears were clear, with some wax but no fluid. By the third week of chiropractic care the child stopped pulling on his ears and seemed to be doing well.

A re-examination was performed in the fifth week of care documenting that the boy had not had any ear infections since the start of care. His mother reported that her son's naps were longer and he was getting better quality sleep. After seven weeks the boy was brought to his Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor, who confirmed that his ears were clear and there was no need for tubes, or antibiotics.

Wish-Bone Salad Dressing Mistakes Consumers for Chumps

2010-07-12T13:05:00.001-05:00

If the FDA sees this they will shot WishBone down! I'd NEVER buy their salad dressings anyway...

Wish-Bone Salad Dressing Mistakes Consumers for Chumps

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 05:19 AM PDT

Wish-Bone salad dressing is upping the ante with an ad campaign and a new label on the bottles. The label includes the following bold statement:

Naturally helps
BETTER ABSORB vitamins A & E
from salad with the oils in Wish-Bone

Wow, that sounds great. Absorb more vitamins, from the oils in Wish-Bone, how did they manage that? What kind of special oil does Wish-Bone use? What a scientific breakthrough!! How come we didn't hear anything about this in the news?

Folks, sorry to be the party pooper – no news here. All and any fats help the body more readily absorb certain vitamins. Wish-Bone is not special in any which way, aside from a creative marketing department. Vitamins A,D,E, and K are known as fat soluble (vs. water soluble B vitamins). This means that consuming foods rich in these vitamins, together with a small amount of fat, can help more be absorbed by our body.

That's why it makes sense, aside from the flavor added, to have some oil in your salad, or to have some source of fat in whatever main dish you are having. Even the small amounts of fat from a serving of chicken or lean beef should suffice.

But if you do go ahead and purchase Wish-Bone salad dressing here's what else you'll get – lots of unnecessary and some potentially harmful ingredients. From Robusto Italiano's ingredient label:

Water, Soybean and Canola Oils, Distilled Vinegar, Sugar, Salt, Garlic (Dehydrated), Onion (Dehydrated), Red Bell Peppers (Dehydrated), Maltodextrin (Corn), Spices, Xanthan Gum, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Natural Flavor, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Calcium Disodium EDTA (Used to Protect Quality), Caramel Color, Annatto Extract (Color)

Just for fun, let's imagine the marketing messages Wish-Bone could come up with for these prime ingredients:

made with Water
to help drive manufacturing cost down
and Wish-Bone revenue Up!

made with Soybean Oil
because olive oil is too expensive
even if that's the true Italian recipe

Sugar and salt
in amounts you wouldn't dare add at home!

made with stuff from laboratories
like Maltodextrin, Xanthan Gum, Autolyzed Yeast Extract

Now with Calcium Disodium EDTA*
On the FDA priority list to be studied for mutagenic & reproductive effects!
*May cause intestinal upsets, muscle cramps, kidney damage, and blood in urine.

You get the drift. Salad dressing is a huge business where there probably shouldn't be one, not if this is the stuff that's pushed to consumers.

Our friend Jennifer Huget at the Washington Post looks at the bright side – if using a favorite dressing encourages you to eat more vegetables, that's a good thing.

What to do at the supermarket:

How about making you own Italian Dressing – it's really easy! Mix olive oil with some lemon juice, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and presto – you're ready. Invest in a good olive oil and some lemons, not a bottle of chemicals.

Harvard, USDA: Soda Tax Will Cut Obesity

2010-07-07T21:32:00.001-05:00

	A soda tax can help fight the obesity that these useless drinks causes. Then again, nobody forced us to drink it.

Harvard, USDA: Soda Tax Will Cut Obesity

Posted: 07 Jul 2010 04:37 AM PDT

It may take a year or two or five or twenty, but eventually some sort of levy will be placed on the liquid candy purveyed by the beverage industry. In the past few weeks, two additional voices were heard in the argument for consumer (and legislator) mindshare on this issue.

A Harvard experiment, in a hospital cafeteria, tried various intervention models to get people to drink less sugary drinks. Posters with warnings had no effect, but raising prices by 35% caused a 26% decrease in sales.

And yesterday, the USDA's Economic Research Service published a report [download PDF], with a bottom line conclusion that

a 20% increase in prices could cause an average reduction of 37 calories per day, equivalent to 3.8 pounds of body weight over a year for adults, and an average of 43 calories per day, or 4.5 pounds over a year, for children. Given these reductions in calorie consumption, results show an estimated decline in adult overweight prevalence (66.9 to 62.4 percent) and obesity prevalence (33.4 to 30.4 percent), as well as the child at-risk-for-overweight prevalence (32.3 to 27.0 percent) and the overweight prevalence (16.6 to 13.7 percent).

What you need to know:

The beverage industry has argued that a soda tax is too simplistic and ineffective. It has spent millions on TV commercials, lobbying efforts, and other PR activities to stop this tax which would mean hundred of millions of dollars of revenues evaporating overnight should a federal law be enacted.

They've played the "poor" card, citing that this tax will be most harmful to the lower socio-economic brackets, thus trying to gain sway as "for the people". This is a dirty little trick, because it is a disproportionate percentage of poor people who suffer the most from obesity and other food related illnesses. And guess what, they drink the most soda pop too.

We wonder if the American Dietetic Association will weigh in on this matter, although it's highly doubtful it can voice a strong opinion against an industry whose top players (Coca Cola Co., PepsiCo) are its corporate sponsors. After all, it's not polite to bite the hand that feeds.

Going back to the Harvard study, it's interesting to note that the "education" intervention had no effect on buyer choice. Perhaps this explains why Coca Cola spends millions in education programs, for example the American Academy of Family Physicians. The group received $600,000 last year "to educate consumers about the role of their products in a healthy lifestyle."

While the soda tax may have some merit, we've suggested a more creative approach, which you can read about here.

What to do at the supermarket:

Taxes or not, the average US family of four spends over $500 a year on sugary soft drinks. Imagine if you could free yourself of that expenditure by switching to tap water. In most parts of the country, tap water is safer to drink and more heavily regulated than bottled water. By making this one switch, a family can lose weight, reduce plastic pollution, and save money to buy more fresh produce.

IS your family up to the challenge, or is it too taxing?

Campbell’s Spaghetti-Oh Oh’s [Inside the Label]

2010-06-21T21:07:00.001-05:00

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 04:52 AM PDT

Campbell's is recalling a large number of it's signature Spaghettio's canned spaghetti and meatballs products. Turns out somebody in the factory forgot to turn the oven on and the meatballs have been undercooked. If people just heat the product instead of thoroughly cooking the meat, they may get sick. Hence the recall.

Thank you Campbell's for your responsible and swift actions. So far there have been no reports of immediate injury.

[Update: Simultaneously, ConAgra is recalling prepared meals from it's Marie Callender line. Unfortunately in this case, Salmonella may have caused illness across 14 states. (thanks Brooke)]

Hey Campbell's: how about taking the next step and recalling ALL your canned Spaghettio products before they take their toll on additional people's health? Not because they are undercooked, but because each serving contains a mega-dose of unnecessary salt and high fructose corn syrup, without providing any true nutrition benefits.

What you need to know:

Spaghettio's is a product "kids love", according to Campbell's. No doubt. A one cup serving contains almost 3 teaspoons of added sugar (high fructose corn syrup). Not to mention nearly half the daily maximum for sodium consumption.

Though the one cup serving "Contains a full serving of veggies and grains", this super processed product is not something your kids should be eating. Think of it, a pasta dish whose first ingredient is water? And the second one too?

here's the list of ingredients:

WATER, TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), BEEF, ENRICHED MACARONI PRODUCT (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF THE FOLLOWING INGREDIENTS: BREAD CRUMBS (BLEACHED ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR [ENRICHED WITH NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], DEXTROSE, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF YEAST, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL [SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED], SALT), SALT, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, ENZYME MODIFIED CHEDDAR CHEESE (CHEDDAR CHEESE [MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES], WATER, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE), DEHYDRATED ONIONS, DEHYDRATED GARLIC, BEEF FLAVOR (CONTAINS BEEF STOCK AND SALT), VEGETABLE OIL, ENZYME MODIFIED BUTTER, SPICE EXTRACT, CITRIC ACID, NONFAT DRY MILK

There's also some trans-fat (partially hydrogenated vegetable oil) to boot.

Come on people, you can do better than eat this. And Campbell's can too. Enough of this canned madness. Sell folks real food that doesn't need to be masked by loads of sugar and salt to make it tasty for us and our kids.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you can't prepare a pasta dish tonight and you have no choice, at minimum buy a prepared meal that is low in sodium (less than 50mg) has little or no added sugars (less the 4 grams/1 teaspoon) and contains no artificial colorings.

Fwd: CounterThink cartoon: The museum of human atrocities against nature

2010-06-19T10:26:00.001-05:00

Human beings actually used to live here...

Click here to read the full commentary or post comments on this cartoon.

You are hereby granted permission to re-publish this CounterThink cartoon on any website or publication that strongly supports natural medicine or health freedom, royalty-free, through January 1, 2012. No written permission required. Hi-res versions available upon request. Contact us for details: http://www.naturalnews.com/feedback.html

A Visual of Twinkie’s 37 Ingredients

2010-06-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

Posted: 11 Jun 2010 04:55 AM PDT

You're looking at the 37 ingredients that make up a Twinkie, photographed by Dwight Eschliman, who grew up in a vegan home but has since loosened up a bit. Try to match the ingredient list to the individual images!

Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour [Flour, Reduced Iron, B Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid)], Corn Syrup, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable and/or Animal Shortening (Soybean, Cottonseed and/or Canola Oil, Beef Fat), Whole Eggs, Dextrose. Contains 2% or Less of: Modified Corn Starch, Glucose, Leavenings (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate), Sweet Dairy Whey, Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium and Sodium Caseinate, Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 60, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour, Cornstarch, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid (to Retain Freshness), Yellow 5, Red 40.

OK, everybody can guess which plate contains Red 40, but the others all look rather the same. A lot of the additives here are various chemicals in powder form.

Something to picture in your mind the next time you bite into a chemistry lab experiment turned "food".

If you want to learn more, read Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats by Steve Ettinger. It's an entertaining and frightening look at the inner workings of our massive food manufacturing industry.

Oh Boy! Now they’ve Found Lead in Kids’ Fruit Juice/Products

2010-06-13T14:18:00.001-05:00

Posted: 12 Jun 2010 05:20 AM PDT

A California non-profit, Environmental Law Foundation, sent some baby and kids' fruit juice and products to a government approved lab for toxic substance testing. Guess what they found?

A surprisingly large number of samples, from both from national and store brands, contained lead above a maximum allowed level of 0.5 microgram per serving.

398 samples from 146 different brands were tested. Products tested were apple and grape juice, packaged pears and peaches, and fruit cocktail.

Brands that tested positive for lead include Beech-nut, Gerber, Earth's Best Organics, Dole, Del-Monte, Kroger, Safeway, Trader Joe's Certified Organic, and others. A full list is here [PDF].

What you need to know:

According to ELF's press release [PDF]:

Scientists agree that there is no safe level of exposure to lead. Lead accumulates in
the body from multiple exposures over time and from multiple sources. According
to Dr. Callahan, "Lead exposure among children is a particular concern because
their developing bodies absorb lead at a higher rate and because children are
particularly sensitive to lead's toxic effects, including decreased I.Q." Lead
exposure also represents a heightened risk among pregnant and nursing women
because lead passes from the mother to the developing fetus or infant.

The problem is, nobody's quite sure where the lead is coming from. Is it present in the fruit itself, or added unintentionally somewhere along the manufacturing process? Organic and conventional brands were equally hit.

ELF has sent notices to all the manufacturers. Let's wait and see what they say.

According to NPR, The FDA would not comment on the foundation's findings, though a spokesman confirmed that the federal limits for lead were last updated nearly two decades ago. In the meantime, many scientists, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, now say that there is no safe level of exposure to lead.

What to do at the supermarket:

We recommend no fruit juice for many other reasons beside this lead discovery. Kids should drink water. Fruit should be consumed closest to its natural form. While packaged fruit products do provide some benefits, they are often jacked up with added sugar. Kids don't need it.

Chocolate Cheerios, Corporate Growth, and Obesity

2010-06-10T06:59:00.001-05:00

Posted: 09 Jun 2010 04:45 AM PDT

Once upon a time there was "Cheerios". For almost 40 years, up until the late 1970's, consumers had only one Cheerios flavor to choose from. And then General Mills, corporate owner of the Cheerios brand, introduced Honey Nut Cheerios. It was an instant success. Sweeter (mostly due to sugar, not honey) than it's elder sibling, it quickly conquered the hearts and taste buds of children across America. In the next decade, the two Cheerios brands were served in hundreds of millions of breakfasts across the nation.

But as competition grew, and the need to grow profit too, GM had to continuously innovate to stay ahead. And thus, in the past 15 years, we have seen no less than 15 variations on the "O" theme including Multigrain, Berry Burst, Yogurt Burst, and now Chocolate Cheerios.

Unfortunately, none of the innovations over the years produced a healthier or more nutritious product. Usually a new product meant more sugar added, less fiber, and in some cases additives such as artificial food colorings. But the health claims kept getting better, usually in inverse proportion to the true nutritional value of the product.

So as General Mills has grown, so have our waistlines. We're not picking specifically on this manufacturer. The phenomena is not limited to GM or just the cereal category. It is the story of the food industry as a whole. Cut throat competition and quarterly earning reports mandate "growth! growth! growth!" in sales.

But on the demand side, there's only so many calories people can consume in a day. Or maybe this is the reason we're packing on the pounds?

Anyway, we got a bit carried away. Let's get back to CC (Chocolate Cheerios) and see how this new product stacks up nutritionally.

What you need to know:

The nutrition facts panel tells an interesting story. At 100 calories per serving (before adding milk), CC is on the lower end of the breakfast cereal calorie count. Nice. But as with most cereals, the 3/4 of a cup serving size does not represent what most people truly consume.

Despite the prominent "whole grain guarantee" by manufacturer General Mills, there is only 1 gram of fiber per serving in here. What a let down. Honey Nut Cheerios has 2 grams of fiber. Not to mention regular Cheerios with 3 grams.

Sugarwise, we're talking about 9 grams or just over 2 teaspoons per serving. That's not as high as Cocoa Puffs, but it's nine times more sugar than in regular Cheerios.

Here is the ingredient list:

Whole Grain Corn, Sugar, Corn Meal, Corn Syrup, Whole Grain Oats, Canola and/or Rice Bran Oil, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Color Added, Salt, Dried Corn Syrup, Corn Bran, Barley Malt Extract, Trisodium Phosphate, Vanillin, Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols) and BHT Added to Preserve Freshness. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), Zinc and Iron (Mineral Nutrients), a B Vitamin (Niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate), Vitamin A (Palmitate), a B Vitamin (Folic Acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.

Yes it's made with whole grain corn, but also with corn meal. Notice that sugar is the number 2 ingredient. There are four appearances of sugar synonyms in the product. The Cocoa Processed with Alkali – Also known as Dutch Processed Cocoa – helps to remove the natural acidity of the cocoa bean. Unfortunately, it also removes the beneficial flavanoids found in the cocoa beans. BHT (E321) is a controversial additive that keeps a product fresh for longer, but at the potential price of hyperactive kids or cancer.

The most maddening aspect of Chocolate Cheerios though is not what we have discussed so far, but rather the bold health claim that appears inside the red heart:

May Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease

You can't miss it on the box. This claim is qualified in tiny print at the bottom of the box:

Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. Chocolate Cheerios is low in fat, saturated fat free, and naturally cholesterol free.

This is such BULL. Of course this product is cholesterol free, it's not made from any animal products. And obviously a breakfast cereal is not going to be high in fats – it's a C E R E A L for heaven's sake. How will all the added sugars help the heart?

As for the logic FAIL. It's the same as saying diets low in salt are heart healthy; candy is low in salt; pig out!!!

Bottom line: Chocolate Cheerios may be a tasty treat, but not a mainstay nutritious breakfast cereal.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you're going to buy a Cheerios product, your top choice should be the original. Number 2 should be the multigrain followed by Honey Nut. Leave Chocolate Cheerios product be.

9 Tips For Choosing a Better Salad Dressing

2010-06-07T23:08:00.000-05:00

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 04:45 AM PDT

Spring will shortly turn to summer and salad season is shifting into full gear. With plenty of fresh greens at reasonable prices, there is really no excuse not to get your daily (or twice daily) fix. Build a meal around a good mix of leafy vegetables with the usual assortment of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and whatnot.

And what's a salad without a dressing? It's like Bert without Ernie, sesame without the chicken, a bun without the burger. You get it, a salad is not a salad without the good stuff drizzled on top.

Food manufacturers have realized this long ago, and today, entire supermarket aisles are dedicated to salad dressings and toppings.

Here's a short list of suggestions to help you make the best of your lettuce:

1. Make your own dressing. Really. In most parts of the world, it's unthinkable to buy a dressing. It's as easy as mixing 3 parts oil, 1 part lemon/vinegar, and adding salt and pepper to taste. From there, you can build up your dressing with additional herbs and spices. There's no shortage of recipes.

The following tips are for prepared dressings:

2. Serving size and calories: the standard is 2 tablespoons, with a caloric range of 50-200+ calories per serving. An easy way to cut the calories is to use less dressing. Mix the dressing and salad a bit more, until you can't see any blobs of sauce, just a shiny coating all over the salad greens.

3. Don't water down you salad. Many of the low-fat, or non-fat dressings are composed mostly of water. You're paying over $4.00 for a bottle of dressing, the least they could do is fill it up with a more expensive ingredient like fine olive oil. Also – why drown your greens after you've dried them up so nicely before serving?

4. A little bit of fat ain't bad. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat soluble meaning your body will be more likely to absorb them when they're mixed with some oil.

5. Skip the toppings. While they may add extra crunch and flavor, the caloric and sodium contribution of bacon bits and croutons almost negate the purpose of the salad – a filling, healthy meal.

6. Watch out for the added sugars. Some dressings can get really tangy, so a bit of sugar rounds out the flavor remarkably. The problem is that in many cases, manufacturers add too much: Wishbone's Red Wine Vinaigrette Salad Dressing has an ingredient list that starts with High Fructose Corn Syrup. It contains 2 teaspoons of added sugar per serving!

7. Salty? One of the big challenges in salad dressing is the sodium content which can be as higher than 500mg per serving. That's close to 20% of the daily maximum. Look for 300mg per serving or less.

8. Look out for Calcium Disodium EDTA. It's a preservative with a mildly salty taste. May cause kidney damage, and blood in urine. It's on the FDA priority list of food additives to be studied for mutagenic, teratogenic, subsacute, and reproductive effects.

9. Many dressings use phosphoric acid (E338), an artificial additive that provides a tangy taste for a much cheaper price than lemons. It is also used in soft drinks. Some studies have linked it to lowering bone density.

---

Also, watch out for chemicals that you can't ponounce. There's propylene glycol: ANTIFREEZE.

would you want to eat that?

Kellogg’s Slapped by FTC, Twice, for Misleading Ads

2010-06-06T14:07:00.000-05:00

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 04:50 AM PDT

The Federal Trade Commission normally doesn't get involved in misleading health claims for foods, it's the FDA's jurisdiction. But something in Kellogg's behavior over the past 2 years must have really annoyed somebody at the FTC.

At first it was a health claim for Frosted Mini-Wheats, with benefits to"cognitive health". The unsubstantiated claim was shot down by the FTC, but within a few months, Kellogg's came out with its immunity cereal. So now the company is again in trouble:

Leading cereal maker Kellogg Company has agreed to new advertising restrictions to resolve a Federal Trade Commission investigation into questionable immunity-related claims for Rice Krispies cereal. This is the second time in the last year that the FTC has taken action against the company.

"We expect more from a great American company than making dubious claims – not once, but twice – that its cereals improve children's health," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "Next time, Kellogg needs to stop and think twice about the claims it's making before rolling out a new ad campaign, so parents can make the best choices for their children." read more…

What you need to know:

Health claims are an unfortunate extension of product marketing efforts that overlap scientific information provided to consumers on the nutrition facts panel and ingredient list of packaged foods. Fuzzy at best, they create a false sense of hope and add value to products that in some cases may merit it, but in many cases don't.

Cocoa Rice Krispies are over 40% sugar by weight and contain trans-fat. How does that contribute to immunity?

What to do at the supermarket:

May we suggest ignoring the large font writing on food products, and sticking to the facts in the nutrition label itself.

Those Poison McDonalds Shrek Glasses are the LEAST of Parents’ Worries

2010-06-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

Those Poison McDonalds Shrek Glasses are the LEAST of Parents' Worries

Posted: 05 Jun 2010 05:32 AM PDT

Yesterday it was announced that McDonald's is recalling about 12 million souvenir glasses adorned with Shrek images. The $2.00 glasses were painted using cadmium, a known carcinogen. The fear is that cadmium present in the paint on the glass will poison kids. This would require a child to hold the glass whereby the cadmium would contact her hands. Then she would need to put her hand in her mouth. This would have to happen repeatedly.

OK, not to knock the risk, but folks, there is a much larger risk to kids who frequent fast food establishments such as McDonalds. It's called obesity.

And as long as fast food and junk food companies lure kids with Hollywood brands, parents will continue to struggle to say NO to little Johnny.

So let's put things in the right perspective.

We await the day when McDonald's recalls its entire "marketing to kids" strategy.

General Halstead on Chiropractic

2010-06-04T18:36:00.000-05:00

F4CP - Memorial Day Media Tour

June 4, 2010

Gen. Halstead's Memorial Day Media Tour a Success

Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (www.f4cp.com) spokesperson, Ret. Brig. Gen. Becky Halstead, completed a successful Memorial Day Media Tour -- a day of interviews calling attention to the mental and physical strain experienced by members of the U.S. Armed Forces. The media tour, which kicked off in New York City with an appearance on Fox & Friends (FOX News Channel), America's most watched cable news morning show, concluded in Washington, D.C., with a live hour-long interview on the The Jim Bohannon Show, which broadcasts on more than 350 radio stations across the country.

During her interview with Fox & Friends (View Video Here) Gen. Halstead commented on the value of chiropractic care for all members of the military, in addition to discussing the importance of recognizing and honoring our nation's veterans and active-duty military.

"Chiropractic helps our soldiers maintain and sustain their whole physical stature as they wear very heavy gear," stated Gen. Halstead.

The hour-long interview (Listen to Interview Here) with Jim Bohannon in Washington, D.C., allowed Gen. Halstead to discuss several hot topics in today's military more in-depth, including women's roles in the military and soldier "readiness." Gen. Halstead was also able to share her personal experience dealing with fibromyalgia and how chiropractic care helped her return to a pain-free life.

"Part of getting well was a strong introduction to the chiropractic community, which I think would have really helped me if I could have received the treatment while I was on active duty," Gen. Halstead noted.

During the radio interview, Gen. Halstead also detailed her visit to the Connecticut Veteran Affairs (VA) Hospital where she had a chance meeting with a young soldier who was suffering with a herniated disc. After two years of physical therapy, the solider was referred to chiropractic care and much like Gen. Halstead, was on the road to recovery. The soldier, who was receiving a chiropractic adjustment, spoke with Gen. Halstead about the benefits chiropractic care would have on active duty military.

"Just think if we came in off our patrols each night and we could get adjusted the way I just got adjusted, what a sense of relief and healing," Gen. Halstead recalled the soldier saying.

Gen. Halstead was thrilled to participate in both interviews, taking the opportunity to not only remember and recognize the fallen soldiers and families for their service, but to educate everyday citizens on the importance of keeping our military ready for battle.

"I hope my message instilled a sense of responsibility in everyone to properly resource and support our military men and women," concluded Gen. Halstead.

About F4CP

A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) embraces a singular mission to promote positive press for the profession in national, regional and local media. Through effective and ongoing initiatives, the Foundation's goal is to raise awareness to the many benefits provided by doctors of chiropractic.   The F4CP relies upon strategic marketing campaigns that span prominent spokespersons, monthly press releases, public service announcements, and advertisements in high-profile media outlets. To learn more about the Foundation, please visit us on the web at www.foundation4cp.comor call 866-901-F4CP (3427).

Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. www.f4cp.com (866) - 901-3427

The Beverage Industry Against Soda Taxes – Mom n’ Pop Shops, “Bribes”-Fooducate

2010-05-24T15:28:00.000-05:00

The Beverage Industry Against Soda Taxes – Mom n’ Pop Shops, “Bribes”

Posted: 23 May 2010 08:49 AM PDT

It seems like soda tax propositions are popping up like mushrooms after spring showers across the country. And everywhere they do, the beverage industry is there, like a wild boar, ready to stomp them down.

Last week, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter wanted to raise $77 million annually from a tax on sugary soft drinks. A local bottler and multimillionaire offered a bribe donation of $10M to help promote health and recreation programs in the next 2 years. City council shot down the tax regardless.

And now the Washington DC city council is proposing a 1 cent tax per fluid ounce. CalorieLab tells of the novel approach by the American Beverage Association:

the “grassroots” tactic adopted by the beverage industry: Recruiting local businesses to be the public face of their campaign. Expect to see this become a standard play by Big Soda wherever the soda tax rears its head. Ed & Betty’s Corner Grocery gets a lot more sympathy in the average household … [rather] than Pepsico, Inc.

In all likelihood, this proposed tax will not make it. Consumer sentiment is already against paying more for anything.

On the other hand, there is no doubt that sugary drinks are a top contributor to our nation’s obesity epidemic. The beverage industry has externalized all the health related costs in order to bring consumers a “cheap” drink.

(Cheap is relative though. Tap water is much cheaper than soda. And healthier too despite the impure toxins there.)

So how to get the beverage industry to shoulder the responsibility? It’s a major challenge. We have suggested in the past the implementation of a calorie offset solution, but there could be other ways to reduce the financial incentive of manufacturing sugary drinks, and shifting efforts by industry towards other areas.

What to do at the supermarket:

Skip the beverage aisles. A family of 4 can save $500 a year by switching from soft drinks to tap water. And several pounds per person. Not to mention the number of plastic bottles not contaminating landfills.

BPA in canned food! -Fooducate

2010-05-22T11:53:00.001-05:00

Fooducate

BPA (Toxin) Found in 92% of Canned Food

Posted: 20 May 2010 04:23 AM PDT

BPA (Bisphenol-A) is dangerous, especially to pregnant women, and intake of canned food during gestation should be limited. This is the main conclusion of a recent study on the chemical compound that is used to line the inside of cans and bottles.

From USA Today:

Researchers found that BPA levels vary dramatically even between cans of the same product, according to the study, released Tuesday by the National Workgroup for Safe Markets, a coalition of 19 environmental groups. For example, one can of Del Monte French Style Green Beans had 36 micrograms of BPA per serving, while another can of the same product had 138 micrograms per serving — a level that has been linked to changes in prostate cells and increased aggression in animals.

The National Toxicology Program has said it has "some concern" that BPA alters development of the brain, behavior and the prostate gland in children, before and after birth. Read more…

BPA is a chemical compound used as a building block of polymers and polycarbonates that are found in plastic bottles and cans. 7 billion pounds of BPA are produced annually, for use in food packaging, PVC water pipes, electronics, and more. It behaves like the hormone estrogen once it enters the body and disturbs the normal working of certain genes. Estrogen mimicking chemicals like BPA are potentially harmful even at very low doses, such as those found in plastic bottles and cans.

Congress has been asked to ban BPA, but industry lobbying efforts from the Grocery Manufacturer's Association and other groups is staving off any federal plan. Meanwhile several states and municipalities have put into law limitations on use of BPA for certain children's products.

What to do at the supermarket:

BPA does not appear as an ingredient on a food label. But at 92%, you can assume any canned food product you are holding contains it. Some canned food manufacturers, such as Eden and Muir Glen, have decided to get rid of BPA, but the majority still use it.

Thankfully, there are alternatives to canned food. If fresh fruit and veggies are in season, you can get them cheap. If not, check the freezers for bags of frozen vegetables. And some canned products, like soups, are so easy to make from scratch that you should not bother to buy out of a can. Not to mention the high sodium levels, or the industrial flavor.

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Avoid Common Exercise Mistakes

2010-05-19T14:55:00.001-05:00

The most important goal when undertaking any exercise program is not to build muscle, burn fat, increase cardiovascular capacity, or anything else. Those are important, but the number-one priority is to keep from being injured. That's the only way you'll have a real chance of reaching your fitness goals. Here are four movements to avoid when exercising, along with a few exercises that are often performed incorrectly:

1.	Don't use jerking motions, especially when lifting. Speed is fine when done appropriately, but you should always have fluid motion and proper form when performing any and all exercises; otherwise you could strain or even tear something.
2.	Don't use body parts not required for the exercise. Have you ever seen people doing biceps curls and rounding their shoulders or arching their backs? Those are just two of the big no-no's that can lead to injury.
3.	Don't lock out your knees or elbows. Never lock your joints when working out; keep them slightly bent so the weight will not be transferred to the joints.
4.	Don't arch your back. Picture someone on the barbell bench press, lifting a weight that is actually too heavy for them. Chances are that eventually, they will start arching their back. Sooner than later, that back is going to give out and they won't be able to exercise for days, weeks or even longer.

Push-ups. The wrong way: You should never have a dip or arch in your back or lock your arms. The right way: Arms should be underneath you and not locked, back parallel to the floor. Engage your "core" the entire time (squeeze your glutes and draw in your belly button).

Walking lunges. The wrong way: When performing a lunge, extending the front knee past the front foot will cause injury at some point. The right way: When you are in a split stance, go straight down and do not let your front knee go past your foot.

Squats. The wrong way: Knees coming forward over your toes. The right way: Perform this exercise as if you were sitting back on a chair and putting 80 percent of your weight on your heels. Then lean slightly forward so you won't fall back.

Chest press. The wrong way: Lifting the weight using your back (high arch). The right way: Keep your back flat and relax your shoulders while lifting the weight.

And let's not forget about the right and wrong way to exercise in general. Get some expert advice prior to working out. Most gyms have personal trainers who will give you a free consultation and show you some basic machines and correct postures. Your doctor is also a good source of information, particularly if they specialize in exercise and rehab protocols.

Break Free of the Disease Diet

2010-05-19T14:54:00.000-05:00

The SAD fact is that cultures that eat the reverse of the "Standard American Diet" - low fat, high in complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and fiber, etc. - have a lower incidence of obesity, cancer and coronary artery disease. What's even more SAD is that countries whose populations can afford to eat the healthiest disease-preventing foods don't. America spends more money on weight loss than any country in the world, yet the American diet contributes to the very conditions we spend so much money to prevent.

Research conducted at the University of San Francisco Department of Medicine by Drs. Lynda Frassetto and Anthony Sebastian, and subsequently published in the prestigious Journal of Gerontology, clearly demonstrates that as we get older our bodies accumulate acid wastes. They attribute the accumulation of acid and the reduction of the alkaline state as we age to eating the Standard American Diet (SAD), and conclude that the role of age-related metabolic acidosis in the cause of adult degenerative disease warrants consideration.

So, it's obvious that we must consume more "alkaline" fruits, vegetables and plant foods to fight off disease as we age. Our SAD choices in food must change. Education and the new advances in food technologies are the keys. It's as simple as replacing the Standard American Diet, which is:

	High in animal fats including dairy products
	High in unhealthy fats: saturated, hydrogenated
	Low in fiber
	High in processed foods
	Low in complex carbohydrates
	Low in fruits, vegetables and other plant-based foods

with a healthier diet that focuses on alkaline fruits, vegetables and plant foods, including the following:

	Tomatoes
	Carrots
	Spinach
	Broccoli
	Blueberries
	Raspberries

Talk to your doctor for more information on how you can break free of the SAD cycle of weight gain and disease and achieve your health goals.

Back Pain: Exercises to Help Healing

2010-05-19T14:52:00.001-05:00

When it comes to back pain, your first thoughts may be to take over-the-counter pain medication and rest whenever possible. Two bad options. First, medication is only going to temporarily relieve the pain, if at all, and may be accompanied by various unpleasant side effects attributable to drugs. Second, rest may actually hurt more than help. While you're seeing your chiropractor, there are a few things you can do at home to help the healing process. Believe it or not, it's based on the simple principle of movement.

When you stop moving, everything tightens up, circulation slows down, and pain chemicals accumulate in your muscles and joints. It's like waking up after sleeping in a cold room on a lousy mattress with a draft. You need to move. Here are two simple exercises to get you started (discuss these with your doctor first):

Exercise #1: Backward Bending (extension of the lumbar spine). An exercise called the McKenzie extension is the first thing you should try if you have sciatica (pain running down your leg). If these exercises work, your pain will diminish and may centralize, which is a good thing. Centralize means your pain goes less far down your leg, and you may feel it closer to the spine. Bending backward may not feel good at first, but you should feel better immediately afterward. If you feel worse afterward or the pain goes farther down your leg, stop, as this is not the exercise for you.

How to Do It: Lie face-down on the floor, arms bent at your sides (sort of like a starting push-up posture). Straighten your arms up slowly, lifting your upper body off the floor as you do so. Your legs and feet should stay on the ground. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then slowly lower your upper body back down. Repeat 10 times, as often as once per hour

Exercise #2: Flexion Exercises (bringing the leg toward the chest). People with lower back pain can also feel better with various types of leg flexion, bringing the bent leg toward the chest, or doing contract-relax and then bringing the bent leg toward the chest. These people usually have sacroiliac joint problems. (The SI joints are located on either side of the spine in the lower back.)

How to Do It: Lie on your back with one leg bent and then other flat on the floor. Bring the bent leg up toward the chest. Wrap your arms around the leg and then try to lower it toward the floor for 3-5 seconds, resisting with your arms. Relax, and then pull the bent leg up farther toward the chest. Repeat the entire process three times.

What Do Strawberries Have to Do with ADHD Kids?-Fooducate

2010-05-19T08:41:00.000-05:00

A new study by US and Canadian scientists is linking ADHD to pesticide. Researchers found that kids with high levels of pesticide residue in their urine were more likely to suffer from the challenging attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Unfortunately some of childrens’ favorite fruit are the most heavily sprayed with pesticides. Strawberries top the list.

What to do at the supermarket:

For some people, the solution is dead simple – buy organic. For most of us though, this is not an option, as the price is too prohibitive.

But if we reframe the financial consideration, and instead of focusing on just the high price of 2 lbs of fresh berries, think about our overall expenditure on food vs our spending on healthcare, things may even out.

If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you know where to find hundreds of extra dollars to feed your organic frenzy – switching from soft drinks to tap water…

Just don’t give up fruit because you’re afraid of pesticides. Your kids are much better off with the nutritional benefits of conventional fruit than without.

Soft drinks

2010-05-18T01:23:00.001-05:00

Dr Pepper vs. Coke [Inside the Label]

Posted: 17 May 2010 05:00 AM PDT

With a particular flavor you either love or you hate, Dr Pepper has been around for as long as Coca Cola. Actually, one year longer – since 1885. Although it never reached the heights of Coke's success, Dr Pepper is a very popular soft drink, mostly in the US.

At 7 teaspoons of sugar per cup, though, it is nutritionally equivalent to all the other fizzy pops. Meaning – you get a 100 calorie liquid snack.

Looking at the ingredients list, Dr Pepper and Coke are almost identical.

Dr Pepper Ingredients: Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Caffeine.

Coke: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors, Caffeine.

The difference between the two is the pepper, right? Actually, we'll never know.

Both Coke and Dr Pepper's flavoring are trade secrets hidden behind "natural flavors" and "natural and artificial flavors" respectively.

Whenever a product needs to be strengthened with natural or artificial flavors, you should ask yourself why. In the case of soda pop, the answer is clear. Sugar and water alone are not enough to compel consumers. But what about all the other processed foods and drinks made with "real" fruit that still require added flavorings?

Moving on to other ingredients – Both Coke and Dr Pepper contain high fructose syrup as the sweetener, caramel color, caffeine, and phosphoric acid. Dr Pepper adds sodium benzoate to boot.

You definitely don't want your kids having too much of any of these ingredients on a daily basis, if at all.

What to do at the supermarket:

Make a habit of skipping the beverage aisle. Soft drinks should be treated as a once-in-a-while treat, not a daily must have.

Nutrition for Healthy Skin

2010-05-11T13:21:00.001-05:00

Along with hair and nails, skin is the fastest growing and most superficial tissue in the body. As such, it has a high demand for nutrients in order to continuously replenish itself with rapidly developing immature skin cells from the layers below. Even a marginal deficiency of nutrients such as vitamin A, the carotenoids, vitamin D, vitamins B₁ and B₂, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid, vitamin B₁₂, vitamin E, vitamin C or essential fatty acids can result in impaired development of skin cells, resulting in skin that is less smooth, prone to lesions, less elastic and more likely to suffer accelerated aging.

Here are some of the more common skin problems and the nutritional supplements that can help you get rid of them:

For sun- and chemical-induced free-radical damage that causes premature aging of the skin, wrinkling, cancerous conditions, other forms of skin damage, the appropriate supplement contains optimal levels of antioxidants to help protect your skin from the aging and damaging effects caused by the sun: Antioxidants vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium and zinc intercept and neutralize free radicals and defend skin cells from these damaging effects. Antioxidants also protect skin from ultraviolet light damage.

For skin disorders such as dermatitis (skin inflammation problems), lack of smoothness, seborrhoea-like scaly lesions, irregular pigmentation, the appropriate supplement contains B vitamins at sufficient doses to ensure the healthy development of skin cells: B-vitamin supplementation corrects these skin problems and successfully treats a wide range of dermatitis problems. B vitamins also help to improve the smoothness and texture of the skin.

For unhealthy skin, acne and other conditions, the appropriate supplement provides adequate daily doses of zinc and selenium to enhance your skin's vitality and appearance: Zinc improves oil gland function, local skin hormone activation, wound healing, inflammation control within the skin and tissue regeneration of skin cells. Selenium plays a key role in antioxidant protection and in the prevention and management of various skin conditions.

Healthy skin is an important step toward a healthy, happy you, so what are you waiting for? Ask your doctor about how to give yourself an "inner facial" with the right nutrition.

Restaurant Sushi May Have More Mercury Than Store-Bought Fare

2010-05-07T18:18:00.002-05:00

Restaurant Sushi May Have More Mercury Than Store-Bought Fare
Toxin concentrations higher in certain tuna species versus others, study finds

(HealthDay News) -- The tuna sushi that you order in restaurants mayhave higher concentrations of mercury than the sushi you buy at yourlocal supermarket, a new study finds.

Supermarkets tend to sell sushi made from yellowfin tuna,which contains less mercury than other tuna species, researchersreport.

"We found that mercury levels are linked to specific species,"Jacob Lowenstein, a graduate student working with the American Museumof Natural History in New York City, said in a news release from themuseum. "So far, the U.S. does not require restaurants and merchants toclarify what species they are selling or trading, but species names andclearer labeling would allow consumers to exercise greater control overthe level of mercury they [consume]," he added.

For their study, the researchers combined two efforts: DNAbarcoding performed at the museum to identify specific species; and amercury content analysis from experts at Rutgers University. The reportwas published online April 21 in Biology Letters.

"People who eat fish frequently have a particular need to knowwhich species may be high in contaminants," said Michael Gochfeld,professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. "Someagencies have been afraid that any mention of contaminants willdiscourage people from eating any fish."

The team sampled sushi from 54 restaurants and 15 supermarketsin New York, New Jersey and Colorado, and tested them for relativemercury content. Through DNA barcoding, 100 samples were identified aseither bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna or three different bluefin tunaspecies.

The team reported that all species tested exceeded orapproached mercury concentrations permissible by the United States, theEuropean Union, Japan and Canada, plus those set by the World HealthOrganization.

Higher mercury levels were found in bigeye tuna and bluefinakami, which is a lean, dark red tuna, than in bluefin toro, a fattytuna, and yellowfin tuna akami, the researchers said. Mercury tends toaccumulate in muscle rather than fat, so mercury content is usually --but not always -- higher in leaner fish. Yellowfin tuna, for example,is lean, but may accumulate less mercury because it is smaller andharvested earlier than other species, they said.

The seafood industry took a critical view of the report.

"This is a study that tests mercury levels in fish, but stopsshort of any work exploring what -- if anything -- those levels meanfor health," said Gavin Gibbons, director of media relations at theNational Fisheries Institute, in an institute statement issuedWednesday.

He added that research has shown that "eating fish as a wholefood -- omega-3s, selenium, lean protein, traces of mercury and all --is a boost to heart and brain health."

In addition, Gibbons said, the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration's mercury limit for seafood includes a 1,000 percentsafety factor, "and approaching that limit or even slightly exceedingit does not equal health risk," he said.

More information

To learn more about mercury in seafood, see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

SOURCES:American Museum of Natural History, news release, April 21, 2010;statement, National Fisheries Institute, April 21, 2010

Another Reason to Quit Sugary Soft Drinks – Cholesterol

2010-05-07T12:58:00.000-05:00

Another Reason to Quit Sugary Soft Drinks – Cholesterol

Posted: 05 May 2010 04:38 AM PDT

AS if there aren’t enough reasons to spend our calories elsewhere, a new study shows that

People who eat and drink high amounts of added sugars have lower blood levels of so-called good cholesterol and higher levels of harmful triglycerides than those with diets lower in such sweeteners

“We looked specifically at sugars that are added during the processing and preparation of foods,” said the paper’s lead author, Jean A. Welsh, a graduate researcher at Emory University in Atlanta. “Soft drinks are the most commonly consumed example and provide 30 percent of added sugar in the United States.” read more from the NY Times…

Here are a three more reasons to say no to soft drinks:

A 12 oz drink per a day, over the course of a year, will add 18 pounds to your weight, compared to water consumption!
Soft drinks diminish the taste of food.
Tooth decay.

What to do at the supermarket:

Save time and money, not to mention improving your health – skip the beverage aisle…

UPDATE ON WASHINGTON REDSKINS CHEERLEADER- THE SHOCKING SIDE EFFECTS

2010-05-03T19:40:00.000-05:00

Asthma Improving with NAET

2010-05-03T10:21:00.001-05:00

Pregnancy Made Easier with Chiropractic

2010-05-03T10:19:00.001-05:00

Not a Prisoner of Gluten Anymore!

2010-05-03T09:52:00.000-05:00

After five years from a traumatic event, Sarah became gluten sensitive and nightshade sensitive. She could not eat gluten, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes. This is the test of many NAET treatments to restore her health.

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 2

2010-05-03T09:38:00.002-05:00

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 2
by Caroline Barringer, NTP, CHFS, FES

So, which fats and oils should you choose for cooking? Below is a color-coded guide to help you determine which fats and oils are safest to include in your favorites recipes.

(Green = Safest for cooking;
Yellow = Safer for Cooking;
Red = UNSAFE for Cooking)

SAFEST FOR COOKING
(frying, baking, broiling, grilling and roasting)
• Lard
• Ghee
• Beef and Lamb Tallow
• Chicken, Duck, and Goose Fat
• Coconut Oil – organic and virgin
• Red Palm Oil – organic and virgin Palm kernel oil is also acceptable)

Tropical vegetable fats in this category should be organic and unrefined in nature.
The animal fats should be from organically raised, grass-fed pastured animals.

Lard: Lard is the fat from pigs (pork fat). It is safe for cooking and frying due to its nearly equal fatty acid profile of 40% saturated and 48% monounsaturated fats. Lard has only 12% PUFA’s (poly-unsaturated fatty acid) and will vary depending on the animal’s diet. Lard is a healthful source of vitamin D.

Ghee (Indian Clarified Butter): Ghee is a stable, saturated butterfat with the milk solids (casein proteins) removed. It is safe for cooking and light frying. If you are intolerant to butter, try ghee. Ghee is prepared by melting and simmering unsalted butter at a medium temperature until the water content of the butter has evaporated off. This allows the casein to separate and sink away from the butter fat. Next, the butter fat is carefully removed leaving the milk proteins behind. The butter fat is then allowed to cool and solidify to be packaged as ghee. Be sure the ghee you purchase is made from organic, grass-fed butter. There are several brands of ghee available at health markets, but if you wish to prepare your own homemade ghee, please view this helpful instructional video: http://video.about.com/indianfood/How-to-Make-Ghee.htm.

Beef and Lamb Tallow: Very safe for cooking and frying. Tallow fats are 50-55% saturated, 40% monounsaturated and only 3% or less polyunsaturated. McDonald’s first fried their French fries in 93% beef tallow (along with 7% cottonseed oil) before changing over to vegetable oils with added chemical flavor enhancers in 1990.

Chicken, Duck and Goose Fat: These bird fats are quite stable. They are highly regarded as healthful fats in Europe and beyond. Duck and goose fats are somewhat superior to chicken fat due to their higher saturated fatty acid content and are safer for sautéing and frying at higher temperatures. Chicken fat has a higher MUFA (mono-unsaturated fatty acid) profile and a lower saturated fatty acid profile, so chicken fat is best used for low to medium heat cooking (quick stir-frying, light sautéing, and slow, low simmering).

Coconut Oil: This healthful tropical oil is almost fully saturated (92%). It has powerful antimicrobial and antifungal properties and contains a medium-chain fatty acid called lauric acid, which is found in abundant quantities in breast milk. I like to combine coconut oil with ghee or lard when I don’t want to taste coconut in my recipes. Coconut oil is safe for cooking and frying at higher temperatures. My favorite brand of coconut oil is Nutiva. I often use it in place of butter on toast and toasted mochi.

Red Palm Oil: This deep orange-red tropical oil has a pungent, paprika-like flavor that is, in my opinion, best suited for roasting root vegetables. Try roasting red and white potatoes, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, fresh garlic and herbs in red palm oil. Butternut squash and parsnips are also delicious when roasted in red palm oil. It is a nice change from the usual oils used for cooking and brings color to your plate.

SAFER FOR COOKING
(quick stir-frying, light sautéing, and slow/low simmering)

• Olive Oil
(Unfiltered is best; should be golden yellow/green in color and cloudy.)
• Peanut Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Macadamia Nut Oil
• Sesame Oil

These oils should ALWAYS be extracted via expeller-pressing! Read the label first!

The Olive Oil (oleic acid) Myth: Olive oil contains 75% MUFA’s. It is relatively stable for cooking. There has been a rumor moving its way through the holistic community for the past several years stating that trans fats are formed when olive oil is exposed to higher temperatures. Fat expert Mary Enig does a beautiful job of explaining that this rumor is not only untrue, but completely lacking in supportive scientific evidence. Lightly cooking with olive oil over a medium heat (less then 400 degrees) is considered safe.

Can olive oil and its MUFA molecules be damaged at high heats resulting in free radical production? Yes, but these unstable molecules are different from trans fats, so please do not confuse the two. Again, to form a true trans fat, the fat must be exposed to extreme pressure and temperatures, metal catalysts, chemical solvents, etc, in a closed container to actually alter the chemical structure of a fatty acid molecule from its natural “cis” formation to a “trans” formation.

Peanut Oil: Peanut oil is relatively stable due to its MUFA content. Use it occasionally for a quick stir-fry, but the key word here is “occasional”. Peanut oil also has a significant PUFA content, so limited use is recommended.

Avocado Oil: A relatively new edible oil to the market since 1999, avocado oil has been previously used for many years as a moisturizing agent in cosmetic and hygiene products. Avocado oil is not extracted from the pit, rather it is extracted from the fatty pulp, which is high in MUFA’s. It is similar to olive oil, so the same cooking rules apply.

Macadamia Nut Oil: Macadamia nut oil contains nearly 80% MUFA’s. It is very close to the fatty acid profile of olive oil, so the same cooking rules apply. Mac oil has a distinctive, nutty flavor and is delicious in salad dressings. Look for expeller-pressed, organic UNBLENDED versions of this oil. Stores in the refrigerator for up to one year.

Sesame Oil: Like peanut oil, sesame oil is relatively stable. Sesame oil falls right between a MUFA and a PUFA (42% MUFA, 43% PUFA), but it has high levels of antioxidants for protection against oxidation, so sesame oil may be used for low-heat stir-frying or a quick sauté on a very limited basis. Combining sesame oil with olive oil and/or other stable saturated animal fats will help protect sesame oil when cooking.

UNSAFE FOR ANY KIND OF HEAT EXPOSURE! DO NOT USE FOR COOKING!

• Vegetable/Soybean Oil
• Corn Oil
• Flax Oil
• Hemp Oil
• Pine nut Oil
• Pumpkin Oil (safely roasted or raw versions)
• Safflower Oil (80% omega-6!)
• Sunflower Oil
• Grapeseed Oil

These PUFA oils are comprised of nearly half omega-6 fatty acids and should NEVER be used for cooking! If you do wish to consume these oils, do so in moderation, buy them from healthy sources and be sure that they are never refined or processed; although finding truly unprocessed versions of these oils is a difficult task! Corn and soybean oils are best avoided due to their genetically modified status and heavy pesticide levels.

Use omega-3 rich oils, like flax (and even smaller amounts of omega-6 oils) sparingly in salad dressings (add flax in small amounts to a base of olive oil); in small servings in a condiment such as homemade mayonnaise; stir them in small amounts into freshly prepared smoothies, lightly drizzle them over cold soups, dips, and hors d’oeuvres, or consume them right off the spoon in very limited quantities as a dietary supplement.

Grapeseed oil: There are many conflicting opinions about the safety of cooking with grapeseed oil. Like sesame oil, it has a higher smoke point due to its antioxidant content. Regardless, grapeseed oil is very high in PUFA’s and should not be used for cooking.

A note about liquid Evening Primrose, Borage, and Black Currant Oils: These omega-6 fatty acids, whether liquid or contained is a soft-gel supplement, are widely available in health markets. They are nutritionally supportive to the endocrine system and are mass marketed to women especially to help balance hormones. PLEASE DO NOT COOK WITH LIQUID BORAGE, EVENING PRIMROSE, OR BLACK CURRANT SEED OILS! They are highly reactive and should never be heated. If you do wish to supplement with these oils, consume them in very small amounts as you would any other omega-6 PUFA.

The following oils are UNSAFE to consume under any circumstances!

CON-ola (Canola Oil): Even though Canola is classified as a monounsaturated fat, it is also naturally high in omega-3 fatty acids. Extracted from the hybridized rapeseed, which is a genetically modified crop, canola is a HIGHLY PROCESSED oil! The omega-3 fatty acids in canola are delicate and turn rancid quickly during processing. Therefore, given the fact that canola oil must move through damaging extraction processes to be harvested and deodorized, it is safe to say that canola oil is unfit for consuming, much less cooking! It is an oil of industry and DOES NOT belong in the human digestive tract! Canola is the current oil of choice for prepared foods at Whole Foods Markets across the country.

Cottonseed Oil: Cotton is one of the most genetically modified, pesticide-laden crops in America. Besides the danger of ingesting these pesticides, when did cotton and its seed become a food? Is there anyone out there eating cotton for breakfast? I certainly hope not! Mentioned earlier in this article, the extraction and hydrogenation processes quarantine pesticides in the oil, therefore the high pesticide levels found in cotton are reason enough to recommend it as inedible! Cottonseed oil is hydrogenated most of the time and is one of the main ingredients in Crisco shortening along with hydrogenated soybean oil. Avoid cottonseed oil at all costs!

Don’t forget about the health benefits of good, old-fashioned REAL BUTTER!

Butter is a dirty word among today’s general population, but the TRUTH is our ancestors prized butter for its life-giving nutrients! Raw, unprocessed butter fat from grass-fed cows has a comprehensive fatty acid profile that protects it consumer from developing *imbalances such as hardening of the arteries, calcification of organs, glands and joints (arthritis), and cataracts. Most of us receive enough calcium from our regular diets, yet our bodies lose the ability to properly utilize this calcium intake. As a result, we appear to have a calcium deficiency in an actual state of calcium excess due to a lack of the necessary cofactors (healthy fats and fat soluble vitamins) found in foods like raw butter, to aid our bodies in using calcium and other minerals in an effective manner. The excess calcium must be stored somewhere, so the innate intelligence of the body begins to store it in unusual places (arteries, kidneys, gallbladder, eyes, joints, etc.), resulting in the aforementioned imbalances*.

Quality raw butter contains: Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in small amounts in a healthful ratio; CLA or Conjugated Linoleic fatty aids for better weight management, muscle growth, and protection from cancer; Fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K to help us absorb and properly assimilate naturally occurring trace minerals (zinc, selenium, iodine, chromium, manganese, etc,) found in raw butter; Butyric fatty acids for protection against fungal infections and tumor growth; and Arachidonic fatty acids for proper inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses to heal effectively. Butterfat enhances brain function and increases cell membrane integrity. With all these health benefits, raw organic butter should be a central dietary fat consumed each and every day.

A word to the wise about fats!

Choose your fats wisely and with GREAT CARE to ensure they have been minimally and safely processed, or better yet, not processed at all; and remember… healthy fats are not the enemy and healthy fats do not make you fat! Consume a wide variety of fats from whole oils to whole foods containing healthy fats and carefully monitor and limit your consumption of PUFA’s. If you want to learn more about fats and the important role they play in balanced health, visit www.westonaprice.org and navigate to the “Know Your Fats” link in the menu on the left and read two eye-opening articles titled, “The Skinny on Fat” and “The Oiling of America”. These articles are a must-read for anyone wishing to regain their health and vitality. Much of the information stated in this article is from the brave and wonderful work of Dr. Mary Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon, coauthors of the aforementioned articles.

Sources:

Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon

Know Your Fats, by Mary G. Enig, PhD

www.westonaprice.org – Articles: “The Skinny on Fat” and “Fats and Oils FAQ’s”, “The Great Con-ola”, by Mary G. Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon

Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc., “Fatty Acids Module – NTT Curriculum
“The Big Fat Lie”, by Colleen Dunseth, NTP, NTA Instructor

Safety Data for Hexane: www.http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/HE/hexane.html

National Academy of Sciences – Article: “Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids”

Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 1

2010-05-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 1
by Caroline Barringer, NTP, CHFS, FES

Several weeks ago I was shopping at my local co-op where I overheard a conversation taking place between two fellow co-op members regarding which fats and oils are safest for cooking. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop to observe their comments, for I am passionate about the subject of fats and have studied them extensively over the past four years. As I listened to the two individuals exchange recipe ideas and the fats/oils each uses to prepare them, I was alarmed by the types of fats they considered safe for cooking. This co-op conversation inspired me to write this article with hope that our loyal readers will understand the importance of choosing safer fats for their frying pans – and most importantly, their health!
For the past 60 or more years, Americans have been on low-fat and/or poor quality fat diets. It’s no surprise as to why we’re suffering from such a myriad of degenerative diseases. We are, without a doubt, a society extremely deficient in healthy fatty acids! For those who have not been on low-fat diets, chances are, the fats and oils you’ve been purchasing from your local grocer are denatured, refined, unstable and quite frankly, dangerous to consume. The processing methods these fats are exposed to render them poisonous to our bodies, prematurely robbing us of our health and vitality!
The low-fat/no-fat approach was first promoted in the 1950’s by nutrition researcher Nathan Pritikin. Initially, Pritikin advocated a no-fat diet, high in un-refined carbohydrates, but long-term research revealed to him that a no-fat diet led to many physiological imbalances including fatigue, mood disorders (especially depression), nutrient deficiencies (especially minerals), weight issues and more. Realizing that fatty acids were necessary for balanced health, Pritikin began promoting that a low-fat diet, including modest amounts of vegetable fats (from nuts and seeds), was actually more healthful than the no-fat diet approach. Hence, the low-fat diet was born and this dangerously flawed theory is still a core dietary recommendation among dieticians, clinical nutritionists, and doctors to date.
First, let us examine how healthy fats/oils of ALL KINDS BENEFIT our well-being:

Fats satisfy our appetites.
Fats aid in healthy hormone production in the body.
Fats greatly enhance mineral absorption in the diet.
Fats provide a long-burning source of energy – especially for the heart!
Fats build healthy bile; a substance made by the liver, stored and released by the gallbladder to aid in optimal fat digestion and emulsification.
Fats help to nourish every cell in our bodies by providing building blocks to maintain healthy cell membranes. (Nutrients in; Wastes out!)
Fats aid in the formation of anti -inflammatory substances in the body (prostaglandins)
Fats allow us to heal quickly and effectively (boosts healinginflammatory processes)

Next, let us look at how fats are classified:

Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA’s) – highly stable in nature; do not turn rancid easily - even at higher temperatures. Saturated fat molecules are straight and stack together tightly to form a solid or semi-solid fat at room temperature.
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA’s) – relatively stable; do not turn rancid easily. Liquid at room temperature, but semi-solid upon refrigeration. Monounsaturated fat molecules are shaped differently than saturated fat molecules. They have a slight bend, which allows them to stack closely, yet not as tightly as SFA’s. This is why MUFA’s are liquid at room temperature.
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA’s) – unstable at even room temperature; easily damaged by heat, light, moisture and oxygen exposure; refrigeration required; turn rancid quickly and easily. Polyunsaturated fat molecules have two bends, which will not allow them to stack together well at all. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids fall in this category.

Keep in mind that all fats are a combination of fatty acids. Their classification is determined by the highest percentage of saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated fatty acids. For example, hemp oil has a fatty acid profile of 1g of saturated fat, 11g of polyunsaturated fat, and 2g of monounsaturated fat. It is classified as a PUFA because the polyunsaturated type of fatty acid is most abundant in hemp oil.
The MOST stable and healthful fats for cooking and occasional frying at higher temperatures/smoke points are certain animal fats and tropical oils, which belong to the saturated fat family. Saturated fats have been unfairly attacked since the medical and scientific so-called "experts" falsely linked the dietary intake of saturated fat and cholesterol to the increased incidence of heart disease. The study supporting this saturated fat scare, known as the "Lipid Hypothesis", was proposed in the 1950’s by American Physiologist, Dr. Ancel Keys. The fats used in this study were hydrogenated, processed fats, known to be extremely irritating to the body, particularly the vascular system. Cholesterol acts as a healing agent to repair and protect the arteries and veins. Therefore, the more irritation, the more cholesterol will mobilize to save the day! Research now shows us that dietary cholesterol intake
has VERY LITTLE to do with over all cholesterol levels, so this part of the theory was off target as well. Today, the Lipid Hypothesis continues to be promoted by most medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies, as well as the modern food processing giants, who profit from such flawed research. Saturated fatty acids from healthy sources nourish the vascular system, enhance immune function, protect the liver from certain toxins (including alcohol), aid in calcium absorption, and increase cellular membrane integrity. Keep in mind that heart disease was considered a rare condition before the 1920’s, but spiked dramatically from 1910 to 1970 as Americans began consuming less saturated animal fats and increasing amounts of vegetable fats in the form of margarine, shortening and adulterated, refined oils of all types. Our not-so-distant ancestors consumed healthy sources of saturated fats each and every day with no adverse health effects whatsoever!
The LEAST stable fats for cooking are from vegetable, nut, and seed sources. High in omega-6 and/or omega-3 fatty acids, these particular types of fat molecules are extremely delicate and reactive. They become damaged and rancid easily when exposed to mild to moderate temperatures, light, moisture or oxygen. They must remain refrigerated at all times, should NEVER be used for cooking, and should only be consumed in moderate amounts. I personally do not keep my omega-3/omega-6 oils any longer than six months – even when refrigerated in opaque, tightly sealed bottles. I also keep fatty acid supplements in the refrigerator at all times because they can turn rancid, too!
An important note about omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids:
Omega 3s or Alpha-Linolenic Fatty Acids are essential to our health. The term essential applies because the human body cannot manufacture these types of fatty acids on its own. We must obtain them through diet. But please do not translate the essential status of omega-3 fatty acids as meaning that you need an abundance of them in your diet to be healthy. The opposite is true. A little goes a long way, so a modest amount (no more than 1 teaspoon per day) is sufficient. This principle also applies to omega-6 fatty acids (Linoleic Fatty Acids). They are classified as essential, but we do not need to consume much omega-6s. Only small amounts are needed. The Standard American Diet (SAD) contains too many omega-6s and too little omega-3s, resulting in a grossly distorted omega fat ratio of nearly 19:1. The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats is 1:1. An easy way to incorporate the proper amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids into your diet is to add them in small amounts to other healthy oils. For example, prepare a balanced fatty acid salad dressing using 4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil with no more than 1 teaspoon each of omega-6 (pumpkin or hemp oil) and omega-3 (flax oil) fatty acids, sea salt and organic, raw apple cider vinegar.
The easiest way to stay within the optimal 1:1 ratio of omega-6’s to omega-3’s is to avoid ALL processed foods, which are highest in rancid, denatured omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA’s. Prepare your foods at home as often as possible from fresh, local, and organic ingredients where YOU have control over the fats you cook with, or seek out a co-op or community kitchen preparing traditional foods with the correct fats if you have a busy schedule and cannot cook often. If you decide to dine out, take your oils (and sea salt, too) along with you! My local Thai restaurant is happy to cook my dinner with the virgin, organic coconut oil I bring in when dining there. In fact, now they keep my jar of coconut oil in a special place, so it is already there when I decide to dine at their establishment! Instead of BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) applying to alcohol alone, perhaps we can all start a healthy fatty acid revolution where BYOB will also mean "bring your own bottle OF OIL"!
Now, let’s review how fats and oils are processed and why we should avoid these toxic "frankenfats":
Before you add that bottle of commercially produced corn oil, vegetable oil, or tub of margarine or shortening to your shopping cart, first be sure you know how your oils of choice have been processed, so you may make an educated decision about the safest fats to consume to improve or maintain good health.
The ugly truth about commercially prepared oils: It’s not the oil! It’s the processing!
The first step of fatty acid processing is the EXTRACTION phase. Oils, naturally occurring in nuts and seeds, first need to be released for collection. To aid in the release of these oils, modern processing methods crush the nuts and seeds then expose them to heat in excess of 230 degrees! Next, the crushed nuts and seeds are pressed under great amounts of pressure to "squeeze out" the oils. The pounds of pressure used to force the oils generate additional heat, further damaging the fatty acid molecules. Next, a dangerous chemical solvent called hexane (a so-called "food grade solvent) is added to the crushed nuts and seeds to draw out the last bit of oil. Hexane is a derivative of petroleum that may cause impaired infertility and central nervous system depression, among other serious health dangers. Edible oil processors then boil off the hexane solvent for the most part, but traces of it remain – nearly 100 parts per million – in the oil! If the nuts and seeds being processed are not from organic sources, solvents like hexane act as a magnet – capturing the pesticides sprayed on them before harvesting. These pesticide concentrations show up in the end product, which is now a rancid, refined oil!
Another popular method used to process oils is HYDROGENATION. Examples of hydrogenated PUFA’s are margarine and shortening. This process transforms PUFA’s, which are naturally liquid at room temperature, into solid at room temperature fats so they are stable for long periods of time. This is a big plus for the processed food industry because PUFA’s are cheap oils to extract in the first place. Extending their shelf-life through the hydrogenation process makes them even more economical. It’s the health of the public that pays the price! The hydrogenation process usually begins with extracted, already rancid PUFA oils from the EXTRACTION phase. [Please be aware that MUFA’s may also be processed, as well as certain saturated fats - mainly tropical oils. Do not consume processed/refined MUFA’s or tropical oils! They are as damaging to the body as any other refined/hydrogenated PUFA oil!] Next, tiny particles of metal in the form of nickel oxide are added to the oil, so that when it is exposed to hydrogen gas in a high-heat, high-pressure reactor, the fat molecules will be forced to chemically change their structure from a natural PUFA structure (two bends in the molecule) to that of a saturated fatty acid structure (a straight molecule). These altered molecules are called TRANS FATS. At this point, the oil has become thin and watery, as well as foul smelling – a byproduct of rancidity. To return the oil to a thicker, more viscous state, processors add in multiple fillers and thickeners. The odors are then removed through a steam-cleaning process, which subjects the oil to more heat, causing further molecular damage. Next, the oil is bleached to remove its dull gray color. This odorless, colorless white substance is now packaged as vegetable shortening. To produce margarine, artificial colors and flavors are added to make it resemble real butter. The end product is now a cheap PUFA oil acting as a stable saturated fat. Nature did not intend for PUFA molecules to be arranged this way and the human body cannot recognize these kinds of fats as food! When we consume extracted and hydrogenated fats, we lose the ability to utilize healthy fats properly. Healthy fatty acids are displaced by the "franken-fatty acids" cascading the body into serious health problems such as cancer, diabetes, birth defects, sexual dysfunction, heart disease, and poor bone health, to name a few. A word of advice from fat experts Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon, "Your best defense is to avoid partially hydrogenated fats like the plague!" I agree wholeheartedly!
Myth: Consuming a moderate amount of TRANS-FATS is considered safe.
Deceptive labeling practices are rampant among the processed food industry. Products containing extracted and hydrogenated fats are legally allowed to claim a "no trans fats" status, when in fact trans fats are indeed present in these products. How is this possible? Trans fatty acids are clearly a by-product of processing, but the FDA allows the food manufacturer to claim "zero trans-fats" on the label if the trans-fats content is under a certain "acceptable" amount per serving. FACT: NO AMOUNT of trans fatty acids is safe to consume! In the exact words of the National Academy of Sciences, "Trans fatty acids are not essential and provide no known benefit to human health!" We must avoid these unhealthy fatty acids at all costs if we wish to be truly healthy.
How to tell if an oil is chemically processed: SIMPLY READ THE LABEL!!
AVOID all fats, oils and the products that contain them if the following processing terms are listed ANYWHERE on ANY food label:

Refined

Hydrogenated

Partially-Hydrogenated

Cold-PROCESSED (do not confuse this trick phrase with Cold-PRESSED)

INSTEAD, look for these safer processing terms on your fat/oil labels:

Organic

First-cold pressed or Cold-Pressed

Expeller-Pressed

Unrefined

Extra Virgin

Note: These "safer" processing techniques help to retain the antioxidant profile found in fats through low-temperature, low-light and low-oxygen extraction methods. Naturally occurring antioxidants protect fats from oxidizing (turning rancid) during extraction.
What exactly happens to PUFA’s when they are improperly processed?
When PUFA’s are exposed to the stressors of processing they become rancid or oxidized, forming free radicals. These chaotic, skewed fatty acid molecules, now in the form of free radicals, wreak havoc on the body attacking and damaging DNA and RNA, cell membranes, vascular walls, and red blood cells, all of which cascade into deeper physiological damage such as tumor formation, accelerated aging, arterial plaque accumulation, autoimmune imbalances, and more! Consuming PUFA’s in moderate amounts unprocessed or minimally processed through safer methods - is healthful, so please do not avoid PUFA’s altogether. Rotating them into the diet in small amounts along with a balance of healthy sources of mostly monounsaturated and saturated fats will provide you with a BALANCED, FULL-SPECTRUM FATTY ACID PROFILE that will undoubtedly serve your health in more ways that you can imagine!
Sources:
Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon
Know Your Fats, by Mary G. Enig, PhD
www.westonaprice.org – Articles:"The Skinny on Fat" and "Fats and Oils FAQ’s", "The Great Con-ola", by Mary G. Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon
Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc., "Fatty Acids Module – NTT Curriculum
"The Big Fat Lie", by Colleen Dunseth, NTP, NTA Instructor
Safety Data for Hexane: www.http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/HE/hexane.html
National Academy of Sciences – Article: "Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids"
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser

Most Astonishing Health Disaster of the 20th Century

2010-04-28T17:12:00.000-05:00

Former Big Pharma Rep Confesses

2010-04-13T20:05:00.000-05:00

Allergy Elimination Video

2010-04-12T13:13:00.002-05:00

Dr. Tang is now advanced certified to perform NAET. This is a mandatory video to watch before the consultation and treatment. It is highly encouraged to read the book "Say Goodbye to Illness" by Dr. Devi Nambudripad, MD, DC PhD, LAc., before your initial consultation.

Good Posture...Just How Important Is It To Your Health?

2010-04-12T12:14:00.001-05:00

Posture ranks right up at the top of the list when you are talking about good health. It is as important as eating right, exercising, getting a good night's sleep and avoiding potentially harmful substances like alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Good posture is a way of doing things with more energy, less stress and fatigue. Without good posture, you can't really be physically fit.

Surprised? Well, you're not alone. The benefits of good posture may be among the “best” kept secrets. The good news is that most everyone can “avoid” the problems caused by bad posture...and you can make improvements at any age.

Good Posture is Good Health

We're a health conscious society today and good posture is a part of it. Because good posture means your bones are properly aligned and your muscles, joints and ligaments can work as nature intended. It means your vital organs are in the right position and can function at peak efficiency. Good posture helps contribute to the normal functioning of the nervous system.

Without good posture, your overall health and total efficiency may be compromised. Because the long-term effects of poor posture can affect bodily systems (such as digestion, elimination, breathing, muscles, joints and ligaments), a person who has poor posture may often be tired or unable to work efficiently or move properly.

Even for younger people, how you carry yourself when working, relaxing or playing can have big effects. Did you know that just 15 minutes reading or typing when using the wrong positions exhausts the muscles of your neck, shoulders and upper back?

Poor Posture - How Does it Happen?

Often, poor posture develops because of accidents or falls. But bad posture can also develop from environmental factors or bad habits. This means that you have control.

In most cases, poor posture results from a combination of several factors, which can include:

1. Accidents, injuries and falls
2. Poor sleep support (mattress)
3. Excessive weight
4. Visual or emotional difficulties
5. Foot problems or improper shoes
6. Weak muscles, muscle imbalance
7. Careless sitting, standing, sleeping habits
8. Negative self image
9. Occupational stress
10. Poorly designed work space

Poor Posture & Pain

A lifetime of poor posture can start a progression of symptoms in the average adult. It can start with...
Fatigue – then tight, achy muscles in the neck, back, arms and legs - by this time, there may be a change in your muscles and ligaments and you may have a stiff, tight painful feeling. More than 80% of the neck and back problems are the result of tight, achy muscles brought on by years of bad posture. Poor posture and limited mobility increase the likelihood of this condition in later years. We help you minimize those effects by removing spinal subluxations which contribute to bad posture and often first cause it to occur.

Polyunsaturated Fats Really May Lower Heart Risk

2010-04-05T09:56:00.001-05:00

Polyunsaturated Fats Really May Lower Heart Risk
Study might offer proof at last that replacing saturated fats has heart benefits

(HealthDay News) -- Replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats may reduce your risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

Harvard School of Public Health researchers reviewed eight studies with a total of 13,614 participants and found that those who replaced saturated fats in their diet with polyunsaturated fats had a 19 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease than those who didn't make the switch.

For every 5 percent increase in polyunsaturated fat consumption -- found in most vegetable oils -- coronary heart disease risk was reduced by 10 percent, according to the study published online March 23 in the journal PLoS Medicine.

For nearly six decades, Americans have been advised to reduce their consumption of saturated fats, such as butter, to prevent heart disease, but there has been little scientific proof that doing so actually decreased heart disease risk, according to the researchers. They said this study provides conclusive evidence from randomized clinical trials that there is a benefit in switching from saturated fats to polyunsaturated fats.

Over the past few decades, saturated fats in the American diet were generally replaced with increased consumption of refined carbohydrates and grains.

"The specific replacement nutrient for saturated fat may be very important. Our findings suggest that polyunsaturated fats would be a preferred replacement for saturated fats for better heart health," study lead author Dariush Mozaffarian, an assistant professor in the epidemiology department at the Harvard School of Public Health and in the department of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a news release.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration outlines how to eat for a healthy heart.
-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Harvard School of Public Health, news release, March 22, 2010

Family Care Wellness & Rehab

Alan Tang wants you to join SugarSync

Eczema clearing up naturally?

Say goodbye to your food-induced headaches

Asthma helped lessen medications!

Lactose Intolerance and Milk Allergies

Nicholas' ADHD is improving in just a month?

Fender-benders: worry about your neck, not your bumper

Audrey's Experience with NAET

Yoplait Reformulates - But is it better?

Upcoming winter tricks for an easier winter.....

Insomnia, anxiety meds shorten lives

Woman with Seizures Helped with Chiropractic - Case Study

Traditional Oriental Medicine "Music"

Traditional Chinese Recipe for Coughs

Water or Coke?

Fwd: Daily Health News: Just a Little Belly Fat Can Damage Blood Vessels

Natural Jif: What’s The Dif? -Lisa Cain, Ph.D.

Training: Nutri-Q: cNAQ Notification

Brown Rice Tied to Better Heart Health in Study

Tests Show Top Tuna Brands Have High Mercury Levels

Fwd: FooducateDoes High Fructose Corn Syrup cause Diabetes/Cancer/Purple Pimples?

A Tale of Two Pizzas

Egg Beaters or Real Eggs?

What do Silly Putty and Chicken McNuggets Have in Common?

My Oh My, There’s a Warning on that Food Dye!

Only in America: Candy Maker to Sponsor Our Dietary Advice [Thanks Hershey!]

Food and Nutrition Information you can Trust

Why Diet Soda Makes You Fat

Fwd: Marrow registry: Thanks to you, we won the Pepsi Refresh Grant

Improvement in Autism with Chiropractic - a Case Study

U.S. Health Care System: Worst in the world?

Resolution of Otitis Media in a Nine Month Old Undergoing Chiropractic Care

Wish-Bone Salad Dressing Mistakes Consumers for Chumps

Harvard, USDA: Soda Tax Will Cut Obesity

Campbell’s Spaghetti-Oh Oh’s [Inside the Label]

Fwd: CounterThink cartoon: The museum of human atrocities against nature

A Visual of Twinkie’s 37 Ingredients

Oh Boy! Now they’ve Found Lead in Kids’ Fruit Juice/Products

Chocolate Cheerios, Corporate Growth, and Obesity

The most maddening aspect of Chocolate Cheerios though is not what we have discussed so far, but rather the bold health claim that appears inside the red heart:

9 Tips For Choosing a Better Salad Dressing

Kellogg’s Slapped by FTC, Twice, for Misleading Ads

Those Poison McDonalds Shrek Glasses are the LEAST of Parents’ Worries

General Halstead on Chiropractic

The Beverage Industry Against Soda Taxes – Mom n’ Pop Shops, “Bribes”-Fooducate

BPA in canned food! -Fooducate

Fooducate

Avoid Common Exercise Mistakes

Break Free of the Disease Diet

Back Pain: Exercises to Help Healing

What Do Strawberries Have to Do with ADHD Kids?-Fooducate

Soft drinks

Nutrition for Healthy Skin

Restaurant Sushi May Have More Mercury Than Store-Bought Fare

Another Reason to Quit Sugary Soft Drinks – Cholesterol

UPDATE ON WASHINGTON REDSKINS CHEERLEADER- THE SHOCKING SIDE EFFECTS

Recommended Reading for Alternative Medicine and Nutraceuticals

Asthma Improving with NAET

Pregnancy Made Easier with Chiropractic

Not a Prisoner of Gluten Anymore!

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 2

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 1

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 1 by Caroline Barringer, NTP, CHFS, FES

Most Astonishing Health Disaster of the 20th Century

Former Big Pharma Rep Confesses

Allergy Elimination Video

Good Posture...Just How Important Is It To Your Health?

Polyunsaturated Fats Really May Lower Heart Risk

Fats: Safer Choices for Your Frying Pan and Your Health-Part 1
by Caroline Barringer, NTP, CHFS, FES