Test your Nutrient I.Q.
WHAT NUTRIENT…
- was considered universal medicine for destroying bacteria and viruses before the onslaught of synthetic drugs?
- has been used for centuries for wound healing; especially during war time?
- was amply added to a substance we mostly use in our daily diet since the 1920s to reduce the rate of goiter disorder?
- was considered helpful in ridding the body of toxic buildup?
- was used to purify water before chlorine?
Admit it or not, chocolate is on the mind of most of us, especially in February. That said, everything must be in moderation for chocolate to provide health-enhancing benefits rather than health-depleting disorders.
Chocolate is made from plants—it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables—antioxidant-rich flavonoids which protect the body from aging caused by free-radicals that can lead to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly eight times the number in strawberries)—flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through production of nitric oxide and also balance certain hormones.
Xylitol is not only a safe, natural sweetener without the bad side-effects of sugar and artificial substitutes,
it’s also good for your teeth, stabilizes insulin and
hormone levels, and promotes good health.
Americans have a mighty hankering for sugar. It seems that we just can’t get enough of the stuff. On average, a half a cup of sugar is consumed per person every day. It is estimated the average American eats, drinks, slurps, stirs, and sprinkles about 150 pounds of it annually. Never in modern history has a culture consumed so much sugar.
The Cochrane Library is a widely respected scientific organization
that analyzes previous studies (a so-called
meta-analysis) on a topic and reaches “evidence-based”
conclusions about what’s likely to work and not work in medical
practice. In May 2012, they published a meta-analysis that
looked at seven studies on salt and health involving more than
6,000 people. Their conclusion? “We didn’t see big benefits”
from salt restriction, said the lead author of the study, Professor
Rod Taylor from the Peninsula College of Medicine and
Dentistry at the University of Exeter. No lower risk of heart
disease. No lower rate of early death.
Depression is characterized by low mood, loss of
pleasure, or changes in sleep or energy, that are not
associated with recent grief or another underlying
medical condition. At any time, it affects an estimated 9 percent
of the U.S. population, and is projected to have the second
greatest contribution to lifetime disability (behind cardiovascular
disease) by the end of the decade.1,2 Part of the multimodal
approach to management of chronic clinical depression can
involve the biochemical balance of brain chemicals to alleviate
symptoms; most first-line pharmaceutical treatments function
by increasing the activity of one or more neurotransmitters (brain
chemicals responsible for many of the aspects of cognitive
function), particularly serotonin. In the central nervous system
(CNS), serotonin has been implicated in regulation of sleep,
depression, anxiety, aggression, appetite, temperature, sexual
behavior, and pain sensation. 3
According to new research published in Food and Function, researchers from the University of Scranton in Scranton,
Pa., compared the amount of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols
in nine types of roasted and raw nuts and two types of
peanut butter in an attempt to “crack” the antioxidant code.
The results?
Eat Less SALT— and DIE?
Written by Jacob Teitelbaum, MD
I’m being sarcastic, right? The official health
wisdom — the wisdom everybody knows is right (because all
the top health officials repeat it over and over again) — is that
if you “restrict” the salt in your diet, you’ll live longer.
That’s because (once again, according to those official pronouncements) your blood pressure will be lower, putting you at less risk for a heart attack or stroke, the #1 and #3 causes of death in the U.S.
A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition
Education and Behavior concludes you can eat
out and still burn fat.
In this study, 35 healthy middle-aged women participated in a six-week program called Mindful Restaurant Eating, which teaches people how to eat out healthfully.
Now, keep in mind the goal of Mindful Restaurant Eating was to prevent weight gain in women, who fell into that perimenopausal age range where weight gain and ensuing problems like diabetes and heart disease more frequently occur.
Consider this example: Imagine eating a healthy carb such as quinoa, lentils or a sweet potato
with your lean protein and essential fats. Sounds
healthy, right? But what if your body interpreted
that carbohydrate as though it were a big bowl of
chocolate ice cream? When we are sensitive to carbohydrates,
our cells do not respond effectively to insulin (a condition called
insulin resistance), which causes insulin levels to increase.
In fact, the vast majority of us have different degrees of sensitivity to carbohydrates or insulin resistance, and we don’t even realize it. If you’re wondering whether you are carb sensitive, take a good look at your waist and pinch your stomach. If you carry excess fat in this area, you very likely possess some level of insulin resistance, which also means you are likely carb sensitive. If you’re naturally lean, it’s safe to say that you can tolerate eating carbs quite readily without weight gain and excess cravings. You can also tell if you are carbohydrate sensitive by asking yourself these key questions:
Name a drink that can increase your alertness, prevent you from fainting after giving blood, and even promote
a teensy bit of weight loss.
Think it’s one of those “miraculous” multi-level marketing elixirs made of exotic juices that sell for about 40 bucks a pop?
Well, think again...continue reading.
The drink I’m talking about doesn’t cost anything, yet most of us don’t get enough of it.
I’m talking about…water.
Diet and Nutrition