Disease Prevention

The Benefits of Human Growth Hormone When Used Correctly

Human Growth Hormone, HGH, has alternatively received both beatings and boosts by the scientific and medical communities and the media. What is HGH? Who should take it?

HGH supplementation was originally approved, and still used today, to help extremely small children attain a more normal adult height. Were it not for HGH, these children would be abnormally short-statured adults.

Although using hormone growth therapy for adults has been both a social and ethical controversy for over 50 years, individuals who inject HGH on a regular basis give glowing testimony of Youth Regained: stronger muscles, faster response time, increased mental acuity and memory, a level of energy they haven’t seen in years, and a reduction of body fat. Mayo Clinic studies have shown that injections of HGH increase bone density and muscle mass, decrease body fat, bolster the heart’s ability to contract, improve mood, and increase exercise capacity. Notwithstanding…

A Test to Identify Nutritional Imbalances

Like others reading our blog, you understand that the food you eat affects your health.  Eating high quality, fresh, vitamin-laden foods give you the best chances to feel energized and avoid illness, disease, obesity and future problems such as heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis and other age-related conditions. But how do you know your best efforts at a healthy diet are hitting the mark?

NutrEval is a comprehensive nutritional evaluation designed to identify nutritional imbalances that help to overcome chronic disease and promote optimal health and wellness, including: organic acids, amino acids, essential fatty acids, toxic and nutrient element levels, and oxidative stress. It’s a unique profile that provides critical information for understanding individual disease risk, it evaluates your overall nutritional status, and assesses your functional need for vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, & co-factors.

The resulting profile also provides help in understanding gastrointestinal…

Fish Oils May Slow Genetic Aging

Now there is more good news for all of you that are taking your Fish oil, and more good reason to if you are not. Happily, a recent study, supported by grants from the American Heart Association and the Bernard and Barbro Foundation, shows that omega-3 fatty acids may slow biological aging.

Researcher Ramin Farzaneh-Far, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and his colleagues followed 608 patients with known coronary artery disease for a period of five years. Blood tests were taken to identify their telomere lengths at the beginning and end of the study. Research has shown that the length of telomeres may be a marker of biological age; theoretically, the longer one’s telomeres, the younger one is, biologically speaking. Therefore, measuring telomere length at both the beginning and end of the study enabled the researchers to understand how rapidly their telomeres were…

Excess Body Fat = Thousands of Cancer Cases Annually

A shocking new study was published last week by researchers with the American Institute for Cancer Research,  that states more than 100,000 cases of cancer are caused annually by excess body-fat and obesity. The researchers studied seven cancers with known links to obesity along with actual case counts that were likely obesity-related.

From

The report says that 49 percent of endometrial cancers are caused by excess body fat. That number is followed by 35 percent of esophageal cancer cases; 28 percent of pancreatic cancer cases; 24 percent of kidney cancer cases; 21 percent of gallbladder cancer cases; 17 percent of breast cancer cases; and 9 percent of colorectal cancer cases.

“This is the first time that we’ve put real, quantifiable case numbers on obesity-related cancers,” said Glen Weldon, the American Institute for…

Economy Affecting Waistlines Along with Wallets

Everyone is feeling the effects of the economic recession. For many, value trumps health-conscious when it comes to food choices.  It’s sad, but true, that processed, frozen or “fast food” is less expensive than the healthier alternatives.  Whether you’re feeding yourself or an entire family, those frozen tv-dinners or the “value menu” at the burger joint can be pretty attractive, financially.

One of the consequences of this unfortunate situation, however, is that Americans are just getting fatter, and our risk for obesity related illnesses such as diabetes is rising.

From the Wall Street Journal:

“Approximately 20% of all meals prepared in our homes from 1990 to 2007 involved the use of a microwave,” says Mr. Balzer. But in 2008, microwave usage rose to 30%. NPD Group, which has been following the microwaving habits…

FDA Cracking Down on Misleading Nutrition Labels

It’s great to be home! It’s been hectic since I got back, but I’ll report on my trip soon. I’ve posted a couple of photos on Facebook, in the meantime though.

Great news today on the nutrition front – the FDA is going after manufacturers who label their food “healthy” when they are very clearly not. For those of us searching the aisles for nutritious food choices, it’s infuriating to learn we’ve been misled.

NPR has put together a list of six such “healthy” foods to stay away from.  Unfortunately this kind of labeling is indicative of the lengths gone to by brands jumping on the “healthy” bandwagon only to sell product – with no intent to provide healthy food.

From NPR

When a food claims to be a “Smart Choice” or “Heart Healthy,” and it’s written right there on the front of the package, should…

Another Reason to Eat the Mediterranean Way – Less Depression

China is an amazing country – I am looking forward to posting photos and news from my trip when I return in a few days. In the meantime, I read this article, and since we’ve talked about this type of diet and the many benefits derived from keeping your soup clean, I thought I should share it with you, if you haven’t already seen it.

From the NY Times:

Eating a Mediterranean-style diet — packed with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, olive oil and fish — is good for your heart, many studies have found. Now scientists are suggesting the diet may be good for your mental health, too

A study of over 10,000 Spaniards followed for almost four and half years on average found that those who reported eating a healthy Mediterranean diet at the beginning of the study…

Food Choices Supersede Genetics

A recent study has revealed that though a genetic predisposition to obesity creates a risk for obesity 2.5 times higher than for

those with no predisposition, this “fat gene” is effectively neutralized for those who follow a low-fat, nutrient rich diet!

This means even if you’re inherently predisposed to become obese, you can wrest some control of your genetic makeup simply by eating well. Talk about a reason to keep your soup clean! This research is a powerful weapon we have in our own hands that allows us to combat obesity from the comfort of our own homes!

” ‘This means that the critical factor is what you eat. At least in the case of the FTO gene, the most important obesity gene identified so far,’ says…

Insulin Resistance Improved with Exercise

A new study shows that moderate exercise alone, without weight loss, will improve insulin resistance in both lean and obese adolescents.  Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that permits glucose to enter cells to be used for energy or stored for future use by the body.

From

Because obese adolescents are resistant to insulin, in order to maintain normal blood sugar levels, they have to increase their production of insulin. Increased insulin production however, places higher demands on the pancreas. These higher demands can exhaust pancreatic beta cells to the point that they no longer produce sufficient amounts of insulin to keep blood sugar levels normal, which might subsequently lead to type 2 diabetes.

Because weight loss can be difficult to achieve and maintain in obese sedentary children, the…

Anti-Aging Benefits of Multivitamins

Just a short note today, to let you know about a new study that shows your daily multivitamin provides greater health and anti-aging benefits than previously thought. This is good news!

Researchers discovered that regular ingestion of multivitamins can reduce inflammation that leads to disease and biological aging. They determine this by gauging the length of the patient’s Telomeres, which are highly repeated DNA sequences on the ends of chormosomes that protect them from degradation. Every time a cell replicates, its telomere gets shorter, eventually causing cell death. Measuring telomere length is an indicator of cellular aging, and research demonstrates that shortened telomeres are responsible for many of the normal processes of aging.  Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and dementia have strong associations with shorter telomeres.

The ageing and lifespan of normal, healthy…