How America Is Making the Whole World Fat and Unhealthy

March 19, 2012

Alter Net

By Alter Net

“No wonder the whole world is getting more unhealthy – they are eating like Americans.” –KTRN

It is hardly news that the United States faces epidemic health problems linked to poor diets. Nearly two out of every five Americans are obese. But according to a press release from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, “The West is now exporting diabetes and heart disease to developing countries, along with the processed foods that line the shelves of global supermarkets. By 2030, more than 5 million people will die each year before the age of 60 from non-communicable diseases linked to diets.”

De Schutter, whose work usually focuses on ending hunger, just published a new report saying, “The right to food cannot be reduced to a right not to starve. It is an inclusive right to an adequate diet providing all the nutritional elements an individual requires to live a healthy and active life, and the means to access them.” In other words, the right to a healthful diet must be included in the human right to food. And, as the unhealthy diets already common in the United States spread to poorer nations, so do the health problems associated with those diets. However, unlike wealthy nations, poorer nations are not equipped to deal with the health consequences via medicine, making preventable diet-related health problems more deadly.

While the poor around the world face hunger, for those who have enough to eat in non-industrialized nations, traditional diets are quite healthy. In Kenya, for example, peasant farmers subsist on a stiff corn porridge called ugali eaten with a variety of green vegetables, beans, and perhaps some pumpkin. Peasants in Bolivia may dine on potatoes, quinoa and other grains, corn, sweet potato, and other Andean roots and tubers. Mexicans combine corn tortillas and beans to provide complete protein. A Filipino family may eat pinakbet, a stew of local vegetables flavored with bagoong, a Filipino fish sauce.

In each and every case, traditional diets are made up of whole foods, including grains, beans, vegetables, fresh fruit, and perhaps some animal products. Wild plants that an American might dispose of as “weeds” are used to provide essential micronutrients, feed families during hard times, or serve as medicines. Often fermentation is used to preserve foods and increase their nutrition, as in the case of Kenya’s fermented porridge uji. Livestock enjoy diverse and natural diets, and meat is reserved for special occasions — perhaps a chicken to celebrate the arrival of a guest, a goat for Christmas, or a cow for a wedding.

But times are changing. Visit even the most far-flung rural part of each of these nations today, and you’ll find Coca-Cola advertising — and Coca-Cola — everywhere. Restaurants and stores in Africa display Coca-Cola-themed store signs while their menus are posted on Coca-Cola chalkboards and waiters wear red Cola-Cola aprons. In South America, you can buy a bottle of Coke out of your car window from a vendor dressed in red Coca-Cola-themed gear while you wait in traffic. If there’s anywhere on earth you cannot easily buy an ice-cold Coke, it’s Antarctica — although it’s very possible there are already shops selling ice-cold Coke there, too. And while other junk foods sold in each of these places may not be such recognizable global brands, they are equally detrimental to human health no matter which company makes them or how they are branded.

Click here for the full report.

Don’t Believe The Lie: Organic Farming CAN Feed The World

March 5th, 2012

Natural News

By: Ethan A. Huff

One of the arguments often used to defend genetically-modified (GM) crops purports that biotechnology is necessary to feed the world, as non-GM and organic farming methods by themselves are incapable of producing enough food for everyone. But the truth of the matter is that organic farming by itself is fully capable of feeding the world — we just need to make a few changes to the way we grow and raise our food, which includes putting an end to the factory farming methods that are destroying our health and the planet.

In a report entitled Feeding the Future, the Soil Association, a U.K.-based organic farming advocacy group, makes the case that organic and other agro-ecological farming systems are not only the solution to the world’s hunger problems, but when implemented, these holistic methods of growing food actually facilitate bringing the world’s poorest out of poverty.

On the flip side, GM farming systems perpetuate and even create poverty because they lock farmers into an endless cycle of dependence on corporations for both the next season’s batch of self-destructing seeds, and the toxic chemical cocktails required to grow them. GM agriculture, in other words, is toxic to the world’s economies, toxic to human health, and toxic to the environment.

As was shown in a recent Rodale Institute study, which was the culmination of more than 30 years worth of research, organic farming systems actually produce higher yields than GM and non-GM conventional farming systems. Organic farming is also fully self-renewing and sustainable, as composting, manure, and other organic fertilizing methods naturally enrich soil and eliminate the need for toxic pesticides and herbicides (http://www.naturalnews.com/033925_organic_farming_crop_yields.html).

A much as 40 percent of the world’s grains are fed to factory farm animals

Besides the GMO issue, factory farming systems in general, including confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), are needlessly depleting much of the world’s supply of grains. According to the Soil Association, as much as 40 percent of all the world’s cereals are fed to livestock, and this could rise to 50 percent by 2050 if current trends continue.

Ruminating animals like cows and sheep were meant to eat grasses on pasture, not GM soy, corn, and the many other grains that are routinely fed to them on factory farms. Besides making the animals sick, as they were not designed to eat them, these grain mixtures require an intense amount of resources to grow and produce.

By letting animals graze naturally on pasture grasses, which humans cannot eat anyway, these grains could instead be used to feed humans. And grass-fed animals produce far healthier meat than grain-fed animals anyway, which means that human health across the globe would improve dramatically just from making the switch (http://www.naturalnews.com/027199_meat_fat_cattle.html).

One third of the world’s food ends up in the trash heap as waste

Particularly in the developed world, humans waste an incredible amount of food. The Soil Association says that roughly one third of all food produced for human consumption ends up getting wasted. So if more people simply made a conscious effort to conserve food, or at least come up with simple ways to share unused food with those in need, hunger in many areas of the world would subside dramatically (http://www.naturalnews.com/033885_food_waste_America.html).

The group also mentions a type of food rationing system as another option, but such a tyrannical approach would be wholly unnecessary if the other methods were implemented, and if more people began growing their own organic food at home.

For The Full Report Go To Natural News

Health Secrets Of The World’s Oldest People

December 19, 2011

Forbes

By Forbes

“Living past 100 is easy. Eat healthy, exercise, take good supplements, and be happy. And (eventually) get some stem cells.” –KTRN

How To Live To 102

Doctors say that healthy habits will help get you to age 85, but how to live beyond that remains a medical mystery. We interviewed people in their 100s to find out how they did it.

Eat Grains, Veggies And Fish

The largest concentration of healthy 100-year-olds is in Okinawa, Japan. The people there eat a diet high in grains, vegetables and fish, and low in eggs, meat and dairy. In the U.S., Daisy McFadden, who will turn 101 in November, follows suit. She regularly eats oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, a salad with chicken or fish for lunch, and steamed vegetables and lean meat for dinner.

Avoid Soda–Even Diet

Medical professionals warn against sodas, even diet sodas, and suggest you drink water or juice. McFadden, 101, rarely drank soda throughout her life and doesn’t touch it today, she says. Instead, she drinks water, cranberry juice, milk or iced tea. Coffee and alcoholic beverages are also healthy when not consumed in excess. David Prince, M.D., says drinking two to three alcoholic drinks per week will keep you healthy longer.

Indulge, A Little

Doctors do not only tolerate a treat here and there, they encourage it. McFadden, 101, eats chocolate chip cookies and likes red wine and Bloody Marys. Viola Crowson, 101, sometimes bakes brownies or grabs a hamburger from Hardys. David Prince, M.D., says sugar and red meat should be limited to once or twice a week but can be eaten if portions are small.

Click here for the full report.

Obesity Conspiracy

April 29, 2011

Mercola.com

By Dr. Mercola

A decade ago, an American woman’s waist, on average, was close to two inches smaller than it is today. Eighteen year olds are 15 pounds heavier than they were in the 1970s.

One reason is federal subsidies for food production. Take a look at these numbers:

• Meat/Dairy — 73.8 percent
• Grains — 13.2 percent
• Sugar/Oil/Starch/Alcohol — 10.7 percent
• Nuts/Legumes — 1.9 percent
• Vegetables/Fruits — 0.4 percent

That’s right – just 1.9 percent for nuts and legumes and 0.4 percent for fruits and vegetables. As a result, a salad often costs you more than a Big Mac.

Click here for the full report from Mercola.com.

Clues to Gluten Sensitivity

March 21st, 2011

The Wall Street Journal

By: Melinda Beck

Lisa Rayburn felt dizzy, bloated and exhausted. Wynn Avocette suffered migraines and body aches. Stephanie Meade’s 4-year-old daughter had constipation and threw temper tantrums.

All three tested negative for celiac disease, a severe intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. But after their doctors ruled out other causes, all three adults did their own research and cut gluten—and saw the symptoms subside.

A new study in the journal BMC Medicine may shed some light on why. It shows gluten can set off a distinct reaction in the intestines and the immune system, even in people who don’t have celiac disease.

“For the first time, we have scientific evidence that indeed, gluten sensitivity not only exists, but is very different from celiac disease,” says lead author Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Celiac Research.

The news will be welcome to people who have suspected a broad range of ailments may be linked to their gluten intake, but have failed to find doctors who agree.

“Patients have been told if it wasn’t celiac disease, it wasn’t anything. It was all in their heads,” says Cynthia Kupper, executive director of the nonprofit Gluten Intolerance Group of North America.

The growing market for gluten-free foods, with sales estimated at $2.6 billion last year, has made it even harder to distinguish a medical insight from a fad.

Although much remains unknown, it is clear that gluten—a staple of human diets for 10,000 years—triggers an immune response like an enemy invader in some modern humans.

The most basic negative response is an allergic reaction to wheat that quickly brings on hives, congestion, nausea or potentially fatal anaphylaxis. Less than 1% of children have the allergy and most outgrow it by age five. A small number of adults have similar symptoms if they exercise shortly after eating wheat.

At the other extreme is celiac disease, which causes the immune system to mistakenly attack the body’s own tissue. Antibodies triggered by gluten flatten the villi, the tiny fingers in the intestines needed to soak up nutrients from food. The initial symptoms are cramping, bloating and diarrhea, similar to irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, but celiac disease can lead to malnutrition, osteoporosis and other more serious health problems that can result in early death. It can be diagnosed with a blood test, but an intestinal biopsy is needed to be sure.

The incidence of celiac disease is rising sharply—and not just due to greater awareness. Tests comparing old blood samples to recent ones show the rate has increased four-fold in the last 50 years, to at least 1 in 133 Americans. It’s also being diagnosed in people as old as 70 who have eaten gluten safely all their lives.

“People aren’t born with this. Something triggers it and with this dramatic rise in all ages, it must be something pervasive in the environment,” says Joseph A. Murray, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. One possible culprit: agricultural changes to wheat that have boosted its protein content.

Gluten sensitivity, also known as gluten intolerance, is much more vague.

Some experts think as many as 1 in 20 Americans may have some form of it, but there is no test or defined set of symptoms. The most common are IBS-like stomach problems, headaches, fatigue, numbness and depression, but more than 100 symptoms have been loosely linked to gluten intake, which is why it has been so difficult to study. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center says that research into gluten sensitivity today is roughly where celiac disease was 30 years ago.

In the new study, researchers compared blood samples and intestinal biopsies from 42 subjects with confirmed celiac disease, 26 with suspected gluten sensitivity and 39 healthy controls. Those with gluten sensitivity didn’t have the flattened villi, or the “leaky” intestinal walls seen in the subjects with celiac disease.

Their immune reactions were different, too. In the gluten-sensitive group, the response came from innate immunity, a primitive system with which the body sets up barriers to repel invaders. The subjects with celiac disease rallied adaptive immunity, a more sophisticated system that develops specific cells to fight foreign bodies.

The findings still need to be replicated. How a reaction to gluten could cause such a wide range of symptoms also remains unproven. Dr. Fasano and other experts speculate that once immune cells are mistakenly primed to attack gluten, they can migrate and spread inflammation, even to the brain.

Indeed, Marios Hadjivassiliou, a neurologist in Sheffield, England, says he found deposits of antibodies to gluten in autopsies and brain scans of some patients with ataxia, a condition of impaired balance.

Could such findings help explain why some parents of autistic children say their symptoms have improved—sometimes dramatically—when gluten was eliminated from their diets? To date, no scientific studies have emerged to back up such reports.

Dr. Fasano hopes to eventually discover a biomarker specifically for gluten sensitivity. In the meantime, he and other experts recommend that anyone who thinks they have it be tested for celiac disease first.

For now, a gluten-free diet is the only treatment recommended for gluten sensitivity, though some may be able to tolerate small amounts, says Ms. Kupper.

“There’s a lot more that needs to be done for people with gluten sensitivity,” she says. “But at least we now recognize that it’s real and that these people aren’t crazy.”

Click here for the full report from the Wall Street Journal

Change Diet and Lower Risk of Heart Disease By Over Eighty Percent

December 30th, 2010

Natural News

By: John Phillip

Nearly one million people fall victim to heart disease every year. The vast majority of these people are unaware that this devastating condition can be prevented with a natural approach to diet. Researchers from the European EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study have developed a plan that can reduce the risk of coronary artery disease by 81%. Medical researchers understand that heart disease begins early in life and progresses to threaten life as we approach our senior years. The good news is that heart disease can be controlled and reversed by making simple changes to lifestyle and diet.

Drugs Can`t Fix Heart Disease
The typical patient diagnosed with heart disease is placed on a low fat diet and given a handful of medications including statins. Statins cause muscle pain in 40% of those who take them, and information from a study published in The Lancet journal confirms that this class of medication causes diabetes. Volumes of research confirm that high cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, yet it remains a popular target of treatment because it`s easy to lower with drugs. Similarly, a low fat diet perpetuates and worsens heart disease as it triggers continual blood sugar surges and high triglycerides.

Correcting the Real Cause of Heart Disease
The results of the EPIC study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine demonstrate that changes in diet could lower the risk of a heart attack by 81% through inflammation reduction and lowering blood pressure. The study highlighted four dietary factors that result in heart disease.

Refined Carbohydrates, Grains and Sugar: Processed foods have become a staple in the typical diet. These foods are loaded with simple carbs that quickly break down to glucose and cause rapid blood sugar spikes. This eventually leads to insulin resistance and damages the delicate inner endothelial lining of the coronary arteries. Cut all breads, pasta, rice, sugary treats and any foods made with wheat (including whole grain) or corn.

Excess Omega-6 Vegetable Oils: Vegetable oils are used in virtually all baked and processed foods to enhance flavor and increase shelf life. Excess amounts of vegetable fats trigger the release of inflammatory chemical messengers that increase oxidative stress and damage the vascular system. Vegetable oils are only stable at room temperature and should not be used for cooking. Avoid all fried foods and corn fed meats.

Omega-3 Fat Deficiency: Our modern diet is virtually void of health-sustaining Omega-3 fats that have been a part of the human diet for countless generations. The proper ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fats is ideally 1:1. Experts agree that many people are closer to a 20:1 ratio. This creates an imbalance and promotes systemic inflammation. Include tuna, salmon, sardines, nuts and seeds to balance your fat ratio or include a high potency fish oil supplement.

Oxidative Stress: The normal course of breathing, eating and moving generates free radicals that can damage our genetic structure and cause LDL cholesterol to become oxidized. We can`t avoid the process entirely but we can include healthy quantities of fresh vegetables, berries and targeted supplements to negate the effects of free radicals on our heart and other organs.

Heart disease is the leading killer of people in western society. Most of these deaths can be prevented by following a natural diet and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Reduce your risk of death from heart disease by making these changes today and live to pass the word to your great grandchildren.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

The Link between GMOs and the Current HealthCare Crisis

November 3rd, 2010

By: Sharry Edwards

Director of the Institute of BioAcoustic Biology

The August 14th, 2010 issue of Science News, “Separating wheat from chaff in celiac disease”, reported that a research team led by gastroenterologist Robert Anderson of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Parkville, Australia, had identified specific triggers (gluten sensitivities) associated with celiac disease.

Since our research efforts often evaluate clients who exhibit gluten sensitivity and a myriad of associated diseases, it was imperative that this important information be added to our software databases. I translated the three proteins into BioAcoustic bio-frequency (biomarkers)* and was immediately inundated with an avalanche of novel data showing that the metabolic pathways distorted by these proteins were linked to nearly all systems of the human body; causing immune distortion, acute cellular inflammation and disruptions in cell communication.

The article listed three proteins, w-5 gliadin (wheat), g-3 hordein (barley) and g secalins (rye) that were implicated in the production of the specific anti-gliadin antibody reactions. These proteins, which have been proven to be responsible for the allergic reactions, are associated with grain glutens from which they are derived.

Patent records indicated the grains involved are clones developed in a laboratory by Monsanto, a multinational agricultural biotech conglomerate. This would confirm that the present day epidemic of gluten sensitivities/allergies stem from laboratory created grains. These gluten-distorted, allergic causing, grain clones are being used to create foods that we eat everyday; bread, cereals, crackers, pastry, seasonings, even some packaged chip products contain wheat. As I developed the BioAcoustic correlations I was aghast with the realization of how thoroughly our health is being negatively influenced by these genetically modified foods (GMO’s).

Further investigation revealed that the cloned genes contained two substitutions that distorted the way the body processes two sulfur rich amino acids: proline and glutamine. Disturbances in these amino acid substitutions impede the methylation of these two essential nutrients.

BioAcoustically speaking, Glutamine distortions seem to be the most destructive. The enzyme required to utilize glutamine is glutamate decarboxylase (GAD). Glutamate is a key molecule in cellular metabolism and the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in a vertebrate nervous system.

In mammals, GAD exists in two isoforms encoded by two different genes – Gad1 and Gad2. GAD1 and GAD2 are expressed in the brain where GABA is used as a neurotransmitter; GAD2 is also expressed in the pancreas.

This led to an evaluation of the GAD genomes and what happens when these genes are activated:

Glutamate decarboxylase aka glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) is an enzyme that catalyzes the decarboxylation (part of the process of breaking down for use by the body) of glutamate to GABA (gamma aminobutyric acid) and CO2.

GABA is a natural tranquilizer and an important inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps regulate neuron activity and the body’s nanosensors. Starting with the GAD enzyme response and moving toward GABA in conjunction with the active form of B6 (PLP), the nanotransmitters of the body are created and regulated. The movement of electrical energy and hence magnetic potential within the body are controlled by these nanotransmitters.

GAD uses PLP (pyridoxal 5 0-phosphate) as a cofactor. PLP was granted a patent by the US government patent office to the Canadian company, Medicure. PLP is now under the control of the pharmaceutical industry. Its lack is often associated with blood clotting distortions, migraines, neural disorders and seizures.

Nanotransmitters produced in conjunction with GAD metabolism show direct associations with a multitude of diseases: diabetes, autism, arthritis, Parkinson’s, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, joint pain and deterioration, auditory disorders, Celiac Disease, Crohns, Irritable Bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders, aspartame sensitivity, MSG reactions, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, depression, seizures, brain signaling, the use of calcitonin (cancer related), histidine function (seasonal allergies), cellular inflammation and vaccination reactions.

Of particular importance is GAD’s involvement with cancer via Calcitonin, a 32-amino-acid peptide/hormone that participates in calcium and phosphorus metabolism. BioAcoustically Speaking, calcitonin is a major player in the role of how the body handles any cancer threat.

Parkinson’s is an incurable, debilitating disease that also shows GAD involvement. The activity of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the enzyme involved in formation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), was studied in autopsy brain samples from six Parkinson’s patients and 13 controls. The activity of GAD was significantly reduced in brain samples of patients with Parkinson’s disease, being about 50 percent; of that in controls. Moreover, levodopa treatment showed a tendency to increase the activity of GAD. The results suggest the involvement of GABA neurons in Parkinson’s disease.

A search of the GAD literature stated that acetylcholine, γ-aminobutyric acid, dopamine, calcitonin gene-related peptides, choline acetyltransferase and enkephalins are involved with the metabolism of GAD. It would be important to include these biochemicals when testing subjects for GAD presence and methylation.

Glutamate is the same Frequency Equivalent* as aspartame and is part of MSG (mono-sodium glutamate). James Oschman in his publication, Energy Medicine, states that cells emit frequency-based signals as a request for needed biochemicals to gather at the site where they are needed. Since Glutamate and Aspartame are the same frequency, this may explain why Aspartame has been implicated in so many muscle and joint disorders.

These observations are based on the mathematical matrix of BioAcoustic Biology developed over the last twenty years by the Sound Health Research Center located in Albany, Ohio, USA. The system allows for the evaluation of any item associated with the body in terms of numeric mathways. Sharry Edwards, the recognized pioneer of this emerging technology states, “I expect this information will be the impetus that opens the world to the potential of BioAcoustic Biology and the hope of allowing access to Self Health care; even after the appearance of a disease process”.

Quoting from the original Science News article:

“Three protein fragments are looking like the guilty parties in celiac disease, an intestinal ailment that affects as many as one in 133 people in the United States. These partial proteins, or peptides, are the part of gluten in wheat, rye and barley that triggers the immune systems of celiac patients, damaging the small intestine. An Australian research team reports the new findings in the July 21 Science Translational Medicine.”

“This is an impressive and very comprehensive study,” says immunologist Ludvig Sollid of the University of Oslo. “The authors find that most celiac patients make a response to these three gluten peptides.”

Are GMO producers aware of the damage to health that is being caused? Why are GMO producers and the US government boldly attempting to prevent package warnings that would notify people that they were eating GMO products? Is it greed, ignorance or a misguided attempt to improve our food supply that is in fact poisoning our food, our population, and our genetic pool? Is this assault on our food supply intentionally creating a future that will keep us ill and medication dependent?

Click here for the full report from Sharry Edwards

Ancient ‘Paleo’ Diet Key To Healthy Living And Weight Loss

September 3rd, 2010

Natural News

By: Jonathan Benson

Eat like a cave man to lose weight, build muscle and feel great. This is what advocates of the “Paleo” diet say is the key to healthy living, a diet that consists only of meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and mushrooms — also known as the “Paleolithic”, or Paleo diet.

A recent Chicago Tribune article tells the story of Rick Larson, co-owner of a West Sacramento, Calif., gym called CrossFit. Larson, a Paleo diet supporter, explains in the story that many of his gym members were getting great workouts, but that few were following healthy diets. After experiencing incredible success himself on the Paleo diet, he decided to offer the program to his members as well.

“For the first time in my life, I started to feel quite healthy. I didn’t get any respiratory problems, my arthritis problems went away, and I felt like I gained more muscle mass,” he explained in the report about his own experience. After 11 weeks on the diet, he was also able to drop excess weight and achieve a body fat percentage of 2.7.

Fifteen of Larson’s gym members agreed to participate in the diet program and also experienced good results, including Santinia Pasquini, 33, who dropped eight pounds after just one week.

The key to the Paleo diet is to avoid all refined sugars, grains, dairy products, beans, legumes and anything processed. Though difficult, advocates say sticking to a Paleo diet fits the human genetic makeup better than most modern diets because it represents the foods that our ancestors ate and thrived on.

According to Johny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., in his book The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why, the Paleo diet has other benefits, including helping to clear up acne.

“[T]he Paleo Diet might not entirely clear up acne in every single person who has acne, but it will almost always have an important positive effect on blood sugar and weight,” he says.

Click Here For The Full Article

Western Diet Causes Severe Depression

June 8, 2010

Natural News

By David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) Women who eat a typical Western diet high in junk food may increase their risk of suffering from mood disorders such as depression, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Melbourne and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Researchers gathered psychiatric evaluations of 925 women between the ages of 20 to 93 over the course of ten years, then compared them to data collected on the participants’ diets. They found that women who ate a diet high in white bread, hamburgers, pizza, chips, beer, flavored dairy beverages and sugary foods were 50 percent more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety than women who did not eat such a diet.

In contrast, women who ate what the researchers classified as a traditional Australian diet, high in vegetables, fruit, beef, lamb, fish and whole grains, were 30 percent less likely to suffer from mood disorders than women who did not follow the Australian diet.

Click here for the full report.

Clean Up Acne The Natural Way

October 14, 2009

NaturalNews

By Mike Adams

Acne sucks. But you don’t need antibiotics or harsh chemicals to treat it. In addition to altering your diet so that you consume fewer acne-producing foods (dairy products and fried foods, mostly), there are some effective natural remedies that are also useful for clearing up your skin.

Below, we’ve compiled a few of these recommendations from some of the top authors in natural health. Enjoy this short collection, and feel free to share it with others (please give appropriate credit to the original author as well as this NaturalNews page, thank you).

Natural remedies for acne

Brazilian school kids have acne. There’s far less acne in Kenya, Zambia, Malaysia, and rural Japan than is common in Western societies. But if there was any doubt left about the diet-acne connection it should have been erased by the seminal research paper published in the Archives of Dermatology in 2002 by respected Natural Prescription for Acne Paleo Diet: No grains, dairy, beans, or soy; high in protein (fish, grass-fed meats), vegetables, fruits (especially berries), nuts, and omega fats.
- The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Acne may develop due to an allergic reaction to dairy products, and the fat content of the dairy products can worsen the condition. Modern dairy and other animal products often contain hormones and steroids that can upset the body’s natural hormonal balance. Q If you are not allergic to dairy products, eat plenty of soured products, such as low-fat yogurt, to maintain healthy intestinal flora. Q Avoid all forms of sugar. Sugar impairs immune function. In addition, biopsies of individuals with acne have shown their tissues’ glucose tolerance to be seriously flawed.
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Your skin is an organ that can excrete waste products, and acne is one way that your body is actually excreting internal toxins through your skin to get rid of them. The classic model and explanation for acne is really incomplete. The classic model says that acne is simply caused by bacteria – but that’s not entirely true. It’s often caused by the body trying to get rid of something. The number-one cause of acne is the consumption of milk – milk from cows. Any dairy products – but especially liquid milk including cheese, butter and things like ice cream – promote acne.
- Natural Health Solutions by Mike Adams

The result is an allergic reaction, which can produce acne. Processed foods are another cause of acne, and include all junk foods, refined foods (white flour, white sugar, and other refined sugars), processed meats (deli foods), unsaturated fats, margarine and other fake foods, and commercial meat, poultry, and dairy products which contain chemicals and hormones. Sometimes, simply treating any food allergies and avoiding junk or processed foods will prevent acne. However, if you have hormonal problems, changing your diet will not be sufficient to heal the acne.
- The Enzyme Cure: How Plant Enzymes Can Help You Relieve 36 Health Problems by Lita Lee, Lisa Turner and Burton Goldberg

As much as this link between pubescent hormonal changes and acne is true, the skin disorder is unfortunately not confined to the teenage years. Many adults suffer from acne, as well. Some adult acne sufferers have elevated levels of male hormones that stimulate sebum production. Genetic factors may be the cause of these elevated androgen levels, or as Dr. Frank A. Oski believes, consumption of cow’s milk may also be to blame. About 80 percent of milked dairy cows are pregnant, which causes the hormone progesterone to appear in their milk.
- Natural Health Solutions by Mike Adams

Dietary clean-up is the basis of natural therapy for acne. Excess saturated fat and hydrogenated oils must be eliminated. Certain foods trigger acne in susceptible people. For some, it is sugar or chocolate; for others, dairy products. Still others react to iodine in shellfish or excess iodized salt. Some experience exacerbations with spicy foods. With a little experimentation and self-observation you can find out for yourself what foods trigger or exacerbate your acne.
- Intelligent Medicine: A Guide to Optimizing Health and Preventing Illness for the Baby-Boomer Generation by Ronald L. Hoffman, M.D.

In another of his books, The Dietary Cure for Acne, he lays out some tasty options for a diet based on whole foods – salmon, sirloin, strawberries, walnuts, carrots, and the like – which may well be the cornerstone of a natural prescription for getting rid of acne. (The Paleo Diet is absent of grains and dairy and high in grass-fed meats, vegetables, fruits, and omegas.) Cordain hypothesizes that a diet that produces high levels of the hormone insulin is partly the culprit when it comes to acne.
- The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

It is not the fattening aspect of chocolate that concerns us here but the chemical stimulants it contains, especially phenylethylamine and theobromine that imitate our hormones; and the caffeine and sugar chocolate contains make it doubly bad for acne. For some people, cutting out dairy products, especially cream and hard cheese, helps enormously. Fruits, surprisingly perhaps, do not help acne because of their high sugar content, but vegetables do.
- The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

A daily intake of 50,000 units of vitamin A and 50 mg of zinc has reportedly cleared some forms of acne, and a version of vitamin A – retinoic acid (RA), also called vitamin A acid (which is classified as a drug) – has been used as a topical acne treatment as well, though some people are allergic to it. It’s also been used to treat aging skin (RA causes the shedding of skin cells). Vitamin A can be obtained from fish liver oil, liver, carrots, green and yellow vegetables, eggs, milk and dairy products, margarine and yellow fruits.
- The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

There are many approaches to acne treatment; if self-care does not prove effective, a dermatologist should be able to prescribe a therapy that will help. • Change your diet. A low-glycemic-index diet with very little sugar and other refined carbohydrates might improve skin significantly, and it will have other health benefits as well. Other things to avoid: milk and trans fatty acids, which are found in margarine and shortening. A study of dairy products and acne is currently under way. • Facial masks of clay may remove excess oil and help clear the skin.
- Best Choices From the People’s Pharmacy by Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.

Ask any number of dermatologists if poor digestion is a cause of acne, and you’re likely to get the same answer from each: No. This is precisely why dermatologists don’t always cure acne, says Andrew Rubman, N.D., a naturopathic physician and founder of the Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicine in Connecticut. “Acne has generated an entire industry of high-priced dermatologists and an incredible laundry list of very potent and expensive medications, including topical and oral antibiotics,” he says.
- Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems by Bill Gottlieb

A constitutional remedy usually helps acne, but if I can’t determine this, sometimes I give Kali bromatum, which is known to be helpful in treating acne. If, in addition to itchy acne, your teenager is restless during sleep and has unpleasant dreams, these are further indications for Kali brom. Sulphur is a good remedy for the teenager with chronic acne characterized by a rough, hard skin that gets worse from washing. This same person is often warm blooded, perspires freely, and suffers from constipation.
- Homeopathic Medicine at Home: Natural Remedies for Everyday Ailments and Minor Injuries by Maesimund B. Panos, M.D. and Jane Heimlich

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