I cook the meals around here since its just me and my teenage daughter, (yes she still eats with and talks to me, we'll see how long that lasts) and it's a HUGE challenge to eat healthy.
Certainly step one is to ditch the soft drinks for water, and do all whole grain products, even whole grain pasta. Next attempt to go to grass fed beef. That was easier for me since we live in the country.
Also try to replace the less healthier meats with healthier alternatives. We hwve gone to Turkey Tacos. Simply replace the ground beef with grouund turkey breast availible at any store. I also use whole grain high omega 3 tortillas. This is a much healthier meal and I really do like the taste.
Doc
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Carpe Diem
Today you begin. Do not wait for the right time, the next opportunity, or a better day - begin now.
Put pen to paper and follow my lead.
Action is essential to weight loss, transformation, and feeling better about myself. So, I commit to these actions:
Action is essential to weight loss, transformation, and feeling better about myself. So, I commit to these actions:
1. I will exercise vigorously for at least 30 minutes.
2. I will write down everything I eat.
3. I will be physically active for 45 minutes everyday, whether it means that I must workout
morning and evening, bring sneakers to work and walk at lunch, or whatever it takes.
4.I will eat more slowly.
5.I will drink more water.
6.At the end of every week, I will look at the food that I am eating and have (honestly) written down to (fearlessly) assess whether I am taking care of body or punishing it.
7.I will then make decisions about my next meal, and the ones after that, to ensure that they really do healthfully and efficiently fuel my body.
You must take these simple steps to take charge of your health, its a pay now or pay later situation.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Top 10 Valentine's Gifts for Her
Everyone knows that one of the secrets to a healthy lifestyle is healthy relationships. So along those lines, I have listed here some of the top ideas for a Valentine's gift to let that special lady know how you feel about her.
TOP 10 GIFTS FOR HER
She'll love the thought behind any of these Valentine's Day gifts
1
Valentine’s Day Roses
A symbol of enduring passion, red roses on Valentine’s Day capture the essence of pure romance. Give her a beautiful rose bouquet as a token of your undying love for her, it will be a moment that she will never forget.
2
Diamond Stud Earrings
It’s true that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so surprise your Valentine with a pair of gorgeous diamond stud earrings! Choose from gold, white gold, platinum, she’s sure to fall in love with anything you surprise her with.
3
Apple iPod Nano 4GB MP3 Player - Silver
Tickle her senses this Valentine’s day with a new iPod Nano! She can watch her favorite movies and listen to music with excellent quality of visuals and sound. A neat surprise would be to pre-load movies and music that bring back romantic memories for the both of you!
4
Hot Hobo Handbag
The hobo style handbag is the hottest of the season, so show her that you are tuned in to her inner fashionista with the gift of a beautiful bag of her own. Perfect colors for this season are red, metallic or jewel tones by designer brands like Marc Jacobs, Stuart Weitzman and Kate Spade.
5
Heart Pendant
Searching for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for that lovely lady in your life can be difficult! Whether you are searching for gifts for the wife, the mom or the girlfriend, she’s going to be thrilled with a gorgeous heart pendant to remind her how much you love her.
6
Ugg Shoes
Toast up her tootsies in a fabulous pair of Ugg boots! These boots are perfect for wearing on romantic winter strolls through the park and are the hottest shoes for this season.
7
Romantic Bath Kit
Make this Valentine’s Day holiday unforgettable with the gift of a romantic bath kit. Take the kit on a weekend getaway and indulge in your deepest fantasies. Some kits include warming massage oils, rose scented bubble bath, succulent scented candles and more!
8
Valentine’s Day Chocolate Truffles
Make all of her chocolate dreams come true this Valentine’s day and give her a traditional gift of a box of decadent chocolates. Some candies come in cute collectible tins, some come in sexy satin heart-shaped boxes, either way, you will melt her heart.
9
Keepsake Box
A stylish & beautiful Valentine’s Day keepsake box would be even more meaningful with an engraved message or your Valentine’s name. Make it a bigger surprise and hide a pair of diamond stud earrings or heart pendant inside!
10
Lacey Robe
Have her slip into something more comfortable, sexy and romantic when she puts on her new Lacy robe! It will be a Valentine’s gift for the both of you!
How can you go wrong? But ORDER or BUY NOW don't wait until the last minute because it's bound to be apparent if you do!
A great place to find great deals is http://www.ebay.com/ . I have been buying on Ebay for years. I live in a rural area and can't get out to the malls to shop all that often.
I have a site to sell some of my antiques on ebay visit and take a look, my ID is 78silverannvette.
Antiques has been a great hobby and a passion of mine for years and always gave me a break from the stress of medicine .
Another unique gift is the gift of health. Vitamins and supplements from Symmetry, like the best daily multivitamin on the market ULTRA-VITALITY, or the age defying resveratrol supplement GENESIS or an amazing combination of herbs and supplements that help restore a woman's balance, help ease menstrual irregularities, menstrual cycle pain and promote overall female health is a product called FEMALE BALANCE. Show her you care.
With clinically proven herbals like black cohash, red clover, chaste tree fruit, and other high quality herbals. Female balance helps restore a woman's natural balance. Especially for women with irregualar or painful cycles or those experiencing menopausal symptoms.
Visit www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices for more information on these great products. Especially FEMALE BALANCE.
Designed to restore health and combat the ravages of our over processed nutrient depleted foods that we all eat.
Doc
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Ten Little Known Tricks to Using GOOGLE
You may have mastered some of the basic tricks of Google, but most people use only about 3 percent of this search engine’s available power.Dozens of Google search guides detail the common tips, but lifehacker.org has skipped the obvious and highlighted obscure but very useful Google Web search tricks. Some of these are really amazing, and remind me why Google has been my favorite search engine for nearly a decade!
10. Get Local Time: Type in What time is it followed by any city to get the current time.
9. Track Flight Status: Enter the airline and flight number to find out the departure time and estimated arrival for any flight.
8. Convert Currency, Metrics, Bytes and More: Google has a built-in converter calculator. You can enter quarter cup in teaspoons, seconds in a year, 5 US dollars in Euros and countless others.
7. Search for Pages That are “Better Than,” “Similar to,” or “Reminds me of”: Enter “better than keyword” or “similar to keyword” to find Web pages you never knew existed.
6. Use Google as a Free Proxy: Enter cache:website.com to view a Web page that’s been blocked from the computer you’re using.
5. Remove Affiliate Links From Product Searches: To avoid seeing search results from certain sites, enter –site:website.com.
4. Find Related Items: Enter ~ before any search term to find related items as well.
3. Find Music and Comic Books: Enter -inurl:(htmhtmlphp) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(wmamp3) "Band or comic book name" to find music files and comic books.
2. See Images of People, Objects, Etc.: Type in a search term, and click on images to see photos of the results.
1. Search for Faces: If you’re looking for a photo of a person named Rose, and don’t want to see photos of the flower, add &imgtype=face to the end of your image search. It will show you only images of faces.
Sources:
Lifehacker.com January 2, 2008
10. Get Local Time: Type in What time is it followed by any city to get the current time.
9. Track Flight Status: Enter the airline and flight number to find out the departure time and estimated arrival for any flight.
8. Convert Currency, Metrics, Bytes and More: Google has a built-in converter calculator. You can enter quarter cup in teaspoons, seconds in a year, 5 US dollars in Euros and countless others.
7. Search for Pages That are “Better Than,” “Similar to,” or “Reminds me of”: Enter “better than keyword” or “similar to keyword” to find Web pages you never knew existed.
6. Use Google as a Free Proxy: Enter cache:website.com to view a Web page that’s been blocked from the computer you’re using.
5. Remove Affiliate Links From Product Searches: To avoid seeing search results from certain sites, enter –site:website.com.
4. Find Related Items: Enter ~ before any search term to find related items as well.
3. Find Music and Comic Books: Enter -inurl:(htmhtmlphp) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(wmamp3) "Band or comic book name" to find music files and comic books.
2. See Images of People, Objects, Etc.: Type in a search term, and click on images to see photos of the results.
1. Search for Faces: If you’re looking for a photo of a person named Rose, and don’t want to see photos of the flower, add &imgtype=face to the end of your image search. It will show you only images of faces.
Sources:
Lifehacker.com January 2, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Amazing Coincidences
Life can sometimes produce fascinating, extraordinary coincidences. Here are a few of the most amazing ones:
In 1975, a man riding a moped in Bermuda was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, the man’s brother, riding the very same moped, was killed in the very same way by the very same taxi driven by the very same driver -- and carrying the very same passenger.
Twin brothers Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were separated at birth and adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both were named James, both owned a dog named Toy, both married women named Linda, both had a son they names James Alan, and both eventually divorced and got remarried to a woman named Betty.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and John Adams helped to edit and hone it. The Continental Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776. Both Jefferson and Adams died on July 4, 1826 -- exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
A German mother who photographed her infant son in 1914 left the film to be developed at a store in Strasbourg, but was unable to collect the film picture when World War I broke out. Two years later she bought a film plate in Frankfurt, over 100 miles away, and took a picture of her newborn daughter -- only to find, when developed, the picture of her daughter superimposed on the earlier picture of her son. The original film, never developed, had been mistakenly labeled as unused and resold.
In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead by fellow poker players who accused him of cheating to win a $600 pot. None of the other players were willing to take the now unlucky $600, so they found a new player to take Fallon’s place, who turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. At that point, the police arrived and demanded that the original $600 be given to Fallon’s next of kin -- only to discover that the new player was Fallon’s son, who had not seen his father in seven years.
In the 19th century, the famous horror writer Egdar Allan Poe wrote a book called ‘The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.’ It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventually the three senior members of the crew killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.
In 1930s Detroit, a man named Joseph Figlock was to become an amazing figure in a young (and, apparently, incredibly careless) mother’s life. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother’s baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby’s fall was broken and Figlock and the baby were unharmed. A year later, the same baby fell from the same window, again falling onto Mr. Figlock as he was passing beneath. Once again, both of them survived the event.
In 1973, actor Anthony Hopkins agreed to appear in “The Girl From Petrovka”, based on a novel by George Feifer. Unable to find a copy of the book anywhere in London, Hopkins was surprised to discover one lying on a bench in a train station. It turned out to be George Feifer’s own annotated (personal) copy, which Feifer had lent to a friend, and which had been stolen from his friend’s car.
In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia-Vaglia. When the owner took King Umberto’s order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build. Both men began discussing the striking resemblance between each other and found many more similarities.
1. Both men were born on the same day, of the same year (March 14, 1844).2. Both men had been born in the same town.3. Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.4. The restaurateur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.5. On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restaurateur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, an anarchist in the crowd then assassinated him.
While American novelist Anne Parrish was browsing bookstores in Paris in the 1920s, she came upon a book that was one of her childhood favorites -- Jack Frost and Other Stories. She picked up the old book and showed it to her husband, telling him of the book she fondly remembered as a child. Her husband took the book, opened it, and on the flyleaf found the inscription: “Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs.” It was Anne’s very own book.
Are these instances merely coincidence, or are they something more? It all depends on how you look at it. As the famous words of Albert Einstein sum up quite nicely: “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
View every day of your life as a miracle and accomplish something, big or small, that proves that theory.
Doc
In 1975, a man riding a moped in Bermuda was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, the man’s brother, riding the very same moped, was killed in the very same way by the very same taxi driven by the very same driver -- and carrying the very same passenger.
Twin brothers Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were separated at birth and adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both were named James, both owned a dog named Toy, both married women named Linda, both had a son they names James Alan, and both eventually divorced and got remarried to a woman named Betty.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and John Adams helped to edit and hone it. The Continental Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776. Both Jefferson and Adams died on July 4, 1826 -- exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
A German mother who photographed her infant son in 1914 left the film to be developed at a store in Strasbourg, but was unable to collect the film picture when World War I broke out. Two years later she bought a film plate in Frankfurt, over 100 miles away, and took a picture of her newborn daughter -- only to find, when developed, the picture of her daughter superimposed on the earlier picture of her son. The original film, never developed, had been mistakenly labeled as unused and resold.
In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead by fellow poker players who accused him of cheating to win a $600 pot. None of the other players were willing to take the now unlucky $600, so they found a new player to take Fallon’s place, who turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. At that point, the police arrived and demanded that the original $600 be given to Fallon’s next of kin -- only to discover that the new player was Fallon’s son, who had not seen his father in seven years.
In the 19th century, the famous horror writer Egdar Allan Poe wrote a book called ‘The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.’ It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventually the three senior members of the crew killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.
In 1930s Detroit, a man named Joseph Figlock was to become an amazing figure in a young (and, apparently, incredibly careless) mother’s life. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother’s baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby’s fall was broken and Figlock and the baby were unharmed. A year later, the same baby fell from the same window, again falling onto Mr. Figlock as he was passing beneath. Once again, both of them survived the event.
In 1973, actor Anthony Hopkins agreed to appear in “The Girl From Petrovka”, based on a novel by George Feifer. Unable to find a copy of the book anywhere in London, Hopkins was surprised to discover one lying on a bench in a train station. It turned out to be George Feifer’s own annotated (personal) copy, which Feifer had lent to a friend, and which had been stolen from his friend’s car.
In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia-Vaglia. When the owner took King Umberto’s order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build. Both men began discussing the striking resemblance between each other and found many more similarities.
1. Both men were born on the same day, of the same year (March 14, 1844).2. Both men had been born in the same town.3. Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.4. The restaurateur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.5. On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restaurateur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, an anarchist in the crowd then assassinated him.
While American novelist Anne Parrish was browsing bookstores in Paris in the 1920s, she came upon a book that was one of her childhood favorites -- Jack Frost and Other Stories. She picked up the old book and showed it to her husband, telling him of the book she fondly remembered as a child. Her husband took the book, opened it, and on the flyleaf found the inscription: “Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs.” It was Anne’s very own book.
Are these instances merely coincidence, or are they something more? It all depends on how you look at it. As the famous words of Albert Einstein sum up quite nicely: “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
View every day of your life as a miracle and accomplish something, big or small, that proves that theory.
Doc
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Top Ten Amazing Discoveries of 2007
Breakthroughs From 2007 Most Likely to Change the World
2007 was an amazing year for science, and Wired News has captured the best of what took place in their first annual Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007. Here’s what made the grade:
10. Smaller Transistors: Intel was able to reduce the size of features on their chips from 65 nanometers to 45 nanometers.
9. A Rhesus Monkey is Cloned to Make Stem Cells: This implies that cells from a sick patient could one day be cloned to make stem cells from their own bodies, which could be used to repair their own organs without risk of rejection.
8. Planets Discovered That May Harbor Life: A pair of potentially life-containing planets was found in a distant solar system.
7. A Transparent Material as Strong as Steel: Using nanometer-sized clay particles, engineers created a lightweight material with extraordinary strength.
6. Soft Tissue From a T. Rex Analyzed: The biological molecules from a well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone revealed it had a lot in common with modern-day chickens.
5. Rhett Syndrome in Lab Mice Cured: This implies that Rhett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that prevents children from walking and talking, and causes tremors, may be curable.
4. Enzymes Convert Any Blood Type to O: Since almost everyone can tolerate blood type O, this technology could help hospitals treat patients during blood shortages.
3. Dinosaur Mummy Excavated and Scanned: The nearly intact mummy of a plant-eating dinosaur was captured in 3-D images. Already, a striped pattern on its scales, and surprising information about its muscles mass and bone spacing, have been revealed.
2. Chimpanzees Make Spears for Hunting: Anthropologists observed female chimpanzees break branches from trees, strip the leaves and sharpen the tips, then use them to hunt small animals.
1. Skin Cells Turned Into Stem Cells: Researchers turned skin cells into stem cells without using eggs or having to destroy human embryos. The cells often turned cancerous, however, but the researchers believe they can tweak the process to create tissues that don’t turn into tumors.
Sources:
Wired December 27, 2007
Sources:
Wired December 27, 2007
New discoveries are occurring all around us, and for the first time in history you have access to much of this information at your fingertips. Did you know, for instance, that a week’s worth of the New York Times has more information in it than a person living in the 18th century would have come across in their entire lifetime?In the modern world, information is doubling every two years. All of this information can be mind-boggling, but it is also empowering.
If you are reading this, it means you are fortunate to have access to the Internet, which means the world is quite literally in front of you. Since you are reading this blog, it means you have also taken an interest in what is perhaps the most important issue you could ever face: your health.
And well you should! We must counteract the years of corporate propaganda that has lead us away from a more natural balanced diet to the processed, high fructose, food in a box world we live in now.
Make a stand and eliminate processed grains, soda and fast food from your diet. Start there and add some moderate exercise and an Omega supplement and a quality once a day multi supplement. You will feel better in the long run. I purchase my supplements at www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices.
Teach children the same pleasures of eating well, exercising and helping their fellow man.
Volunteer your time to a worthy cause or donate to charity. The benefits in happiness will spill over into your health.
I truly believe that one of the reasons that out health system lags being many countries is that we as a nature have poorer health. Health care costs strangle our economy. Its not just your health or that of your loved ones, its the health of the entire system of medical delivery and yes, the health of our nation.
Doc
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Colorize your diet!
I have written before about how foods in our country tend to be over processed and devoid of many of the nutrients that they had when they were whole foods.
I am embarrassed to admit that I too was part of the medical culture that largely ignored the important role that nutrition, as well as exercise, plays in our health. I often told patients that "if they ate right" that supplementation was not needed.
Well, I truly believe that eating better is key, but in today's world it may not be possible for most people to get the nutrients they need without some sort of supplementation.
However we should all strive to eat better.
One way is to add foods from the following color groups of these fruits and vegetables:
RED
Tomato products, soups, sauces juices ( contain lycopenes)
RED/ PURPLE
Red Wine,pomegranate (see my previous post on this), grapes, berries, plums (contain the amazing anthocyanins, ellagitannins)
ORANGE
Carrots, Mango, apricot, sweet potato (sweet potatoes are amazing store houses of nutrients!) beta and alpha carotene
ORANGE /YELLOW
Citrus, Papaya, peaches (flavanoids)
YELLOW/GREEN
Spinach ,corn, avocado, green beens (lutein/xanthanin)
GREEN
Broccoli, Brussel spouts, cabbage, peas (indoles, glucosidocholates)
WHITE/GREEN
Garlic, onions, asparagus (allyl sulfites)
greatly moderate WHITE foods like potato,processed grains, breads
A well thought out once a day supplement is important if you are not getting 4-6 of these colors a day. It is inherently better for your body to get nutrients through natural whole foods.
I have chosen for my family a complete supplement. Of course it has all the vitamins and minerals, that's the basics. It not only has all natural, non synthetic, non animal ,sources but too many other beneficial nutrients to list that few if any other supplements put into one place, such as:
Probiotics to aid in digestion
An Herbal blend
An Energy Blend of Ginseng, Gotu kola and others
A Chlorophyll blend
An antioxidant blend
Deltasorb a blend of herbal like cayenne, and other herbs that increase absorption of nutrients in the small intestine
There may be equal daily supplements out there but certainly none better.
see more details at http://www.symmetrydirect.com/usa/products/nutrapack.htm
eat well, be well
Doc
5 things about my black lab that make me wonder
We got a new black lab pup in August. My daughter and I have been involved with the local dog pound and I guess we got bitten by the bug. I named him Jager because he's black and he smells terrible (like the drink of the same name) Oh yes and he gives me a headache like the drink also.
Our home will never be the same. No seriously it won't because he chewed the trim off the walls in the downstairs bathroom and ate my weight bench.
But I love him and he loves my daughter like you cant even believe, despite the fact that she tortures him unmercifully ( in a playful way). Ever seen a 50 lb dog decked out in bikini bottoms? It ain't pretty. The gym shorts are much better. Yet he always comes back for more.
But there are things that make me wonder about this unique beast.
1. Why does he turn up his nose at dog food, yet I catch him eating his turds out on the lawn?
2. What exactly is on his butt that he has to chew all day?
3. Why does he not bark at all, ever, not for food, treats, not at our persistent coaxing, but goes ape sh-- at the TV at random, unexpected times.
4. How can he be coordinated enough to pluck a tennis ball out of the air with the grace and speed of a ballerina nine time out of ten, but routinely walks into the walls and furniture for no apparent reason.
5. Why does he consistently try to kill me by tripping me down the steps when he has to know that it's me that buys the dog food? Maybe he doesn't know my daughter is going away to a private high school next year?
Oh and why does he keep bringing the ball back to me if he doesn't want to let go of the darn thing? And don't even get me started on the personal attraction he has to his genitalia.
And its said a pet will make you live longer... unless of course he trips you down the stairs.
Doc
Friday, January 18, 2008
Omega 3 supplemetation works!
Fish Oil Capsules Are as Good as Fish?
New findings indicate that fish oil capsules and fatty fish do an equally good job of enriching the body with healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
For the study, 11 women ate two servings of tuna or salmon each week, while an additional 12 women took in the same amount of omega-3s in capsule form. After 16 weeks, the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in the red blood cells of women in both groups had risen by 40 percent to 50 percent.
The researchers began the project assuming that fish would be better, but, according to the lead researcher, found instead that “whether you get your omega 3 fatty acids from a concentrate in a capsule or in fish ... they have the same effect on enriching the tissues with omega 3.”
Sources:
Reuters December 28, 2007
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition December 2007; 86(6):1621-5
The average American diet is seriously deficient in these essential omega 3's, a fact I can not stress enough to my patients and anyone else who will listen.
Except for certain types of fish, there are very few sources of these vitally important fats because of the way the food in the US is raised feeding corn instead of the grass they were meant to be fed.
Unfortunately, what these studies don’t take into consideration is the sad fact that so much of our fish supply is grossly contaminated, and therefore completely counteracts any inherent benefits of the fish. Especially here in the Ohio Valley. The river is lined with coal fired electric plants whose main toxin produced is you guessed it, mercury and arsenic.
It would have been quite interesting to see these women’s mercury levels in addition to their omega-3 serum levels. If heavy metal contamination had been taken into account, the final conclusion would most likely have been that omega-3 supplements are in fact far superior to fish – especially tuna!
Are You Loading Up on Mercury or Omega-3?
The world’s oceans are so polluted with industrial waste that most commercially available fish have become significantly polluted with many toxins – especially mercury -- throughout all the fat and tissues of their bodies. This shouldn't come as a surprise, considering the fact that some 40 tons of mercury are released in the United States alone, every year, due to burning coal to generate electricity.
The most common contaminants found in fish include:
Mercury
PCBs
Radioactive substances like strontium
Toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and arsenic
Smaller fish, such as herring, sardines, and anchovies fare better than larger fish since they don’t have time to accumulate much mercury in their tissues. The highest concentrations are found in the large carnivorous fish of the ocean.
These are some of the ones you should definitely avoid, especially if you are pregnant, or trying to become pregnant:
Tuna steaks
Canned tuna
Sea bass
Oysters (Gulf of Mexico)
Marlin
Halibut
Pike
Walleye
White croaker
Largemouth bass
Shark
Swordfish
GotMercury.org is a good website if you’re curious to see just how high your intake of mercury might be. Not only do they have a handy mercury calculator, but they also perform independent testing on various sources of fish.
The mean concentration of all 20 samples was 0.445 ppm (parts per million) total mercury – very close to the 0.5 legal limit in Canada and the EU
70 percent exceeded the Illinois Environmental Protection agency’s (IEPA) special advisory threshold for methylmercury. At that level, women of childbearing age and children are advised to eat no more than one serving per month
14 percent had a concentration higher than 0.730 ppm – a level that no women or children should ever consume
10 percent of the tuna samples were unsafe for all consumers, because they contained mercury levels above 1.0 ppm, which is the legal action limit for fish sold in the U.S.
Also be especially cautious of canned tuna if you’re interested in keeping yourself and your children safe from mercury contamination.
Most canned tuna is labeled either “albacore” or “chunk light.” According to FDA data, albacore (white) tuna contains three times more mercury than chunk light (0.353 ppm vs. 0.118 ppm). However, independent testing by the Mercury Policy Project found that the average mercury concentration in albacore canned tuna actually exceeded 0.5 ppm.
It’s often difficult to make practical use of these numbers, so to give you a better idea of the level of danger, consider this:
A 22 pound toddler who eats just 2 ounces of tuna per week with a 0.5 ppm mercury concentration would exceed the EPA’s “virtual safe limit” by 400 percent
A 132 pound woman who eats 12 ounces of tuna per week with a 0.5 ppm mercury concentration would also exceed the EPA’s limit by 400 percent
An 88 pound child who eats 6 ounces of tuna per week with a 0.5 ppm mercury concentration would exceed the limit by 300 percent
Is Farm-Raised Fish a Healthier Choice?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. In farmed fish, you not only have the problem of mercury, but also higher PCBs, another poisonous industrial byproduct. Residues in farm-raised fish can be as much as 9 million times the amount found in the water.
If you eat fish in a restaurant, it most likely came from a fish farm. Almost half of the salmon, 40 percent of the mollusks, and 65 percent of the freshwater fish consumed today are raised in fish farms. What you may not know it that in order to be profitable, fish farms must raise large quantities of fish in confined areas, and the overcrowding leads to disease and injuries to the fish. The fish are therefore given antibiotics and chemicals for the parasites like sea lice, skin and gill infections and other diseases that commonly affect them.
Making matters worse, these fish are also given drugs and hormones, and sometimes are genetically modified, to accelerate growth and change reproductive behaviors. Farmed salmon are also given the chemicals canthaxanthin and astaxanthin to turn their flesh pink. Wild salmon eat a diet of shrimp and krill, which contain natural chemicals that make the salmon pink. Farm-raised salmon do not eat a natural diet, so their flesh would be gray if they were not given these additives.
Choosing the Best Omega-3 Supplement
In a perfect world, fish would be a near-perfect food -- high in protein and full of essential nutrients and fats. But, as you now know, our world is not perfect, and nature’s bounty has been in large part destroyed. Therefore, I can't recommend eating any fish -- unless you have lab results in your hand that can attest to its purity.
Your safest bet, however, is to take a high-quality omega-3 supplement on a regular basis. I don't like fish anyways so I seek a vegetable source of these omega 3 s I have mentioned before but it bears repeating as the health benefits CANNOT be over emphasized.
A great source of these vegetable origin, all natural omega 3s is Symmetry Direct. A product called Advanced Omega.
www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices
New findings indicate that fish oil capsules and fatty fish do an equally good job of enriching the body with healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
For the study, 11 women ate two servings of tuna or salmon each week, while an additional 12 women took in the same amount of omega-3s in capsule form. After 16 weeks, the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in the red blood cells of women in both groups had risen by 40 percent to 50 percent.
The researchers began the project assuming that fish would be better, but, according to the lead researcher, found instead that “whether you get your omega 3 fatty acids from a concentrate in a capsule or in fish ... they have the same effect on enriching the tissues with omega 3.”
Sources:
Reuters December 28, 2007
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition December 2007; 86(6):1621-5
The average American diet is seriously deficient in these essential omega 3's, a fact I can not stress enough to my patients and anyone else who will listen.
Except for certain types of fish, there are very few sources of these vitally important fats because of the way the food in the US is raised feeding corn instead of the grass they were meant to be fed.
Unfortunately, what these studies don’t take into consideration is the sad fact that so much of our fish supply is grossly contaminated, and therefore completely counteracts any inherent benefits of the fish. Especially here in the Ohio Valley. The river is lined with coal fired electric plants whose main toxin produced is you guessed it, mercury and arsenic.
It would have been quite interesting to see these women’s mercury levels in addition to their omega-3 serum levels. If heavy metal contamination had been taken into account, the final conclusion would most likely have been that omega-3 supplements are in fact far superior to fish – especially tuna!
Are You Loading Up on Mercury or Omega-3?
The world’s oceans are so polluted with industrial waste that most commercially available fish have become significantly polluted with many toxins – especially mercury -- throughout all the fat and tissues of their bodies. This shouldn't come as a surprise, considering the fact that some 40 tons of mercury are released in the United States alone, every year, due to burning coal to generate electricity.
The most common contaminants found in fish include:
Mercury
PCBs
Radioactive substances like strontium
Toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and arsenic
Smaller fish, such as herring, sardines, and anchovies fare better than larger fish since they don’t have time to accumulate much mercury in their tissues. The highest concentrations are found in the large carnivorous fish of the ocean.
These are some of the ones you should definitely avoid, especially if you are pregnant, or trying to become pregnant:
Tuna steaks
Canned tuna
Sea bass
Oysters (Gulf of Mexico)
Marlin
Halibut
Pike
Walleye
White croaker
Largemouth bass
Shark
Swordfish
GotMercury.org is a good website if you’re curious to see just how high your intake of mercury might be. Not only do they have a handy mercury calculator, but they also perform independent testing on various sources of fish.
The mean concentration of all 20 samples was 0.445 ppm (parts per million) total mercury – very close to the 0.5 legal limit in Canada and the EU
70 percent exceeded the Illinois Environmental Protection agency’s (IEPA) special advisory threshold for methylmercury. At that level, women of childbearing age and children are advised to eat no more than one serving per month
14 percent had a concentration higher than 0.730 ppm – a level that no women or children should ever consume
10 percent of the tuna samples were unsafe for all consumers, because they contained mercury levels above 1.0 ppm, which is the legal action limit for fish sold in the U.S.
Also be especially cautious of canned tuna if you’re interested in keeping yourself and your children safe from mercury contamination.
Most canned tuna is labeled either “albacore” or “chunk light.” According to FDA data, albacore (white) tuna contains three times more mercury than chunk light (0.353 ppm vs. 0.118 ppm). However, independent testing by the Mercury Policy Project found that the average mercury concentration in albacore canned tuna actually exceeded 0.5 ppm.
It’s often difficult to make practical use of these numbers, so to give you a better idea of the level of danger, consider this:
A 22 pound toddler who eats just 2 ounces of tuna per week with a 0.5 ppm mercury concentration would exceed the EPA’s “virtual safe limit” by 400 percent
A 132 pound woman who eats 12 ounces of tuna per week with a 0.5 ppm mercury concentration would also exceed the EPA’s limit by 400 percent
An 88 pound child who eats 6 ounces of tuna per week with a 0.5 ppm mercury concentration would exceed the limit by 300 percent
Is Farm-Raised Fish a Healthier Choice?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. In farmed fish, you not only have the problem of mercury, but also higher PCBs, another poisonous industrial byproduct. Residues in farm-raised fish can be as much as 9 million times the amount found in the water.
If you eat fish in a restaurant, it most likely came from a fish farm. Almost half of the salmon, 40 percent of the mollusks, and 65 percent of the freshwater fish consumed today are raised in fish farms. What you may not know it that in order to be profitable, fish farms must raise large quantities of fish in confined areas, and the overcrowding leads to disease and injuries to the fish. The fish are therefore given antibiotics and chemicals for the parasites like sea lice, skin and gill infections and other diseases that commonly affect them.
Making matters worse, these fish are also given drugs and hormones, and sometimes are genetically modified, to accelerate growth and change reproductive behaviors. Farmed salmon are also given the chemicals canthaxanthin and astaxanthin to turn their flesh pink. Wild salmon eat a diet of shrimp and krill, which contain natural chemicals that make the salmon pink. Farm-raised salmon do not eat a natural diet, so their flesh would be gray if they were not given these additives.
Choosing the Best Omega-3 Supplement
In a perfect world, fish would be a near-perfect food -- high in protein and full of essential nutrients and fats. But, as you now know, our world is not perfect, and nature’s bounty has been in large part destroyed. Therefore, I can't recommend eating any fish -- unless you have lab results in your hand that can attest to its purity.
Your safest bet, however, is to take a high-quality omega-3 supplement on a regular basis. I don't like fish anyways so I seek a vegetable source of these omega 3 s I have mentioned before but it bears repeating as the health benefits CANNOT be over emphasized.
A great source of these vegetable origin, all natural omega 3s is Symmetry Direct. A product called Advanced Omega.
www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Emotions and Health
Negative Emotions Can be Deadly to Your Health
Optimists may have longer lives, according to the results of a long-term study.
Researchers followed nearly 7,000 adults over a period of 40 years, and found that those who were optimistic in their youth, as judged by a standard personality test, had a lower risk of dying during that period.
On average, the most pessimistic study participants were 42 percent more likely to die of any cause.
A number of past studies have also linked optimism to longer life. This could be the result of a number of factors, including a lower incidence of depression and possibly a healthier lifestyle.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings December 2006; 81(12): 1541-1544
Yahoo News December 22, 2006
Just as negative emotions can contribute to back pain and other problems, there's evidence they can actually shorten your life. Not surprising, as positive emotions also make a difference in your blood pressure readings and your ability to heal.
An interesting fact about the study:
Even though personality tests taken at the time showed most students scored somewhere in the middle between optimism and negativity, almost twice as many patients were judged to be pessimists (1,630) as were judged to be optimists (923).
Unfortunately, though conventional medicine appreciates the influence of negative emotions on your health, the treatments available have side effects and don't always work.
It always amazed me that the clinical response rates of ALL antidepressants, regardless of type or class, are ALL THE SAME about 45%. This is all classes all types of medicines for depression over the last 40 years! In other words antidepressants are no more effective now than 40 years ago.
However placebo response rate across all studies are also very similar about 30-35%!
so THE NEWER MEDICINES HAVE NOT GOTTEN BETTER, BUT THEY HAVE GOTTEN SAFER! they have however shown fewer side effects and are less toxic. The early medicines can kill a person with the contents of one bottle. (not the best situation to give a depressed person a bottle of pills that can kill them). However the later generations are not deadly even at several bottles worth of pills.
But to put things in perspective less than half a bottle of extra strength Tylenol can kill you from liver failure.
For example, while many most doctors understand depression is a problem, the antidepressants used to try to solve it, selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants, may increase the risk of suicide.
Although this risk is not entirely clear. I feel that this risk can be explained when one understands how severe depression makes one feel. A severely depressed person has no desire to plan or accomplish anything, possibly even his or her own suicide.
However, as the medicines begin to correct one's brain chemistry, the desire and ability to plan and accomplish tasks may very well return BEFORE one actually starts to feel better about life and living in general.
So this risk may be a sign that medicines are working and need to be used SOONER before suicidality begins.
One simple way to treat the negative emotions that can harm you and your family without a drug: Learn how to use an energy psychology tool like the Emotional Freedom Technique . There are many other effective energy tools as well, and I would encourage you to try a few and see which ones you are comfortable with. They are far more likely to quickly and permanently resolve the cause of the negative emotions.
And remember, there is a LARGE AND GROWING volume of data that support the fact that depression, bipolar disorder, and many other mental disorders are caused or worsened by a deficiency of essential fatty acids in the brain. The brain is made up of over 40% fatty acids so it's not hard to see how a deficiency could alter brain function.
Another reason to CORRECT YOUR INTAKE OF THE OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS!
Fish oil tablets are cheap and the health benefits are well documented and great. None of these supplements are expensive, side effects are nil, drug interactions are nil. (this is not a vitamin or a drug its the NUTRITION WE WERE DESIGNED TO HAVE!)
Don't like fish oil taste? Get a fishy repeat taste?
Visit www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices and look at ADVANCED OMEGA an all vegetable source of omega 3 EFA (essential fatty acids) with no fishy taste and no risk of mercury contamination!
Optimists may have longer lives, according to the results of a long-term study.
Researchers followed nearly 7,000 adults over a period of 40 years, and found that those who were optimistic in their youth, as judged by a standard personality test, had a lower risk of dying during that period.
On average, the most pessimistic study participants were 42 percent more likely to die of any cause.
A number of past studies have also linked optimism to longer life. This could be the result of a number of factors, including a lower incidence of depression and possibly a healthier lifestyle.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings December 2006; 81(12): 1541-1544
Yahoo News December 22, 2006
Just as negative emotions can contribute to back pain and other problems, there's evidence they can actually shorten your life. Not surprising, as positive emotions also make a difference in your blood pressure readings and your ability to heal.
An interesting fact about the study:
Even though personality tests taken at the time showed most students scored somewhere in the middle between optimism and negativity, almost twice as many patients were judged to be pessimists (1,630) as were judged to be optimists (923).
Unfortunately, though conventional medicine appreciates the influence of negative emotions on your health, the treatments available have side effects and don't always work.
It always amazed me that the clinical response rates of ALL antidepressants, regardless of type or class, are ALL THE SAME about 45%. This is all classes all types of medicines for depression over the last 40 years! In other words antidepressants are no more effective now than 40 years ago.
However placebo response rate across all studies are also very similar about 30-35%!
so THE NEWER MEDICINES HAVE NOT GOTTEN BETTER, BUT THEY HAVE GOTTEN SAFER! they have however shown fewer side effects and are less toxic. The early medicines can kill a person with the contents of one bottle. (not the best situation to give a depressed person a bottle of pills that can kill them). However the later generations are not deadly even at several bottles worth of pills.
But to put things in perspective less than half a bottle of extra strength Tylenol can kill you from liver failure.
For example, while many most doctors understand depression is a problem, the antidepressants used to try to solve it, selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants, may increase the risk of suicide.
Although this risk is not entirely clear. I feel that this risk can be explained when one understands how severe depression makes one feel. A severely depressed person has no desire to plan or accomplish anything, possibly even his or her own suicide.
However, as the medicines begin to correct one's brain chemistry, the desire and ability to plan and accomplish tasks may very well return BEFORE one actually starts to feel better about life and living in general.
So this risk may be a sign that medicines are working and need to be used SOONER before suicidality begins.
One simple way to treat the negative emotions that can harm you and your family without a drug: Learn how to use an energy psychology tool like the Emotional Freedom Technique . There are many other effective energy tools as well, and I would encourage you to try a few and see which ones you are comfortable with. They are far more likely to quickly and permanently resolve the cause of the negative emotions.
And remember, there is a LARGE AND GROWING volume of data that support the fact that depression, bipolar disorder, and many other mental disorders are caused or worsened by a deficiency of essential fatty acids in the brain. The brain is made up of over 40% fatty acids so it's not hard to see how a deficiency could alter brain function.
Another reason to CORRECT YOUR INTAKE OF THE OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS!
Fish oil tablets are cheap and the health benefits are well documented and great. None of these supplements are expensive, side effects are nil, drug interactions are nil. (this is not a vitamin or a drug its the NUTRITION WE WERE DESIGNED TO HAVE!)
Don't like fish oil taste? Get a fishy repeat taste?
Visit www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices and look at ADVANCED OMEGA an all vegetable source of omega 3 EFA (essential fatty acids) with no fishy taste and no risk of mercury contamination!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Have a Coke and a ....
Want to be healthier? Here's some information that might help you choose water with lemon over that cola.
Drinking soda is bad for your health in so many ways; science can’t even state all the consequences. Here’s what happens in your body when you assault it with a Coke:
Within the first 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, and the only reason you don’t vomit as a result of the overwhelming sweetness is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.
Within 20 minutes, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.
Within 40 minutes, caffeine absorption is complete; your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream.
Around 45 minutes, your body increases dopamine production, which stimulates the pleasure centers of your brain – a physically identical response to that of heroin, by the way.
After 60 minutes, you’ll start to have a sugar crash.
Sources:
Nutrition Research Center October 24, 2007
How many sodas have you had today? How about your kids? As of 2005, white bread was dethroned as the number one source of calories in the American diet, being replaced by soft drinks.
The average American drinks more than 60 gallons of soft drinks each year, but before you grab that next can of soda, consider this: one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites. Not to mention the fact that it’s also your largest source of dangerous high fructose corn syrup.
Let’s take a look at some of the other major components of a can of soda:
Phosphoric Acid: Which can interfere with the body's ability to use calcium, leading to osteoporosis or softening of the teeth and bones. It also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which can interfere with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.
Sugar: Sugar causes the body to increase insulin production which over time can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.
aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilispsy/seizures.
Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.
Clearly, the over-consumption of sodas and sweet drinks is one of the leading causes fueling the world-wide obesity epidemic.
One independent, peer-reviewed study published in the British medical journal The Lancet demonstrated a strong link between soda consumption and childhood obesity. They found that 12-year-olds who drank soft drinks regularly were more likely to be overweight than those who didn't. In fact, for each additional daily serving of sugar-sweetened soft drink consumed during the nearly two-year study, the risk of obesity jumped by 60 percent.
Here’s another sobering fact if you’re struggling with weight issues: Just one extra can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year!
Other statistics on the health dangers of soft drinks include:
One soda per day increases your risk of diabetes by 85 percent
Soda drinkers have higher cancer risk. While the federal limit for benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per billion (ppb), researchers have found benzene levels as high as 79 ppb in some soft drinks, and of the 100 brands tested, most had at least some detectable level of benzene present
Soda has been shown to cause DNA damage – courtesy of sodium benzoate, a common preservative found in many soft drinks, which has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA. This could eventually lead to diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson's
If you are still drinking soda, stopping the habit is an easy way to improve your health. Pure water is a much better choice, or if you must drink a carbonated beverage, try sparkling mineral water with a squirt of lime or lemon juice.
There is absolutely NO REASON your kids should ever drink soda. None, nada, zip, zero. No excuses. The elimination of soft drinks is one of the most crucial factors to deal with many of the health problems you or your children suffer
Drinking soda is bad for your health in so many ways; science can’t even state all the consequences. Here’s what happens in your body when you assault it with a Coke:
Within the first 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, and the only reason you don’t vomit as a result of the overwhelming sweetness is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.
Within 20 minutes, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.
Within 40 minutes, caffeine absorption is complete; your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream.
Around 45 minutes, your body increases dopamine production, which stimulates the pleasure centers of your brain – a physically identical response to that of heroin, by the way.
After 60 minutes, you’ll start to have a sugar crash.
Sources:
Nutrition Research Center October 24, 2007
How many sodas have you had today? How about your kids? As of 2005, white bread was dethroned as the number one source of calories in the American diet, being replaced by soft drinks.
The average American drinks more than 60 gallons of soft drinks each year, but before you grab that next can of soda, consider this: one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites. Not to mention the fact that it’s also your largest source of dangerous high fructose corn syrup.
Let’s take a look at some of the other major components of a can of soda:
Phosphoric Acid: Which can interfere with the body's ability to use calcium, leading to osteoporosis or softening of the teeth and bones. It also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which can interfere with digestion, making it difficult to utilize nutrients.
Sugar: Sugar causes the body to increase insulin production which over time can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar.
aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilispsy/seizures.
Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.
Clearly, the over-consumption of sodas and sweet drinks is one of the leading causes fueling the world-wide obesity epidemic.
One independent, peer-reviewed study published in the British medical journal The Lancet demonstrated a strong link between soda consumption and childhood obesity. They found that 12-year-olds who drank soft drinks regularly were more likely to be overweight than those who didn't. In fact, for each additional daily serving of sugar-sweetened soft drink consumed during the nearly two-year study, the risk of obesity jumped by 60 percent.
Here’s another sobering fact if you’re struggling with weight issues: Just one extra can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year!
Other statistics on the health dangers of soft drinks include:
One soda per day increases your risk of diabetes by 85 percent
Soda drinkers have higher cancer risk. While the federal limit for benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per billion (ppb), researchers have found benzene levels as high as 79 ppb in some soft drinks, and of the 100 brands tested, most had at least some detectable level of benzene present
Soda has been shown to cause DNA damage – courtesy of sodium benzoate, a common preservative found in many soft drinks, which has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA. This could eventually lead to diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson's
If you are still drinking soda, stopping the habit is an easy way to improve your health. Pure water is a much better choice, or if you must drink a carbonated beverage, try sparkling mineral water with a squirt of lime or lemon juice.
There is absolutely NO REASON your kids should ever drink soda. None, nada, zip, zero. No excuses. The elimination of soft drinks is one of the most crucial factors to deal with many of the health problems you or your children suffer
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Take time out to enjoy the beauty in life
Detail from "Flying Glass balls" by ReinmuthIn out hectic world we often scurry from task to task without getting a moment to ourselves.
Stress and tension are high on the list of AGING ACCELERATORS, so try to find your release valve so you can try to let off some of that negative energy.
It might be exercise, reading in a hot shower or being creative. My brother in law uses the latter, a creativity based from of stress reduction and in the process creates some amazing art. He posts his favorites on his blog. I hope you will take a look and see if they might help your world to spin a little slower.
Add it to your faves. (right next to mine of course!)
As for my stress reduction, I have been doing some browsing in thrift stores for some fun and found some amazing art on the way cheap! The artwork above is something I stumbled upon in my travels. It is called FLYING GLASS BALLS by Reinmuth. I think its pretty awesome. Its a very detailed print from a process called a giclee that produces near artwork like quality and detail. I liked it but really have no place for it so I posted it on ebay. Take a look if you are interested, there are a few more pics there.
til next timeDoc
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The truth is actually worse than imagined! 16 things restaurants are not mentioning in all those commercials
The magazine Men's Health recently did a piece on some hidden horrors of eating out.
These highlight how eating out can sabotage a healthy diet, weight loss attempts or just trying to eat right.
1. Outback Steakhouse doesn't want you to know:
That the only nutritional information it provides is for its Tangy Tomato Dressing.When we contacted the company, a spokesperson claimed, "Ninety percent of our meals are prepared by hand...Any analysis would be difficult to measure consistently." Yet no fewer than 45 national chain restaurants do just that.(Hey, in case you were wondering, an order of Outback's Aussie Cheese Fries has 2,900 calories, and its Ayers Rock Strip has 60 grams of fat.)
2. Applebee's doesn't want you to know:
That many of its "low-fat" items have more than 500 calories. (In fact, its low-fat chicken quesadillas have 742 calories and 90 grams of carbohydrates per order.)
3. IHOP doesn't want you to know:
That its Omelette Feast has 1,335 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat. (By the time you finish eating this behemoth breakfast, you'll have consumed 150 percent of your daily fat requirement and 300 percent of your suggested cholesterol intake.) Said IHOP's director of communications, "We do not maintain nutritional data on our menu items, so I am unable to assist you."
4. Red Robin doesn't want you to know:
The nutritional impact of its gourmet burgers. "A gourmet burger starts by being an honest burger," Red Robin's Web site declares — but not, apparently, a burger that will come clean about its nutrition facts. When contacted, Red Robin's senior vice president responded that nutritional information for the menu would be available in October 2007. As of December, however, nutrition facts were still not posted on the site. Another public-relations representative e-mailed us to request this: "As this information is not yet public, can you please confirm that this will not be leaked?" Uh, no.
5. Hooters doesn't want you to know:
Anything about what's in its food. Although chains such as Chili's and Uno Chicago Grill divulge the thousands of calories in their chicken wings, Hooters blames its nutritional-disclosure negligence on its expansive menu, which contains about 25 entrees: "Because of the millions of combinations available and our desire to frequently give you new menu options, it is impossible to provide accurate nutritional data," responded a PR representative. Our own investigation revealed that the chain's wing sauce (which consists primarily of butter, sweet cream, and partially hydrogenated margarine) also contains such unappetizing additives as maltodextrin, propylene glycol alginate, xanthan gum, calcium disodium EDTA, and potassium sorbate. (Not being able to tell what's natural and what's enhanced has always been a problem for us at Hooters.)
6. Arby's doesn't want you to know:
That the FDA has no definition of "all natural." Thus, chains like Arby's can say they serve "100 percent all-natural chicken," despite using artificial flavoring. Even worse, the "all-natural" smoothies at chains across the country may contain high-fructose corn syrup.
7. Fuddruckers doesn't want you to know:
The fat content of its 1-pound burgers. We contacted our local Fuddruckers restaurant and were told that the nutritional information was available on the chain's Web site (it's not). The corporate office later responded that providing such information would be "very extensive [sic] and timely."
8. Dunkin' Donuts doesn't want you to know:
That each of its medium-size fruit-and-yogurt smoothies packs at least 60 grams of sugar—more than four times the sugar in a chocolate-frosted cake doughnut. The fruit purees used in the smoothies are mixed with liberal doses of sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup.
9. Papa John's doesn't want you to know:
That unlike rival chains such as Domino's, it has made little effort to introduce healthier options. A Papa John's representative admitted, "At this time, we have no additional regular menu items that are targeted toward eating lighter
10. Burger King doesn't want you to know:
That its French toast sticks (which deliver more than 4 grams of fat per stick) share a deep fryer with the pork sausage, pork fritters, Chicken Tenders, chicken fries, Big Fish patties, hash browns, onion rings, and Cheesy Tots—and that all of those items contain harmful trans fats. But there is hope: After the company was sued by the Center for Science in the Public Interest for moving too slowly to remove trans fats from its menu, Burger King promised to phase them out by the end of 2008.
11. Panera Bread doesn't want you to know:
That the synthetic food colorings in its pastries have been linked to irritability, restlessness, and sleep disturbance in children. And British researchers found that artificial food colorings and preservatives in the diets of 3-year-olds caused an increase in hyperactive behavior. (The same ingredients appear in fast-food items such as mayonnaise, M&M Blizzards, and McDonald's shakes.) To its credit, Chipotle uses no artificial colorings or flavorings
12. Chevy's Fresh Mex doesn't want you to know:
How its tortillas stack up nutritionally. The chain says it provides "nutritional information regarding calories, fat, protein & carbohydrates for some of our most popular items"—the chicken, steak, and shrimp fajitas, for example—on its Web site. But the numbers provided don't include an essential component: the tortilla.
13. Maggiano's Little Italy doesn't want you to know:
Just how many calories and carbs you're consuming in those massive pasta portions. (As the menu puts it, "Family-style service or individual entrees are available...Whichever you choose, you'll have plenty to share or take home.") In Italy, a standard pasta serving means 4 ounces of noodles with a few tablespoons of sauce. At Maggiano's, a large order of pasta translates into 2 pounds of noodles piled high on a hubcap-size dinner plate (15 1/2 inches in diameter). A Maggiano's PR rep responded to our request for nutritional information a week later: "Sorry for the delay. I had to wait for corporate's approval. Unfortunately, they have declined to participate."
14. T.G.I. Friday's doesn't want you to know:
How little nutritional info it provides. A Friday's PR rep told us that the chain makes the data available for only its "low-fat" dishes—those coming in under 500 calories and 10 grams of fat. There are just three such dishes on the entire Friday's menu
15. Baskin Robbins doesn't want you to know:
That, unlike Jamba Juice's all-fruit smoothies, the top four ingredients in its Blue Raspberry Fruit Blast are Sierra Mist soda, water, sugar, and corn syrup.
16. Sit-down chains don't want you to know:
That their food is actually considerably worse for you than the often-maligned fast-food fare. In fact, our menu analysis of 24 national chains revealed that the average entree at a sit-down restaurant contains 867 calories, compared with 522 calories in the average fast-food entree. And that's before appetizers, sides, or desserts—selections that can easily double your total calorie intake.
We all know that we are splurging when we eat out, but 2900 calories?
Here are a few tips to try to ease the damage if you do eat out.
1)Drink water with lemon save the $2 charge for the cola (sugar water with calcium robbing phosphates)
2)Do not order an appetizer, they are usually fried and deadly. Ask for a plate of carrots, celery, or other vegetable instead. Or get a side salad but order WITHOUT dressing and BRING YOUR OWN that you have preselected to be lower calorie with no trans fats. the dressings in restaurants often are stock dressing with added sweeteners, artificial colors or worse trans fats for taste and texture.
3)Split an entree. Most wait staff have no problem with this and portions are so huge that they easily feed two. Another great money saver.
Best tip of all! Eat in, use grass fed meats and fresh vegetables and have fun with the family in a different way!
These highlight how eating out can sabotage a healthy diet, weight loss attempts or just trying to eat right.
1. Outback Steakhouse doesn't want you to know:
That the only nutritional information it provides is for its Tangy Tomato Dressing.When we contacted the company, a spokesperson claimed, "Ninety percent of our meals are prepared by hand...Any analysis would be difficult to measure consistently." Yet no fewer than 45 national chain restaurants do just that.(Hey, in case you were wondering, an order of Outback's Aussie Cheese Fries has 2,900 calories, and its Ayers Rock Strip has 60 grams of fat.)
2. Applebee's doesn't want you to know:
That many of its "low-fat" items have more than 500 calories. (In fact, its low-fat chicken quesadillas have 742 calories and 90 grams of carbohydrates per order.)
3. IHOP doesn't want you to know:
That its Omelette Feast has 1,335 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat. (By the time you finish eating this behemoth breakfast, you'll have consumed 150 percent of your daily fat requirement and 300 percent of your suggested cholesterol intake.) Said IHOP's director of communications, "We do not maintain nutritional data on our menu items, so I am unable to assist you."
4. Red Robin doesn't want you to know:
The nutritional impact of its gourmet burgers. "A gourmet burger starts by being an honest burger," Red Robin's Web site declares — but not, apparently, a burger that will come clean about its nutrition facts. When contacted, Red Robin's senior vice president responded that nutritional information for the menu would be available in October 2007. As of December, however, nutrition facts were still not posted on the site. Another public-relations representative e-mailed us to request this: "As this information is not yet public, can you please confirm that this will not be leaked?" Uh, no.
5. Hooters doesn't want you to know:
Anything about what's in its food. Although chains such as Chili's and Uno Chicago Grill divulge the thousands of calories in their chicken wings, Hooters blames its nutritional-disclosure negligence on its expansive menu, which contains about 25 entrees: "Because of the millions of combinations available and our desire to frequently give you new menu options, it is impossible to provide accurate nutritional data," responded a PR representative. Our own investigation revealed that the chain's wing sauce (which consists primarily of butter, sweet cream, and partially hydrogenated margarine) also contains such unappetizing additives as maltodextrin, propylene glycol alginate, xanthan gum, calcium disodium EDTA, and potassium sorbate. (Not being able to tell what's natural and what's enhanced has always been a problem for us at Hooters.)
6. Arby's doesn't want you to know:
That the FDA has no definition of "all natural." Thus, chains like Arby's can say they serve "100 percent all-natural chicken," despite using artificial flavoring. Even worse, the "all-natural" smoothies at chains across the country may contain high-fructose corn syrup.
7. Fuddruckers doesn't want you to know:
The fat content of its 1-pound burgers. We contacted our local Fuddruckers restaurant and were told that the nutritional information was available on the chain's Web site (it's not). The corporate office later responded that providing such information would be "very extensive [sic] and timely."
8. Dunkin' Donuts doesn't want you to know:
That each of its medium-size fruit-and-yogurt smoothies packs at least 60 grams of sugar—more than four times the sugar in a chocolate-frosted cake doughnut. The fruit purees used in the smoothies are mixed with liberal doses of sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup.
9. Papa John's doesn't want you to know:
That unlike rival chains such as Domino's, it has made little effort to introduce healthier options. A Papa John's representative admitted, "At this time, we have no additional regular menu items that are targeted toward eating lighter
10. Burger King doesn't want you to know:
That its French toast sticks (which deliver more than 4 grams of fat per stick) share a deep fryer with the pork sausage, pork fritters, Chicken Tenders, chicken fries, Big Fish patties, hash browns, onion rings, and Cheesy Tots—and that all of those items contain harmful trans fats. But there is hope: After the company was sued by the Center for Science in the Public Interest for moving too slowly to remove trans fats from its menu, Burger King promised to phase them out by the end of 2008.
11. Panera Bread doesn't want you to know:
That the synthetic food colorings in its pastries have been linked to irritability, restlessness, and sleep disturbance in children. And British researchers found that artificial food colorings and preservatives in the diets of 3-year-olds caused an increase in hyperactive behavior. (The same ingredients appear in fast-food items such as mayonnaise, M&M Blizzards, and McDonald's shakes.) To its credit, Chipotle uses no artificial colorings or flavorings
12. Chevy's Fresh Mex doesn't want you to know:
How its tortillas stack up nutritionally. The chain says it provides "nutritional information regarding calories, fat, protein & carbohydrates for some of our most popular items"—the chicken, steak, and shrimp fajitas, for example—on its Web site. But the numbers provided don't include an essential component: the tortilla.
13. Maggiano's Little Italy doesn't want you to know:
Just how many calories and carbs you're consuming in those massive pasta portions. (As the menu puts it, "Family-style service or individual entrees are available...Whichever you choose, you'll have plenty to share or take home.") In Italy, a standard pasta serving means 4 ounces of noodles with a few tablespoons of sauce. At Maggiano's, a large order of pasta translates into 2 pounds of noodles piled high on a hubcap-size dinner plate (15 1/2 inches in diameter). A Maggiano's PR rep responded to our request for nutritional information a week later: "Sorry for the delay. I had to wait for corporate's approval. Unfortunately, they have declined to participate."
14. T.G.I. Friday's doesn't want you to know:
How little nutritional info it provides. A Friday's PR rep told us that the chain makes the data available for only its "low-fat" dishes—those coming in under 500 calories and 10 grams of fat. There are just three such dishes on the entire Friday's menu
15. Baskin Robbins doesn't want you to know:
That, unlike Jamba Juice's all-fruit smoothies, the top four ingredients in its Blue Raspberry Fruit Blast are Sierra Mist soda, water, sugar, and corn syrup.
16. Sit-down chains don't want you to know:
That their food is actually considerably worse for you than the often-maligned fast-food fare. In fact, our menu analysis of 24 national chains revealed that the average entree at a sit-down restaurant contains 867 calories, compared with 522 calories in the average fast-food entree. And that's before appetizers, sides, or desserts—selections that can easily double your total calorie intake.
We all know that we are splurging when we eat out, but 2900 calories?
Here are a few tips to try to ease the damage if you do eat out.
1)Drink water with lemon save the $2 charge for the cola (sugar water with calcium robbing phosphates)
2)Do not order an appetizer, they are usually fried and deadly. Ask for a plate of carrots, celery, or other vegetable instead. Or get a side salad but order WITHOUT dressing and BRING YOUR OWN that you have preselected to be lower calorie with no trans fats. the dressings in restaurants often are stock dressing with added sweeteners, artificial colors or worse trans fats for taste and texture.
3)Split an entree. Most wait staff have no problem with this and portions are so huge that they easily feed two. Another great money saver.
Best tip of all! Eat in, use grass fed meats and fresh vegetables and have fun with the family in a different way!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The reality about fats.
The first scientific indictment of saturated fat was made in 1953. Dr. Ancel Keys published an influential paper comparing fat intake and heart disease mortality in six countries: the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Italy, and Japan. The Americans ate the most fat and had the highest death rate from heart disease; the Japanese ate the least fat and had the fewest heart disease deaths.
But while data from those six countries seemed to support the diet-heart hypothesis, statistics were actually available for 22 countries. When all 22 were analyzed, the apparent link disappeared. The death rate from heart disease in Finland was 24 times that of Mexico, although fat-consumption rates in the two nations were almost the same.
But while data from those six countries seemed to support the diet-heart hypothesis, statistics were actually available for 22 countries. When all 22 were analyzed, the apparent link disappeared. The death rate from heart disease in Finland was 24 times that of Mexico, although fat-consumption rates in the two nations were almost the same.
This fascinating MSNBC article (see link below) examines in depth why saturated fat has been unfairly demonized, and the truth about fats and heart health.
I don’t know if you fell for it, but I certainly did -- the low fat myth. I bought it hook line and sinker in the 70s and early 80s, and it was all based on flawed science. Low fat is actually quite good for the 1/3 of people who are carb nutritional types. I switched to margarine in the 80's but I have switched back to butter for a few years now, when I learned about trans fats.
A subset of the low fat myth that persists to this day is the belief that saturated fat will increase your risk of heart attacks. In 2002 the "expert" Food & Nutrition Board gave the following misguided statement: "Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol have no known beneficial role in preventing chronic disease and are not required at any level in the diet."
Folks, this is simply another myth that has been harming your health and your loved ones for the last 30 or 40 years, ever since Dr. Keys managed to convince the establishment that his unproven hypothesis was fact.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/5/the-truth-about-saturated-fat.aspx
A huge government and big business conspiracy!
No of course not. Just well intentioned scientists that arrived at the wrong conclusion. And the processed food industry is just trying to make a buck. WE have to be the ones to DEMAND healthier foods. Just like the American car industry in the late 70's and early 80's. They were producing products inferior to others on the market and they were forced to change in the face of massive losses. Of course the food industry is not so cut and dried but we still vote with our pocketbook.
Confusing the Facts is Part of the Problem
Part of the scientific confusion relates to the fact that your body is capable of synthesizing saturated fats that it needs from carbohydrates, and these saturated fats are principally the same ones present in dietary fats of animal origin. However, and this is the key, not all saturated fatty acids are the same. There are subtle differences that have profound health implications, and if you avoid eating all saturated fats you will suffer serious health consequences.
There are in fact more than a dozen different types of saturated fat, but you predominantly consume only three: stearic acid, palmitic acid and lauric acid.
It’s already been well established that stearic acid (found in cocoa and animal fat) has zero effect on your cholesterol levels, and actually gets converted in your liver into the monounsaturated fat called oleic acid.
The other two, palmitic and lauric acid, do raise total cholesterol. However, since they raise “good” cholesterol as much or more than “bad” cholesterol, you’re still actually lowering your risk of heart disease.
We couldn't live without saturated fat. Its used for building cells and for hormones in our body. But fats are calories and eating to many of them will make you gain weight. Moderation is the key.
Foods containing saturated fats include:
Meat
Dairy products
Some oils
Tropical plants such as coconut and palm trees
These (saturated) fats from animal and vegetable sources provide a concentrated source of energy in your diet, and they provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone like substances.
When you eat fats as part of your meal, they slow down absorption so that you can go longer without feeling hungry. In addition, they act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are also needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other biological processes.
Humans have always eaten animal products, they have consumed saturated fats for most of that time. If saturated fats were of no value or were harmful to you, why would breast milk produce saturated fats like butyric, caproic, caprylic, capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acids, which provide a naturally perfected source of nourishment to ensure the growth, development and survival of your infants?
Saturated fats are also:
The preferred fuel for your heart, and also used as a source of fuel during energy expenditure
Useful antiviral agents (caprylic acid)
Effective as an anticaries, antiplaque and anti fungal agents (lauric acid)
Useful to actually lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and stearic acids)
Modulators of genetic regulation and prevent cancer (butyric acid)
However, There IS Still a Link Between Fat and Heart Disease!
Now, it is clear that there is some association between fat and heart disease. The problem lies in the fact that most studies make no effort to differentiate between saturated fat and trans fat. I believe this is slowly changing,
If researchers were to more carefully evaluate the risks of heart disease by measuring the levels of trans and saturated fat, I believe they would find a completely different story.
Trans fat is known to increase your LDL levels, or "bad" cholesterol, while lowering your levels of HDL, known as "good" cholesterol, which, of course is the complete opposite of what you need in order to maintain good heart health. It can also cause major clogging of arteries, type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems.
Trans fats DO NOT OCCUR IN NATURE and were totally synthesized by man to modify the texture of processed foods and to make them more stable at room temperature.
Unfortunately, many food companies also use trans fats because it reduces cost, extends storage life of products.
Your body needs some amount of saturated fat to stay healthy. It is virtually impossible to achieve a nutritionally adequate diet that has no saturated fat. What you don’t need, however, are trans fats.
This is a fact that is dawning on Americans and you can see it in labeling and marketing tactics. Fast food restaurants have taken it from thier menus (like KFC).
One point you should be aware of is the loophole used by many food companies to get around the labeling requirements for trans fats. See, they can still claim their product is trans fat-free if it has less than 500 mg trans fat per serving. So many have decreased their serving size to the point that the ratio of trans fat falls below 500 mg.
Therefore, if a serving size seems ridiculously low, it’s probably hiding trans fat content.
Studies also clearly show that despite great compliance to low saturated fat diets, there is a wide difference in biological responses. What could this mean? Is it just poor science or flawed studies?
Not necessarily, because for one, it predicts that people will respond differently to a given diet, one-third of people will do very well on low saturated fat diets (which supports the studies showing that they work), but another one-third of people need high saturated fat diets to stay healthy.
I would agree with the final conclusion of this MSNBC article, that bad habits, such as lack of exercise and not eating the right foods and consuming excess calories causes more heart disease than any specific “bad food.” As Dr. Volek stated, “If you consistently consume more calories than you burn and you gain weight, your risk of heart disease will increase – whether you favor eating saturated fats, carbs, or both.
One point you should be aware of is the loophole used by many food companies to get around the labeling requirements for trans fats. See, they can still claim their product is trans fat-free if it has less than 500 mg trans fat per serving. So many have decreased their serving size to the point that the ratio of trans fat falls below 500 mg.
Therefore, if a serving size seems ridiculously low, it’s probably hiding trans fat content.
Studies also clearly show that despite great compliance to low saturated fat diets, there is a wide difference in biological responses. What could this mean? Is it just poor science or flawed studies?
Not necessarily, because for one, it predicts that people will respond differently to a given diet, one-third of people will do very well on low saturated fat diets (which supports the studies showing that they work), but another one-third of people need high saturated fat diets to stay healthy.
I would agree with the final conclusion of this MSNBC article, that bad habits, such as lack of exercise and not eating the right foods and consuming excess calories causes more heart disease than any specific “bad food.” As Dr. Volek stated, “If you consistently consume more calories than you burn and you gain weight, your risk of heart disease will increase – whether you favor eating saturated fats, carbs, or both.
A FREE FOR ALL ON HIGH FAT FOODS??
Not so much... this isn't an exonneration of fats as they STILL pack over twice as much calories per gram as carbs, 9 vs 4 to be specific. So keeping your total calorie intake of fats to 30-40% is a good idea. Just make sure they are NON TRANS FATS.
And I still believe it is important to have the ratio of omega 3 fats to omega 6 fats between 20 and 40 to one. Which means fish, grass fed red meats, and non corn fed chicken. These are the things we need to demand from our grocer. I live in the country so its easier to find grass fed products. Otherwise you need to limit the omega six sources and supplement with omega threes.
As a physician I was taught pretty much that all fats were bad in respect to a healthy diet. The realization that this isn't so cut and dried has begun to sink in to the medical community and the general community as well.
Much of this info was taken from Dr. Mercola at mercola.com
As a physician I was taught pretty much that all fats were bad in respect to a healthy diet. The realization that this isn't so cut and dried has begun to sink in to the medical community and the general community as well.
Much of this info was taken from Dr. Mercola at mercola.com
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Vitamin D: More is better
Sunlight, potent medicine used with common senseA new study indicates that at least 2,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D3 -- which is currently considered the upper limit of intake -- are needed to ensure adequate blood levels of the vitamin for post-menopausal African-American women.
Over 200 women took part in this three-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, which adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that there is an urgent need to review current recommended daily intake levels of the vitamin.
Vitamin D3 is produced in the skin during exposure to sunlight. However, increased skin pigmentation reduces the effect of UVB radiation, meaning darker-skinned people are more at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
As much as 4000 IU per day may be required for individuals who are already deficient in the vitamin.
Sources:
NutraIngredients.com December 12, 2007
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition December, 2007; 86(6): 1657-1662
Vitamin D, often referred to as “the sunshine vitamin,” is different from most other vitamins in that it influences your entire body. Receptors that respond to vitamin D have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones.
Optimizing your vitamin D levels could help you to prevent as many as 16 different types of cancer including pancreatic, lung, breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers.
In fact, a previous landmark study from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), found that some 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancers could be prevented each year, if only vitamin D3 levels among populations worldwide were increased.
Beyond cancer, the researchers pointed out that increasing levels of vitamin D3 could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year! And other studies showed that you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure.
Further, optimal vitamin D levels are also known to positively influence the following conditions:
Heart disease
Diabetes
Inflammatory bowel disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
Multiple sclerosis and osteoporosis
How Much Vitamin D do You Need?
Your doctor can measure your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to determine your vitamin D status. Your vitamin D level should NEVER be below 32 ng/ml, and anything below 20 ng/ml is considered a serious deficiency state, which will increase your risk of breast and prostate cancers and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
In the United States, late winter 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels generally range from 15 to 18 ng/ml, so this vitamin deficiency affects a very large portion of the U.S. population.
The OPTIMAL value that you’re looking for is 45-52 ng/ml (115-128 nmol/l), but previous research has suggested that maintaining a slightly higher level of 55 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter) is optimal for cancer prevention.
African Americans are even more prone to vitamin D deficiencies, as they produce less vitamin D3 than do whites in response to usual levels of sun exposure, and therefore have lower vitamin D serum concentrations year-round. In fact, as many as 42 percent of African American women, compared to just over 4 percent of white women of childbearing age have serum 25 (OH)D concentrations that are less than 62.5 nmol/L during the summer months.
RDA Too Low for Achieving Optimal Vitamin D Levels
This latest study, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition points out that many African Americans simply cannot reach optimal vitamin D levels under the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) guidelines.
The 1997 Panel on Calcium and Related Nutrients considers 2,000 IU’s as the upper limit of intake, with a recommended daily allowance of just 400 to 600 IU’s per day.
In fact, the new dosing algorithm that this study proposes calls for a daily dose of 2,800 IU’s for African Americans with a serum level of at least 45 nmol/L, and 4,000 IU’s per day if your serum level is below 45 nmol/L.
In addition to this one-measurement, one-dose adjustment algorithm, they point out that given the individual variability in your response to vitamin D, the best result would be expected if your 25 (OH)D was measured and your dose of vitamin D is adjusted a second time.
What is Your Best Source of Vitamin D?
Sun exposure (without sunscreen) of about 10 to 15 minutes a day, with at least 40 percent of your skin exposed is your best source of vitamin D. Sometimes, however you may not be able to get enough sun exposure during certain parts of the year. It s just not realistic in some climates. (BRRRRR it 12 F out there now) In that case supplementation is an option.
Obviously, it will be very difficult for many to get adequate sun exposure in the winter, which is why I also advise using a safe tanning bed to have your own body produce vitamin D naturally.
The most important thing to keep in mind if you opt for oral supplementation is that you only want to supplement with natural vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), which is the type of vitamin D found in foods like eggs, organ meats, animal fat, cod liver oil, and fish. Do NOT use the synthetic and highly inferior vitamin D2.
The supplement I take has 400mg of cholecalciferol .
See this complete supplement called Ultra-Vitality at www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices a truly complete and highly natural and bio-available complete daily supplement
The danger of vitamin D toxicity is greatly exaggerated but STILL influences even the BEST vitamin manufacturers in this land of the lawsuit. I really can't blame them. So the status quo changes slowly, until then optimizing natural sources like sunlight and a good once a day absorbable vitamin will help give your body the nutrients that out processed diets have been robbed of!
So the sun is very important and has taken a bad rap from some circles. JUST DO NOT GET A BLISTERING SUNBURN use common sense.
Bet You Did Not Know This About Vitamin D
Vitamin D is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States, and most physicians are clueless about its importance. If you can answer the majority of these questions correctly you are doing better than the majority of physicians.
This test was developed by Dr. John Cannell. He is one of the leaders in the vitamin D education movement and has a very comprehensive Web site dedicated to vitamin D. You can also subscribe to his free newsletter there.
1. Vitamin D reverses inflammatory changes associated with age-related memory impairment.
a) True
b) False
True. Researchers from Ireland were the first to demonstrate that vitamin D3 acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and turns old brains into young brains--at least as far as inflammatory cytokines are concerned. This research suggests vitamin D may prevent, or even treat, age-related cognitive decline!
Biochem Soc Trans. 2005 Aug;33(Pt 4):573-7.
2. Your blood sugar is closely associated with your vitamin D level.
a) True
b) False
True. Researchers in Australia added to the growing evidence that sun avoidance may have caused the epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The Australians' findings were straightforward and powerful. The higher your vitamin D level, the lower your blood glucose.
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2005 Jun;62(6):738-41.
3. In July, a group from Minnesota found that 100 percent of elderly patients admitted for fragility fractures were vitamin-D deficient despite the fact that half of them were taking vitamin D supplements.
a) True
b) False
True. The authors found that women taking supplemental vitamin D had average levels of 16.4 ng/ml while women not taking supplements had levels of 11.9.ng/ml, both dangerously low. None of the 82 women got enough sun or took enough vitamin D to obtain a level of 40 ng/ml. These were fragility fractures, not fractures caused by unusual trauma. That is, their bones just sort of fell apart.
Curr Med Res Opin. 2005 Jul;21(7):1069-74.
4. Women with the lowest vitamin D levels had five times higher risk for breast cancer.
a) True
b) False
True. Women with 25(OH)-vitamin D blood levels less than 20 ng/ml were more than five times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than were women with levels above 60 ng/ml. That is five, repeat five, times more likely!
Eur J Cancer. 2005 May;41(8):1164-9. Epub 2005 Apr 14.
5. Avoiding all sun doubles the risk of prostate cancer.
a) True
b) False
True. Again, the risk of avoiding the sun is clear, this time in another study with prostate cancer. However, the authors pointed out that sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer and believed that proper vitamin D supplementation "may be the safest solution to achieve an adequate vitamin D status." I think one can naturally obtain vitamin d with sunlight exposure while using common sense.
Cancer Res. 2005 Jun 15;65(12):5470-9.
I also believe supplementation is the only way to go for many people. African Americans are simply unable to spend an adequate time in the sun. In addition, the sun ages the skin and that fact alone will keep many Americans out of the sun. That said, I go into the sun whenever I can. The reason is simple: it is the most conservative thing to do. Until we know everything the sun does--and it does more than just make vitamin D--the conservative approach is to mimic our ancestors and the environment in which humans evolved, whenever we can. Therefore, it makes sense to sunbathe sensibly in the late spring, summer and early fall and take supplements or use UVB lamps the rest of the time.
6. South Korean researchers associated vitamin D deficiency with Parkinson's disease.
a) True
b) False
True. Actually, they showed that certain genetic malformations (VDR polymorphisms) are more likely in patients with Parkinson's disease, implying an association with vitamin D and Parkinsonism.
J Korean Med Sci. 2005 Jun;20(3):495-8.
7. Researchers in England discovered that patients with chronic pain have phenomenally low vitamin D levels.
a) True
b) False
True. The authors added to the evidence that severe vitamin D deficiency is associated with chronic pain. They found that 88 percent of their patients with chronic pain had levels less than 10 ng/ml. If they treated their patients, they did not report it. However, Swiss researchers recently treated chronic pain patients with vitamin D and reported the pain "disappeared" within one to three months in most of their patients. This is the second open study that showed adequate doses of vitamin D dramatically improved chronic pain. I find this amazing but the resistance to such a simple intervention is astounding.
Ann Rheum Dis. 2005 Aug;64(8):1217-9.
BMJ. 2004 Jul 17;329(7458):156-7.
Spine. 2003 Jan 15;28(2):177-9.
8. Severe vitamin D deficiency is common in TB patients.
Some English doctors don't know the difference between ideal and "normal" levels.
Most American doctors don't know the difference either.
a) All are true
b) All are false
c) Some are true and some are false
All are true. First, the authors reviewed the impressive animal evidence that vitamin D can help treat TB. Then they reported that most of their immigrant TB patients had undetectable vitamin D levels. Then they reported the normal range for their lab was between 5 to 47 ng/ml but "normal" was any level greater than 9 ng/ml. Finally, the researchers reported they treated their patients with "normal daily doses" of vitamin D, without reporting how much they gave. Apparently, they gave just enough to get patients above 9 ng/ml.
J Infect. 2005 Jun;50(5):432-7.
Keep in mind that different laboratory techniques result in different ranges for 25(OH)-vitamin D levels. No matter what technique is used, ideal levels can roughly be defined as any level above the median. In this case, as you will see below in Dr. Heaney's article, the doctors should have treated their patients with 4,000 units a day. They should also have watched for evidence of vitamin D hypersensitivity, which can occur when treating tuberculosis patients for vitamin D deficiency.
We can only mourn for the poor immigrants who have to suffer from both TB and vitamin D deficiency. Of course, few physicians in the United States know the difference between the Gaussian definition of "normal" (average ranges for the population tested) and the ideal definition of "normal" (levels above 32 ng/ml). Getting commercial reference labs to report ideal 25(OH)-vitamin D levels should be a priority of everyone involved in trying to end the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency.
9. Virtually all nephrologists give renal failure patients a vitamin D-like drug.
Virtually all renal failure patients are severely vitamin D deficient. The active form of vitamin d is removed by dialysis!
Some nephrologists know the difference between vitamin D and calcitriol.
a) All are true
b) All are false
c) Some are true and some are false.
All are true. Finally, the truth about renal failure patients: most of them are vitamin D deficient despite taking vitamin D analogs! Most nephrologists prescribe activated vitamin D (calcitriol) or vitamin D analogs but not vitamin D. Calcitriol and vitamin D analogs do nothing to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Renal failure patients need both vitamin D and a calcitriol-like drug. Moreover, 400 units a day of vitamin D will not correct their deficiencies. As you will see below, they need up to 4,000 units.
Am J Kidney Dis. 2005 Jun;45(6):1026-33.
P.S. If you think nephrologists know the difference between vitamin D and calcitriol, read this month's paper from some nephrologists at the University of Texas. They discuss the importance of vitamin D in preventing and treating heart disease. (I think adequate vitamin D nutrition may prevent more cardiovascular deaths than cancer deaths.) However, I read the Texas paper three times and still don't know if the authors know the difference between vitamin D and calcitriol. I hope they know the difference between cholesterol and testosterone. (Some cholesterol is metabolized into steroid hormones, vitamin D is a prehormone; testosterone is a steroid hormone, calcitriol is the most potent steroid hormone in the human body).
Kidney Int Suppl. 2005 Jun;(95):S37-42.
AND THE THREE BEST REASONS TO MAINTAIN AN ADEQUATE VITAMIN D LEVEL IN YOUR BODY
In the most important clinical paper published this month, Heaney gave the three best reasons why we should all maintain minimum levels of at least 32 ng/ml, the level that:
(a) Effectively suppresses PTH WHICH is a hormone that MOBILIZES CALCIUM FROM BONE weakening the bones over time
(b) Maximizes calcium absorption
(c) Maximally improves glucose tolerance
Then he goes on to show that some of us, especially African Americans, will need to take 3,000 to 4,000 units every day to maintain healthy 25(OH)-vitamin D blood levels.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2005 Jul 15.
Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):842-56.
REMEMBER FIX YOUR OMEGA 3 LEVELS ! The anti-inflammatory effects of vitamin D and appropriate dietary levels of essential fatty acis are well documented.
I use Advanced Omega from ALL VEGETABLE SOURCES to eliminate any risk of mercury contamination.
This can be ordered at www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices.
Over 200 women took part in this three-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, which adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that there is an urgent need to review current recommended daily intake levels of the vitamin.
Vitamin D3 is produced in the skin during exposure to sunlight. However, increased skin pigmentation reduces the effect of UVB radiation, meaning darker-skinned people are more at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
As much as 4000 IU per day may be required for individuals who are already deficient in the vitamin.
Sources:
NutraIngredients.com December 12, 2007
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition December, 2007; 86(6): 1657-1662
Vitamin D, often referred to as “the sunshine vitamin,” is different from most other vitamins in that it influences your entire body. Receptors that respond to vitamin D have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones.
Optimizing your vitamin D levels could help you to prevent as many as 16 different types of cancer including pancreatic, lung, breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers.
In fact, a previous landmark study from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), found that some 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancers could be prevented each year, if only vitamin D3 levels among populations worldwide were increased.
Beyond cancer, the researchers pointed out that increasing levels of vitamin D3 could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year! And other studies showed that you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure.
Further, optimal vitamin D levels are also known to positively influence the following conditions:
Heart disease
Diabetes
Inflammatory bowel disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
Multiple sclerosis and osteoporosis
How Much Vitamin D do You Need?
Your doctor can measure your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to determine your vitamin D status. Your vitamin D level should NEVER be below 32 ng/ml, and anything below 20 ng/ml is considered a serious deficiency state, which will increase your risk of breast and prostate cancers and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
In the United States, late winter 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels generally range from 15 to 18 ng/ml, so this vitamin deficiency affects a very large portion of the U.S. population.
The OPTIMAL value that you’re looking for is 45-52 ng/ml (115-128 nmol/l), but previous research has suggested that maintaining a slightly higher level of 55 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter) is optimal for cancer prevention.
African Americans are even more prone to vitamin D deficiencies, as they produce less vitamin D3 than do whites in response to usual levels of sun exposure, and therefore have lower vitamin D serum concentrations year-round. In fact, as many as 42 percent of African American women, compared to just over 4 percent of white women of childbearing age have serum 25 (OH)D concentrations that are less than 62.5 nmol/L during the summer months.
RDA Too Low for Achieving Optimal Vitamin D Levels
This latest study, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition points out that many African Americans simply cannot reach optimal vitamin D levels under the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) guidelines.
The 1997 Panel on Calcium and Related Nutrients considers 2,000 IU’s as the upper limit of intake, with a recommended daily allowance of just 400 to 600 IU’s per day.
In fact, the new dosing algorithm that this study proposes calls for a daily dose of 2,800 IU’s for African Americans with a serum level of at least 45 nmol/L, and 4,000 IU’s per day if your serum level is below 45 nmol/L.
In addition to this one-measurement, one-dose adjustment algorithm, they point out that given the individual variability in your response to vitamin D, the best result would be expected if your 25 (OH)D was measured and your dose of vitamin D is adjusted a second time.
What is Your Best Source of Vitamin D?
Sun exposure (without sunscreen) of about 10 to 15 minutes a day, with at least 40 percent of your skin exposed is your best source of vitamin D. Sometimes, however you may not be able to get enough sun exposure during certain parts of the year. It s just not realistic in some climates. (BRRRRR it 12 F out there now) In that case supplementation is an option.
Obviously, it will be very difficult for many to get adequate sun exposure in the winter, which is why I also advise using a safe tanning bed to have your own body produce vitamin D naturally.
The most important thing to keep in mind if you opt for oral supplementation is that you only want to supplement with natural vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), which is the type of vitamin D found in foods like eggs, organ meats, animal fat, cod liver oil, and fish. Do NOT use the synthetic and highly inferior vitamin D2.
The supplement I take has 400mg of cholecalciferol .
See this complete supplement called Ultra-Vitality at www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices a truly complete and highly natural and bio-available complete daily supplement
The danger of vitamin D toxicity is greatly exaggerated but STILL influences even the BEST vitamin manufacturers in this land of the lawsuit. I really can't blame them. So the status quo changes slowly, until then optimizing natural sources like sunlight and a good once a day absorbable vitamin will help give your body the nutrients that out processed diets have been robbed of!
So the sun is very important and has taken a bad rap from some circles. JUST DO NOT GET A BLISTERING SUNBURN use common sense.
Bet You Did Not Know This About Vitamin D
Vitamin D is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States, and most physicians are clueless about its importance. If you can answer the majority of these questions correctly you are doing better than the majority of physicians.
This test was developed by Dr. John Cannell. He is one of the leaders in the vitamin D education movement and has a very comprehensive Web site dedicated to vitamin D. You can also subscribe to his free newsletter there.
1. Vitamin D reverses inflammatory changes associated with age-related memory impairment.
a) True
b) False
True. Researchers from Ireland were the first to demonstrate that vitamin D3 acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and turns old brains into young brains--at least as far as inflammatory cytokines are concerned. This research suggests vitamin D may prevent, or even treat, age-related cognitive decline!
Biochem Soc Trans. 2005 Aug;33(Pt 4):573-7.
2. Your blood sugar is closely associated with your vitamin D level.
a) True
b) False
True. Researchers in Australia added to the growing evidence that sun avoidance may have caused the epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The Australians' findings were straightforward and powerful. The higher your vitamin D level, the lower your blood glucose.
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2005 Jun;62(6):738-41.
3. In July, a group from Minnesota found that 100 percent of elderly patients admitted for fragility fractures were vitamin-D deficient despite the fact that half of them were taking vitamin D supplements.
a) True
b) False
True. The authors found that women taking supplemental vitamin D had average levels of 16.4 ng/ml while women not taking supplements had levels of 11.9.ng/ml, both dangerously low. None of the 82 women got enough sun or took enough vitamin D to obtain a level of 40 ng/ml. These were fragility fractures, not fractures caused by unusual trauma. That is, their bones just sort of fell apart.
Curr Med Res Opin. 2005 Jul;21(7):1069-74.
4. Women with the lowest vitamin D levels had five times higher risk for breast cancer.
a) True
b) False
True. Women with 25(OH)-vitamin D blood levels less than 20 ng/ml were more than five times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than were women with levels above 60 ng/ml. That is five, repeat five, times more likely!
Eur J Cancer. 2005 May;41(8):1164-9. Epub 2005 Apr 14.
5. Avoiding all sun doubles the risk of prostate cancer.
a) True
b) False
True. Again, the risk of avoiding the sun is clear, this time in another study with prostate cancer. However, the authors pointed out that sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer and believed that proper vitamin D supplementation "may be the safest solution to achieve an adequate vitamin D status." I think one can naturally obtain vitamin d with sunlight exposure while using common sense.
Cancer Res. 2005 Jun 15;65(12):5470-9.
I also believe supplementation is the only way to go for many people. African Americans are simply unable to spend an adequate time in the sun. In addition, the sun ages the skin and that fact alone will keep many Americans out of the sun. That said, I go into the sun whenever I can. The reason is simple: it is the most conservative thing to do. Until we know everything the sun does--and it does more than just make vitamin D--the conservative approach is to mimic our ancestors and the environment in which humans evolved, whenever we can. Therefore, it makes sense to sunbathe sensibly in the late spring, summer and early fall and take supplements or use UVB lamps the rest of the time.
6. South Korean researchers associated vitamin D deficiency with Parkinson's disease.
a) True
b) False
True. Actually, they showed that certain genetic malformations (VDR polymorphisms) are more likely in patients with Parkinson's disease, implying an association with vitamin D and Parkinsonism.
J Korean Med Sci. 2005 Jun;20(3):495-8.
7. Researchers in England discovered that patients with chronic pain have phenomenally low vitamin D levels.
a) True
b) False
True. The authors added to the evidence that severe vitamin D deficiency is associated with chronic pain. They found that 88 percent of their patients with chronic pain had levels less than 10 ng/ml. If they treated their patients, they did not report it. However, Swiss researchers recently treated chronic pain patients with vitamin D and reported the pain "disappeared" within one to three months in most of their patients. This is the second open study that showed adequate doses of vitamin D dramatically improved chronic pain. I find this amazing but the resistance to such a simple intervention is astounding.
Ann Rheum Dis. 2005 Aug;64(8):1217-9.
BMJ. 2004 Jul 17;329(7458):156-7.
Spine. 2003 Jan 15;28(2):177-9.
8. Severe vitamin D deficiency is common in TB patients.
Some English doctors don't know the difference between ideal and "normal" levels.
Most American doctors don't know the difference either.
a) All are true
b) All are false
c) Some are true and some are false
All are true. First, the authors reviewed the impressive animal evidence that vitamin D can help treat TB. Then they reported that most of their immigrant TB patients had undetectable vitamin D levels. Then they reported the normal range for their lab was between 5 to 47 ng/ml but "normal" was any level greater than 9 ng/ml. Finally, the researchers reported they treated their patients with "normal daily doses" of vitamin D, without reporting how much they gave. Apparently, they gave just enough to get patients above 9 ng/ml.
J Infect. 2005 Jun;50(5):432-7.
Keep in mind that different laboratory techniques result in different ranges for 25(OH)-vitamin D levels. No matter what technique is used, ideal levels can roughly be defined as any level above the median. In this case, as you will see below in Dr. Heaney's article, the doctors should have treated their patients with 4,000 units a day. They should also have watched for evidence of vitamin D hypersensitivity, which can occur when treating tuberculosis patients for vitamin D deficiency.
We can only mourn for the poor immigrants who have to suffer from both TB and vitamin D deficiency. Of course, few physicians in the United States know the difference between the Gaussian definition of "normal" (average ranges for the population tested) and the ideal definition of "normal" (levels above 32 ng/ml). Getting commercial reference labs to report ideal 25(OH)-vitamin D levels should be a priority of everyone involved in trying to end the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency.
9. Virtually all nephrologists give renal failure patients a vitamin D-like drug.
Virtually all renal failure patients are severely vitamin D deficient. The active form of vitamin d is removed by dialysis!
Some nephrologists know the difference between vitamin D and calcitriol.
a) All are true
b) All are false
c) Some are true and some are false.
All are true. Finally, the truth about renal failure patients: most of them are vitamin D deficient despite taking vitamin D analogs! Most nephrologists prescribe activated vitamin D (calcitriol) or vitamin D analogs but not vitamin D. Calcitriol and vitamin D analogs do nothing to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Renal failure patients need both vitamin D and a calcitriol-like drug. Moreover, 400 units a day of vitamin D will not correct their deficiencies. As you will see below, they need up to 4,000 units.
Am J Kidney Dis. 2005 Jun;45(6):1026-33.
P.S. If you think nephrologists know the difference between vitamin D and calcitriol, read this month's paper from some nephrologists at the University of Texas. They discuss the importance of vitamin D in preventing and treating heart disease. (I think adequate vitamin D nutrition may prevent more cardiovascular deaths than cancer deaths.) However, I read the Texas paper three times and still don't know if the authors know the difference between vitamin D and calcitriol. I hope they know the difference between cholesterol and testosterone. (Some cholesterol is metabolized into steroid hormones, vitamin D is a prehormone; testosterone is a steroid hormone, calcitriol is the most potent steroid hormone in the human body).
Kidney Int Suppl. 2005 Jun;(95):S37-42.
AND THE THREE BEST REASONS TO MAINTAIN AN ADEQUATE VITAMIN D LEVEL IN YOUR BODY
In the most important clinical paper published this month, Heaney gave the three best reasons why we should all maintain minimum levels of at least 32 ng/ml, the level that:
(a) Effectively suppresses PTH WHICH is a hormone that MOBILIZES CALCIUM FROM BONE weakening the bones over time
(b) Maximizes calcium absorption
(c) Maximally improves glucose tolerance
Then he goes on to show that some of us, especially African Americans, will need to take 3,000 to 4,000 units every day to maintain healthy 25(OH)-vitamin D blood levels.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2005 Jul 15.
Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):842-56.
REMEMBER FIX YOUR OMEGA 3 LEVELS ! The anti-inflammatory effects of vitamin D and appropriate dietary levels of essential fatty acis are well documented.
I use Advanced Omega from ALL VEGETABLE SOURCES to eliminate any risk of mercury contamination.
This can be ordered at www.symmetrydirect.com/sservices.
Thanks for reading! The vast majority of this info was provided by Dr Mercola at mercola.com
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