If you've been reading my blog, you know that fermented foods deliver a variety of health benefits.  A new study shows that eating cultured milk (yogurt, sour milk, kefir, etc) lowers bladder cancer risk by nearly 40%! 

In 2008 alone there were 68,810 new cases of bladder cancer and 14,100 deaths due to the disease.  According to this research, simply eating a fermented milk product daily could save 5,600 lives per year due to bladder cancer alone!  Factoring in other health benefits the lives saved are probably much higher.  Maybe a National Health program should include yogurt?

The study followed 82,000 Swedes for 9.4 years to reach its conclusions.  Researchers found that people eating at least 2 servings of cultured milk per day had the greatest benefit.  You can read the study here.

Curcumin, an extract from turmeric, has can be used to combat osteoporosis.  Curcumin has been extensively researched for cancer prevention, improving immune function, heart protection, and anti-inflammatroy effects.  A recent study may add bone-health to the list of reaseons to supplement with curcumin.  The study involved removing the ovaries form female rats.  This produces hormonal changes similar to those in post-menopausal women--specifically, estrogen production drops off.  Since estrogen is necessary for bone health, the rats developed osteoporosis.  The researchers then tried supplementing a similar group of rats with curcumin, and their bone density increased!  They concluded "Curcumin produces beneficial changes in bone turnover and increases in bone strength using the ovariectomized mature rat model of postmenopausal osteoporosis."

Please visit my Osteoporosis Page for more information on how to build bone health holistically!  Also note that in my store I have a product that combines the bone building effects of whey protein with curcumin.  I highly recommend it for bone health.

Read the study here. 

More and more research demonstrates that we are living in a mercury-toxic environment.  Fish, seafood, seaweed (kelp, dulse, etc), and many vaccinations are all sources of methylmercury (methylmercury is a form of mercury that is readily absorbed by body tissues that acts as a neurotoxin).

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently performed an experiment with profound results.  The researchers exposed rats to mercury, then supplemented the rats with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an amino acid that raises your body’s glutathione levels (read more about glutathione in my Antioxidant Article and on the Whey Protein page).  Astonishingly, after the dose of NAC the rats excreted 5% of the mercury load in their urine within 2 hours!  More impressively, they found that in pregnant rats “NAC markedly reduced the body burden of Methylmercury, particularly in target tissues such as brain, placenta, and fetus.”

The authors prefaced the study “Many people, by means of consumption of seafood or other anthropogenic sources, are exposed to levels of methylmercury (MeHg) that are generally considered to be quite low, but that may nevertheless produce irreversible brain damage, particularly in unborn babies. The only way to prevent or ameliorate MeHg toxicity is to enhance its elimination from the body.”

How does it work?  NAC is a very effective way to raise glutathione levels in your body—glutathione is your body’s main detoxifier and antioxidant.  Elevated glutathione levels increase the amount of mercury that you excrete.

In my store you will find an excellent NAC product called “Complete Glutathione”—check it out.  I recommend using this product as directed for 2 weeks, the using it for the first 3-4 days of every month.  Glutathione levels can be kept high throughout the month by using Undenatured Whey Protein daily (also available in my store).

Read the full-text study here.

Raw milk is one of the most health-giving foods that you can consume.  In short, it's an excellent source of calcium, absorbable whey protein which builds bone and builds Antioxidant levels, many beneficial fats including cancer-fighting CLA, beneficial bacteria, and many vitamins and minerals including vitamin A and E.  When milk is pasteurized it loses much of it's health benefit, and in some ways becomes harmful to health (for more detail see my raw milk page).

A new law goes into effect on January 1st, 2008 that will make it much more difficult to purchase raw milk in California.  The law restricts the amount of coliform bacteria in milk.  Coliform bacteria is a very broad category of bacteria, some of which can make you sick, but many which cannot.  Current law restricts sale of raw milk that contains bacteria that can make you sick--and that makes sense.  The new law restricts all coliform bacteria--even the ones that cause no problems. 

“This new law limits the sale of perfectly healthy, pathogen-free milk,” says Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy, the largest raw milk dairy in the United States. “Most batches of our milk will not comply with the new legislation. By about January 20th, under the new law, our milk will be available to consumers intermittently at best. Thousands of our customers who visit 300 stores in California each week will be without a source of raw milk.”--from http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1051997

There is something you can do--email tcopley@ziplink.net and add your name to a class action suit against the new law.  I think that if you were to follow the money behind the new law you'd find the dairy industry--for them it's more profitable to make poor quality milk from cows full of growth hormone and antibiotics, pasteurize it to give it a longer shelf life, then sit back and count their money until they die of heart disease. 

There are many supplements that are useful in building strength and endurance in athletes.  Unfortunately, there are many more scams then there are useful products.  Here's a list of some proven supplements that you can safely use to improve your athletic performance.

Creatine Monohydrate:  There have been over 800 studies logged in the National  Library of Medicine on creatine supplementation, and the results have been overwhelmingly positive.  Creatine is a naturally occurring substance that your body makes.  Your body uses creatine phosphate to "re-energize" your body's energy source, ATP.  After your body uses ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for energy, it becomes ADP (adenosine diphosphate)--in other words, the ATP loses a phosphate.  Creatine phosphate can then give it's phosphate to ADP, making it ATP again.  This means that you are able to expend more energy without fatigueing.  This translates to better performance.  Creatine has been shown to be extremely safe, but I would not recommend it to anyone with kidney problems as the kidneys are required to process creatine.  Creatine use causes more water to be stored in muscle tissue, so be sure to get enough fluids to avoid dehydration.  Interestingly, new research shows that creatine supplementation can lift mood in people with depression by increasing energy levels in brain--other research has shown benefit in strengthening the heart after heart attack!

Whey Protein:  Whey protein has been shown again and again to aid in the development of muscle.  In addition, and more importantly in my opinion, undenatured whey protein raises glutathione levels.  If you've read my antioxidant article, you know that glutathione is your body's main antioxidant and detoxifier.  This is extremely important for athletes since energy production generates huge amounts of free radicals--the more you exercise the more free radicals you create.  I have an excellent undenatured whey protein on my website--check it out.  Also check out my whey protein page (you'll see that I also tout whey protein for it's bone building power--I have many patients with low bone density reporting increased bone density scores after one year of whey supplementation!)

Beta-Alanine:  This amino acid buffers acidity in the body.  As your muscles work you create acid that increases fatigue.  Supplementing with beat-alanine increases carnosine in muscle tissue, which buffers the acid and allows you to do more muscular work without fatigue (carnosine itself is broken down and not absorbed well--because of this it does not work as well as beta-alanine).  Most studies have used about 4 grams per day.  The benefits of beta-alanine are best for short bouts of explosive energy.

Ashwagandha and Ginseng:  These two herbs are similar in that they are both adaptogens--herbs that provide a boost to the immune system and a long-term boost in energy levels (endurance).  Ashwagandha is from the Ayurvedic tradition, and ginseng is from the Chinese and Korean traditions.  They both come with a host of health benefits, and I recommend giving each a try and seeing which you prefer, or, rotate back and forth between the two.  You can read more about Ashwagandha here, and more about Ginseng at The Sigung's website--here.

"Grilled, fried or broiled animal products such as meats and cheeses contain a class of toxins called "advanced glycation end products" (AGEs), which have been linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, diabetes, vascular and kidney disease, and Alzheimer's disease, say a team from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.  AGEs are also produced when food products are sterilized and pasteurized."

This is from a great article on yahoo news.  AGE's are one of many reasons to avoid pasteurized milk.  Click here for more information on raw milk (this article also talks about how to eat meat and be healthy!), click here for the article on yahoo news.  My goats just had kids three days ago--mmmmm--raw goat milk!

Yet another study was just published on the disappointing effects of pill-form antioxidants.  The paper was a review of 68 studies involving over 230,000 people.  The results were exactly in line with my Antioxidant paper--taking vitamins A, E, beta-carotene, and C increases your risk of death!  The increases are primarily due to increased rates of heart disease and cancer.  Food based antioxidants, to the contrary, have decreased death rates in every study I've seen. 

After being sure to get your fruits and vegetables, undenatured whey protein and a food-based antioxidant are the best ways to increase your antioxidant status.  To learn more, read the Antioxidant article (this article details why pill-form antioxidants are harmful and how to safely increase your antioxidant status).

Read the study here. 

Whey protein supplementation improves immune response in children with asthma.  In a recent study reported in the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, researchers supplemented 11 children with asthma with whey protein for one month.  After one month the researchers found that the children had:

• higher levels of glutathione (remember from my Antioxidant Article that glutathione is your body's main antioxidant and detoxifier)
• a lower level of IgE--IgE is associated with an "atopic" immune response--the type of immune response associated with asthma, eczema, and allergies.
• improved cytokine response--cytokines are chemical messengers that direct the immune response (recall from an earlier blog that chiropractic also improves cytokine response)

In a time where we are all assaulted by environmental toxins and depleted foods, I believe we can all use the boost in our immune system that whey protein provides!

Read the study here.

Bacteria used to ferment dairy products increases antioxidant activity, researchers say.  Those of you who follow my blog know that undenatured whey protein (from milk) is one of the best ways to increase your antioxidant status.  Researchers reporting in the January 2007 edition of the Journal of Applied Microbiology reported that the antioxidant activity of dairy products is increased by the fermentation process.  This information sheds some light on the amazing benefits of regular yogurt and kefir consumption.

Read more about the benefits of dairy products in the Dairy and Eggs article. 

Read the study here. 

Raw, organic cocoa is one of the most potent, complex antioxidants on the planet. If you have read the antioxidant article on the articles page, you'll recall that undenatured whey protein is a very effective way to boost glutathione (your bodies most powerful antioxidant and detoxifier). I hope that you'll also recall from an earlier blog that Raw Milk  has a host of health benefits. So here's a great tasting drink for you to start your day with: a cup and a half of milk, half a banana, a couple scoops of cocoa powder (real cocoa powder--the label should say 100% raw cocoa--can be bought locally at the Briar Patch), a heaping scoop of undenatured whey protein (available at my office), some maple syrup or guava nectar, and if you're brave, a hot pepper! This drink is incredibly rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, good fats, protein, and it'll rev up your engines!