Grains as Food: an Update

Improperly Prepared Grain Fiber can be Harmful

Last year, I published a post on the Diet and Reinfarction trial (DART), a controlled trial that increased grain fiber intake using whole wheat bread and wheat bran supplements, and reported long-term health outcomes in people who had previously suffered a heart attack (1). The initial paper found a trend toward increased heart attacks and deaths in the grain fiber-supplemented group at two years, which was not statistically significant.

What I didn't know at the time is that a follow-up study has been published. After mathematically "adjusting" for preexisting conditions and medication use, the result reached statistical significance: people who increased their grain fiber intake had more heart attacks than people who didn't during the two years of the controlled trial. Overall mortality was higher as well, but that didn't reach statistical significance. You have to get past the abstract of the paper to realize this, but fortunately it's free access (2).

Here's a description of what not to eat if you're a Westerner with established heart disease:

Those randomised to fibre advice were encouraged to eat at least six slices of wholemeal bread per day, or an equivalent amount of cereal fibre from a mixture of wholemeal bread, high-fibre breakfast cereals and wheat bran.

Characteristics of Grain Fiber

The term 'fiber' can refer to many different things. Dietary fiber is simply defined as an edible substance that doesn't get digested by the human body. It doesn't even necessarily come from plants. If you eat a shrimp with the shell on, and the shell comes out the other end (which it will), it was fiber.

Grain fiber is a particular class of dietary fiber that has specific characteristics. It's mostly cellulose (like wood; although some grains are rich in soluble fiber as well), and it contains a number of defensive substances and storage molecules that make it more difficult to eat. These may include phytic acid, protease inhibitors, amylase inhibitors, lectins, tannins, saponins, and goitrogens (3). Grain fiber is also a rich source of vitamins and minerals, although the minerals are mostly inaccessible due to grains' high phytic acid content (4, 5, 6).

Every plant food (and some animal foods) has its chemical defense strategy, and grains are no different*. It's just that grains are particularly good at it, and also happen to be one of our staple foods in the modern world. If you don't think grains are naturally inedible for humans, try eating a heaping bowl full of dry, raw whole wheat berries.

Human Ingenuity to the Rescue

Humans are clever creatures, and we've found ways to use grains as a food source, despite not being naturally adapted to eating them**. The most important is our ability to cook. Cooking deactivates many of the harmful substances found in grains and other plant foods. However, some are not deactivated by cooking. These require other strategies to remove or deactivate.

Healthy grain-based cultures don't prepare their grains haphazardly. Throughout the world, using a number of different grains, many have arrived at similar strategies for making grains edible and nutritious. The most common approach involves most or all of these steps:

• Soaking
  
• Grinding
• Removing 50-75% of the bran
  
• Sour fermentation
• Cooking
  

But wait, didn't all healthy traditional cultures eat whole grains? The idea might make us feel warm and fuzzy inside, but it doesn't quite hit the mark. A recent conversation with Ramiel Nagel, author of the book Cure Tooth Decay, disabused me of that notion. He pointed out that in my favorite resource on grain preparation in traditional societies, the Food and Agriculture Organization publication Fermented Cereals: a Global Perspective, many of the recipes call for removing a portion of the bran (7). Some of these recipes probably haven't changed in thousands of years. It's my impression that some traditional cultures eat whole grains, while others eat them partially de-branned.

In the next post, I'll explain why these processing steps greatly improve the nutritional value of grains, and I'll describe recipes from around the world to illustrate the point.


* Including tubers. For example, sweet potatoes contain goitrogens, oxalic acid, and protease inhibitors. Potatoes contain toxic glycoalkaloids. Taro contains oxalic acid and protease inhibitors. Cassava contains highly toxic cyanogens. Some of these substances are deactivated by cooking, others are not. Each food has an associated preparation method that minimizes its toxic qualities. Potatoes are peeled, removing the majority of the glycoalkaloids. Cassava is grated and dried or fermented to inactivate cyanogens. Some cultures ferment taro.

** As opposed to mice, for example, which can survive on raw whole grains.

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A Special Substance In Breast Milk Biologically Transforms Cancerous Body Cells

A substance found in breast milk can biologically transform or s0-call kill cancerous body or blood cells, reveal studies carried out by researchers at Lund University and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Although the special substance, known as HAMLET (Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made LEthal to Tumour cells), was discovered in breast milk several years ago, it is only now that it has been possible to test it on humans.

Patients with a cancerous bladder who were treated with the substance excreted dead or disorganized cancer cells in their urine after each treatment, which has given rise to hopes that it can be developed into supplement for cancer care in the future.

HAMLET was discovered by chance when researchers were studying the antibacterial properties of breast milk. Further studies showed that HAMLET comprises a protein and a fatty acid that are both found naturally in breast milk. So far, however, it has not been proven that the HAMLET complex is spontaneously formed in the milk. Laboratory experiments have shown that HAMLET kills or biologically transform 40 different types of cancerous cells, and the researchers are now going on to study its effect on skin cancer, tumours in the mucous membranes and brain tumours. Importantly, HAMLET transforms only cancerous cells and does not affect healthy body cells.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg are focusing on how HAMLET can be taken up into tumour cells. The researchers, Roger Karlsson, Maja Puchades and Ingela Lanekoff, are attempting to gain an in-depth understanding of how the substance interacts with cell membranes, and their findings were recently published in the prestigious journal PLoS One.

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Vitamin and Mineral Supplements May Reduce Breast Cancer

Vitamins and calcium supplements appear to reduce the risk of breast cancer, according to findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting 2010.

"It is not an immediate effect. You don't take a vitamin today and your breast cancer risk is reduced tomorrow," said Jaime Matta, Ph.D., professor in the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico. "However, we did see a long-term effect in terms of breast cancer reduction."
Matta said the findings suggest that the calcium supplements are acting to enhance DNA repair capacity, a complex biological process involving more than 200 proteins that, if disrupted, can lead to cancer.

"This process involves at least five separate pathways and is critical for maintaining genomic stability," said Matta. "When the DNA is not repaired, it leads to mutation that leads to cancer."

The study included 268 women with breast cancer and 457 healthy controls. Women were more likely to have breast cancer if they were older, had a family history of breast cancer, had no history of breastfeeding and had lower DNA repair capacity.

Vitamin supplements appeared to reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 30 percent. Calcium supplements reduced the risk of breast cancer by 40 percent. After controlling for the level of DNA repair capacity, calcium supplements were no longer as protective, but the link between vitamin supplements and breast cancer reduction remained.

"We're not talking about mega doses of these vitamins and calcium supplements, so this is definitely one way to reduce risk," said Matta.

Resource:

The American Association for Cancer Research
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 31,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowship and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

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Protein Power In PIstachios

Protein Power in Pistachios
By Shelley Redford Young LMT

Last week I was talking with my beautiful daughter Ashley about alternative sources of protein in our diets. She is a very busy mother of three young children and needs good energy levels on any given day to keep up with them. She was curious about some protein-type snacks she could give herself and her family. Certainly, if we are to resolve that Dr. Young’s alkalarian diet, which excludes most animal and dairy products, is the way to go, then it should follow that we would seek out the best and most assimilative sources of complete essential aminos (proteins). While protein is important for proper functioning of the body, there is also scientific evidence suggesting we can get those protein needs met with small servings of protein—even vegetable-based proteins. Our ability to assimilate and utilize the protein we eat (or drink) is the important factor in my mind.

From Back to the House of Health1: The Protein/Calcium Myth pg.13 we read:

Consider the following clinical study reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. This study compared the essential amino acids in the diets of meat-eaters, lacto-ovo vegetarians (those who eat dairy and eggs), and pure vegan vegetarians. The study uncompromisingly set the protein requirements for each amino acid at the level that would easily cover the needs of growing children and pregnant women. The results? Not only did all three diets provide sufficient protein, they were all well above sufficient, each diet exceeding twice its requirement!

Dr. T. Colin Campbell director of the Division of nutritional sciences at Cornell University and former senior science advisor to the American Institute for Cancer research has stated:

There is a strong correlation between dietary protein intake and cancer of the breast, prostate, pancreas, and colon. The culprit in many of the most prevalent and deadly diseases of our time is none other than the very thing many of us have been taught to hold virtually sacred—animal protein.

This week I have been experimenting on myself with Pistachios as a good protein- enriched snack. I felt very sustained-even grounded when I ate them and noticed no weight gain at all. They are addictive little buggers and of course, and I couldn’t just eat one. The salt on them also satisfied my late afternoon munchy-attack, even better than any sweet treat could have, and I found myself thinking:

HEY..they’re GREEN!..they must be GOOD!
And I love anything Italian
The English word pistachio comes to us from the Old Italian pistaccio


I decided to delve deeper into some nutritional facts about pistachios, to validate my indulgence:
Pistachios are rich in potassium (helps regulate the body's fluid balance), phosphorus (helps build bones and teeth) and magnesium (important element in the conversion of the body's energy), and are also a good source of vitamin B6 (aids protein metabolism and absorption) and thiamine (enhances energy and promotes normal appetite). Pistachios supply vitamins A and E, both critical in keeping inflammatory pathways in balance.
Pistachios are also a good source of copper (strengthens the immune system) They deliver many vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, so they can be considered a nutrient-dense food and the perfect snack for someone who is in a good state of balance or good health. Dr. Young limits nuts like pistachios from the diets of severely sick people but encourages drinking nut milks like almond milk when on his cleanse.

Pistachios are a good source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These fats reduce blood cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease when they replace saturated fats in the diet. (Institute of Medicine)

After only three weeks of consuming pistachios as 20% of the calories in their diet, volunteers in a double-blind study saw their LDL (or bad cholesterol) drop by about 14%; HDL (or good cholesterol) rose by 26%, with a 12% decrease in total cholesterol. Recent studies show that the amount of inflammation in the blood vessels is often a more important marker for heart disease. A Penn State study showed that even a moderate intake of pistachios increases blood levels of lutein, an antioxidant that protects against oxidized LDL, which is even worse than regular LDL in terms of heart disease.

In trials, people on a 4-week pistachio diet showed no weight gain while improving risk factors for heart disease (Journal of the American College of Nutrition). The study showed that a daily dose of pistachios is beneficial in relation to cardiovascular disease. Study participants had moderately high cholesterol levels and consumed 15% of their calories from pistachios. Over a four-week period, blood lipid levels improved.

The special antioxidants found in pistachios can prevent a harmful process called glycation. Glycation occurs when sugars bond inappropriately to proteins, making the proteins unusable. This is the process by which diabetes damages tissues, and its products are called AGE or Advanced Glycation End-products. So pistachios can be a powerful ally in the treatment of diabetes and its related syndromes.

If you are looking to replace animal protein with vegetable protein, pistachios nuts are an excellent source of vegetable protein. The type of protein found in Pistachio nuts is rich in arginine -- a precursor to the substance nitric oxide, which helps relax blood vessels in the body, and lower blood pressure. You can get 6 grams of protein from just ½ cup of pistachios and 310 mgs.of potassium, not to mention all the dietary fiber they contained which was about 3grams per ½ cup.

As a precaution, Dr. Young would prefer that you keep your portion sizes down to ½-1 cup a day (Good Luck!) as 12 grams of dietary protein is plenty to cover your daily needs. Remember, your body is only 7% protein. Also watch for additives in died Pistachios. Traditionally pistachios were dyed red to hide stains on the shells from handpicking. Today, pistachio harvests are automated, preventing staining and rendering the dying process obsolete. Avoid dyed pistachios, as many food dyes can be harmful and may produce alergic symptoms in children, especially when consumed in combination with other food additives.

Make sure the pistachios you buy are fresh with the best form being raw. You can always add pHlavor SaltTM spray to make them a truly alkaline snack. Use Pistachios in Salad Dressings as a thickener or sprinkle over Shelley’s pHavorite Pasta or Spaghetti Squash with Pumpkin Seed Pesto dishes (both found in the new DVD pH Miracle Cooking with Chef Shelley www.pHmiracleliving.com) I even add them to Shelley’s Super Wraps (Back to the House of Health 1 pg. 77) or use them in place of croutons over a salad. They can also be removed from their shells and soaked in lemon water for a few hours to soften them and release their true flavor even more.

One thing is certain--eating pistachios renders significant benefits in relation to human health. Pistachio nuts deliver a nutritious array of important nutrients and compounds that support and assist body function.

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What new natural cures are there?

I have been searching to see if there are any new natural cures, using natural therapy, and I found this article which claims there may be a breakthough using Baker's yeast. Article:

Dr. Mamdooh Ghoneum presented his findings Feb. 2 at a special conference on "Cell Death Mechanism," sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) at the Omni San Diego Hotel in San Diego.
"The central focus of the meeting is cell death regulation and how to mine and exploit it for therapeutic gain," a written evaluation of the AACR special conference states. "This conference includes new complexities of cell death and cell survival, new technologies, and clinical translational aspects necessary for the evolution of new therapeutic strategies."
For more than two decades, Dr. Ghoneum has pursued a theory that cancer cells self destruct when exposed to small quantities of yeast.
In laboratory tests, Dr. Ghoneum exposed cancer cells to yeast and observed as they ingested the yeast -- through a process known as phagocytosis -- and then the cancer cells died. First, he investigated this phenomenon in test tubes (in vitro), introducing yeast to breast, tongue, colon, and skin cancers.
"I have no doubt that I am close to unlocking the mystery as to why cancer cells weaken to the point of destruction after eating common baker's yeast," Dr. Ghoneum said. "The cells just gravitate to the yeast. I call it fatal attraction."
In later experiments, yeast was injected inside the tumors of mice and, again, he observed a decrease in the size of the tumor mass. Then, in his most recent tests, he examined whether yeast could kill cancer cells in mice that had cancer metastasized to the lung. These tests also showed significant clearance of the cancer cells from the lung.
"We observed that when the cancer cells eat the yeast, they die," Dr. Ghoneum said.
The next step, Dr. Ghoneum said, is to conduct clinical trials to determine safety, efficacy of dosage and a method of treatment.
Born in Egypt, Dr. Ghoneum earned his Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo in 1980 and did his postdoctoral studies at UCLA, School of Medicine. Dr. Ghoneum is an internationally recognized immunologist, who is an expert in Cancer Immune Therapy. He holds patents for inventing three biological response modifiers for the treatment of cancer. He has been a researcher and professor at Charles Drew University for twenty-five years, specializing in identifying natural cures for cancer.
Dr. Ghoneum's work has been studied and duplicated by leading scientists worldwide with results published in top medical journals. His findings have been confirmed by similar studies at the U.S. Department of Health and Science, National Institute of Health (NIH).
"There is a possibility that we could find a way to treat not only the local tumor, but the tumor that has spread throughout the body," said Dr. Gus Gill, Chairman Emeritus, Department of Otolaryngology, Charles Drew University. "As a surgeon, I always thought that a better way was to try to get rid of surgery (as a necessity) when dealing with cancer."



Alternative cancer treatment   Baker's yeast cures  New natural cures

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Dinner with Taubes, Eades and Hujoel

Gary Taubes gave a lecture at UW last Thursday. Thanks to all the Whole Health Source readers who showed up. Gary's talk was titled "Why We Get Fat: Adiposity 101 and the Alternative Hypothesis of Obesity". He was hosted by Dr. Philippe Hujoel, the UW epidemiologist and dentist who authored the paper "Dietary Carbohydrates and Dental-Systemic Diseases" (1).

Gary's first target was the commonly held idea that obesity is simply caused by eating too much and exercising too little, and thus the cure is to eat less and exercise more. He used numerous examples from both humans and animals to show that fat mass is biologically regulated, rather than being the passive result of voluntary behaviors such as eating and exercise. He presented evidence of cultures remaining lean despite a huge and continuous surplus of food, as long as they stayed on their traditional diet. He also described how they subsequently became obese and diabetic on industrial foods (the Pima, for example).

He then moved into what he feels is the biological cause of obesity: excessive insulin keeping fat from exiting fat cells. It's true that insulin is a storage hormone, at the cellular level. However, fat mass regulation involves a dynamic interplay between many different interlacing systems that determine both overall energy intake and expenditure, as well as local availability of nutrients at the tissue level (i.e., how much fat gets into your fat tissue vs. your muscle tissue). I think the cause of obesity is likely to be more complex than insulin signaling.

He also offered the "carbohydrate hypothesis", which is the idea that carbohydrate, or at least refined carbohydrate, is behind the obesity epidemic and perhaps other metabolic problems. This is due to its ability to elevate insulin. I agree that refined carbohydrate, particularly white flour and sugar, is probably a central part of the problem. I'm also open to the possibility that some people in industrial nations are genuinely sensitive to carbohydrate regardless of what form it's in, although that remains to be rigorously tested. I don't think carbohydrate is sufficient to cause obesity per se, due to the many lean and healthy cultures that eat high carbohydrate diets*. Gary acknowledges this, and thinks there's probably another factor that's involved in allowing carbohydrate sensitivity to develop, for example excessive sugar.

I had the opportunity to speak with Gary at length on Thursday, as well as on Friday at dinner. Gary is a very nice guy-- a straightforward New York personality who's not averse to a friendly disagreement. In case any of you are wondering, he looks good. Good body composition, nice skin, hair and teeth (apologies to Gary for the analysis). Philippe and his wife took us out to a very nice restaurant, where we had a leisurely four-hour meal, and Dr. Mike Eades was in town so he joined us as well. Mike has a strong Southern accent and is also a pleasant guy. Philippe and his wife are generous and engaging people. It was a great evening. The restaurant was nice enough that I wasn't going to be picky about the food-- I ate everything that was put in front of me and enjoyed it.


* I'm talking about prevention rather than cure here. I acknowledge that many people have had great success losing fat using low-carbohydrate diets, including two gentlemen I met on Thursday.

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Dr Robert O. Young in Egypt

Al-Ahram Newspaper-
Thursday April 15th, 2010
Nutrition

Alkaline foods are the house of health food ...American microbiologist and nutritionist calls for boycotting meat and fast food During his last visit to Egypt, Dr. Robert Young, the microbiologist and nutrition expert, reviewed a new and special way of interpreting diseases and the direct link to our lifestyle....

Dr. Young said, in an interview with Al- Ahram, that according to worldwide statistics, there is a global increase in the rate of persons creating diabetes, hyper tension and cancer diseases primarily due to the nature of our modern lifestyle and the quality of food we are eating.

In brief, the fast food meals and sodas are acidic in nature and by regularly consuming them, we increase our blood acidity which results in disease due to the impact of blood acidity on the weakest organ of the body. Such acidity could be measured by simply testing the pH of the urine and the saliva.

According to Dr. Young, all diseases have one origin. We should deal with them with a broader prospect by changing our diet and our way of life. Dr Young said if the fish is sick, it is better to change the water and the surrounding environment in the bowl and not treating the fish itself. Treatment should deal with the cause not the effect of disease.

Dr. Young explained that our bodies are alkaline by design and all body functions are acidic. Thinking, breathing and even defecating are acidic functions. Based upon this, the "Young theory" relies on minimizing or eliminating the acidic foods from our diet which includes a long list such as`tea, coffee, meat, poultry, diary products, sugar, all kinds of sodas, corn and their products.

On the other hand, Dr.Young recommends the healthy food including alkaline food such as green vegetables due to their contents of chlorophyll such as broccoli, avocado, parsley, spinach, cucumber, green pepper, coriander, artichokes... also yellow`and red vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes due to their contents of lycopene.

As for food rich in calcium, replacing the diary products, he recommends, tahini, almond milk and nuts in addition to legumes and Basmati rice which provide the body with its need of protein.

Also bitter fruits such as citrus and grapefruit in addition to fish which is rich in omega 3. Raw nuts such as almonds and pine nuts are rich in oil and useful minerals in addition to sea salt and not processed salts. As a complement to the house of health, Dr. Young affirmed that choice of food isn't only enough but one should drink 3 to 4 liters of water daily, practice sport for at least 30 minutes daily to get rid of body poisons through perspiring and most important avoiding negative thoughts as they are similar to rotten food in their effect.

Ashraf Amin

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Do high doses of vitamin C cure?

Do high doses of vitamin C cures disease and illness?. Many people just regard vitamin c as an orange, or a supplement that you can take, and that it is a natural way the common cold can be helped. 60mg of vitamin C is what you may get when eating an orange. This can be beneficial to your health and may reduce the discomfort of a cold. However what I am interested in is doses of 1000mg plus, and up to 100,000mg per day. I feel sure that high doses like this could cure cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol problems, among other illness and disease.

Have doses of 100,000mg of vitamin c been tested on people with cancer?, or have they used just 10,000mg per day?. I think that cost must come in to this, and more research must be done.






Do natural cures work? High doses of vitamin c.New ideas and ways using alternative health

Resource Directory

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Copper in Food

Sources of Copper

It isn't hard to get enough copper-- unless you live in an industrial nation. I've compiled a chart showing the copper content of various refined and unrefined foods to illustrate the point. The left side shows industrial staple foods, while the right side shows whole foods. I've incorporated a few that would have been typical of Polynesian and Melanesian cultures apparently free of cardiovascular disease. The serving sizes are what one might reasonably eat at a meal: roughly 200 calories for grains, tubers and whole coconut; 1/4 pound for animal products; 1/2 teaspoon for salt; 1 cup for raw kale; 1 oz for sugar.

Note that beef liver is off the chart at 488 percent of the USDA recommended daily allowance. I don't know if you'd want to sit down and eat a quarter pound of beef liver, but you get the picture. Beef liver is nature's multivitamin: hands down the Most Nutritious Food in the World. That's because it acts as a storage depot for a number of important micronutrients, as well as being a biochemical factory that requires a large amount of B vitamins to function. You can see that muscle tissue isn't a great source of copper compared to other organs, and this holds true for other micronutrients as well.

Beef liver is so full of micronutrients, it shouldn't be eaten every day. Think of it in terms of the composition of a cow's body. The edible carcass is mostly muscle, but a significant portion is liver. I think it makes sense to eat some form of liver about once per week.

Modern Agriculture Produces Micronutrient-poor Foods

The numbers in the graph above come from NutritionData, my main source of food nutrient composition. The problem with relying on this kind of information is it ignores the variability in micronutrient content due to plant strain, soil quality, et cetera.

The unfortunate fact is that micronutrient levels have declined substantially over the course of the 20th century, even in whole foods. Dr. Donald R. Davis has documented the substantial decline in copper and other micronutrients in American foods over the second half of the last century (1). An even more marked decrease has occurred in the UK (2), with similar trends worldwide. On average, the copper content of vegetables in the UK has declined 76 percent since 1940. Most of the decrease has taken place since 1978. Fruits are down 20 percent and meats are down 24 percent.

I find this extremely disturbing, as it will affect even people eating whole food diets. This is yet another reason to buy from artisanal producers, who are likely to use more traditional plant varieties and grow in richer soil. Grass-fed beef should be just as nutritious as it has always been. Some people may also wish to grow, hunt or fish their own food.

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Share your natural cure

Do you know of a breaking news natural cure? There may be many natural cures that are on the verge of being discovered such as new cures for cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, cholesterol problems, and HIV. Please submit your URL, and post in comments.

Thank you.
Natural cures you dont know New cures and remedies Help cancer

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Interview with John Barban

I recently did a podcast interview with John Barban from the Adonis Lifestyle blog. We talked mostly about fat mass and the body fat "setpoint". As it turns out, what I said must have been at odds with John's philosophy, because he posted another podcast the next week that appears to be about why he disagrees with me!

Anyway, enjoy the interview.

I did another one recently with Jimmy Moore that's coming soon.

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Omega 6 Oil Critical to a Healthy Body

The University of Illinois scientists have learned that a specific omega-6 fatty acid may be critical to maintaining skin health."

In experiments with mice, we knocked out a gene responsible for an enzyme that helps the body to make arachidonic acid. Without arachidonic acid, the mice developed severe ulcerative dermatitis. The animals were very itchy, they scratched themselves continuously, and they developed a lot of bleeding sores," said Manabu Nakamura, a U of I associate professor of food science and human nutrition.

When arachidonic acid was added to the animals' diet, the itching went away, he said.Nakamura's team has been focusing on understanding the function of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, and doctoral student Chad Stroud developed a mouse model to help them understand the physiological roles of these fats. By knocking out genes, they can create deficiencies of certain fats and learn about their functions."Knocking out a gene that enables the body to make the delta-6-desaturase enzyme has led to some surprising discoveries. In this instance, we learned that arachidonic acid is essential for healthy skin function. This new understanding may have implications for treating the flaky, itchy skin that sometimes develops without an attributable cause in infants," he said.

Nakamura explained that our bodies make arachidonic acid from linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that we must obtain through our diets. It is found mainly in alkaline vegetable oils.

Scientists have long attributed healthy skin function to linoleic acid, which is important because it provides the lipids that coat the outer layer of the skin, keeping the body from losing water and energy, which would retard growth, the scientist said.

But skin function seems to be more complicated than that. These itchy mice had plenty of linoleic acid. They just couldn't convert it to arachidonic acid because the gene to make the necessary enzyme had been knocked out, he noted.

Arachidonic acid is also essential to the production of prostaglandins, compounds that can lead to inflammatory reactions and are important to immune function. Common painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen work by inhibiting the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins."

We usually think of inflammation as a bad thing, but in this case, prostaglandins prevented dermatitis, which is an inflammatory reaction. We measured prostaglandin levels in the animals' skin, and when we fed arachidonic acid to the knockout mice, they resumed making these important chemical compounds," he said.

According to Dr. Robert O Young, Director of Reserch at the pH Miracle Living Center, "all polyunsaturated oils, including omega 1 (olive oil), omega 3 (flax and hemp oil) to Omega 5 (pomegrante oil) and Omega 6 (Borage oil) are wonderful chelators of metabolic and dietary acids that can destroy any body cell including skin cells. The itching of the skin is the presence of these acids and ingesting liberal amounts of polyunsaturated oils can help to reduce the acids that cause the itching and inflammation."

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Gary Taubes Speaks this Thursday at UW

Gary Taubes will be giving a lecture this Thursday, April 15th, at the University of Washington in Seattle, titled "Why we get fat: adiposity 101 and an alternative hypothesis of obesity". It's free and open to the public. The talk is from noon to 1:00, followed by a question and answer session from 1:00 to 2:00.

The talk will take place in Hogness auditorium, which is room A420 of the Health Sciences building (1959 NE Pacific St). The whole area is difficult to navigate, so allow yourself time to park and find the auditorium. Here are directions to Hogness, including parking.

I'll be sitting near the front if anyone wants to say hi afterward.

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Full-fat Dairy for Cardiovascular Health

I just saw a paper in the AJCN titled "Dairy consumption and patterns of mortality of
Australian adults". It's a prospective study with a 15-year follow-up period. Here's a quote from the abstract:

There was no consistent and significant association between total dairy intake and total or cause-specific mortality. However, compared with those with the lowest intake of full-fat dairy, participants with the highest intake (median intake 339 g/day) had reduced death due to CVD (HR: 0.31; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.12–0.79; P for trend = 0.04) after adjustment for calcium intake and other confounders. Intakes of low-fat dairy, specific dairy foods, calcium and vitamin D showed no consistent associations.

People who ate the most full-fat dairy had a 69% lower risk of cardiovascular death than those who ate the least. Otherwise stated, people who mostly avoided dairy or consumed low-fat dairy had more than three times the risk of dying of coronary heart disease or stroke than people who ate the most full-fat diary.

Contrary to popular belief, full-fat dairy, including milk, butter and cheese, has never been convincingly linked to cardiovascular disease. In fact, it has rather consistently been linked to a lower risk, particularly for stroke. What has been linked to cardiovascular disease is milk fat's replacement, margarine. In the Rotterdam study, high vitamin K2 intake was linked to a lower risk of fatal heart attack, aortic calcification and all-cause mortality. Most of the K2 came from full-fat cheese. In my opinion, artisanal cheese and butter made from pasture-fed milk are the ultimate dairy foods.

From a 2005 literature review on milk and cardiovascular disease in the EJCN:

In total, 10 studies were identified. Their results show a high degree of consistency in the reported risk for heart disease and stroke, all but one study suggesting a relative risk of less than one in subjects with the highest intakes of milk.

...the studies, taken together, suggest that milk drinking may be associated with a small but worthwhile reduction in heart disease and stroke risk.

...All the cohort studies in the present review had, however, been set up at times when reduced-fat milks were unavailable, or scarce.

The fat is where the vitamins A, K2, E and D are. The fat is where the medium-chain triglycerides, butyric acid and omega-3 fatty acids are. The fat is where the conjugated linoleic acid is. So the next time someone admonishes you to reduce your dairy fat intake, what are you going to tell them??

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Copper and Cardiovascular Disease

In 1942, Dr. H. W. Bennetts dissected 21 cattle known to have died of "falling disease". This was the name given to the sudden, inexplicable death that struck herds of cattle in certain regions of Australia. Dr. Bennett believed the disease was linked to copper deficiency. He found that 19 of the 21 cattle had abnormal hearts, showing atrophy and abnormal connective tissue infiltration (fibrosis) of the heart muscle (1).

In 1963, Dr. W. F. Coulson and colleagues found that 22 of 33 experimental copper-deficient pigs died of cardiovascular disease. 11 of 33 died of coronary heart disease, the quintessential modern human cardiovascular disease. Pigs on a severely copper-deficient diet showed weakened and ruptured arteries (aneurysms), while moderately deficient pigs "survived with scarred vessels but demonstrated a tendency toward premature atherosclerosis" including foam cell accumulation (2). Also in 1963, Dr. C. R. Ball and colleagues published a paper describing blood clots in the heart and coronary arteries, heart muscle degeneration, ventricular calcification and early death in mice fed a lard-rich diet (3).

This is where Dr. Leslie M. Klevay enters the story. Dr. Klevay suspected that Ball's mice had suffered from copper deficiency, and decided to test the hypothesis. He replicated Ball's experiment to the letter, using the same strain of mice and the same diet. Like Ball, he observed abnormal clotting in the heart, degeneration and enlargement of the heart muscle, and early death. He also showed by electrocardiogram that the hearts of the copper-deficient mice were often contracting abnormally (arrhythmia).

But then the coup de grace: he prevented these symptoms by supplementing the drinking water of a second group of mice with copper (4). In the words of Dr. Klevay: "copper was an antidote to fat intoxication" (5). I believe this was his tongue-in-cheek way of saying that the symptoms had been misdiagnosed by Ball as due to dietary fat, when in fact they were due to a lack of copper.

Since this time, a number of papers have been published on the relationship between copper intake and cardiovascular disease in animals, including several showing that copper supplementation prevents atherosclerosis in one of the most commonly used animal models of cardiovascular disease (6, 7, 8). Copper supplementation also corrects abnormal heart enlargement-- called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-- and heart failure due to high blood pressure in mice (9).

For more than three decades, Dr. Klevay has been a champion of the copper deficiency theory of cardiovascular disease. According to him, copper deficiency is the only single intervention that has caused the full spectrum of human cardiovascular disease in animals, including:

• Heart attacks (myocardial infarction)
  
• Blood clots in the coronary arteries and heart
• Fibrous atherosclerosis including smooth muscle proliferation
• Unstable blood vessel plaque
  
• Foam cell accumulation and fatty streaks
  
• Calcification of heart tissues
  
• Aneurysms (ruptured vessels)
• Abnormal electrocardiograms
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
  

If this theory is so important, why have most people never heard of it? I believe there are at least three reasons. The first is that the emergence of the copper deficiency theory coincided with the rise of the diet-heart hypothesis, whereby saturated fat causes heart attacks by raising blood cholesterol. Bolstered by some encouraging findings and zealous personalities, this theory took the Western medical world by storm, for decades dominating all other theories in the medical literature and public health efforts. My opinions on the diet-heart hypothesis aside, the two theories are not mutually exclusive.

The second reason you may not have heard of the theory is due to a lab assay called copper-mediated LDL oxidation. Researchers take LDL particles (from blood, the same ones the doctor measures as part of a cholesterol test) and expose them to a high concentration of copper in a test tube. Free copper ions are oxidants, and the researchers then measure the amount of time it takes the LDL to oxidize. I find this assay tiresome, because studies have shown that the amount of time it takes copper to oxidize LDL in a test tube doesn't predict how much oxidized LDL you'll actually find in the bloodstream of the person you took the LDL from (10, 11).

In other words, it's an assay that has little bearing on real life. But researchers like it because for some odd reason, feeding a person saturated fat causes their LDL to be oxidized more rapidly by copper in a test tube, even though that's not the case in the actual bloodstream (12). Guess which result got emphasized?

The fact that copper is such an efficient oxidant has led some researchers to propose that copper oxidizes LDL in human blood, and therefore dietary copper may contribute to heart disease (oxidized LDL is a central player in heart disease-- read more here). The problem with this theory is that there are virtually zero free copper ions in human serum. Then there's the fact that supplementing humans with copper actually reduces the susceptibility of red blood cells to oxidation (by copper in a test tube, unfortunately), which is difficult to reconcile with the idea that dietary copper increases oxidative stress in the blood (13).

The third reason you may never have heard of the theory is more problematic. Several studies have found that a higher level copper in the blood correlates with a higher risk of heart attack (14, 15). At this point, I could hang up my hat, and declare the animal experiments irrelevant to humans. But let's dig deeper.

Nutrient status is sometimes a slippery thing to measure. As it turns out, serum copper isn't a good marker of copper status. In a 4-month trial of copper depletion in humans, blood copper stayed stable, while the activity of copper-dependent enzymes in the blood declined (16). These include the important copper-dependent antioxidant, superoxide dismutase. As a side note, lysyl oxidase is another copper-dependent enzyme that cross-links the important structural proteins collagen and elastin in the artery wall, potentially explaining some of the vascular consequences of copper deficiency. Clotting factor VIII increased dramatically during copper depletion, perhaps predicting an increased tendency to clot. Even more troubling, three of the 12 women developed heart problems during the trial, which the authors felt was unusual:

We observed a significant increase over control values in the number of ventricular premature discharges (VPDs) in three women after 21, 63, and 91 d of consuming the low-copper diet; one was subsequently diagnosed as having a second-degree heart block.

In another human copper restriction trial, 11 weeks of modest copper restriction coincided with heart trouble in 4 out of 23 subjects, including one heart attack (17):

In the history of conducting numerous human studies at the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center involving participation by 337 subjects, there had previously been no instances of any health problem related to heart function. During the 11 wk of the present study in which the copper density of the diets fed the subjects was reduced from the pretest level of 0.57 mg/ 1000 kcal to 0.36 mg/1000 kcal, 4 out of 23 subjects were diagnosed as having heart-related abnormalities.

The other reason to be skeptical of the association between blood copper and heart attack risk is that inflammation increases copper in the blood (18, 19). Blood copper level correlates strongly with the marker of inflammation C-reactive protein (CRP) in humans, yet substantially increasing copper intake doesn't increase CRP (20, 21). This suggests that elevated blood copper is likely a symptom of inflammation, rather than its cause, and presents an explanation for the association between blood copper level and heart attack risk.

Only a few studies have looked at the relationship between more accurate markers of copper status and cardiovascular disease in humans. Leukocyte copper status, a marker of tissue status, is lower in people with cardiovascular disease (22, 23). People who die of heart attacks generally have less copper in their hearts than people who die of other causes, although this could be an effect rather than a cause of the heart attack (24). Overall, I find the human data lacking. I'd like to see more studies examining liver copper status in relation to cardiovascular disease, as the liver is the main storage organ for copper.

According to a 2001 study, the majority of Americans may have copper intakes below the USDA recommended daily allowance (25), many substantially so. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that copper levels in food have declined in industrial nations over the course of the 20th century, something I'll discuss in the next post.

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Magnesium and Vitamin D Metabolism

Ted Hutchinson posted a link in the comments section of my last post, pointing to a page on the Vitamin D Council's website where Dr. John Cannell discusses cofactors required for proper vitamin D metabolism. It's actually the site's home page, highlighting how important he feels this matter is. In this case, 'cofactor' simply means another nutrient that's required for the efficient production and use of vitamin D. They include:

• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Vitamin K2
• Vitamin A
• Boron

And probably others we aren't yet aware of. On another page, Dr. Cannell links to two papers that review the critical interaction between magnesium status and vitamin D metabolism (1, 2). Here's a quote from the abstract of the second paper:

Magnesium... is essential for the normal function of the parathyroid glands, metabolism of vitamin D and adequate sensitivity of target tissues to [parathyroid hormone] and active vitamin D metabolites. Magnesium deficit is usually associated with hypoparathyroidism, low production of active vitamin D metabolites, in particular 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D3 and resistance to PTH and vitamin D. On the contrary, magnesium excess, similar to calcium, inhibits PTH secretion. Bone metabolism is impaired under positive as well as under negative magnesium balance.

Magnesium status is critical for normal vitamin D metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and overall health. Supplemental magnesium blocks atherosclerosis in multiple animal models (3, 4). Most Americans don't get enough magnesium (5).

The bottom line is that no nutrient acts in a vacuum. The effect of every part of one's diet and lifestyle is dependent on every other part. I often talk about single nutrients on this blog, but my core philosophy is that a proper diet focuses on Real Food, not nutrients. Tinkering with nutritional status using supplements is potentially problematic. Despite what some people might tell you, our understanding of nutrition and human health is currently rather crude-- so it's best to respect the accumulated wisdom of cultures that don't get the diseases we're trying to avoid.

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The Non-Scientific Statements of Dr. Andrew Weil, MD

The following is a statement in a newsletter from Dr. Andrew Weil and a rebuttal from Dr. Robert O. Young concerning a very important health question, "Does Alkaline Water or Food Promote Health?

Q: Does Alkaline Water Promote Health?

Manufacturers of water ionizers state that their products produce more alkaline water, which allows your body to better absorb minerals and antioxidants from water. Are these health claims real? Do you recommend ionizers?

A: Answer (Published 9/4/2002) Updated 5/13/2005

Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. states “Home water ionizers, which I've seen offered for sale on the internet, are just the latest twist in the ongoing effort to promote the notion that alkaline water is somehow protective of your health. The underlying idea is that you can prevent disease by balancing your body's pH. Promoters claim that alkaline water is energizing, hydrates the body more effectively than regular water, improves the taste of food when used in cooking, promotes "regularity," helps the body absorb nutrients more effectively, and on and on. I've even seen claims that it can cure everything from obesity and high blood pressure to breast cancer.
None of these claims are true. Furthermore, your body needs absolutely no help in adjusting its pH.”

Dr. Robert O, Young, Ph.D. states, “There are NO dis-ease or diseases without being too acidic. You cannot have loss of energy, irritation, catarrh, inflammation, ulceration or degeneration without acid. You cannot be sick and alkaline. So if the body needs no help in adjusting its pH then why does it get sick. When we understand that the body is alkaline by design and acidic by function then we understand that the body does need help in maintaining its alkaline design with proper alkaline food, drink, exercise, thoughts and deeds. The basic knowledge that the body is alkaline by design and acidic by function is NOT taught at medical school. In fact, current medical savants no nothing about tissue acidosis or what I call latent tissue acidosis and the cause of dis-ease or disease. What is latent tissue acidosis? It is the buildup of acidic dietary and/or metabolic acids that are not properly eliminated through the four channels of elimination – bowels, kidney, lungs and/or skin which are then eliminated or deposited into the connective and fatty tissues. The body must eliminate its dietary and/or metabolic waste products from the blood via these four channels of elimination or the blood will lose its alkaline iso-struture and an the result would be death. Dr. Weil is absolutely wrong when he states that the body needs absolutely no help in adjusting its pH. The body needs a continued supply of alkalinity to buffer or neutralize the acids of environment, stress, diet and metabolism. Everyday the body produces more acids then the body can keep up with. Metabolism of a normal adult diet results in the generation of 50 to 100 meq of H+ or proton or acid per day, which must be excreted if the alkaline acid-base balance is to be maintained. A meq is a milliequivalent which is an expression of concentration of substance per liter of solution, calculated by dividing the concentration in milligrams per 100 milliliters by the molecular weight. This process involves two basis steps; 1) the reabsorption of the filtered sodium bicarbonate or NaHCO3 and, 2) excretion of the 50 to 100 meq of H+ or proton or acid produced each day by the formation of titratable acidity and NH4+ or ammonium. Both steps involve H+ or proton or acid secretion from the cells of the kidney into the urine. That is why we age. Aging is actually a fermenting and acidic process. The body has an alkaline buffering system which helps to maintain alkalinity, but when this becomes compromised from an over acidic lifestyle and diet, you start having the symptoms of dis-ease and disease caused by metabolic acidic waste products. So, absolutely you should make daily attempts to increase alkalinity with alkaline ionized water and food to prevent and/or reverse dis-ease and disease.

How does a person measure the acid/base of the blood when the blood is always maintaining its delciate pH balance at 7.365? Any excess acidity from diet or metabolism is eliminated from the blood and out into the connective tissues to preserve its delicate pH balance. The biochemistry in maintaining blood alkalinity is quite extreme. The body will sacrifice all other organs and organ systems to maintain the delicate pH balance of the blood at 7.365. Sodium bicarbonate is produced by the body as the #1 buffer of dietary and/or metabolic acid to maintain the alkalinity of the blood and then the tissues. In the body, tt takes 20 molecules of sodium bicarbonate to buffer or neutralize 1 part of carbonic acid (metabolite of metabolism) in order to maintain a blood and/or tissue pH of 7.35 to 7.4. That is staggering 20 to 1 ratio. You would have to do some serious alkalizing just to keep up with the body's need for more alkalinity. But that is why we age--or should I say "ferment" from over-acidity. Which by the way, I might add, is why ALL disease or most dis-ease is a result of excess acid and NOT excess base(alkalinity). This was proven by Alexis Carrel in his chicken experiment in 1908. Carrel received a Nobel prize for this research. He was able to keep a chicken heart alive for 20 years until he decided to stop changing the alkaline mineral salts every 48 hours. What we learn from Alexis Carrel's work is that you can keep the body cells alive indefinitely if you maintain the alkaline mineral salts daily. The health of human cells that make up tissues and organs are only as healthy as the alkaline fluids in which they are bathed. The human cell cannot tolerate low alkalinity and can never tolerate ANY acid condition. The cell begins its biological transformation becoming bacteria in the first stage; then yeast in the second stage; then mold in the 3rd stage of transformation until the anatomical elements of the organized cell (microzymas) are released to become part of some other organized cell.In the ph Miracle book I share what I call the "fish bowl metaphor." The fish bowl metaphor begins with a question. The question is this; "If the fish is sick what would you do, treat the fish or change the water?" The logical answer is, you would change the water. Why? Because the fish is only as healthy as the water it swims in. The fish is the human cell and the water is the fluids around the cell(s). The ocean has a delicate pH balance of 8.3 and is maintain by alkaline mineral salts. Our internal fluids are like the ocean and are maintained by the same alkaline mineral salts - sodium, chloride, magnesium, potassium and calcium. At the present the ocean pH because of global warming has gone from 8.3 to 8.2. This huge decrease in the ocean pH has caused potential health risks to all sea life including the loss of the coral reefs. The same thing is happening to many of us with body warming, as dietary and/or metabolic acids are causing the loss of bone and muscle in order to maintain the delicate alkaline pH of the blood and tissues. The result is an array of health challanges from arthritis, osteoporosis to cancer all caused by the buildup from dietary and/or metabolic acid that the body could NOT manage!”

Dr. Andrew Weil states: “Normally, the pH of blood and most body fluids is near seven, which is close to neutral. This is under very tight biological control because all of the chemical reactions that maintain life depend on it. Unless you have serious respiratory or kidney problems, body pH will remain in balance no matter what you eat or drink.

Dr. Robert O. Young states: “Normally, the pH of the blood and most all body fluids has an alkaline pH at 7.365. Any change in this pH is the result of dietary and metabolic acids that have not been properly eliminated through the four channels of elimination – the bowels, kidneys, lungs and skin. When we over-burden our body with an acidic lifestyle and diet this causes stress and breakdown of these elimination organs not only kidney and lung dysfunction and degeneration but also breakdown in the bowels and on the surface of the skin. This is when dis-ease and so-called disease will be manifested as an effect of the acidic cause. All your organs that filter or eliminate dietary and/or metabolic acids, including the bowels, skin, kidneys and lungs will begin to breakdown from excess tissue acidity and you will begin to experience symptoms that medical doctors call disease. Your life depends on daily doses of alkalinity from ingesting alkaline foods and drinks. Exercise is also critical in helping the body remove tissue acids out through the pores of the skin in the form of sweat. When the body cannot remove its own acidic waste products they are then stored in the fatty tissues, i.e. the hips, thighs, buttocks, waistline, breast and brain. The body will pack on more and more fat to store more and more bodily acids if the lifestyle and diet does not change to an alkaline lifestyle and diet. For those who are not putting on weight due to tissue acidosis this is the result of acid damage to the root system or the small intestine where stems cells are made. In a state of tissue acidosis, being underweight is more serious than being overweight. At least when you are overweight the body is protecting itself from an over-acidic lifestyle and diet which can be reversed with alkaline food and drink.

Once again, medical doctors and other savants do not recognize "latent tissue acidosis." They recognize compensated acidosis and decompensated acidosis. In compensated acidosis breathing increases in order to blow off more carbonic acid which decreases PCO2 because of the lowered carbonate or HCO3. When the breathing rate can no longer get any faster and when the kidneys can no longer increase their function to keep up with the acid load from an acidic meal or over-exercise or even too much emotional stress, then the blood pH starts to change from a pH of 7.365 to 7.3 then to 7.2. At a blood pH of 7.1 (still in an alkaline state) the heart relaxes and the client goes into a coma and then dies.There is a daily rhythm or oscilation to this acid base, ebb and flow of the fluids of the body. The stored acids are mobilized from the connective tissues and Pishinger's spaces while we sleep.These acids reach their maximum (base tide) concentration in this fluid, and thereby the urine at 2am is the most acidic. The acid content of the urine directly reflects the acid content of the fluid in the Pishinger's spaces, the extracellular fluid compartments of the body. On the other hand the Pishinger's spaces become most alkaline around 2pm (the base flood) as then the most sodium bicarbonate or NaHCO3 is being generated by the cover cells of the stomach to alkalize the food and drink we have ingested.If your urine is not alkaline by 2pm you are definitely in an ACIDIC condition and lacking in alkaline reserves necessary to maintain the alkaline design of the body. This is when sickness and dis-ease is eminent. The ideal pH of the urine should run between 7.2 and 8.4 and can by maintain at optinum by supplementing mineral salts such as pHlavor and phour salts.”

http://www.phmiracleliving.com/p-221-phour-salts-tm-454-grams.aspx

Dr. Andrew Weil states, “As for water, you should consider the fact that alkaline water is common throughout the western states but to my knowledge it has not protected anyone from the diseases and disorders that occur elsewhere in the U.S.”

Dr. Robert O. Young states: “Here is where Dr. Weil shows is lack of understanding in the biochemistry of the body and the scientific research from myself and others who have documented the benefits of living, eating and drinking alkaline. The following are just a few references documenting the need for an alkaline lifestyle and diet:

As recently as October 2009, a Cambridge University study published in the highly respected British Journal of Nutrition stated:The concept of diet-induced ‘acidosis’ as a cause of disease has been a subject of interest for more than a century. The present article reviews the history of our evolving understanding of physiological pH, the physiological support for the concept of ‘acidosis’, the causes of acidosis, how it is recognised, its short-term effects as well as the long-term clinical relevance of preventative measures, and the research support for normalisation of pH.The available research makes a compelling case that diet-induced acidosis…is a real phenomenon, and has a significant, clinical, long-term pathophysiological effect that should be recognised and potentially counterbalanced by dietary means.1

The researchers, Pizzornoa, Frassettoa and Katzinger have clearly identified that acidosis (increased acidity in the blood – pH below 7.365) is a very real threat to our health.

Furthermore, my research has shown that the effects of acidosis can directly contribute to various cancers2, 3, 12, arthritis4, osteoporosis5, cardiovascular disease6, diabetes7, depression/psychological disfunctions8, Crohn’s disease9, kidney disease10. Yes, all of the top five killers in Western society and a whole heap more. Furthermore, my experience and the experience of those who have used my twelve week pH Miracle Lifestyle and Diet have given me significant proof that living alkaline lifestyle and diet also leads to weight/fat loss, muscle gain (also scientifically proven11), energy increases, libido increases, skin improvements and more.

Alkaline Diet & Cancer

Alkaline Minerals Prevent Cancer GrowthIn March 2009, Robey, Baggett, Kirkpatrick et al published a paper in the American Association for Cancer Research Journal proving that alkaline minerals (in this case NaHCO3 – sodium bicarbonate) that raise the extracellular pH of cancer tumor cells and prevent metastasis. Their research shows that the pH of the tumors are always acidic and by using highly alkaline minerals to raise the pH – the growth of the cancer (and involvement of lymph nodes) is prevented.Source: Cancer Research 69, 2260, March 15, 2009Cancer Thrives in an Acidic EnvironmentAlso in Cancer Research Journal, in 2006, Gatenby, Gawlinski et al researched and discovered that “chronic exposure of normal tissue to an acidic microenvironment produces toxicity by: (a) normal cell death… and (b) extracellular matrix degradation”. They proffer that glucose imbalance (an acid lifestlye) leads to a chronically acidic microenvironment (the normal cells and molecules that surround a tumor cell) which provides the perfect base for cancer.Source: Cancer Research 66, 5216-5223, May 15, 2006Acidosis & OsteoporosisAlkaline Minerals Prevent OsteoporosisA recently published study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (Vol 94, No 1 96-102, 2009) has provided further evidence that the consumption of and supplementation with alkaline minerals is essential for good health. The objective of the study was to understand the effect of alkaline minerals (potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate and potassium chloride) on bone health – specifically, the ability of these alkaline minerals to slow the bone resorption rate and calcium excretion.The participants who were taking the bicarbonate supplements had significant reductions in urinary N-telopeptide and calcium excretion when compared to the control group. This means that when taking the alkaline minerals, bones remained stronger and healthier.

Source: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (Vol 94, No 1 96-102, 2009)

Cardiovascular Disease & the Alkaline Diet

Alkaline Minerals Critical to Prevention of CVD

In the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Joseph Campbell provides a thorough review of the scientific literature surrounding minerals and disease and highlights that the alkaline minerals, magnesium and calcium, are critical to the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). He also highlights that “Excessive consumption of acid producing foods, results in metabolic acidosis. When this occurs, the parathyroid hormone stimulates the removal of calcium from the bones and teeth (osteolysis), to buffer or neutralize the excess acidity. After many years, such calcium loss results in depleted bone, bone weakness and structure.”

Source: Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 10, No. 3 & 4, 1995

Autoimmune Disease Inhibited by Alkaline Ionized Water

Effect of electrolytic water intake on lifespan of autoimmune disease prone mice.

Research from Texas UniversityRecent studies on ionized electrolyzed water indicate that anode or acidic water is most effective as disinfectants; whereas, reduced or alkaline water processed through cathode is used as safe drinking water.

The present drinking water study was undertaken in two strains of autoimmune disease prone mice to establish the spontaneous disease process and longevity.

Weanling MRL/lpr and NZBxNZW [B/W] F1 female mice were provided daily with (1) tap water [pH ~7.5, oxygen reduction potential (ORP)~600+] (2) electrolyzed water with pH of ~9.0 and ORP ~400- and (3) hyper-reduced water with pH~10.0 and ORP~600-. Mice were provided H2O and chow diet ad libitum and weekly body weights and spontaneous deaths were recorded. The mean survival data recorded as days for MRL/lpr mice [25 mice/group] is as follows: (1) tap water 235±25, (2) reduced water 287±40 and (3) hyper-reduced water 346±45 days [<0.05]. In the case of B/W mice [25 mice/group], (1) tap water 269±16, (2) reduced water 298±19 and (3) hyper-reduced 302±18 days. A significantly decreased (<0.05) serum lipid peroxides were observed in mice fed hyper-reduced H2O. Also, the source of water did not alter lymphocyte subsets or their response to mitogens. In summary, hyper-reduced water with pH~10.0 appears to inhibit autoimmune disease of MRL/lpr mice whereas only a modest increased lifespan was noted for B/W mice. The increased lifespan by electrolyzed H2O appears to be related to the changes in free radicals and antioxidant enzyme levels. [Supported in part by Zanix Co. and Mr. Waterman Co., Tokyo, Japan].

Analysis of Blood Serum from Tap and Reduced Water Fed Animals

Serum Lipid Peroxides: Serum lipid peroxides were determined as described by Yagi using 20 ul serum. Fluorometric measurement was carried out using a Perkin-Elmer fluorescence spectrophotometer. 1,1,3,3, tetraethoxypropane was used as the standard.Antioxidant Enzymes: Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was measured by the inhibition of cytochrome-c reduction mediated via superoxide anions generated by xanthin-xanthin oxidase and monitored at 550 nm. One unit of SOD is defined as the amount of enzyme required to inhibit the rate of cytochrome-c reduction by 50%.

Summary:

1. Life long intake of both reduced (pH 9.0) and hyper-reduced (pH 10.0) water caused no harm to mice compared to tap water.
2. Survival is increased significantly by hyper-reduced water in one strain (MRL/lpr).
3. Slight increased life span in the other strain (NZBxNZW F1)
4. Reduced and hyper-reduced water appears to increase T cell numbers, and decrease B cells. 5. Both reduced and hyper-reduced water appears to increase antioxidant mRNA levels.

Arthritis and Alkalinity

Alkaline Mineral Supplementation Decreases Pain in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

This incredible study from Institute for Prevention and Nutrition (Germany) provided clear and unquestionable evidence that using an alkaline mineral supplement (30g daily) reduced pain and increased movement in patients with moderately active Rheumatoid Arthritis over a 12-week period.

Source: The Open Nutrition Journal, 2008, 2, 100-105

Do you want to safeguard yourself from degenerative diseases while living with more energy, a lean, fit body, great skin, youthfulness and vitality?

How You Can Guarantee Your Health With Alkaline Minerals

The above studies prove, without question, that having sufficient alkaline mineral buffers to neutralise dietary, lifestyle and metabolic acids is critical to maintaining excellent health, energy and vitality and to the prevention of degenerative disease.

It is also highlighted in several of these studies that using an alkaline mineral supplement is an effective way of guaranteeing your daily intake of alkaline minerals is sufficient.The efficacy of using a mineral supplement (and these supplements providing a usable form of these minerals) is further supported by this June 2009 study published in the Nutrition Journal, “Effect of a supplement rich in alkaline minerals on acid-base balance in humans”. The study concluded “that the ingestion of a multimineral supplement is associated with both a significant increase in blood and urinary pH”.

If you want to guarantee you have sufficient alkaline minerals than supplementation is a smart choice.I’ve been working and researching in the alkaline diet field for over thirty years now and have seen a lot of supplements come and go, and the one thing that determines whether a supplement will be successful or not is: does it work.Poor quality supplements get found out very quickly.

With that in mind, these are the two alkaline mineral supplements that I personally recommend to you. I have been using these personally and recommending them to my clients for over twenty years now and I know that they are incredibly effective.

Young pHorever pHour Salts: Alkaline Minerals of Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium and Calcium

Almost instantly neutralizes harmful acids.

Young pHorever Alkaline Minerals contains all four primary alkaline minerals: calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. Once these mineral buffers hit the system, they quickly neutralize excess acids.Another bonus of this supplement is that it makes green drinks taste better when mixed together!

Young pHorever: pHlavor Mineral Salts

A comprehensive multi-mineral formula that will aid your pH balance and gives your body all of the most essential alkaline minerals.Diet Comes FirstYou should always aim to get an abundance of nutrients from whole foods – there are no shortcuts here. This is just essential.To make sure you’re getting plenty of alkaline minerals in your life I believe you should both consume good quality (pref organic) fresh, vibrant, healthy, high-water content, often raw foods PLUS I have found that you should supplement this to ensure that you always have a safety net. It is SO important to get enough of the right minerals every day that I fully believe in supplementation in this case.

This is particularly important if you have been out of balance, because there will be a lot of repair, detoxification and tidying up to do in your blood and other cells, so providing your body with an abundance of alkaline minerals is one of the very best things you can do.

Here’s the whole food sources:

POTASSIUM:
Avocado
Spinach
Soy sprouts
Lentils
Swiss Chard
Tomato
Broccoli
Cucumber
Beetroot Greens
Carrots
Alkaline water

MAGNESIUM:
Pumpkin Seeds
Spinach
Soy sprouts
Swiss Chard
Broccoli
Cucumber
Sunflower Seed sprouts
Pumpkin seeds
Tomato
Celery
Quinoa
Almonds
Alkaline water

CALCIUM:
Basil
Turnip
Thyme
Spinach Greens
Broccoli
Swiss Chard/Silverbeet
Romaine Lettuce
Kale
Celery
Cabbage
Green Beans
Asparagus
Brussels Sprouts
Garlic
Alkaline water

SODIUM:
Avocado
Carrots
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Kale
LettuceGreens
Parsley
Peppers
Radish
Sunflower Seed sprouts
Turnip

Note on Sodium: I am talking about proper, pure sodium, not table salt or the salt added to refined foods.Today’s common table salt is a poison that has nothing in common with natural liquid colloidal salt. Most common table salt is made up of chemicals that pollute your body and wreak havoc on your health. Your table salt is actually 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals such as moisture absorbents, and iodine. Dried at over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, the excessive heat alters the natural chemical structure of the salt causing the potential for a myriad of health challenges in your body. [see the full article here]

Sodium is essential in the body, and the above listed alkaline vegetables, fruit and water provide you with a good, clean source of this important salt.

Sufficient alkaline minerals in our food and drink is essential to good health. Your body really needs you to minimize the acids you consume and keep putting alkali in. When we consume acidic foods and drinks, your body uses the alkaline substances in your body (calcium from bones, for example) to neutralize these acids which causes havoc. The body only has a very tiny supply of alkaline buffers and so by giving the body an abundance of alkalinity we not only ease this burden but also give the body the tools it needs to work optimally.The four main alkaline minerals are calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium (clean, not refined table salt). These are abundant in fresh vegetables (particularly greens), and we advise you to eat plenty each day!

I also recommend two supplements. In the short-medium term these will help undo any previous damage and assist in detoxifying dietary and/or metabolic acids, molds and fungus and in the long-term will help to maintain the alkaline design of your body, giving you a daily safety net to ensure you get enough of these life-changing/life saving alkaline minerals day-in-day-out."

Dr. Andrew Weil states, “The health claims for water ionizers and for alkaline water are bogus. Save your money.” Andrew Weil, M.D.

Dr. Robert O. Young states, “I guess ignorance is bliss. Dr. Weil makes statements but has NO scientific evidence to back up his false and misleading statements.”

References:

1 Diet-induced acidosis: is it real and clinically relevant? British Journal of Nutrition Cambridge University Press; Joseph Pizzornoa, Lynda A. Frassettoa and Joseph Katzingera

2 Acid-Mediated Tumor Invasion: a Multidisciplinary Study; Cancer Research 66, 5216-5223, May 15, 2006; Robert A. Gatenby, Edward T. Gawlinski, Arthur F. Gmitro, Brant Kaylor and Robert J. Gillies

3 The Potential Role of Systemic Buffers in Reducing Intratumoral Extracellular pH and Acid-Mediated Invasion; Cancer Research 69, 2677, March 15, 2009; Ariosto S. Silva, Jose A. Yunes, Robert J. Gillies and Robert A. Gatenby

4 Alkaline Mineral Supplementation Decreases Pain in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients; The Open Nutrition Journal, 2008, 2, 100-105; Regina Maria Cseuz, Istvan Barna, Tamas Bender and Jurgen Vormann

5 Treatment with Potassium Bicarbonate Lowers Calcium Excretion and Bone Resorption in Older Men and Women; The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 94, No. 1 96-102; Bess Dawson-Hughes, Susan S. Harris, Nancy J. Palermo, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Helen M. Rasmussen and Gerard E. Dallal

6 Minerals and Disease; Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 10, No. 3 & 4, 1995; Joseph D. Campbell

7 Preservative Effect of Electrolyzed Reduced Water on Pancreatic b -Cell Mass in Diabetic db/db Mice; Biol. Pharm. Bull. 30(2) 234—236 (2007); Mi-Ja KIM, Kyung Hee JUNG, Yoon Kyung UHM, Kang-Hyun LEEM, and Hye Kyung KIM

8 The Effect of Acid/Alkaline Nutrition on Psychophysiological Function; Int J Biosocial Res. Vol.

9 (2); 182-202, 1987; Rudolf A. Wiley9Severe Osteomalacia Associated with Renal Tubular Acidosis in Crohn’s Disease; Digestive Diseases & Sciences, Vol 31, No 3, March 1986; Rui MM Victorino, Margarida B Lucas, Miguel Carneiro de Moura

10 Metabolic acidosis of CKD: diagnosis, clinical characteristics, and treatment; American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Volume 45, Issue 6, Pages 978-993 J. Kraut, I. Kurtz11Lean Tissue: Alkaline diets favor lean tissue mass in older adults; American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 3, 662-665, March 2008; Bess Dawson-Hughes, Susan S Harris and Lisa Ceglia

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Low Vitamin D: Cause or Result of Disease?

Don Matesz at Primal Wisdom put up a post a few days ago that I think is worth reading. It follows an e-mail discussion between us concerning a paper on magnesium restriction in rats (executive summary: moderate Mg restriction reduces the hormone form of vitamin D by half and promotes osteoporosis). In his post, Don cites several papers showing that vitamin D metabolism is influenced by more than just vitamin D intake from the diet and synthesis in the skin.

Celiac disease patients have low 25(OH)D3, the circulating storage form of vitamin D, which spontaneously corrects on a gluten-free diet. There are numerous suggestions in the medical literature that overweight and sickness cause low vitamin D, potentially confounding the interpretation of studies that find lower levels of illness among people with low vitamin D levels.

Don't get me wrong, I still think vitamin D is important in preventing disease. But it does lead me to question the idea that we should force down huge doses of supplemental vitamin D to get our 25(OH)D3 up to 60, 70 or even 80 ng/mL. When the dosage of supplemental D goes beyond what a tan Caucasian could conceivably make on a day at the beach (4,000 IU?), that's when I start becoming skeptical. Check out Don's post for more.

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