16 Cancer Causing Foods You Probably Eat Every Day

16 Cancer Causing Foods You Probably Eat Every Day

cancer, genetically modified foods, Health, Healthy eating, Home, prevention of cancer, SURVIVAL GUIDE, world truth June 24, 2014

It’s probably not something you think about every day, whether or not the foods you are eating could contain carcinogens, but with almost 1.5 million people diagnosed with some type of cancer just last year, perhaps it’s time to look at what is in our foods that could be causing such a huge number of new cancer patients. Here is a list of the top 10 foods that you most likely consume every day that may contain carcinogens or be suspected of causing cancer.

1. Microwave Popcorn

Those little bags of popcorn are so convenient to just stick in the microwave, you wouldn’t think for a minute that they could be dangerous to your health, but they are. First, let’s talk about the bag itself. It’s lined with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA). This is a toxin you can find in Teflon also. After being heated, this toxic chemical is known to cause infertility and cancer in lab animals. The EPA lists this chemical as a known carcinogen.

Now, let’s talk about the contents. Although every manufacturer uses slightly different ingredients, most of them use soybean oil (a GMO product) as well as various preservatives such as propyl gallate, a chemical that is causes stomach problems and skin rashes. Now they don’t actually say they are using GMO corn kernels, but that’s because the government says they don’t have to. Even if they don’t use GMO corn, you can bet they aren’t using organic corn!

Also, applied to the popcorn itself, is a chemical called diacetyl. Use of this chemical caused Conagra Foods to remove it from their brand of popcorn, ACT, because it was causing lung diseases in the workers at their factory.

2. Non-organic fruits

Fruits that are non-organic are contaminated with some very dangerous pesticides such as atrazine, thiodicarb, and organophosphates, as well as high nitrogen fertilizers.

Atrazine is banned in European countries but still used here. This is a weed killer that causes severe problems in humans, especially in our reproductive capabilities.

A 2009 study found that when pregnant women drank water contaminated with atrazine, their babies had reduced body weights.  Were you aware that the sewage from cities in the USA (nicely called bio solids) is used in the fields of farms in the USA as a form of fertilizer?  You will never find organic food being cultivated in composted human sewage waste!

Conventional foods are also subjected to an enormous amount of these types’ chemicals as well as hormones, to make the fruit and veggies grow bigger. Apples are probably the worst offenders with pesticides showing on more than 98 per cent of all apples tested. Fruits with a 90 per cent positive rate of pesticide residue included oranges, strawberries, and grapes.

Washing fruit does not remove 100 per cent of the residue. Pesticides are toxic chemicals to insects as well as human beings.

3. Canned Tomatoes

Actually, most canned foods are a concern because of what the can is lined with. The lining of almost all canned foods are made with a chemical called bisphenol-A, or BPA.

A study published in May of 2013 by the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences showed that BPA actually affects the way genes work inside the brain of rats. Even the FDA agrees that there is a problem with BPA as it is supporting efforts to either replace or at the very least, to minimize the amounts found in canned foods. You know it must be bad when even the very lax FDA is concerned!

Tomatoes are exceptionally dangerous due to their high acidity, which seems to cause BPA to leech from the lining of the can into the tomatoes themselves. The level of BPA can be so high in fact; you should seriously consider not feeding them to children. Due to FDA laws, there are no standards for labeling BPA so simply because a can does not say it has it does not mean that it does not contain BPA. Be safe and avoid cans. Cook fresh or buy glass bottles.

4. Processed Meats

What exactly are processed meats? This is a long list that includes, but is not limited to, sausages, hot dogs, bacon, most lunch meats like bologna or pimento loaf.

Researchers who wrote in the journal of BMC Medicine said that the excessive salts and chemicals that are used when making processed meats are damaging to your health. The study showed that 1 in every 17 people who were involved in the study died and those who ate 160 grams or more of processed meats increased their risk of early death as much as 44 percent within 12 years as opposed to those who ate 20 grams or less. This study involved people from 10 European countries and went on for almost 13 years.

All these processed meats contain numerous chemicals and preservatives, including sodium nitrates, which make them, look appealing and fresh but are well known carcinogens. Smoking meats seem to be particularly bad as the meat picks up tar from the smoking process. Yes, tar, the same deadly ingredient that cigarette smoke contains.

5. Farmed Salmon

Although fish sounds like one of the healthiest foods possible, farmed salmon is one you should avoid. Unfortunately, more than 60 percent of the salmon consumed in the USA is farm raised.

These fish are fed unnatural diets and are contaminated with chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides, and other known carcinogens. They live in very crowded conditions which results in these fish having 30 times the number of sea lice than wild salmon. (Doesn’t that sound appetizing?) Farmed salmon are fed chemicals to make their meat that reddish pink color that should occur naturally but doesn’t because of the diet of chicken litter that they are fed.

Also, due to their diet, they have less of the healthy omega-3 that we think we are getting when we consume fish. Studies have also shown that farmed salmon contain high levels of PCB’s, mercury, and cancer causing dioxins.  Avoid farmed salmon and buy it canned or look for labels in your market that state the fish you are buying is wild sockeye salmon.

6. Potato Chips

Yes, we know, potato chips are cheap, great tasting, quick snack, however, the negative effects they have on your body may not be worth the little bit of pleasure you derive from these crispy snacks.

Potato chips are high in both fat and calories, which are sure to bring on weight gain. A study done in the New England Journal of medicine found that eating just 1 once of potato chips per day caused an average 2 pound weight gain in one year. Besides being full of trans-fats which can cause high cholesterol in most people, they have excessive sodium levels which, for many people, cause high blood pressure.

Potato chips have artificial flavors, numerous preservatives, and colors as well, which is something else your body doesn’t need.  Potato chips are fried in high temperatures to make them crispy but this also causes them to make a material called acrylamide, a known carcinogen that is also found in cigarettes.

It’s hard to say no to your kids demands for chips sometimes, therefore, as a sneaky alternative, buy them baked potato chips or tortilla chips which are at least lower in both fat and calories. Air popped popcorn and whole wheat pretzels are another healthier option. Or try baked apple chips or banana chips which are dehydrated. Both are crispy and are far healthier than regular potato chips.

7. Hydrogenated oils

Let’s start from the point that all hydrogenated oils are vegetable oils. Vegetable oils cannot be extracted naturally like butter is, vegetable oils must be chemically removed from their source, and then they are changed to be more acceptable to consumers. They are frequently deodorized and colored to look appealing.

All vegetable oils contain high levels of Omega–6 fatty acids. An excess of Omega- 6 fatty acids cause health problems, such as heart disease and in increase in various cancers, especially skin cancer. You need a good balance of both Omega 3 and Omega 6. Try to get plenty of Omega 3 every day. You can do this in the form of supplements and grass fed meats, also fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel are a very good source of Omega 3.

Hydrogenated oils are used to preserve processed foods and keep them looking appealing for a long as possible. Hydrogenated oils influence our cell membranes’ structure and flexibility, which is linked to cancer.

8. Foods that are highly salted, pickled, or smoked

Foods that are cured by use of nitrates or nitrites act as preservatives as well as adding color to the meat. Although nitrates do not cause cancer in and of themselves, under certain conditions these chemicals change once they are inside the body into N-nitroso composites. It’s this N-nitroso that is associated with a greater increase the risk of developing cancers.

Smoking foods such as meat or nuts causes these food items to absorb considerable amounts of the tar that smoke produces. Tar is a known carcinogen. Meats such as bacon, sausage, bologna, and salami are high in fat and salt.  Pickled foods are also very high in salts.

There is overwhelming evidence that eating these types of foods greatly increases the risk of colorectal cancer and higher rates of stomach cancer. The rates of stomach cancer are much greater in places such as Japan where a traditional diet contains many foods that are highly salted, and/or smoked.

9. Highly processed white flours

Most of you have already heard by now that white flour is not a good thing, but you most likely have no idea just how bad it really is for your health. Refining grains destroys its natural nutrients. Mills are no longer content with waiting for their flour to whiten with time; mills now bleach flour with a chemical called chlorine gas.

The EPA states that chlorine gas is a dangerous irritant that is not safe to inhale and in large quantities can be lethal. White flour lurks in many processed foods. White processed flour has a very high glycemic rate which quickly raises the blood sugar level and insulin levels, which can be a direct cause of diabetes, not to mention it is believed that it spreads cancer cells by feeding the cells directly.

Cancerous tumors feed mostly on the sugars in your bloodstream. By avoiding refined grains such as white flour, you can avoid, or at the very least, starve tumors.

10. GMO’s

Genetically modified organisms, more commonly called GMO’s, are foods that have been modified by chemicals and grown with chemicals.

In a study done by Dr. Pusztai at the Rowett Institute in Scotland, rats were fed GMO foods, especially potatoes. ALL rats showed damaged immune systems, pre-cancerous cell growths, along with smaller brains and livers, in just the first 10 days of the project. American consumers believe that the FDA has approved these GMO foods and this is simply not the case.

The FDA has NO testing procedures for GMO foods, NONE. The only human study ever published showed that those foreign genes that are present in GM food transfer to the DNA in the bacteria in our digestive systems. We, the American consumer, are the guinea pig (or rat) in this case. Unfortunately, almost all grains, including soybeans, wheat, and corn, have been grown via GMO’s.

GMO’s do not have to be listed on food labels, so read carefully and look for labels that state the food is GMO free.

11. Refined Sugars

Refined sugars are not only known to spike insulin levels, but also to be the most preferable food for cancer cells, thus promoting their growth.

Cancers seem to have a sweet tooth. This is a known fact that has been around for many years. The Nobel laureate in medicine, German Otto Warburg, back in 1931, first discovered that tumors and cancers both use sugars to “feed” themselves and/or to increase in size. In order to proliferate, cancer cells seem to prefer feeding on fructose-rich sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS); the reason is that HFCS is being metabolized by cancer cells most quickly and easily.

Now it is clear why high-fructose corn syrup is considered the worst offender. And since cakes, pies, cookies, sodas, juices, sauces, cereals, and many other extremely popular, mostly processed, food items are loaded with refined sugars and HFCS in particular, this helps explain why cancer rates are on the rise these days.

12. Artificial Sweeteners

Most people use artificial sweeteners to either lose weight or because they are diabetic and must avoid sugar. The main problem in all this is that there are numerous studies that show people who consume artificial sweeteners on a regular basis, such as in sodas, or coffee sweeteners, actually gain weight. It also does little or nothing to help those with diabetes.

In fact, artificial sweeteners actually make it even more difficult to control their blood sugar levels and worsen conditions that are related to diabetes such as cataracts and gastro paresis. Sometimes aspartame has been found to cause convulsions, which some people will mistake for an insulin reaction.

Not to mention that artificial sweeteners inhibit your body’s ability to monitor its daily calorie consumption and make the body crave even more sweets. Well, we’ve already discussed how refined sugars can cause cancer.

There is mounting evidence that the chemicals that make up these sweeteners, especially aspartame, break down in the body into a deadly toxin called DKP. When your stomach processes this chemical, it in turn produces chemicals that can cause cancer, especially brain tumors.

13. Diet Anything

Diet foods, including frozen foods, or prepackaged foods labeled as “diet” or “low fat”, including diet sodas, generally contain aspartame, which is a chemical, artificial sweetener that we talk about in detail above. There are numerous studies showing that aspartame causes many diseases and sicknesses such as cancers, birth defects, and heart problems.

All “diet” food is chemically processed and made from super refined ingredients, excessive sodium levels, as well as artificial colors and flavors to make it taste good.  Don’t ever forget, artificial anything is NOT real food!  Although the FDA says that all these added chemicals are safe to eat, you might want to take their advice with a grain of salt. After all, don’t they also tell you that sugar and vegetable oils are safe to eat? (Not to mention GMO’s and fast food!)

There have been many studies that show that these additives, for some people, can actually be addicting. They feed that “feel good” part in your brain, similar to cocaine! Well, that actually makes sense because if you become addicted to these foods, the companies making them are certain to score a lot of money, aren’t they?

Be smart and eat nature’s own, natural “diet” food; fruits and vegetables! (Organic, of course!)

14. Alcohol

An American study that followed the diet and lifestyles of more than 200,000 women for almost 14 years found that postmenopausal women who drank one drink per day or less had an almost 30 percent increase in breast cancer rates compared to women who did not drink at all.

Alcohol use is the second leading cause of cancer, right behind tobacco use. While a moderate or low consumption of alcohol can be healthy and lead to a reduced risk of heart disease, excessive drinking is known to cause heart failure, stroke, and sudden death. In 2007, experts working for the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer looked at the scientific evidence regarding cancer and alcohol use from 27 different studies. They found sufficient evidence to state that excessive alcohol use is the main cause of mouth, esophagus, liver, colon, mouth, rectum, and female breast cancers.

Don’t fret! You can still enjoy that glass of wine with dinner, but, for your health’s sake, no more than one!

15. Red Meat

For those of you, who love your T-bone steak, calm down. There is evidence that shows that red meat is actually a good thing in your diet, in small, infrequent amounts, Grass fed beef contains conjugated linoleic acid that actually fights against certain cancers.

However, in a study done over a 10 year period, eating red meat every day, even a small amount, such as that quarter pound hamburger you like to enjoy at lunch, increased a man’s risk of dying from cancer by 22 percent and a woman’s chance by 20 percent. A separate research study has shown that eating a lot of red meat increased the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancer.

Red meat seems particularly dangerous when talking about colon cancer. A study done in the US followed almost 150,000 people between the ages of 50 and 74. This study showed that the long term consumption of red meat significantly increased the amount of colon cancer found in the subjects studied. On the other hand, the long term consumption of fish and poultry appeared to be protective in nature.

Enjoy that T-bone, but not every night, perhaps not even every week. Save those steaks for a once in while treat and be sure you are consuming grass fed, organic beef for your best health.

16. Soda Pop

Perhaps you heard about the recent study that was published in May in the American Journal of Nutrition? It found that people who consumed more than one soda per day had a higher risk of stroke than people who did not drink sodas.

Loaded with sugar, sodas are an empty source of calories that cause weight gain and contribute to the nationwide epidemic of obesity. Drinking large amounts of this rapidly digested sugar causes your blood sugar to spike which can lead to both inflammation and insulin resistance.  Soda is often the root cause of gastro-esophageal reflux disease, which is when the contents of the stomach leak into the esophagus causing not only pain but an actual burning of the esophagus from stomach acid.

Although sodas are not a direct cause of ulcers, they are known to irritate and make those with ulcers have more pain. Sodas also contain artificial colorings and food chemicals like derivative 4-methylimidazole (4-MI); no wonder soda pop has been shown to cause cancer.

Plant Based Diet that can prevent heart disease is also an anti-cancer diet

Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr.  6-13-2014

The diet that can prevent heart disease is also an anti-cancer diet. More evidence, in a release from PCRM:

A high-fat, high-cholesterol diet increases the risk... for breast cancer, according to a study published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Researchers tracked the dietary habits of 88,804 women for 10 years from Harvard’s Nurses' Health Study II. Results showed that a diet high in animal fat increased the risk for breast cancer by 18% among all women and 21% among postmenopausal women. Dietary cholesterol increased the risk for developing breast cancer by 32% among premenopausal women. Saturated fat and monounsaturated fat also increased the risk for developing breast cancer.

This study supports recent findings by the National Cancer Institute.

Farvid MS, Cho E, Chen WY, Eliassen AH, Willett WC. Premenopausal dietary fat in relation to pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2014;145:255-265.

Red Meat Linked to Breast Cancer in Harvard Study

 

VOA News  June 11, 2014 4:19 PM

Eating red meat as an early adult could increase the risk of breast cancer, according to new research.

Researchers from Harvard University analyzed data on over 88,000 premenopausal women aged 26 to 45 who are taking part in the Nurse’s Health Study II and completed a questionnaire on their eating habits in 1991.
The Nurse’s Health study has been monitoring the health of female registered nurses since 1976.

Red meat included unprocessed beef, pork, lamb and hamburger, and processed red meat included hot dogs, bacon and sausage.  For the questionnaire, the nurses were asked to rate the frequency they ate red meat from among nine categories ranging from “never or less than once per month” to “six or more per day.” Taking into account factors like age, height, weight, family history and race, the researchers were able to identify 2,830 cases of breast cancer cases over 20 years.

Using statistical modeling, the researchers say they were able to estimate breast cancer risks for women with different diets. They said that for each increase from among the nine options for red meat consumption, there was an increase in developing breast cancer.  Researchers said a higher intake of red meat was associated with a 22% increase in risk of breast cancer. Each additional serving per day upped the risk by 13%.   Substituting chicken for one serving of red meat per day actually reduced the risk of breast cancer by 17%, the study said.  In concluding, the study’s authors said that eating a lot of red meat in early adulthood "may be a risk factor for breast cancer, and replacing red meat with a combination of legumes, poultry, nuts and fish may reduce the risk of breast cancer."

They cautioned, however that further study of the relation between diet in early adulthood and cancer is needed.   A diet high in red meat has long been linked to colon cancer and pancreatic cancer, but its relationship to breast cancer has been little understood.

Not all were convinced by the study.

“As several researchers who have analyzed this study have already pointed out, the totality of the available evidence indicates that red meat consumption has little or no effect on breast cancer risk,” said the American Meat Institute’s vice president for scientific affairs, Betsy Booren, PhD in an emailed statement.
 “This study with extremely weak associations based on self-reported food intake doesn’t add much to our current knowledge on this complex condition. It is well known that the best steps women can take to reduce their breast cancer risk are maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, reducing alcohol consumption and not smoking.”
 Another expert said the study was not definitive.
 "The women who ate less red meat may have a healthier lifestyle, and that reduces their risk of cancer, Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City told the website Healthday. “The increased risk tied to red meat might only stand in for other unhealthy behaviors," she said. "A healthy lifestyle can lower your risk of cancer in general."
 Mia Gaudet, director of genetic epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, told the Associated Press that eating red meat as an early adult could be connected to increased risk of developing breast cancer.  "Breasts are still developing and are more susceptible to carcinogens before women have their first full-term pregnancy," she said.

The American Cancer Society recommends people eat a "plant-based" diet.
"It's important to have a healthy lifestyle throughout your life and not just as you get older and more worried about cancer," Gaudet told the AP. "People should perhaps consider ordering a salad or a vegetarian option sometime."

If You Care about Your Health, You Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Epigenetics

If You Care about Your Health, You Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Epigenetics

January 28, 2014

  

It sheds important new light on diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and on all your diet and lifestyle choices.
We are all born with the genes we inherit from our parents. But how our body expresses the genes we already have isn’t fixed: it can change based on the activities we pursue, the foods we eat, even our emotional state! We are learning more and more about this from the emerging science of epigenetics.
We are even learning that, in some respects, what we are depends on what our grandparents ate or did. And just as the food our grandparents ate can affect us, so will the food we eat affect our grandchildren. This is called transgenerational epigenetic inheritance (TEI).
A Dec. 2013 study conducted at the Emory School of Medicine illustrates how TEI works: mice were trained to avoid the scent of cherry blossoms (the smell was linked with an electric shock). The mice’s offspring and “grandchildren”—with no prior exposure to the scent of cherry blossoms and no training from their parents to avoid it—exhibited a similar aversion to the smell. This and similar experiments mean that our anxiety, fears, and phobias may be shared with at least two generations.
A 2010 study showed that overfed male mouse pups that developed metabolic syndrome passed elements of the disease on to their offspring—even if the offspring weren’t overfed.
Some of the studies showing how the behavior of one generation clearly affects the next generation’s DNA chemistry are in human populations. For example, a mother’s diet during pregnancy can increase her child’s risk of obesity. Findings from a Swedish study spanning three generations suggested that diet can cause epigenetic changes affecting several generations’ risk of heart disease or diabetes.
New research released last week reveals an epigenetic link to Alzheimer’s. This heartbreaking disease may not simply be a factor of age or genetics—it may also be caused both by family history and by your own lifestyle.
Alarmingly, some scientists are beginning to believe that TEI may be responsible for rising rates of anxiety, obesity, diabetes, and other epidemics. For example, a University of Texas experiment hinted that increases in the rates of autism and bipolar disorder could be a result of epigenetic damage stemming from previous generations’ exposure to new chemicals and fertilizers—and that these detrimental effects may be passed on “without any further exposure.”
The message here should not be that our past has locked us into a tragic future. It should instead be to look more closely at the mistakes we are making right now and what they might mean for ourselves and future generations. For example, please see our related article on GMO and epigenetics. With respect to autism, we also need much more research on the overloaded infant vaccine schedule and use of toxic vaccine preservatives and adjuvants, research which governments working closely with vaccine manufacturers are blocking.
In thinking about changes we need to make right now, we should keep one thing in mind: negative epigenetic changes appear to be reversible.
Animal research by Duke University found that B12, folic acid, choline, and betaine supplementation during pregnancy lowered their offspring’s susceptibility to obesity, diabetes, and cancer (are you listening, Dr. Offit?).
Despite media noise to the contrary, epigenetics research suggests that maintaining sufficient nutrient levels will significantly affect your current and future health, including the likelihood that you’ll develop cancer as you age. For example, healthy levels of selenium and vitamin D can reduce the accumulation of epigenetic changes that can drive cancer. One study showed that patients with higher levels of vitamin D and selenium experience fewer epigenetic changes associated with cancer.
Our fitness and emotional well-being can also affect how our genes are expressed.
A Harvard School of Public Health study showed that a sedentary lifestyle can amplify the effects of genetic tendencies towards obesity, while a brisk one-hour daily walk reduced genetic influence towards obesity by half.
In addition to its many other health benefits, meditation can epigenetically influence thousands of genes. In fact, one study found that 2,209 genes were significantly different between long-term practitioners and healthy individuals who didn’t meditate. Meditation can suppress genes responsible for inflammation, and therefore help you physically recover more quickly from stressful situations.
The deeper we delve into the newly hatched field of epigenetics, the more reasons we find to approach health aturally—through lifestyle changes, a wholesome diet free of GMOs and pesticides, the appropriate use of dietary supplements, and the avoidance of chemicals and contaminants. It also means it’s more important than ever before to protect consumer access to the integrative practitioners who can help us lead healthier lives.
Help your genes “express themselves” in a healthful way. Future generations will thank you!

Why You Should Drink More Water

Why You Should Drink More Water

Jan. 9, 2014  

You can live without food for about a month, but only without water for a week. We, as humans, are mostly made up of the stuff, and it’s very important we drink plenty of it. That said, you may not enjoy water and find it a bit of a challenge to drink enough—a challenge you should overcome this weekend.

First things first, you need to know how much water you need on a daily basis. Some say eight glasses, others say a little more and a little less. When we asked a doctor who took a closer look at necessary hydration, we found the numbers depended on sex. Men need about 3 liters (13 cups) and women need 2.2 (9 cups). If you exercise or spend a lot of time in the sun, you’ll need more. You don’t want to over-hydrate, as that can cause serious problems, but if you keep it around 13 or 9 (depending on your gender) you’ll be good to go. It helps to know the signs of dehydration, too, so you can listen to your body to know when you’ll need more.

The benefits of drinking water have been much discussed in the media. Water helps keep you hydrated, which is important because every single cell in your body needs it in order to absorb nutrients and expel waste products. But what are some of the less well known benefits of drinking water?

Miracle Liquid

Even though it is flavorless and colorless on its own, water dissolves more substances than any other liquid. It carries chemicals, minerals and nutrients with it everywhere it travels.

Regulates Body Temperature

Everyone knows that if you’re overheated, it’s important to drink water but did you know that it’s even more important to drink it when your body is freezing? The risk of dehydration is actually higher in cold weather because your body is working harder to stay warm. Water regulates your body temperature while hydrating it.

You’ll Breathe Better

Water it keeps the tissues in your body moist. This protects you vital organs, most especially your lungs because they must maintain a healthy level of moisture. Some recent studies have even shown a connection between drinking more water and seeing relief from the affects of asthma.

You’re Made to Do It

Nearly 70% of an adult’s body is made up of water. It only makes sense that the more you fill your body with it, the better it will run.

Fill it Up

A healthy person can drink about three gallons — or 48 cups — of water each day so clearly the 8-12 cups you’re told to drink a day are a drop in the bucket compared to what your body could hold.

Detox Your Body

There are plenty of toxins floating around your body. Help flush them out without the need of some fancy detox diet by simply drinking more water. You’re in for added benefits when you mix in some lemon.

Blood Sugar Levels

Your blood sugar levels play a huge role in your diet and overall health. Help get them under control by drinking more water and eating more hydrating foods like fresh fruits instead of sugar-filled carbs.

Fight a Cold

Next time you feel a cold coming on, hydrate as much as possible. It will help get your body on the mend faster and may even cause the symptoms to pass over you entirely. A good tip is to drink water until your urine is clear!

Faster Weight Loss

A recent study done by the American Chemical Society showed that adults who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch, and dinner ended up eating 75 to 90 fewer calories during each meal.

Get Things Running Smoothly

In addition to all of the negative things that come with a lack of proper hydration, constipation may be another horrible side effect. Consume enough water to keep things flowing smoothly.

Boosts Mood

Did you know that mild dehydration is associated with feelings of anger and depression?

Ultimate Brain Power

Having trouble planning or focusing on things? Dehydration could be the blame because long periods of dehydration could be linked to impaired brain functions.

Say Goodbye to Headaches

If you find yourself getting a lot of headaches, dehydration may be to blame. People who don’t consume enough water are more likely to suffer from cramps and other aches as well.

Reduce Blemishes

In addition to glowing, smooth complexion, consuming more water can actually reduce acne because it stops the bacteria from forming internally.

Fight Disease

Water helps protect cells and enhancing overall health. Proper hydration has been linked to the prevention of everything from cancer to emotional disorders.

Healthy Muscles

By keeping the body properly hydrated, you will keep your joints and muscles lubricated. This will help prevent little injuries like sprains or common running injuries.

Stay Energized

Your body is more likely to be fatigued because when you are dehydrated, your organs have to work harder to pump oxygenated blood. So skip the coffee and get some water instead!

Glowing Skin

Looking for the fountain of youth? Well, it may actually come in the form of drinking water. Your skin will look radiant and youthful if you help yourself to more water each day.

Proper Digestion

You will be able to beat that tired feeling you sometimes get after eating a meal because your body will be able to digest the food properly.

 

Water can be consumed by drinking low caffeine Green Teas

 

Important - DO A LOT OF DEEP BREATHING !!!

 

Promise of Adult Stem Cells in Disease Management, Anti-Aging, and Life Extension

The Promise of Adult Stem Cells in Disease Management, Anti-Aging, and Life Extension

Nov 17, 2013  By Dr. Mercola

Since time immemorial, man has searched for the Fountain of Youth. Nothing has changed in that regard, but the methods of inquiry and discovery have certainly progressed.  Some of these ideas rival even the most outlandish sci-fi scenarios imaginable, up to and including the transfer of your consciousness into a bionic body.¹ Personally, I don’t want to veer too far from the natural order of things.

But the technology and science enthusiast in me can’t help but be intrigued by the ideas and radical advances in the field of extreme life extension. One of the most promising techniques in this field, from my perspective, revolves around the use of adult stem cells.
Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells found throughout your body. They multiply and replace cells as needed, in order to regenerate damaged tissues. Their value, in terms of anti-aging and life extension, centers around their ability to self-renew indefinitely, and their ability to generate every type of cell needed for the organ from which it originates.

Dr. Bryant Villeponteau, author of Decoding Longevity, is a leading researcher in novel anti-aging therapies involving stem cells. He’s been a pioneer in this area for over three decades. Personally, I believe that stem cell technology could have a dramatic influence on our ability to live longer and replace some of our failing parts, which is the inevitable result of the aging process.  With an interest in aging and longevity, Dr. Villeponteau started out by studying developmental biology.

“If we could understand development, we could understand aging,” he says.

Later, his interest turned more toward the gene regulation aspects. While working as a professor at the University of Michigan at the Institute of Gerontology, he received, and accepted, a job offer from Geron Corporation—a Bay Area startup, in the early ‘90s.
“They were working on telomerase, which I was pretty excited about at the time. I joined them when they first started,” he says. “We had an all-out engagement there to clone human telomerase. It had been cloned in other animals but not in humans or mammals.”

What is Telomerase?

Your body is made up of 10 trillion cells, each of which contains a nucleus. Inside the nucleus are the chromosomes that contain your genes. The chromosome is made up of two “arms,” and each arm contains a single molecule DNA, which is essentially a string of beads made up of units called bases.

A typical DNA molecule is about 100 million bases long. It’s curled up like slinky, extending from one end of the chromosome to the other. At the very tip of each arm of the chromosome is what’s called a telomere.   If you were to unravel the tip of the chromosome, a telomere is about 15,000 bases long at the moment of conception in the womb. Immediately after conception your cells begin to divide, and your telomeres begin to shorten each time the cell divides. Once your telomeres have been reduced to about 5,000 bases, you essentially die of old age.

Telomerase is an enzyme that is involved in repairing the ends of the chromosomes, i.e. the telomere, thereby preventing it from shortening.

“What you have to know about telomerase is that it’s only on in embryonic cells. In adult cells, it’s totally, for the most part, turned off, with the exception of adult stem cells,” Dr. Villeponteau explains. “Adult stem cells have some telomerase – not full and not like the embryonic stem cells, but they do have some telomerase activity.”

What’s so Great About Stem Cells?

At Geron, Dr. Villeponteau worked on a program to isolate human telomerase. They were the first industrial lab to do so, and successfully at that. The founder of Geron was Michael West—now known for his pioneering work with embryonic stem cells. In ’94-‘95, West began searching for another product to add to Geron’s arsenal besides telomerase. He honed in on stem cells, recognizing their incredible potential for turning regeneration of body tissues into a practical reality.

“He identified several groups that were working on the isolation of human stem cells,” Dr. Villeponteau says. “He put together a collaborative agreement with these people and part-funding from Geron. That bore fruit later in the ‘90s. That’s how Geron became both the telomerase and the stem cell king – it was because of that early support of the stem cell research. They had lines of stem cell, embryonic stem cells, before anybody else did.  I was involved in a lot of that initial research. But what I came away with was that these embryonic stem cells, as good as they were, had problems too. Because you had to isolate them, you had to grow them, and then you had to put them into a foreign body, if they were going to be useful. That means you have to worry about immunity, because it’s a different type of somebody else’s cells. That was a problem. The other problem was that it was not that easy and straightforward to differentiate these embryonic stem cells the way you want them. I started to be more interested at that point in adult stem cells.”

Most of the research currently being done, both in academia and industrial labs, revolves around either embryonic stem cells, or a second type called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Dr. Villeponteau, on the other hand, believes adult stem cells are the easiest and most efficient way to achieve results.

That said, adult stem cells do have their drawbacks. While they’re your own cells, which eliminates the problem of immune-related issues, there’s just not enough of them. Especially as you get older, there’s fewer and fewer adult stem cells, and they tend to become increasingly dysfunctional too. Yet another hurdle is that they don’t form the tissues that they need to form...

To solve such issues, Dr. Villeponteau has created a co. with the technology and expertise to amplify your adult stem cells a million-fold or more, while still maintaining their ability to differentiate all the different cell types, and without causing the cells to age. Again, it is the adult stem cell’s ability to potentially cure, or at least ameliorate, many of our age-related diseases by regenerating tissue that makes this field so exciting.

The Case Against Telomerase for Life Extension

I was initially intrigued with the principles of using telomerase to potentially extend human lifespan. But in talking to a few other clinicians, I became aware that using a generic process to influence the entire body raises potentially serious concerns.  Dr. Villeponteau’s amplification process of human adult stem cells, however, appears to bypass such concerns as it’s targeted to one cell type. He explains:

“Here’s the issue: I think, with telomerase activation systemically, it probably doesn’t do much good, because 99% of your cells are not going to be affected, nor should they be. You don’t even want them to be, because the somatic cells in the body, the cells that do all the work – muscle, nerves, and all of that – have a natural lifespan. Maybe you can do certain things to extend [their lifespan] a little bit. But you’re going to do only a little on the margins. They’re going to be dying and they have to be regenerated. There has to be a regeneration process. They used to think that certain tissues like the brain and heart muscle didn’t have any stem cells; didn’t have any new growth. That’s not true. Now we’ve found that they do have them. In the case of neuro [brain cells], it is very important for memory that you have this capability. I think where the telomerase activation really helps, even taken systemically, is in the stem cell compartment because it would help with your own stem cells. We have a product that we’ve been selling commercially... to stimulate stem cell growth and maintenance of the stem cells, and telomere function is part of it... [ Aging itself and stem cells are multi-faceted and multi-pathway. You really have to attack it from different pathways. There’s no magic bullet in its treatment. You have to get in multiple ways, because aging is a process that [involves] multiple pathways.”

 

An Example of How Adult Stem Cells Work

Dr. Villeponteau uses skin as an example to illustrate the potential benefits of adult stem cells, as your skin can be used as a cosmetic “guidepost” for how old you are. As you get older, your skin starts to thin and loose its elasticity. This is what causes your skin to wrinkle and sag. Now, your skin is constantly renewing itself; shedding old cells as new cells are created underneath.  Adult stem cells are responsible for these new skin cells being born.

As mentioned earlier, with age, your adult stem cells are reduced in number. They also become increasingly dysfunctional. As a result, the turnover in your skin slows down by about half. If you were able to keep the regeneration of skin tissue at more youthful levels by the addition of adult stem cells, you’d be able to maintain youthful-looking skin longer. While this may sound too good to be true, Dr. Villeponteau points to experimental and practical evidence showing that body organs can be repaired using this technology. As for stopping the clock on general aging, however, the results are less clear.

“For general aging, are we going to be able to replace your stem cells by, let’s say, IV? We don’t know how much good we can do. But there has been one rat experiment that’s been done. They were able to extend the lifespan by adding IV stem cell population,” he says.

 

Three Different Types of Stem Cells

There are three major types of stem cell populations, each with their own set of pro’s and con’s:

1.    Embryonic stem cells. As the name implies, embryonic stem cells come from human embryos. Ethical issues have been raised with respects to the use of embryonic stem cells, as you have to destroy the embryo in order to collect the stem cells.  While potent, their immaturity also poses problems. It’s difficult to program them to develop into later-stage tissues. It’s also difficult to find a way for them to form the specific tissue types that you want, because they’re further removed from those individual tissues – say, liver, brain, or muscle tissue. Embryonic stem cells also have cancer potential because they form keratomas, although that’s rare. And, since they are not your own cells, they may cause an immune reaction.

2.    Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). These cells, discovered in 2008, have caused great excitement among scientists. These cells can take a fibroblast (a type of cell) from virtually any part of your body, and transfect it with, or put in, four different genes that are known to be important for stem cell function. This converts the original cell into what amounts to an embryonic stem cell—your embryonic stem cell.  However, this too has its problems. On the upside, it eliminates the issue of an immune reaction, since it’s your own cells. But it still has the potential to promote tumor growth. As explained by Dr. Villeponteau, whenever you insert genes into a genome, you run the risk of putting it near a cancer gene, thereby generating cancer. There are also difficulties in being able to differentiate them into the various tissues you might need. Still, it’s an exciting area where lots of research is being done.

“Very recently, there was one group that was able to take, I think, seven chemical drugs and convert a small proportion of the fibroblast into these iPS cells—doing it just chemically and not using any genes. Of course, that’s much safer. But we don’t know the full impact of what that’s going to mean yet,” Dr. Villeponteau says.

3.    Adult stem cells. On the upside, they don’t have the immunity problem because it’s your own cells. This also eliminates any ethical problem. So far, they do not appear to pose a cancer risk, which is another major advantage.  The disadvantage is that they’re difficult to grow and that there aren’t enough of them to be effective. It would be a game changer if you could amplify their numbers, and this is precisely this key component that Dr. Villeponteau is working on. So far, they’ve developed the media, and a procedure that looks promising, through which adult stem cells could be multiplied. He believes it might be one to two years, however, before the principle can be proven.

How Stem Cells are Currently Used

In the US, it’s illegal to take out a cell, amplify it, and then put it back into the human body. The FDA considers that as a drug. However, it is legal to take bone marrow, for example, and isolate the stem cells. As long as you don’t treat the cells with any kind of drug, or try to grow them, you can then legally put them back in, in a purified, concentrated form. Such treatments already exist, both in the US and abroad. One of the most common treatments using isolated adult stem cells is for knee injuries. According to Dr. Villeponteau, they’re achieving very good results doing that, and many are actually cured. Adult stem cell therapy has also been successfully used in people with back problems, and it appears particularly effective for joint problems and bone growth. Dr. Villeponteau even used adult stem cells to treat bone loss around one of his front teeth, with good results.

He also believes it could be successfully used in the treatment of diabetes, and for recreating the human pancreas and perhaps even the heart. Another area he believes will eventually benefit from adult stem cell technology is in the general reconditioning of your circulatory system—your arteries, veins and capillaries. Autoimmune diseases and multiple sclerosis (MS) may also benefit. At present, there’s a doctor in Utah who claims to be using adult stem cells on stroke patients; successfully regenerating brain function. Stem cells have also been used in cancer patients for the past two decades.

“Cancer patients, if they get high levels of radiation to kill off the cancer, it also kills off blood-forming stem cells. What they’ve been doing in some places, for 20 years now, is to take a sample of your bone marrow and then replace it after the chemotherapy or the radiation therapy to regrow your immune system quickly. They can do that several times. That allows you to go to a much higher dosage of radiation that you would otherwise not be able to survive.”

Another novel technology that also makes use of stem cells is 3D-printing architecture, where iPS cells or embryonic stem cells (not adult stem cells) are used to recreate an organ using a 3D printer. This too is something straight out of a science fiction movie, but it does work, and it’s legal. They’ve successfully replicated an esophagus for example, as well as human ears. It’s really only a matter of time before they figure out how to replicate more complex organs, such as kidneys, pancreas’, livers and hearts using this technology.

 

More Information

When I think about aggressive future efforts to reverse the aging process, nanotech comes to mind. In talking to Dr. Villeponteau, I believe the technology he’s working on is akin to biological nanotech. Rather than creating synthetic nanobots to repair tissues, it would seem far wiser to focus on the already intrinsic intelligence of the human body, which already knows how to use adult stem cells to perform such tasks.

There’s no telling how long it will take for this kind of technology to be perfected, but research is certainly moving ahead at near-breakneck speed. Dr. Villeponteau believes adult stem cells is the fastest way to make some real headway in the areas of cellular regeneration and life extension.

Until then, you can certainly add many years, likely decades, to your life simply by eating right, exercising (which promotes the production of muscle stem cells, by the way) and living an otherwise clean and healthy lifestyle. Extreme life extension, on the other hand, is a different matter.

“I think you can add 20 years to your life now if you eat right, take the right supplements, and exercise. You’d delay diseases, but that’s all you’re going to get. You’re not going to get extreme changes. To do that, you need real science,” he says.

Dr. Villeponteau’s book, Decoding Longevity, covers preventive strategies to prolong your life, mainly diet, exercise, and supplements—although he admittedly also includes some drugs. A portion of the book also covers future developments in the area of more radical life extension, such as stem cell technology. To keep abreast of advancements in this area, you can check out his company website at www.centagen.com.