peterants

In an e-mail alert I received from Life Extension Foundation, they reported on the following study:

In an article published online on March 24, 2009 in the American Association for Cancer Research journal Clinical Cancer Research, scientists from the University of California, San Francisco report a protective effect of long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids against advanced prostate cancer risk.

Professor of epidemiology and biostatistics John S. Witte, PhD and his associates compared 466 men with aggressive prostate cancer to 478 healthy men matched for age and ethnicity. Dietary questionnaire responses were evaluated for omega-3 fatty acid intake, and blood samples were analyzed for nine variants in the gene that controls cylooxygenase-2 COX-2, an enzyme involved in fatty acid metabolism, inflammation and cell proliferation. Earlier research has demonstrated decreased expression of COX-2 among animals fed high omega-3 fatty acid-containing diets, as compared to high omega-6 diets.

Advanced prostate cancer risk declined with increasing omega-3 fatty acid intake. Men whose intake of omega-3 fatty acids was among the top 25 percent of participants had a 63 percent lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer compared with those whose intake was in the lowest fourth. This association was stronger among men with a particular modification of the gene that controls COX-2 expression, resulting in an over five times greater risk of advanced prostate cancer in men with this variant who reported a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids. “Previous research has shown protection against prostate cancer, but this is one of the first studies to show protection against advanced prostate cancer and interaction with COX-2,” Dr Witte stated. “The COX-2 increased risk of disease was essentially reversed by increasing omega-3 fatty acid intake by a half a gram per day.”

Raymond Francis, author of the book Never be Sick Again, has written the following article on the benefits of Vitamin E posted on his website Beyond Health:

In recent years, new findings on vitamin E have been so extensive; it might be mistaken for a miracle drug.

Vitamin E has been proven to be one of our most powerful biological antioxidants. At the same time, a growing body of scientific evidence is proving the lifetime need for protecting our cells from damage by free-radical oxidation. Vitamin E provides such protection and thereby slows down the aging process. Simply put, vitamin E protects us from aging and the chronic diseases, such as heart disease, which result from oxidative damage.

Unwittingly, we have created and live in an oxidizing environment. This is putting unprecedented demands on our antioxidant defense systems. With the demand up, it is difficult to obtain sufficient vitamin E from our nutritionally-deficient modern diet. That is why supplementing is a must for most people. However, supplementing is problematical because there is little real vitamin E on the market.

Vitamin E is an essential (we can’t live without it) fat-soluble vitamin that was discovered in 1922. Early experiments demonstrated that vitamin E was essential to the fertility of rats; it quickly became known as the fertility vitamin. Recent research has found that vitamin E appears to protect against all kinds of degenerative diseases including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, cataracts, and aging. Some say it is the most important vitamin of all, and judging from the list of claims, it may be a miracle worker.

The two principal roles of vitamin E are as an antithrombin, to prevent blood clots inside blood vessels, and as an antioxidant, quenching free radicals. There is now extensive evidence linking free radical damage to the development of degenerative diseases.

Free radicals are very reactive entities that are produced by normal bodily processes, as well as from environmental pollutants such as smog, pesticides, and cigarette smoke. The body employs a complex antioxidant defense system to protect itself from free radical oxidative damage. This system includes vitamins E, A, and C, carotenoids, bioflavonoids, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, alpha-lipoic acid, and proanthocyanidins.

Unless quenched by antioxidants, free radicals can react with the fatty acids in our cell membranes causing lipid peroxidation. Once this oxidation begins, it can start a chain reaction that will damage the structure and function of the cell, thus causing disease.

Vitamin E is a particularly important antioxidant because it is oil soluble. This allows it to sit right in the cell membrane, adjacent to the unsaturated fatty acids, and to protect them from damage. In short, vitamin E is fundamental to protecting us from free radical damage, particularly to the fatty molecules in our cell membranes. Let’s have a look at some recent findings on vitamin E…

Heart Disease

Arteriosclerosis is one mechanism involved in heart disease. This process, where plaque lines the arterial walls and restricts healthy blood flow, is triggered by the free radical oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs). Vitamin E inhibits the oxidation of LDLs thereby preventing heart disease.

After several large studies demonstrated dramatic benefits, the American Heart Association cited vitamin E as one of the “top-ten heart and stroke research advances for 1996.” Numerous other studies, over a period of decades, have concluded that vitamin E can reduce the risk of heart disease. In two large epidemiological studies involving almost 150,000 people, researchers found that vitamin E lowered the risk of coronary heart disease. A one-year study of more than 2000 people reported in a 1996 Lancet found that people on vitamin E reduced their risk of heart disease by 77%.

A recent study in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology found that vitamin E blocked the formation of a proinflammatory compound, interleukin-1 beta, which promotes the formation of blood clots and the adherence of white blood cells to blood vessel walls. Both of these processes are instrumental in creating heart disease. When experimental animals are deprived of vitamin E, they die of heart disease. A handful of enlightened physicians have used vitamin E to both prevent and resolve blood clots and to reverse major cardiac dysfunction.

Cancer

It has been estimated that between 80 and 90 percent of all cancers are environmentally induced. Research has shown that free radicals play a role in both the initiation and promotion of these cancers.

As a free radical neutralizer, vitamin E may play a role in cancer prevention. Studies on both cells and animals indicate that the protection of antioxidant chemicals like vitamin E can reduce the risk of cancer. A large study, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that in male smokers, ages 50 to 69, the incidence of prostrate cancer was cut by one third and the death rate by 41% among those who had been supplementing with vitamin E for five to eight years.

Immunity

Numerous studies, including this one at Tufts University, have shown that vitamin E enhances immunity, especially in the elderly. A group of 88 volunteers, 65 and older, were given vitamin E for four-months. The 65 and 70 year-olds taking the vitamin E had immune responses equal to that of 40-year-olds. Since immunity decreases with age, supplementation is even more important for older people.

Cataracts

The lens of the eye can be damaged by light-induced free radicals, which cause lipid peroxidation. This oxidation produces cataracts, a cloudiness in the lens and blurred vision. Cataract surgery is the largest single item in the Medicare expenditure budget.

Vitamin E supplementation reduces the risk of cataracts. A 1998 study reported in Ophthalmology found a 75% reduction in cataracts in those supplementing with vitamin E for five years or more. The amount of protection increased with the amount of time the subjects had been taking vitamin E, and those with the highest amount of plasma vitamin E had the highest protection.

Diabetes

Diabetics often suffer from a degenerative eye condition, diabetic retinopathy, which can cause blindness. This retinopathy is caused by decreased blood flow to the eye.

A 1999 study reported in Diabetes Care found that after four months of supplementation with vitamin E, the blood flow to the eye was normalized. In addition, kidney function also improved. The authors concluded that it would be prudent to put all diabetics on regular doses of vitamin E.

Air Pollution

High concentrations of smoke, smog, ozone and nitrogen dioxide in urban air can damage lungs by initiating free radicals. A number of animal studies have shown that vitamin E has a protective effect on lung tissue.

Exercise

During exercise, increased oxygen metabolism increases free-radical levels by two to three times, thus causing muscle damage. A number of studies have demonstrated that vitamin E supplementation has a protective effect on these tissues. One study found that damage to DNA was significantly reduced in those doing strenuous exercise, when supplemented with 1200 mg of vitamin E for two weeks prior to exercise.

Alzheimer’s

In a two-year study the New England Journal of Medicine researchers found that vitamin E slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by 50%. While not a cure, nothing else has slowed the progression of this disease.

Skin

Vitamin E applied directly to the skin slows the aging process and produces skin that looks younger, longer. E has the ability to strengthen connective tissues and when used regularly will ‘tighten’ the skin.

E has been successfully used on all kinds of skin afflictions. Ulcerated and open wounds heal more rapidly as do burns. E soothes burns and protects against infection of the wound. E also minimizes the formation of scar tissue. Instant relief from the pain of sunburn has been reported.

Vitamin E in the Diet

The new RDA for vitamin E is 15 mg. Surveys indicate that most American adults get only 8 to 10 mg. Vitamin E is found in whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fats and oils, such as real olive oil. But, modern diets are lacking in vitamin E because of cooking and processing. While even 8 mg appears to be enough to prevent obvious deficiency symptoms such as peripheral neuropathy, research indicates that many times this amount is needed for optimal health.

Natural vs. Synthetic

Once having decided to supplement with vitamin E, the question becomes which brand to take. The first consideration is whether to take natural or synthetic. The choice here is clearly for the natural. There is a difference in the chemical structure of the molecules, which causes synthetic vitamin E to be poorly retained by the body and to be less biologically active than the natural molecules. The body clearly selects the natural molecules over the synthetic, which are made from petroleum products. Synthetic E has been found to be only half as effective as natural E. A study in the November 1998 American Journal of Natural Nutrition reviewed more than 30 studies on this subject and concluded that natural vitamin E is far superior to the synthetic.

How and What to Take

Supplementing with vitamin E is essential for most people. Dr. Evan Shute, one of the world’s pioneers in vitamin E, wrote in The Heart and Vitamin E, “No substance known to medicine has such a variety of healing properties as E.”

Are there times when E should be avoided? Numerous studies have shown no significant side effects from high levels of vitamin E. However, vitamin E can have an anticoagulant effect and high doses should be supervised by a physician when on anticoagulant prescription drugs.

Knowing that we need to supplement is only part of the problem. Unfortunately, there is precious little real vitamin E on the market.

First, most vitamin E is synthetic and it is well known that synthetic E is less bioactive than natural E. On labels, synthetic E can usually be recognized by a dl- in front of the chemical name. However, it is legal to label vitamin E as natural even though it is 90% synthetic.

Often natural vitamin E is reacted with organic acids to form synthetic esters called acetates and succinates. These acetates and succinates are stable molecules, which provide long shelf life and are easy to make into supplements. The problem is these molecules are too stable and do not work well as antioxidants. In addition, they are not as well absorbed. One study found that the bioavailability of natural vitamin E was three times higher than the acetate form.

Another problem is that natural E products also contain one-third to one-half vegetable oil. Unfortunately, the oil turns rancid and creates damaging free radicals in the body.

The product I recommend is Beyond Health Vitamin E, a fully natural, vegetable oil-free Vitamin E that meets my high standards.

Physicians who prescribe vitamin E usually recommend 400 I.U. per day for each 40 pounds of body weight, taken all at one meal. For those with critical problems, 2400 I.U. per day is often recommended until a regular maintenance dose is resumed.

Your body will thank you when you supplement with real vitamin E.

The following is an e-mail update I received from Life Extension Foundation.

In an article scheduled for publication in the Journal of Geriatric Psychology and Neurology, researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Michigan report an association between low levels of vitamin D and an increased risk of cognitive impairment in older men and women. Cognitive impairment has been shown to enhance the risk of developing dementia, a major cause of disability among older individuals.

The current study included 708 men and 1,058 women aged 65 and older who participated in the Health Survey for England 2000. Neurocognitive testing revealed cognitive impairment in 212 subjects. The risk of impairment was found to increase with declining levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Participants whose vitamin D levels were among the lowest 25 percent of participants at 8-30 nanomoles per liter experienced an adjusted risk of cognitive impairment that was 2.28 times greater than that of men and women whose vitamin D levels were in the top quarter at 66 to 170 nanomoles per liter.

“We provide new evidence to suggest that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is related to cognitive impairment in the elderly population and a potential diagnostic aid for screening or differential diagnosis,” the authors write. “This is important because serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D may play an important role in the expression of neurotrophic factors, the stimulation of adult neurogenesis, calcium homeostasis, and detoxification. Furthermore, the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and cognitive impairment underlines the importance of micronutrients in the elderly.”

“This is the first large-scale study to identify a relationship between vitamin D and cognitive impairment in later life,” noted study coauthor Iain A. Lang, PhD, of Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England. “Dementia is a growing problem for health services everywhere, and people who have cognitive impairment are at higher risk of going on to develop dementia. That means identifying ways in which we can reduce levels of dementia is a key challenge for health services.”

“For those of us who live in countries where there are dark winters without much sunlight, like the UK, getting enough Vitamin D can be a real problem – particularly for older people, who absorb less vitamin D from sunlight.,” Dr Lang observed. “One way to address this might be to provide older adults with vitamin D supplements. This has been proposed in the past as a way of improving bone health in older people, but our results suggest it might also have other benefits. We need to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation is a cost-effective and low-risk way of reducing older people’s risks of developing cognitive impairment and dementia.”

The reasons to supplement with vitamin D just continue to accumulate!

This is an article that I read at alternative-medicine-and-health.com which I have started to follow because I fit the test as deficient in HCL.

WE ALL KNOW what indigestion is–sort of. It’s like heartburn, only different. Actually, indigestion refers to any disturbance of the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract, which includes the esophagus, stomach, and gallbladder. Heartburn is one of the usual symptoms of indigestion. Gas, bloating, and belching are also common symptoms.
If you suffer from indigestion after eating or drinking too much or as a result of stress, you need to investigate the various possibilities.
Here are the most common causes of indigestion:
• Candidiasis
• Food Allergy
• Gallbladder Disease
• H. Pylori
• Heartburn
• Hiatal Hernia and Esophagitis,
• Lactose Intolerance
• Ulcers
Most people who suffer from chronic indigestion have been to doctors and have been tested for various conditions. If this describes you, and if you have read about the above ailments and still can’t find the cause of your indigestion, there are two other possible causes that are not widely known:
• Deficiency of hydrochloric acid
• Deficiency of pancreatic enzymes
If you suffer from deficiency of hydrochloric acid or lack of gastric acid secretion, you may experience:
• bloating, belching, burning, and flatulence right after eating
• diarrhea or constipation
• a feeling of overfullness after eating
• food allergies
• nausea caused by nutritional supplements
Over half of people over the age of sixty suffer from low gastric acidity. If you’ve consulted your doctor about indigestion, taken antacids, and tried the prescription drug Tagamet and there has been no improvement or in fact you have felt worse, your problem could stem from a lack of hydrochloric acid. A physician can use a diagnostic test to confirm this problem, but there is also a simple test you can perform at home. Take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice when you are experiencing indigestion. If this eliminates your symptoms, then you may be deficient in stomach acid. If it makes your symptoms worse, you have an overproduction of stomach acid. If the vinegar helps, you can take it with meals or you can take hydrochloric acid (HCL) supplements (these often contain pepsin), which you can buy at health food stores. Please note that hiatal hernia, gastritis, and duodenal ulcer are caused by overproduction of stomach acid, and HCL supplements can make these conditions worse. Therefore, it’s important to rule out hyperacidity before treating yourself with HCL supplements.
Other people suffer from a lack of pancreatic enzymes. The pancreas produces enzymes that are essential to the digestion and absorption of food. The enzymes include lipases that digest fat, proteases that digest proteins, and amylases that digest starch. I’ve noticed that patients with low blood sugar are more prone to a problem with pancreatic enzymes. This may be because both insulin, which controls blood sugar, and the pancreatic enzymes are produced by the same organ, the pancreas. If the pancreas is out of whack, low blood sugar and lack of enzymes could result.
A lack of pancreatic enzymes will lead to trouble when you ingest fatty foods: You may experience bloating or belching an hour after a fatty meal, or your may have a feeling of fullness.
If you lack pancreatic enzymes, there are supplements that can help. Preparations of pancreatic enzymes isolated from animal sources are used with other enzymes including bromelain, which comes from pineapple, to aid digestion. These supplements are available at health food stores.
NATURAL TREATMENTS FOR INDIGESTION:
• Rule out all the disorders listed above, including cardiac trouble, as possible causes.
• If the discomfort is caused by lack of gastric acid secretion as determined by the self-test recommended above, take hydrochloric acid (HCL) supplements. Please note you should never take hydrochloric acid at the same time as aspirin, gutazolldln, Indocin, Motrin, or any other antiinflammatory medications, If you experience stomach irritation, discontinue.
Begin treatment by taking one hydrochloric acid capsule (10 grains) at your next large meal. At every large meal after that take one more capsule. For example, one capsule at your next meal, two at the meal after that, three at the meal after that, and so on. Continue until you reach five capsules or until you feel your digestion has improved, whichever comes first, When you’ve discovered the dose you need, continue to take it with meats. You can reduce the number .of capsules you take when the meals are small.
Your stomach may regain the ability to manufacture stomach acid. If this happens, you can reduce the number of capsules taken.
• If your indigestion stems from a lack of pancreatic enzymes, you should take pancreatic enzymes and bromelain, available at health food stores, Take two to four tablets of pancreatic enzymes with meals–”SX USP” is the type to look for. Take bromelain in doses of 250 to 500 mg. with meals.

I started by taking apple cider vinegar for stomach upset, something my mother does regularly. It made my stomach feel better, so I purchased Betaine-Hcl at my local health food store. I take one tablet with breakfast, one with lunch and either two or three with dinner, depending on whether I have meat for dinner. I feel better, and have less stomach upset.

Update-After two months on that schedule, I have now dropped down to one 10 grain tablet at dinner (or two, if I have meat with dinner). It has been working fine. I guess that my stomach is now making a little more HCL.

So how do we put this all together? What do we reasonably do to live a long and healthy life?

Let’s review what we’ve covered so far. First, exercise.

The benefits of exercise are extremely well studied. At least a half hour a day, at least five days per week. If this seems like a lot, look at it this way. Exercise could easily add 3.5 to 5 years to your life (per the Framingham heart study). That’s between 30,660 and 43,800 hours. Three hours per week is about 150 hours per year. If you exercise for 50 years, that adds up to 7500 hours of exercise. In other words, you gain between four and six hours of extra life for each hour you exercise. Or put another way, that’s a 300% to 500% return on your time invested exercising! And, you’ll feel better, with fewer health problems, for your entire life.

Then diet. It is now basically indisputable that there is a direct relationship between the amount of animal protein we eat and the chances of getting heart disease and cancer. This has been shown over and over again, but the most comprehensive study is The China Study. The findings? “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease.”

Another study, commonly called the Loma Linda Study, followed Seventh Day Adventists because of the vegan diet recommendations of their faith. That study showed that the average Seventh Day Adventist who followed the dietary recommendations of the church lived 13 years longer than the average non-smoking American.

Of course, just cutting out meat and dairy isn’t all that’s necessary. We need fresh fruit and vegetables, not refined sugar; whole grains, not refined flour; in short, wholesome food, not junk food.

Here’s one more thought about diet. There’s a recent study in which aging rats were given blueberries which were the equivalent of an adult human eating one cup of blueberries per day. These rats were about 65 in human terms. They received the blueberries for two months. They were then compared to young rats and control group old rats on several tests of mental and physical function. One test was typical of the overall results. In it, the young rats were able to balance on a rod for 14 seconds. The control group aged rats, who didn’t get blueberries, were able to balance for only 6 seconds. Their counterparts who received the blueberries were able to balance on the rod for 10 seconds-not as long as the young rats, but a considerable improvement over the rats not getting blueberries.

In short, what you eat matters-a lot.

Calorie restriction is the third prong of life extension. It’s thesis is-how much you eat matters a lot, also. Many studies have shown that reducing calorie intake by a significant amount, like 40%, will substantially extend life span. The problem with calorie restriction is that its impossible for all but the most dedicated, strong willed individuals to eat 25 to 40 per cent fewer calories on an ongoing basis. One way to get some of the benefits of calorie restriction is to do intermittent fasting, on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. (Before you undertake more than a one day fast, please see my fasting post for important information.)

An NIA study indicates that intermittent fasting may be more beneficial than cutting calorie intake. The researchers fed one group of mice 40% of the calories given to a control group. A third group was fasted for 24 hours, then permitted to free-feed. The fasting mice “didn’t cut total calories because they ate twice as much on days they weren’t fasting. Both the fasting mice and those on a restricted diet had significantly lower blood sugar and insulin levels than the free-fed controls. A toxin that damages hippocampal cells was injected in all of the mice. Hippocampal damage is associated with Alzheimer’s. Interestingly, the scientists found less damage in the brains of the fasting mice than in those that ate either a restricted or a normal diet.

Supplements are another way to extend life, and to maintain good health, notwithstanding the flawed studies run by people with ties to the drug and medical industry trying to prove the contrary. One study of supplements gave average human-equivalent doses of 31 vitamins and minerals to mice, while a control group got no supplements, but the same diet. This study was performed on mice with over-espressed growth hormone, and on normal mice.

The results were dramatic. Supplementation extended the life span of the growth hormone mice by 28 percent, to 431 days. In normal mice, supplementation extended life span by 11 percent on average, from 688 days to 765 days. How does this 11 percent increase in longevity in normal mice compare to caloric restriction? Other investigators have reported that a 40 percent restriction in calories increased survival in the same strain of mice about 19 percent.

One cutting edge thought for longevity. Resveratrol, a compound found in red grapes and red wine seems to exhibit some qualities for extending life. Here’s a quote from my June 4, 2007 post on resveratrol:

In numerous studies, resveratrol has demonstrated effects that mimic those of caloric restriction, the best-documented anti-aging strategy to date. In all animals in which it has been tested, caloric restriction—the practice of restricting calorie intake while maintaining good nutritional status—improves multiple aspects of age-related decline. Caloric restriction does this, in part, by producing changes in gene expression that are associated with long life and a slowing of the aging process.

So supplementing with resveratrol, and eating red grapes would be a good idea. And when you drink that daily glass of red wine, your toast should be to a long life.