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Jimi's Daily Health Articles

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
This Food Helps Your Genes
Shift into Anti-Cancer Mode

Your body’s most important anti-cancer defenses are its own home grown, natural systems designed to zap cancer cells as soon as they appear. One of your body’s weapons is certain genes in your cells that often undermine these enemies.

But to keep those defenses functioning at full capacity, it’s crucial to eat the right foods.

And at or near the top of the list is a food I’ve often recommended for its anti-cancer benefits: broccoli. Research proves that it bolsters your cancer defenses by making the anti-cancer genes in your cells more dependable.

When a certain food – or ANY outside influence – changes the way genes work, the effect is described as “epigenetic.” Genes often need an environmental influence to activate them.

New evidence for broccoli’s anti-cancer epigenetic benefits has been uncovered at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School. In their tests, the Boston scientists focused on a gene called PTEN – a genetic element well-known for making proteins that suppress tumors.

In the body, though, things can run off the track with PTEN. Sometimes this gene can mutate into a warped, dysfunctional form, other times it gets deleted, and still other times it may be inadvertently down-regulated (held back from doing its job properly) – and that’s not a complete list of what can go wrong.

To use the word I used earlier, there’s an issue with this gene’s dependability.

But when PTEN isn’t operating at full capacity, a natural compound in broccoli can give the gene a swift activating kick in the molecular pants.

Broccoli’s role in keeping PTEN in working order involves another gene called WWP1. WWP1 can manufacture an enzyme that disables PTEN’s ability to hold back tumors. But a chemical in broccoli called indole-3-carbinol can take care of that problem by blocking the production of this troublesome enzyme.1

"We found a new important player that drives a pathway critical to the development of cancer, an enzyme that can be inhibited with a natural compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (like cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower)," says researcher Pier Paolo Pandolfi.

Get that gene to work

Broccoli’s genetic benefits don’t stop with blocking this enzyme and the genes that manufacture it.

According to scientists at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the sulforaphane contained in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables can hold back cancer through other epigenetic pathways.

Broccoli is a multifaceted cancer fighter – medicine on a dinner plate.

For quite a while, it’s been evident that sulforaphane is one of the most important natural, health-giving substances in broccoli. Scientists suspected that this compound played a role in influencing the cellular behavior of enzymes called histone deacetylases (HDACs). HDACs can get in the way of genes that terminate cancer developments in the body.

The Oregon researchers point out that sulforaphane not only inhibits the activity of HDACs, it also plays a role in an epigenetic mechanism known as DNA methylation in a way that reduces the risk of cancer.2

DNA methylation is a common cellular process that switches genes on and off. In this way, certain DNA material expresses itself and takes part in directing the manufacture of proteins. Other parts of the genetic code are silenced and have to sit on the sidelines without playing a part.

Cellular partners that fight cancer

"It appears that DNA methylation and HDAC inhibition, both of which can be influenced by sulforaphane, work in concert with each other to maintain proper cell function," explains researcher Emily Ho. "They sort of work as partners and talk to each other."

Dr. Ho points out that sulforaphane’s “one-two punch” moderates this twin pair of genetic activities in the cells and keeps cell division under control. Because when cell reproduction slips its moorings, cells can multiply wildly and form tumors.

"Cancer is very complex and it's usually not just one thing that has gone wrong," Dr. Ho explains. "It's increasingly clear that sulforaphane is a real multi-tasker. The more we find out about it, the more benefits it appears to have."

When a cell becomes cancerous, the orderly regulation of gene silencing and activation goes awry. (These functions can also become jumbled in certain types of heart disease, immune system problems and neurodegenerative conditions).

"With these processes, the key is balance," says Dr. Ho. "DNA methylation is a natural process, and when properly controlled is helpful. But when the balance gets mixed up it can cause havoc, and that's where some of these critical nutrients are involved. They help restore the balance."

When junk isn’t junk

The Oregon researchers also believe that further work on how the compounds in broccoli affect epigenetics involved in cancer could eventually offer an alternative treatment for cancer that isn’t nearly as dangerous as chemotherapy.

In this vein, other Oregon studies have analyzed how sulforaphane affects what are called non-coding RNAs (IncRNAs). These substances were once believed to be “junk DNA” that did not play an important part boosting cell survival.

Now, researchers have realized that instead of being “junk,” IncRNAs play a crucial part in helping genes function correctly. Here, too, when things get out of balance, cancer and other diseases can rage out of control.

Research on IncRNA shows that one type in particular, called LINC01116, can lead to cancer when it is dangerously “upregulated” – stimulating cells to reproduce rapidly and spread.

"We showed that treatment with sulforaphane could normalize the levels of this lncRNA," says researcher Laura Beaver. "This may relate to more than just cancer prevention. It would be of significant value if we could develop methods to greatly slow the progress of cancer, help keep it from becoming invasive."

The Oregon research demonstrates that when prostate cancer cells encounter sulforaphane, they undergo a four-fold decrease in their ability to colonize and form tumors, because the activity of LINC01116 is restrained.3

The researchers explain that this same IncRNA is found at high levels in lung, colon and brain cancer. And other misbehaving IncRNAs are present in leukemia as well as stomach, breast and lung cancer.

With all this emerging research on broccoli, I think it’s pretty obvious that anyone concerned about cancer should be eating this and other cruciferous vegetables frequently. To get the biggest dose of the cancer-preventing natural compounds in these foods, eat them raw or very lightly cooked. But no matter how you prepare them, they’re going to do good things for your health.
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Daily Habit of 15 Million People Nearly
Doubles Your Risk of Liver Cancer

A new study reveals an alarming link between one of America’s most common group of drugs and the formation of liver cancer. If you take them you nearly double your risk.1

And you’ve got lots of company – some 15 million people take proton pump inhibitor drugs (PPIs) like Prilosec OTC and Nexium for heartburn, acid reflux, ulcers, and other GI issues.

Aside from cancer, there’s already a laundry list of other ominous side effects – including increased risk of heart, kidney, and brain diseases, plus reduced nutrient absorption and bacterial overgrowth.2,3,4,5,6

Now there’s a new study to confirm the dangers. I’ll look at that, and also try to suggest some ways you can deal with your tummy problems without drugs…

From “magic pills” to magnified symptoms

When PPIs were developed in the 1980s, they were hailed as a miracle for people with a ulcers or just upset stomach. Those with acid reflux -- gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) -- thought they’d found their “magic pill.”

Today, doctors recommend these drugs for six different stomach disorders.

Little did consumers realize what they were getting into – especially as time went by and millions transitioned from using these drugs once in a while to taking them every day for life.

Now that these pills have been around for three decades, their darker side is all too clear. We shouldn’t be surprised. Some adverse side effects were identified long ago – serious enough to scare well-informed people off reliance on PPIs.

What the studies now say

Recent animal studies have shown an increased risk of not only stomach cancer,7,8 but also liver damage.9

Another study showed a clear correlation between consumption of PPIs and development of liver cancer in rats.10

Naturally, these results caused cancer epidemiologists – the scientists who search for disease patterns and causes – to become concerned.

Now, epidemiologists can’t intentionally expose anyone to a substance they believe might cause cancer, so they combined two proven epidemiological study techniques in order to cross check for errors or gaps.

Human study links liver cancer to PPI use

In the first part of the study, researchers identified people with liver cancer, and also selected control subjects without the disease. They then compared each group’s exposure to a potential risk factor – in this case, PPIs.

The groups were painstakingly matched for age, gender, and primary care physician (to validate results). There were 434 cancer patients and 2,013 disease-free controls.

This is what’s known as a case-control study. The second part was a prospective cohort study.

In part two, researchers identified 500,000 people and collected extensive health data on them, in order to pick up links between certain exposures (i.e., PPIs) and the onset (or not) of liver cancer.

Both parts of the study confirmed a link between PPIs and liver cancer.

The case-control study tied PPIs to a horrendous 80% increased risk. And the news was even worse from the huge 500,000-person cohort study: an 83% increased risk among those who took omeprazole (commonly sold as Prilosec or Zegerid).

All told, the big study found those who took PPIs nearly doubled their risk of liver cancer, compared to those who’d never taken them.11

Can we actually say PPIs cause cancer?

As you may know (and I often repeat), even the strongest epidemiological studies can’t prove causality… as in, “Does exposure to Drug A cause Disease B?” They can only demonstrate that the two phenomena are found side by side. We don’t know the mechanism by which one might bring on the other, of if there is one.

However…

These studies certainly establish a cozy connection. Enough to warrant avoiding PPIs. (Warning: don’t go off these drugs cold turkey. More on that below.)

Since we can’t study humans directly to see what these drugs are doing inside them, we have to rely on animal studies to show us why PPIs influence cancer risk. Here’s what we know so far:

  • Studies on rats show a direct increased risk of liver cancer.12
  • PPI usage causes rats to secrete excessive amounts of the stomach hormone gastrin, known for its cancer-promoting effects (especially on liver tissue).13
  • PPIs also promote the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria because the drugs reduce stomach acidity, which kills off many microbes.14,15
Part of their hazard is in how they work

It’s important to understand that PPIs don’t specifically target stomach cells. Nor is stomach acid usually the culprit that causes chronic heartburn.

Every cell in your body that produces acid uses a proton pump.

Meaning: PPIs will inhibit the production of acid in all of these cells – not just those in your stomach.

Some scientists believe this may be the reason for the dangerous side effects of PPIs. Your cells use acid to remove waste. So inhibiting acid allows toxins to accumulate, speeding up internal damage and aging.

Critical info: how to wean yourself off PPIs

If you’ve been taking PPIs, it’s critical that you DO NOT stop cold turkey.

Yes, they do reduce heartburn in the short term. But if you suddenly stop taking them, you’ll experience a whiplash-like rebound. And boost your risk of other health issues.

You must allow your body to detoxify from these drugs gradually.

Here’s the regimen Dr. Joseph Mercola suggests – but please note that this should only be done under your doctor’s guidance.

  • Gradually decrease your PPI dose until you start experiencing heartburn.
  • At that point, begin substituting an over-the-counter H2 blocker like Zantac, Raniditine, Tagamet, or Cimetidine.
  • Once off PPIs and on the H2 blockers for several weeks, begin weaning off the H2 drugs as well.
Remember to do this under your doctor’s guidance.

Safer alternatives for stomach issues

While undergoing the weaning process – or to avoid using PPIs altogether – consider using the following natural tactics to address acid reflux:

  1. Optimize your stomach acid by drinking one tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water.
  2. Take a betaine hydrochloric supplement to aid digestion and help kill H. pylori bacteria, which can cause ulcers when out of control.
  3. Take ½ to 1 teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) mixed into 8 ounces of water to neutralize stomach acid. But not every day. Save this for days the pain is awful.
  4. Ginger tea is a popular remedy to calm the GI tract and suppress H. pylori. It’s also six to eight times more effective than lansoprazole (brand name Prevacid) at preventing ulcers.16 Simply add two or three slices of fresh ginger root to two cups of hot water, and let it steep for half an hour. Enjoy it 20 minutes before your meals.
  5. Take more B vitamins. Research suggests they lower your risk of acid reflux. Folate may reduce acid reflux by about 40%. On the flip side, low B2 and B6 levels predispose you to acid reflux.
  6. Eat smaller and more frequent meals. It’s also best to eat your last meal of the day at least three hours before bedtime. Being upright aids digestion. Eating just before bed is a bad idea for many reasons.
  7. Stop smoking. Nicotine is a leading cause of GERD.
  8. Avoid things that trigger acid reflux for you. Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine are key suspects.
  9. Licorice root and zinc-carnosine actively promote the healing of the stomach lining, and are useful for treating ulcers and heartburn. They have an excellent safety record.
  10. Raft-forming alginates block stomach gases from moving back up the esophagus and inflicting pain and damage.17 They’ve been used to treat stomach and esophagus issues for decades.
PPIs were always intended for short-term use, nothing more. So work with your doctor to wean off them. Or better yet, if you haven’t already started them, don’t.
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Child health warning: Young children are using dangerous amounts of fluoride toothpaste
https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-06-20-child-health-warning-fluoride-toothpaste.html

Any fluoride is too much, even for adults, IMHO, I make my own out of organic cold pressed coconut oil, organic baking soda, a few drops of oil of clove and a few drops of peppermint oil. Coconut oil is also an antiseptic so it rids your mouth of bacteria
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
A New Clue about Alzheimer’s Points Toward
a Revolution in Treatment


Researchers have not been very successful at deciphering exactly how Alzheimer’s disease begins its destructive course through the brain.

When the destruction of brain tissue becomes extensive, it’s fairly easy to observe. Scientists are less certain about what goes on at earlier stages. This means the mangled proteins seen in the brain when Alzheimer’s is well along – the famous plaques and tangles – may be the cause of the condition or merely the result. Scientists don’t know.

Now, however, research in England is suggesting a new way to ferret out the beginning stages of at least some Alzheimer’s cases. And while these studies are just a start at forming a different approach to understanding this problem, they may eventually open up new avenues of treatment and the potential to diagnose the disease earlier.

Early diagnosis and better treatment are just what we need. . .keep reading for the details.

Forming New Memories

According to scientists at the University of Sheffield in the UK, their studies demonstrate that neurons that give off the neurotransmitter dopamine deep inside the brain may be some of the first brain cells to malfunction when Alzheimer’s disease begins.1

Although known as a factor in Parkinson’s disease, dopamine has not been a focus of dementia research until now. This is new, and it looks to be important.

The Sheffield scientists think that when dopamine-producing cells start to go wrong, the part of the brain that organizes the formation of new memories becomes less effective and goes on the blink.

They add that focusing on these dopamine-releasing cells could potentially “revolutionize” testing for early Alzheimer’s. It could also change the way brain scans are performed and analyzed.

The Sheffield analyses involved 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans (more powerful than ordinary MRI scans) performed on people whose brains were in different states of cognitive decline. Some had mild cognitive impairment (MCI) while other participants suffered with full-blown Alzheimer’s disease. The scientists then compared these scans to those of people whose brains performed normally.

Main Memory Center Needs Dopamine

The tests show that a small section of the brain known as the ventral tegmental area has to produce the right amount of dopamine to enable the hippocampus – an important memory center – to lay down new memories.

According to researcher Annalena Venneri, when the supply of dopamine drops, the hippocampus “will not work efficiently. The (study) results point at a change which happens very early on, which might trigger Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr. Venneri says that focusing on these dopamine-producing neurons “could potentially lead to a new way of screening the elderly population for early signs of Alzheimer's disease, changing the way brain scans are acquired and interpreted and using different memory tests. Another possible benefit is that it might lead to a different treatment option with the potential to change or halt the course of the disease very early, before major symptoms manifest.”

Remember Better with Dopamine

At the same time, research at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles shows that dopamine neurons play a central part in forming episodic memory – the memory involved in recalling things like where you parked the car last night and what you had for dinner yesterday.

When these types of neurons in a part of the brain called the substania nigra lose their function it leads to Parkinson’s disease.2

This study supports what the researchers at Sheffield are finding, that dopamine plays a more important role in memory than scientists used to think. "Dopamine neurons degrade in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, which in addition to motor symptoms is often also accompanied by cognitive issues such as memory problems," says researcher Ueli Rutishauser.

And while these types of studies are revealing the importance of dopamine for memory, investigations at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that compounds found in Indian snakeroot, a plant used in traditional Indian medicine for thousands of years for fever, stomach aches, dysentery, malaria, paranoia and schizophrenia,3 may be useful for promoting better dopamine function in the brain.

This research shows that snakeroot contains a substance called ajmalicine that influences mitochondria (organelles that produce energy in neurons and other cells) in ways that can help benefit dopamine activity.4 As this is written, it is too soon to confirm whether snakeroot is a safe and effective supplement.

It’s important to remember that all of this cutting-edge research is so new right now, no scientist who wants to keep his job will say it’s ready for prime time -- or even predict when it will be. But I have a strong feeling we’re going to see some more impressive progress related to dopamine in the near future. And it might be a game changer.

Best Regards,
mail
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Being “Too Thin”
Can be Bad for Your Brain


Obese middle-aged men and women are at greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia. That much is known.

But this link is not well established among obese seniors. And in fact, some studies even suggest being overweight in old age protects against dementia – while being thinner than normal is detrimental!

This odd riddle needed unraveling, so scientists from the Republic of Korea sought to do just that

Underweight Men - Watch Out!

Until now, studies that have looked into late life obesity and dementia tended to be small and didn't take into account lifestyle and heart disease risk factors known to influence both weight and thinking ability.

So the Korean scientists began by analyzing data on a sizable number -- 67,219 people aged between 60 and 79. Their body mass index (BMI) was measured in 2002 and again two years later.

The researchers then gathered data on lifestyle factors to see if the participants smoked, drank alcohol frequently, were couch potatoes, or had a lower socioeconomic status. There’s a reason the scientists looked at these variables: They are all linked to dementia.

Likewise they took into account other established risk factors for dementia such as high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and high fasting blood sugar.

After 5.3 years follow up, 11,572 subjects were diagnosed with dementia.

Published in the British Medical Journal's publication, BMJ Open in May, the findings revealed that participants' BMI at the start of the study had no influence on their risk for dementia -- with one exception.

Men had a significantly increased risk if they were underweight, defined as a BMI of less than 18.5. (a normal BMI is between18.5 and 24.9).

On top of this came another interesting finding. . .

Increases Risk by Up to a Quarter

The researchers found changes in the BMI were significantly linked to dementia in both men and women.

A BMI change of ten percent or more between 2002 and 2004 -- whether that change was up or down -- raised a person’s dementia risk compared to those who maintained a stable BMI.

For men, the increased risk was large -- 25 percent if you put on pounds and 26 percent if you took them off. The figures for women were 17 percent and 15 percent.

The scientists concluded, "Both weight gain and weight loss may be significant risk factors associated with dementia."

While the results suggest older people should not go on a rapid weight loss diet, the scientists noted that a loss of weight in this group is usually unintended.

Here's why.

Cause and Effect Can't be Established

Weight loss could be linked to a pre-existing chronic disease that is itself related to cognitive decline or dementia, such as cancer or liver disease. It's also possible that weight loss could be an early symptom of dementia. In other words, dementia may be causing the weight loss, not the other way around.

This point was made by Dr. James Pickett, head of research at Alzheimer's Society UK, who said, "Although this research suggests rapid changes to our weight later in life could increase dementia risk, it's difficult to distinguish between cause and effect. People with early dementia can often report changes in appetite and diet."

Since the study was observational, it can't establish cause and effect. It will take a study with a different design to determine this.

What This Means for Your Own Health

Small changes in weight in either direction are normal. However, any significant change that comes out of the blue, where the cause can't be pinpointed, should be investigated, as a number of medical conditions need to be ruled out.

I would note that a ten percent change in weight – up or down – is fairly large. Somehow it appears to stress the brain, in ways unknown, and thereby brings on a jump in dementia risk that I sure don’t want for myself.

But it’s a complicated subject, and I’m sure we haven’t heard the last word. Overweight is associated with diabetes and is known to increase cancer risk. Meanwhile being underweight is well known to extend a person’s life by years. I wouldn’t rationalize a gut hanging over the belt with the thought that it’s protecting you against dementia.

For readers who are still relatively young, this should spur you on to reach a healthy weight now and maintain it for life – not too fat, and not thin to the point of being unhealthy. It does look like drastic weight changes after the age of 60 or so can be too stressful.

Best Regards,
 

Rhianne

Diamond Contributor
Member For 2 Years
ECF Refugee
Nearly all bottled water found to contain microplastics… you are drinking “plastic stew” that disrupts human hormones
https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-07...ater-contains-microplastics-plastic-stew.html


Save up and get a Big Berkey it is one of the very few that will take Glyphosate and Flouride out of your water
In my articles i posted before are water filter test results on some top brands

Thanks, I’ll check them out. NYC water is yucky now. It tastes bad and smells like chlorine.
I got the AquaTru since it was smaller than the BB. I still really need a purifier though, so hope I can handle that one. Thanks, new friend!
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Thanks, I’ll check them out. NYC water is yucky now. It tastes bad and smells like chlorine.
I got the AquaTru since it was smaller than the BB. I still really need a purifier though, so hope I can handle that one. Thanks, new friend!
They are one of the very few that will, with the floruide filters, take the Glyphosate out
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Putting This Inside You Protects Your Skin
The poor lemon has an undeserved bad reputation (except when its sour flavor is offset with tons of sugar, or used in cleaning products). It’s popular as a flavoring or scent, but few among us want to bite into a raw lemon.

As far back as 1863, people with a tart disposition were called lemons. By 1909, American slang assigned the nickname “lemon” to anything considered worthless.

Even today, many states have so-called “lemon laws” to protect people from buying defective cars.

Yet the reality is that lemons can help protect you from debilitating diseases including skin cancer. And the benefits don’t just come from vitamin C, which everyone knows about. Here’s the full story. . .

The truth is, lemons are rich in healthy compounds, and some of the best ones reside in the skin, not the flesh. There’s growing evidence that the real power in a lemon comes from the peels.

Australian scientists not only discovered antioxidant compounds plus essential oils in lemon peels, they also logged those compounds and oils in such high quantities that we can now call lemon peels a potent cancer fighter.

The Australian team counted a whopping 22 anti-cancer substances in lemon peels, including citrus pectin, flavonoids, glycosides, and vitamin C. Flavonoids are capable of keeping cancer cells from dividing, which makes this substance both helpful in preventing cancer and useful in combating existing cancer cells.

In a 2001 study out of the University of Arizona, researchers reported, "Citrus peel in [hot, black] tea was found to have more than a 70% reduced risk for skin squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), whereas black tea alone meant a 40% reduction."

Their research suggested a dose-response relationship between the level of citrus peel in someone’s diet and their degree of risk for skin cancer.

It also seemed to matter whether the tea was hot or cold. In this particular study, the researchers found that iced drinks were less effective than the hot beverages because they were more likely to be diluted. That tallies with my experience. Most people make iced tea pretty weak.

The researchers found no connection between the consumption of the flesh of lemons and risk levels of squamous cell carcinoma. It’s the peels that do it. (I’ll just add that squamous cell skin cancer is not all that common, or life-threatening.)

In other studies, limonene (an oil also found in the rinds of oranges and grapefruits) has been shown helpful in the treatment of breast and colon cancers.

For a tiny fruit, its reach is mighty

Lemon peels are healthful in other ways beyond cancer, of course. The bio-flavonoids are known to help lower stress and reduce fatigue, and lemon peels have been shown to lower cholesterol, improve cardio function, and stabilize blood pressure.

Not only that, but lemon peel strengthens the immune system against common ailments like the flu, coughs, and other infections. It also supports digestive health, thanks to the fiber it provides.

The vitamin C and citric acid help cleanse blood vessels in the skin, in turn combating problems such as acne, wrinkles, and pigmentation in aging skin.

Palatable options for eating a lemon peel

The most specific recommendation I’ve found is to eat about 150 grams of lemon peel a day if you’re working to prevent cancer. That’s a lot – about five ounces. Honestly, I don’t think many people will do it.

But you can still reap some benefits from smaller amounts. You don’t have to aim for a clinical dose of every healthy food that comes along. Try these approaches:

  • Get a zester and add lemon peel zest to your daily water or cup of tea
  • Add lemon peel or zest to ice cubes using a vegetable peeler to make long strips
  • Mix lemon peelings into your favorite savory foods, from butter to olive oil to seasoning salt
  • Use lemon peels to season roasted vegetables or roasted chicken
  • Add the peels to your favorite grains while they’re boiling
  • Or toss half a lemon, peel and everything, into your next fruit or vegetable smoothie.
In addition, you can zest, grate, or peel a lemon and then take whatever part you don’t use right away and freeze it for later.

When shopping, buy organic lemons. If you were only eating the inside of the lemon, conventionally-grown lemons would be okay. But when you start eating the peel, you want to make sure no pesticides have come into contact with the fruit.
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
They Told Her She Had a Brain Tumor…
Then They Found This

She couldn’t decide whether to be grossed out or relieved.

Doctors had given this newlywed woman the horrible news that she had brain cancer. So the neurosurgeons at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City cut open her skull, expecting to find a malignant brain tumor.

What they found instead was shocking.

So shocking, they didn’t even know what it was. It had them scratching their heads. They removed it from 42-year-old Rachel Palma’s head and placed it under a microscope.

Then they sliced into it and you won’t believe what they found...

Weird symptoms

The object of their shock? A baby tapeworm.1

Ms. Palma had consulted a doctor in the first place because she'd been struggling with some strange, annoying symptoms for quite a while.

She’d suffered from insomnia – and then from nightmares when she finally did get to sleep. On top of that, she had hallucinations – thinking things were happening that weren’t. That would be enough to disturb any of us.

In early 2018, her symptoms got worse.

She dropped her coffee mug on the floor for no reason. She became confused – leaving a message on her parents’ answering machine saying that the store where she’d purchased her mattress years ago suddenly wanted it back.

She also locked herself out of her house, showed up for work without her uniform, and stared blankly at her computer screen, unable to make heads or tails of the words on it.

Finally, doctors identified a lesion on her left frontal lobe. And because of its shape and location, they diagnosed it as brain cancer.

Grossed out, but relieved…

After surgery, doctors changed her diagnosis from brain cancer to neurocysticercosis, a parasitic infection in the brain caused by the pork tapewormTaenia solium.

Not that anyone would be thrilled to be told a creepy organism is ‘going viral’ inside them… but at least it meant fewer treatments than they would have prescribed for brain cancer.

What’s more, she’s not the only person getting a scare from Taenia solium, though it’s rare in the U.S.

There’s also the case of Sam Condero, a Tampa man who ate some undercooked pork. He had the misfortune of the parasite passing from his gut, through his bloodstream, and into his eye.2

After he started seeing black dots in his field of vision, doctors were called in to perform a very delicate surgery on his eye. If the parasite had died, it could’ve caused blindness or moved to his brain.

Dr. Don Perez performed the surgery. This was his second time operating to remove a tapeworm. The first was in 2012.

There have been only twenty documented cases worldwide of pork tapeworms reaching the eye.

About Taenia solium

Bobbi Pritt, Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, says Taenia solium is uncommon in the U.S.

There are, however, two ways you can get it. The most common is eating uncooked or undercooked pork.

But there’s a second (often overlooked) way as well.

You can catch it from a person who already has the parasite, gets its eggs on their hands, and then prepares food that you eat. That’s just one reason it’s so important to wash your hands after using the bathroom andbefore preparing food.

If you become the parasite’s inadvertent host, its eggs can travel to your small intestine, hatch into larvae, penetrate your bowel wall, pass into your bloodstream, and move freely throughout your body. Yes, even into your brain or eyes.

However, this parasite is far more prevalent in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, China, and India than in the United States.3

Neurocysticercosis, the disease the tapeworm causes, is the most common parasitic disease of the central nervous system. Just because you don’t experience symptoms doesn’t mean you’re not infected.

Sometimes the infection manifests as epilepsy, other times as headaches. But hardly anyone makes the connection between epilepsy and parasites, not even doctors.

Which is unfortunate, since treating the parasites could mean getting rid of the epilepsy and regaining a normal life. Perhaps the scariest thing about this disease is that doctors are very unlikely to be familiar with it. You’re likely to be diagnosed with something else, e.g. cancer or epilepsy.

Active neurocysticercosis is treated with antiparasitic drugs, and sometimes steroids.

Doctors often miss it

If you have symptoms that don’t resolve no matter what you do – or if you’re getting a second opinion on a serious diagnosis such as cancer – this may be a “box to check” that could save you a lot of pain and suffering. I want to stress this is not likely but it’s something to consider, especially if your doctor is stumped.

Among some alternative cancer experts, it’s an article of faith that cancer is caused by parasites, and many will include a parasite cleanse as part of their cancer protocol. When they do, it’s not uncommon for some wormy, squirmy things to be expelled from the patient’s body – little “guests” they never knew they had.

But conventional doctors typically believe parasites are never an issue in America. They are not going to take the initiative of chasing down this lead. More than likely they’ll dismiss the notion if you ask them.

David Edelberg, M.D., said that one of his patients handed her positive Genova parasite test to her gastroenterologist from Northwestern. He glanced at the lab work, tossed it back without even reading it, and blew it off as garbage because he’d never heard of the lab.4 (Genova Diagnostics, Inc., is popular with more open-minded practitioners.)

Nutritionist Alan Gaby, M.D., suggests that if you don’t have access to one of the parasitology labs (named below), you should take your specimen to a veterinarian and attribute the sample to your beloved pet – since vets are much better than conventional doctors at diagnosing parasites.5

Stool samples for parasites should go to parasite-specific labs. In addition to Genova, often-recommended labs include Meta Metrix, Doctor’s Data, and Meridian Valley.6 Samples should also be gathered over the course of a few days, not just once.

When a diagnosis is made, treatment is generally pretty straightforward – antiparasitic meds and/or antibiotics, followed by more lab work to ensure the parasite is gone.

You probably shouldn’t lose sleep over this

It’s probably not worth lying awake at night wondering whether a parasite is making you its home. While it is possible, it doesn’t happen too often in the US.

Doctors agree about two troublemakers – ameba (E. histolytica) and giardia (G. lambia). You can get them by the unsavory “fecal-oral” route, which is exactly what it sounds like. (Now go wash your hands.)

I got a giardia infection last winter traveling in a less-developed country (I didn’t follow my firm rule of drinking only bottled water.) Because I’ve had on-and-off intestinal problems for years, I didn’t know there was a new factor at work, so I didn’t consult my doctor. When I finally did, he knew at once it was probably giardia, and two courses of an antibiotic called tinidazole cleared it right up.

Not only that, but my “usual” IBS went away, too, which probably means I’d been a host to something or other for years. For years I’d been testing different types of foods, such as gluten, to see if they were the cause of my problem. Turns out they had nothing to do with it.

Nutrition is NOT the explanation for everything. Lesson learned.

Beyond ameba and giardia, there’s less agreement about other parasites, and they’re often missed in lab exams. They are linked to IBS.

As I learned the hard way, IBS is often protozoan in origin. So if diarrhea is a new event in your life, is unrelated to stress, and isn’t triggered by certain foods… as in, “I got traveler’s diarrhea while in Mexico and it never went away…” – it may be a sign that you should check for parasites.

Stories like Palma’s and Condero’s have great shock value. But don’t sweat it. Just do the things you should be doing (or avoiding) anyway, like…

  • Not swimming in dirty rivers and lakes
  • Washing your hands after you use the toilet and before you prep food
  • Filtering your drinking water
  • Only eating pork that’s fully cooked
  • Taking a high-quality probiotic
And yes, if you take a tropical vacation, it’s probably worth paying attention to new symptoms that suddenly appear.

I’ve strayed somewhat from the subject of cancer, but let me say one more thing: Fungus is the parasite most often mentioned as a cause or co-factor in cancer. In fact, there is a credible theory that cancer is really a fungus infection.

This is a big topic – we’ve done separate articles on it – and while there is not enough evidence to prove it, there’s enough to be credible. This is an area I’ve always wished would be the target of more research.
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
:(I missed day one:rolleyes:
Welcome to day 2 of your gut-friendly lifestyle!

Did you take yesterday’s action step? If not, that’s ok…

Just go back and read my last email with the subject line “5 Steps to a Healthy Gut (1 of 5)”…

Go ahead—I’ll wait!

Now that you’ve taken the first and most important step towards gut health—let’s dive into your next course of action…

Today we’re going to look at the #1 thing that affects your gut microbiome composition:

Food.

Nothing affects your gut health more quickly and more powerfully than the foods you put into your body. Period.

Not only are foods the biggest source of toxins we put into our bodies.

They are also the single most important lever you can pull on to make a profound difference in your health.

In the series you learned that there are several factors involved in how food can impact the microbiome and it seems complicated but it’s really not so tangled.

Let’s look at the “5 Commandments” of gut-friendly food:

Commandment 1: Thou Shalt Not Eat Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs)

GMOs get a lot of bad press for the right reasons.

They are typically monocrops that are grown in dead soil that’s been “enhanced” with tons of chemical inputs.

As you learned in the series dead soil leads to depleted dead food.

Eating dead food makes you tired and depressed.

It’s a bad deal.

The other major issue with GMO crops is that they’re sprayed with Glyphosate (Round Up) which is patented as an antibiotic and has also been shown to block the synthesis of certain key amino acids at the root level of the plant.

It’s a nasty deadly poison that millions of people are working to get banned from the food supply but we’re not there yet.

This means you have to elect to avoid it in your diet.

Commandment 2: Thou Shalt Not Eat Processed Foods

Getting GMO foods out of your diet isn’t only about avoiding the raw ingredients. GMOs are found in most processed foods.

Why? They’re cheap.

They provide cheap calories with little nutrition and are best avoided all-together. They fill you up but leave you devoid of nutrients. They harm your microbiome and zap your vitality.

Commandment 3: Thou Shalt Not Eat Refined Carbs

Processed foods contain lots of additives and refined carbohydrates that are not good for your microbiome.

In fact, they tend to feed the WRONG types of bacteria which, in turn, excrete harmful substances that negatively impact our health. They make you gain weight, cause your liver to store excess fat, and eventually lead to heart disease.

Alright--we’ve covered a lot of ground... this email is getting pretty long and I’m out of time for today… SO:

We’re going to have to pick back up where we left off tomorrow with “Commandments” 4 and 5.

Till then, have a great day!

To your health,

Dr Pedram Shojai

P.S. I’m off to film my next big project (I’ll let you know when it’s finished!) but want to leave you with a parting thought…

Some of the action steps in this series of emails may feel difficult… BUT:

They are a LOT easier than living with chronic disease, obesity or cancer… So, they are worth a little effort today to avoid future suffering.

Your action step for today is to obey the first 3 commandments outlined above… Even starting with just 1 of the 3 today will start to have a positive impact on your gut health.

Watch out for the final 2 commandments tomorrow in an email with the subject line:

[IC] Heal Your Gut Step 2 (of 5) cont’d
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Vitamin C Let's Get This Straight Once and For All
There are idiots out there claiming vitamin C is not the same as ascorbic acid. Significantly, those who circulate this tripe have no proper medical or scientific background. The guy that seems to have got this going is supposed to be a chiropractor or DN, so God knows what they teach at their colleges.

The truth is, vitamin C is a miracle worker and, as I'll share in a minute, even some orthodox doctors are now suggesting it as a cancer cure and a life-saver in cases of widespread sepsis. It doesn't matter whether you call it vitamin C or ascorbic acid. It's IRRELEVANT.

It doesn't even matter if it's "natural" or synthetic. All the magnificent healing work comes from a synthetic product, made in the lab. On the bottle it says "ascorbic acid." It's identical to "vitamin C" from an orange.

What these idiots can't seem to manage to get into their thick skulls, is that you can't heal anything with oranges! You'd need to eat hundreds of oranges in a day to get the quantities that stall cancer or bring a person with sepsis back from the grave.

"Natural" vitamin C cures nothing—you simply can't get enough of it to gain any healing traction. So it's made in the lab. We're talking maybe 50 – 100 grams a dose. There's 50 mg or so in an orange (if you’re lucky!) so 100 grams = 2,000 oranges!



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So, Let's Get On With The Serious Story
It's exciting that mainstream medicine is now recognizing the anti-tumor properties of vitamin C. I've been blogging for decades that it's cytotoxic to cancer cells in quantities as low as 3 mg/100 mls. Yet it does no harm to healthy cells at much higher levels.

Vitamin C is an almost perfect medication: not toxic, even at enormous doses and yet effective at healing in very low doses.

Cancer cells are killed by vitamin C just because cancer cells are different. Inside a cancer cell, vitamin C, normally an antioxidant in a healthy cell, actually acts as a pro-oxidant and kills the cancer cell. Flood the body with enough C and it will soak all the nooks and crannies and blast those pesky malignant cells, wherever they are trying to hide.

Safely. That's the key word. It does it safely.

There is no phenomenon of developing resistance, which is what makes chemo so dangerous.

Professor Jeanne A. Drisko, MD, a diagnostic radiology specialist at the University of Kansas, and her team have shown that very dangerous cancers can be beaten, using IV vitamin C. Specifically, stage IV pancreatic cancer and a couple of cases with ovarian cancer.[1]

Follow up: Dr. Andrew Saul's excellent references from this citation.

Even patients with deadly glioblastoma survived for 4 to 6 months longer than the average survival time noticed in patients who undergo conventional treatment alone. Specifically, patients who also received high doses of ascorbic acid survived for 18 to 22 months compared with 14 to 16 months, which is the typical survival rate for glioblastoma.[2]

A few extra months might not seem long (not very high doses were used). But actually 6 months longer represents a massive 42% increase in lifespan! This is worth exploring and AT LAST conventional doctors are doing just that.

No Inhibition
The usual garbage you hear from hard-wired mainstream oncologists is that vitamin C is "dangerous". That's because (they claim) it interferes with chemo and stops it working. They just ignore the fact that chemo doesn't work either on people NOT taking vitamin C!

The scientific truth is antioxidants and other nutrients do not interfere with chemotherapy or radiation therapy and can increase survival.[3]

"At high concentrations, ascorbate does not interfere with chemotherapy or irradiation and may enhance efficacy in some situations . . . Meta-analyses of clinical studies involving cancer and vitamins also conclude that antioxidant supplementation does not interfere with the efficacy of chemotherapy." [4]

This is to counter and evil and stupid 2008 study from Sloan-Kettering. The study was performed on mice (so what, you ask?) The underperforming "researchers" didn't seem aware that mice—like most animals—make their own onboard vitamin C. The equivalent, in human terms, of about 10 grams a day (10,000 mg)![5]

Yet, the researchers claimed that supplementing the mice with as little as 100 mg of vitamin C could "blunt" the effectiveness of chemo. Well, chemo doesn't have any effectiveness, but we'll let that pass for another day.[6]

Their claims were trumpeted far and wide in the media, which loves to run stories that vitamin C is dangerous! They then ignored the absurdity that in mice taking 10,000 mg a day, the chemo was "effective", yet if the mice had 10,100 mg, chemo was spoiled.

It doesn't make any sense.

There Are Real Benefits
The important story is that vitamin C greatly benefits cancer patients, quite aside from any cancer cell killing it does:

  • Vitamin C reduces the side effects of chemo.
  • Vitamin C reduces the side effects of radiation.
  • Vitamin C reduces post-surgical inflammation and infection, and reduces healing time.
Cancer patients can and should take antioxidants and other nutritional supplements while undergoing radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Vitamin C and other nutrients reduce side effects, and actually improve the results with both chemo and radiation.

Radiation Oncologist, Victor Marcial-Vega, MD, always administers high-dose-vitamin-C-therapy to his cancer patients. He says, "Vitamin C has two effects; It increases the beneficial effects of radiation and chemotherapy and decreases the adverse effects. Once you start using IV vitamin C, the effect is so dramatic that it is difficult to go back to not using it.

"Vitamin C increases the beneficial effects of radiation and chemotherapy and decreases the adverse effects. But this is not a subtle effect, is not 15-20%, it's a dramatic effect. Once you start using IV vitamin C, the effect is so dramatic that it is difficult to go back to not using it."[7]

So, if you are facing any kind of malignancy, plonk this article down on your doctor's desk and DEMAND he read it properly, including looking up the references.

And, of course, you can always get yourself a copy of my cancer alternative therapies "Bible"

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Beware of size distortion caused by a smartphone camera!
When facing an oncologist, don't take no for an answer. And don't accept B*S*, like "It's not allowed." It's in the literature! In Japan, for example, IV vitamin C is now a standard cancer treatment—and rightly so.

I was doing it 20 years ago… It's a wonder therapy!

But let's hope you never need it.
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Drug/Nutrient/Beverage Mix
Reverses Memory Loss


Three decades ago, pharmacist and cancer researcher Ross Pelton, PhD, described a certain combination of two ingredients as "the most potent memory enhancing therapy yet discovered."

Today, with a few tweaks to the formula, Frank Shallenberger, MD, a pioneer and leader in the field of integrative medicine, makes an even bolder claim.

Patients with early memory loss can have their memory restored "to what it was five or ten years ago."

That sure got my attention! Here’s the full story

Multiple Effects on The Brain

Racetams are a group of cognitive-enhancing pharmaceuticals (smart drugs) that share a particular chemical structure and have similar effects on the brain.

The first racetam to be discovered (there are now 19) was called piracetam. It's a derivative of GABA, one of the brain's most important neurotransmitters.

Writing in Mood Food & Smart Pills, Dr. Pelton describes piracetam as having a number of desirable effects.

  • Protects the brain from damage caused by oxygen starvation
  • Increases the rate of metabolism and energy levels in brain cells
  • Enhances learning and memory in people who are memory-impaired
  • Protects against memory loss from physical injury and chemical poisoning
  • Facilitates the transfer of information between the two halves of the brain
  • Increases protein synthesis in the brain to boost learning and memory
  • Is completely safe and non-toxic
In 2002, a review of 19 double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in elderly patients suffering from dementia or cognitive impairment concluded that "the results of this analysis provide compelling evidence for the global efficacy of piracetam..."

Combining it with a nutrient produces even better results.

Making a Smart Drug Even Smarter

After a highly successful rodent study, researchers at New York University decided to replicate it in Alzheimer's patients. For both studies they combined piracetam with choline. This helps boost another key neurotransmitter in the brain - acetylcholine.

Every patient saw small improvements in most cognitive measures, but three out of ten were particularly lucky. They witnessed dramatic clinical enhancements, far greater than when using either substance alone. For instance, on one test verbal memory increased by 70%.

Dr. Shallenberger believes prevention is best if you want to enjoy good brain health. In his practice he looks to correct any hormone and nutritional deficiencies, recommends various health supplements, and suggests a diet high in protein and vegetables and low in sugars.

He also urges his patients to address a lack of fitness with a 20 to 30 minute aerobic program three or four days a week.

Sometimes You Need More

But patients already suffering memory loss need more than a preventative approach. They need a treatment that can restore brain function to normal.

And that's where piracetam comes in.

He describes the drug as a "proven memory enhancer," not just in his own practice but in Europe, where it's considered more of a food supplement than a drug because it's so safe.

But as good as it is when used with choline, there's a way to make piracetam even more effective, and that's to replace choline with the more concentrated phosphatidyl choline. This passes into the brain more effectively and is proven to elevate sagging levels of acetylcholine.

Add a Few Cups of Joe

In addition he recommends caffeine, because it further boosts the production of this neurotransmitter.

Typically, a patient with memory loss will take three 800 mg capsules of piracetam – quite a large dose -- three times a day for the first week only, then two capsules twice a day. Instructions are to drink a cup of coffee with each dose, and to take 2000 mg of phosphatidyl choline a day – also a large dose -- in divided doses.

According to Dr. Shallenberger, "It often takes several weeks of this treatment before the patient sees a substantial improvement in memory."

After five or six months piracetam can be discontinued and coffee replaced with green tea if required. Phosphatidyl choline is continued at 1000 mg per day.

Available or not?

My quick reaction is, “Don’t do this at home.” Piracetam is a popular nootropic (brain supplement) but it IS a drug. It sounds fascinating, and I know it’s popular with a lot of people, old and young, who want to “be all they can be.” I haven’t tried it myself.

According to Wikipedia, it is not FDA-approved in the United States for sale as a food supplement OR as a prescription drug, but it seems you can get it on the internet.

All the same, I wouldn’t do the doses Dr. Shallenberger recommends except under his direction of that of another physician who has experience with the treatment. Is it safe in smaller doses for long-term use by people who don’t have dementia? I don’t know, but it seems a lot of them think so.

As for the other part of the combo, phosphatidyl choline, it’s an extremely powerful form of choline, which is a B vitamin. This form of choline can be just right for people with dementia, but may be too much for a healthy person if you just want to boost memory and cognition. That’s the reason our sister company, Green Valley Natural Solutions, put a milder form of choline called Citicoline in its Brain Vitality Plus
 

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