to [re-mem-ber]:

Although mainstream media may lead you to believe that sunshine is bad for you, a deficiency in Vitamin D is actually a bigger threat than overexposure to the sun. New research suggests that higher levels of Vitamin D3 can lessen the severity of multiple sclerosis, a largely misunderstood autoimmune disorder. What is understood is that the immune system is not functioning properly, and that is really all you need to know. It means the body is fundamentally upset in some way, it is out of balance. What exactly is on earth that allows it to sustain our types of life? Water, oxygen, food, and sunlight. It is very easy to understand that not eating, drinking, or breathing will cause death very quickly (not eating being the slowest of these), but sunshine should be included as well. Lack of sunlight and vitamin D3 is very detrimental to the body and has been correlated with all kinds of disorders like juvenile diabetes, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and Osteoporosis.

Worried about getting burned? The best way to to start getting adequate sun is to slowly work up over a period of days. 15 minutes, then 20, and so on until you are acclimated and not getting burned. If you want to stay out longer, wear light sunblocking clothing or use a safe sunscreen. There are numerous sunscreens on the market that may be worse for you than sun overexposure because they contain toxic ingredients that can change your hormones or cause melanoma. AOL even published a story claiming “almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer.” Always check the ingredients of any product you rub into your skin, because your body absorbs it. You can check the ingredients of all cosmetics at the EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database.

Although specified quantities are a little vague, there are a few supplements that are gaining support (from research in mainstream studies!) as fat busters. These are not diets and quick fixes; but these supplements have been shown to be advantageous in the fight against fat.

Vinegar – “Modern scientific research suggests that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, may help control blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and fat accumulation.” Apple cider vinegar has long been an alternative health staple, even a cure-all, with claims ranging from weight loss to the elimination of gout, arthritis, and acne. It’s nice to see a powerful folk remedy finally tested in its claims and undoubtedly validated.

Lignans – This link is only a correlation, but pretty strong. “High intake of lignans was associated with lower body fat mass and BMI, compared to women with the lowest average intakes.” The highest amount of lignans are found in flax seed, and some other notable lignacious foods are sesame seed, sunflower seed, kale, broccoli with red wine topping out the best of the beverages. So can you eat as much food with lignans as you want? Probably not. Calories cannot be ignored, though these foods may lead to a feeling of fullness that could help you eat less. For a more complete list of foods with lignans, see http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/lignan.php

White Tea – While green tea may be the most publicly touted for weight loss (with an equal amount of controversy), white tea’s anti-fat nature has been tested and proven in the lab. Researchers found that white tea actually stopped the development of new fat cells and increased the fat use of old cells. But why white tea? Well, white, green, and black teas can all be made from the same tea leaves, white tea is just picked earliest. It’s made from the first buds of the plant and is “less processed than the other teas and contains more of the ingredients thought to be active on human cells.”

Curcumin (in Turmeric) – When fed a high fat diet, mice fed curcumin gained less weight. BONUS: These lucky mice also showed lower cholesterol levels and separate studies show curcumin can lower rates of dementia!

Red Pepper – Capsaicin, the hot part of hot peppers stopped immature fat cells in the lab from growing up and filling with fat. Just like some diners with timid tastebuds, capsaicin can also cause some fat cells to self-destruct. Extra hot sauce, please.

Melon Extract – The study was carried out on hamsters because they experience cholesterol build up similarly to us. Two groups of hamster were fed high fat diets, but by the end of the studies, the hamsters that also took melon extract had lower body weights, by 29%! Bonus: This supplement has also been proven to lower perceived stress and improve quality of life which makes sense it would also help with weight gain since added stress can mean added weight.

CLA & Safflower oil – Fellow Natural News writer Sherry Baker has the scoop here: http://www.naturalnews.com/026599_body_fat_weight_loss_health.html

These are not get thin quick schemes and are certainly not diets on their own. None of this research says if you add these supplements to your diet you will immediately drop massive amounts of weight; they do not cure obesity. When added to a high fat, high calorie lifestyle, these diet accessories will allow you to gain less weight than overeating without their help. It is more realistic to think they can help you maintain a healthy weight and help balance out those occasional days of overconsumption. Most people know when they’ve overeaten. If you’re trying to lose weight, intuitively find your baseline for satiation and stay true to yourself.

A few squares of dark chocolate can smooth arterial flow for up to 8 hours. This isn’t a reason to continue smoking, but if someone you love won’t quit or can’t, make sure he takes this tip to heart. His heart will thank you.

Read details of the full study here (via Science Daily).

Beets and other foods that contain specific nitrates have been found to increase blood flow in the body including the brain (via Natural News).

What other benefits could increased flood flow have? It could combat:

• cognitive decline
• poor circulation
• limb numbness
• headaches

Beets specifically have already been found to help people work out harder and longer when drank as juice before exercise. Beets are quickly being acknowledged as a new superfood up to the ranks of Chlorella and Spirulina. If your local grocer doesn’t carry them, speak with the manager, and they will probably order them for you.

The use of nanoparticles in everyday products is widespread even though there hasn’t been much research about their safety.

New research suggests that nanoparticles are harmful to the lungs of working handling them. Well, these workers are only handling them, what if your applying them to your body daily as a shampoo? It is still dangerous because nanoparticles are so small they can travel throughout the body, it doesn’t matter where they are first encountered.

It is common for a dangerous ingredient first to be recognized by plant workers becoming ill, like those who work with pesticides losing their fertility, giving birth to babies with birth defects, or becoming severely depressed.

What can you do about it?

Well, companies right now do not have to inform consumers of nanoparticles in their products. The best solution is to purchase organic whenever possible. When it comes to harmful ingredients even in beauty products, these are least likely to be the culprits.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, mothers who were low on the vitamin folate during the earliest stages of their pregnancy had children that were more prone to hyperactivity, inattention, peer problems, and neural tube defects. The study followed women for an average of 9 years, so the study is extremely valid.

Folate is a great supplement for mothers-to-be to begin immediately upon learning about pregnancy, but it is also a vitamin that all women of childbearing age should take or include in their diets because according to folicacidnow.com, “half of pregnancies are unplanned.” Low folate levels are vital for prevention of neural tube defects (NTD) which effect the baby’s spinal cord in the first 20 days after conception before a mother may even know she is pregnant. After this time, increased folate will not be able to correct these conditions.

Folate is important for men, too. It can increase sperm count, increase chances of conception, and lower rates of cardiovascular disease.

Folate is important for people of all ages.

From WHFoods.com:

What can high-folate foods do for you?

• Support red blood cell production and help prevent anemia
• Help prevent homocysteine build-up in your blood
• Support cell production, especially in your skin
• Allow nerves to function properly
• Help prevent osteoporosis-related bone fractures
• Help prevent dementias including Alzheimer’s disease

What events can indicate a need for more high-folate foods?

• Irritability
• Mental fatigue, forgetfulness, or confusion
• Depression
• Insomnia
• General or muscular fatigue
• Gingivitis or periodontal disease

Excellent sources of folate include romaine lettuce, spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, mustard greens, calf’s liver, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and lentils.

If you’re concerned about your folate intake from food, The Vitamin Code has a supplement which is raw and derived from food, so you can be absolutely sure you’re getting the amount you want and from a natural source.

Monsanto is an important topic for Earth Day. They are responsible for much of the food that we eat, and this financial quarter, Monsanto posted a profit of 887 million dollars. What have they been up to?

Monsanto sells 90% of the world’s Genetically Engineered seed. Genetically engineered foods are proven to cause a multitude of health problems including fertility problems, immunity disruption, birth defects, and asthma. See the government studies here.

France, Switzerland, and Greece are so convinced that they banned the production of GM crops. Russia is now looking to follow suit. All of these countries still allow the import of GM food products, but Azerbaijan thinks it can do without anything GM. India already has a ban on products with genetically modified ingredients, but Greenpeace discovered that Pepsico’s Doritos Corn Tortilla Chips contain GMOs and have illegally snuck into New Delhi supermarkets!

India is extremely on point with these issues. Dr Mira Shiva, of the Initiative for Health, Equity and Society states it clearly:

“This is a serious violation of people’s right to safe food as consumers are being kept ignorant of the presence of potentially dangerous GM ingredients in the food products. There is growing scientific evidence on the health hazards of GM foods across the world and it cannot be ignored any more. The mandate of keeping hazardous food out of the country should be the duty of the Health Ministry and it should take immediate steps to stop the illegal entry of these foods.”

What about the US?

GM crops and products are widespread in the US, and products are not required to be labeled.

53% of the world’s GM crops are grown in the US.

The US shares a patent with Monsanto for the Terminator gene in “suicide seeds.” These seeds to not yield crop a second year in a row, so farmers must continue to buy seed every year. They are reportedly being used in several places around the world, including Haiti.

On the fence about GM? Watch Greenpeace’s video Genetic Engineering: the world’s greatest scam?. You can also read The Union of Concerned Scientists’ eBook Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops.

You can sign up to support sustainable agriculture here.

Continue to be on the lookout for Monsanto, they are constantly expanding their product reach. Monsanto is responsible for Agent Orange used in Vietnam, plastics, bovine growth hormone, and NutraSweet.

For more information, see:

Wiki entry on Monsanto

Greenpeace GE News

GMWatch.org

banGMfood.org

Food, Inc

Happy Earth Day. Eat wisely!

Science Daily today posted a study summary that concludes “that simply warming the skin [with a blanket] can decrease shivering in many patients, without the need for drugs.”

What does this say about the state of our treatment regimens when before a shivering person is given a blanket she is given drugs?

It tells me that hospitals have a knee jerk reaction to giving drugs and give them for anything immediately. I think it’s safe to say that most people at home taking care of a sick family member who is shivering would get him or her a blanket.

Apparently this has to be proven to the healthcare industry and the article goes on to quote a clinician who actually has to explain the benefits of using a blanket over medication:

“[the blanket's] simplicity, low cost, widespread availability, lack of adverse effects, and the potential to avoid sedation … make it an attractive treatment option.”

It looks like instead of studies that focus on developing new treatments, we are having to backtrack to correct treatment mistakes of several years. Of course there have got to be treatment manuals with guidelines for helping patients, but who could blame the writers of these manuals for assuming doctors and nurses would have the basic human decency to get someone a blanket if she is cold?

Patients Do Better With Psychotherapist Who Practice Zen Meditation, Study Suggests – Science Daily. ‘Mindfulness’ is the key, apparently. Live in the now, carpe diem, we’ve heard this before; but now it’s SCIENCE!

Meditation Associated With Increased Grey Matter In The Brain – Science Daily. This is a good thing.

Buddhist Deity Meditation Temporarily Augments Visuospatial Abilities, Study Suggests – Science Daily. Looks like DY meditation might need to be added to the lots of sleep & good breakfast test-taking regimen.

And this is mostly unrelated and a little older, but I hadn’t heard this until today:
Scientists Find ‘Baffling’ Link between Autism and Vinyl Flooring – Scientific American. Chemicals are the culprit, again.

A study recently outlined by ScienceDaily.com describes how ADHD children need to move around more than their non-ADHD peers to help themselves complete challenging tasks like manipulating numbers. The article advises teachers not to severely limit this activity.

Is this really such a surprise and actually a problem?

Just 6 days previous to announcing this study, ScienceDaily discussed a study that showed that doodling while listening to a tape allowed members of the research panel of the Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge to remember information more clearly.

Looks like it’s actually beneficial for everyone to have something going on on the side to help with concentration. The folks studying the kids found this was true for all of the young students as well: both ADHD kids and non-ADHD kids were still and calm when they were painting on a computer program while watching Star Wars.

A few schools in Wisconsin and Minnesota seem to get it. The New York Times has a piece about schools that have switched over to using desks that allow children to sit or stand. Most of them stand most of the time. And fidget as much as they want to.

“At a stand-up desk,” Ms. Seekel said, “I’ve never seen students with their heads down, ever. It helps with being awake, if they can stand, it seems. And for me as a teacher, I can stand at their level to help them. I’m not bent over. I can’t think of one reason why a classroom teacher wouldn’t want these.”

Researchers are currently studying these children to see if it does significantly change their performance and even how much it might accelerate their calorie-burning.

Whatever the long term benefits may be, Sarah Langer, 12, sees the advantage of a stand up desk pretty simply:

“At least you can wiggle when you want to.”