to [re-mem-ber]:

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.

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?

Think Cheerios lowers your cholesterol? You’ve had good reason to think so. You’ve seen it on the Cheerios boxes, the commercials, the website (if you’ve looked), and apparently, you could have heard it blasted to you over your “supermarket public address systems.”

Well, according to CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest), the FDA has demanded “that General Mills halt its grossly exaggerated and misleading health claims for Cheerios cereal.”

What are the claims?

• Cheerios can reduce “bad” cholesterol levels by 4 percent in just 6 weeks
• Cheerios can ward off heart disease and cancers of the colon and stomach

These are pretty serious claims and General Mills doesn’t provide any evidence to back them up (the actor on the commercial definitely doesn’t count).

According to CSPI, the FDA does support a general claim that “eating diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and high in fiber-containing fruit, vegetable, and grain products may reduce the risk of heart disease. But the claims for Cheerios portrayed the mentioned diseases not included in the FDA-authorized claim and failed to mention the importance of eating a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.” So General Mills ran with this just because Cheerios has some processed wheat in it.

This is a very strong move by the FDA, and if General Mills does not comply, Cheerios will be taken off the shelf and possibly taken to court. What products could be next? The CSPI legal director Bruce Silverglade explains, “the FDA is signaling the entire food industry that the Bush era policy of lax enforcement has come to an end. The FDA should also stop misleading claims for so-called ‘whole grain’ products that are mostly made with white flour and foods claimed to be made with fruit when they only contain trivial amounts of juice.” That is probably half of most grocery stores!

If you were looking to lower your cholesterol with Cheerios, don’t fret. There are several alternative treatments that have been proven to do the trick, including garlic, artichoke, and good ole vitamin B3. Check About.com: Alternative Medicine for more.

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.”

This could be a big win for consumer rights and safety. A private citizen brought a lawsuit against The Gerber Products Company which was initially dismissed, but has now been reinstated by the US Court of Appeals. A product of Gerber, formerly called “Fruit Juice Snacks” depicts real fruit on the packaging when its key ingredients are corn syrup and refined sugar. Gerber has now changed the name to “Juice Treats”, which hasn’t really changed much since juice is still not a major ingredient.

The Court of Appeals sided with the private citizen and decided consumers should not be “expected to look beyond misleading representations on the front of the box to discover the truth from the ingredient list in small print on the side of the box.”

The lawsuit will continue with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) as counsel. Unfortunately in the meanwhile, the product will remain with baby and toddler food at the supermarket, instead of in the candy isle.

Gerber is definitely not the only offender of deceptive food product marketing, and hopefully a ruling against the company will help shape future marketing of unhealthy foods. If all is handled correctly, the candy isle will soon become half of the grocery store.

Pesticides are poison. They are used to kill living creatures. In order to kill those living creatures, humans apply the pesticides. We also eat what’s left of them.

We’ve seen handlers of banana pesticide sterilized, a young couple who worked with pesticides give birth to a limbless child, and a pesticide singled out as a cause of Colony Collapse Disorder.

The latest research found among a group of farmers that long term application coincided with a 50% higher chance of clinical depression. And these men were “80% more likely [to have depression] if they had applied a class of insecticide called organophosphates.”

What about for those of us who eat small doses of them everyday? Direct contact to the targeted lifeform causes death. Direct contact with humans who administer them causes major reproductive issues, birth defects, and depression. So what happens when you come in contact with a lower amount of pesticides daily by eating them?

Because of the widespread medical conditions that have resulted from high exposure to pesticides, one can only assume they must hurt consumers in varied and unpredictable ways as well. What about those nagging symptoms that won’t go away or a diagnosis that you can’t explain? Could pesticides and chemicals be contributing to or causing your problem? Even law firms are ready to back you up if your doctor won’t. Steigerwalt & Associates know “that as science developed more sophisticated pesticides they did not take in to account the long term affects of these chemicals on the environment and surrounding human populations. Some common side effects of pesticide poisoning include cancer, birth defects, and fertility problems.”

Choosing organic is the best option when it comes to avoiding chemicals in your food; this ensures the food has not been grown with chemical pesticides. The Environmental Working Group tested produce to see just how much was found on the food at the store and compiled a list for consumers to use when buying produce. This list can be used to choose which fruits and vegetables to choose when organic is not available, or which are safest and may not require the organic alternative.

It’s a tough time to live in when the price of a Happy Meal from McDonald’s is about the same price as one organic apple. It can seem like a hard choice to make when choosing between these options. It’s not as hard if you realize that you’re choosing between either saving money now or investing in your family’s health and future (and probably lowering your cost of future medical bills).