Dead Sea Herbs

Diet Dos for Glowing Skin
By Tamar Nordenberg

Discovery health.
Long for smooth, supple skin to go along with that slimmer waistline? Then step up to the plate — of salmon and asparagus, that is — to get a double shot of good effect. Living on some more typical low-fat meals, on the other hand, will ravage your body and your brain, leaving you wrinkled as well as fat and fatigued, according to dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, M.D.
Eating right can improve our looks “to a tremendous extent,” says Perricone, an expert on eating your way to superb skin. On his anti-inflammation diet, his patients start to look younger — and what’s more, their acne clears up and their eczema improves. If you long to look better, too, know the elements of Perricone’s “wrinkle-free diet.”

Eat generous portions of the right kinds of protein. Protein is necessary for cell repair and helps keep aging in check. On the best-choices list, fish ranks first, followed by these other protein-packed animal products: egg whites, skinless chicken and turkey breast.
Don’t fear fat — believe it or not, some is healthy — even essential. Fats and oils can provide anti-inflammatory protection and youth-preserving antioxidants. Fatty fish provides hefty helpings of anti-aging omega-3 fatty acids; salmon, mackerel and albacore tuna are among your best bets for staying beautiful. Also tops among anti-inflammatories: extra virgin olive oil. It’ll make you look lovely, and meanwhile could lower your bad cholesterol.
Steer clear of inflammation-inducing sugar and high-glycemic carbohydrates. This category of food includes potatoes, rice and pasta. These foods can cause blood sugar to spike and lead to dangerous chemical changes in your body. Their ability to fuel creation of age-accelerating free radicals and to break down collagen has earned them high rank among skin’s greatest foes. Your body needs carbohydrates, though, so get your fill from low-glycemic fruits and vegetables. Choice picks run from arugula to zucchini — they’re packed with youth-preserving antioxidants.
Know three more keys: Drink water, drink water, drink water. At the risk of repeating himself, the doctor himself drinks glass after glass — eight to 10 glasses of water each day, he reports, to help his own organs and cells function efficiently. Spring water’s better than the kind from the tap with all its chlorine and heavy metals.

Very helpful products if you are already in this category.http://www.marketamerica.com/annanathankagan/categories-450/digestive-health.htmFORT WORTH, Texas — High-fructose corn syrup isn’t completely responsible for the nation’s 6 million overweight children — but Dr. George Bray says it’s a big part of the problem.
Nurture trumps nature in the current childhood-obesity epidemic, says Bray. It’s the environment we’re creating for our kids that’s the problem, and that environment includes increasing numbers of products high in high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS.
Bray, who served as founding president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity and organized the first international congress on obesity in 1973, points out that between 1970 (when HFCS was introduced) and 2000 (when average yearly consumption of the ultra-sweet liquid sugar hit 73.5 pounds per person in this country), the prevalence of obesity more than doubled, from 15 percent to almost one-third of the adult population.

And worse, much worse, obesity among children 12 to 19 — who consume a disproportionate amount of the soft drinks, fruit juice, sports drinks and packaged cookies and other baked goods that are sweetened with HFCS — increased from 4.2 percent in 1970 to 15.3 percent in 2000.

By Steve Mills, Tribune reporter

February 9, 2010

Thousands of times each year, government inspectors test the meat and trimmings that become ground beef for E. coli, a potentially deadly pathogen that has led to outbreaks of food-borne illnesses and massive product recalls.

But when those inspectors get a test result indicating the dangerous pathogen is present, as records show they do dozens of times a year, officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture do not conduct a full investigation like those done in response to disease outbreaks.

After a routine test comes up positive, officials and the processor try to prevent tainted meat from reaching consumers, either by making sure it does not leave a plant or by bringing back products that have been shipped. But inspectors do not try to pinpoint the source of contamination or track down additional meat that might be contaminated.
More>

 The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers found that calories stated on fast food menu items tended to be inaccurate, averaging 18% MORE CALORIES per item than listed in the menu. Example: Wendy’s grilled chicken wrap listed 260 calories, but was found to have 344 (a 32% overage).

” Some individual restaurant items contained up to 200% of stated values and, in addition, free side dishes increased provided energy to an average of 245% of stated values for the entrees they accompanied. These findings suggest that stated energy contents of reduced-energy meals obtained from restaurants and supermarkets are not consistently accurate, and in this study averaged more than measured values, especially when free side dishes were taken into account. If widespread, this phenomenon could hamper efforts to self-monitor energy intake to control weight, and could also reduce the potential benefit of recent policy initiatives to disseminate information on food energy content at the point of purchase.”

If a supposedly 2000 calories-a-day diet is actually 18% higher in calories, that means 2360 calories or an extra 360 calories a day consumed. Since every 3500 calories are equivalent a pound to our body weight, approximately every ten days we’d gain one pound of body weight. In one month, we’d be up 3 lbs. In one year, a whopping 36 pounds!

So enjoy your meals but don’t overdo it! But here is help if you do.

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

“There appears to be no such thing as metabolically healthy obesity,” said a statement by Dr. Johan Arnlov, an associate professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Uppsala University, and lead author of a report published online Dec. 28 in the journal Circulation.

That assessment is based on a study that has followed almost 1,800 Swedish men, starting at age 50, for an unusually long time, 30 years, recording those who died or had a cardiovascular problem such as a heart attack or stroke.

Problems only become more evident after 15 years or so, the researchers found.

Using the body-mass index, which matches height and weight and lists a score of 30 as obese and 25 to 30 as overweight, the study found that over the 30-year period, the risk of cardiovascular disease was 63% higher in men of normal weight who had metabolic syndrome, compared to normal-weight men who did not have metabolic syndrome. It was 52% higher in overweight men without metabolic syndrome, 74% higher in overweight men with metabolic syndrome, 95% higher in obese men without metabolic syndrome and 155% higher in obese men with metabolic syndrome.

So here is one of the options. Very good results.

As a person with diabetes, you know how important it is to control your blood glucose and insulin levels to avoid complications. So, it would seem that a lack of glucose and insulin secretion from fructose consumption would be a good thing.However, insulin also controls another hormone, leptin, so its release is necessary. Leptin tells your body to stop eating when it’s full by signaling the brain to stop sending hunger signals. Since fructose doesn’t stimulate glucose levels and insulin release, there’s no increase in leptin levels or feeling of satiety. This can leave you ripe for unhealthy weight gain.

Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate

From WebMd.com 

Dark chocolate — but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk — is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy’s National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.

http://www.marketamerica.com/annanathankagan/product-2217/isotonix-opc3.htm

“Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate … and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate.”

Translation: Say “Dark, please,” when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don’t even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word “moderate” as you nibble.

 Flavonols in dark chocolate increase cerebral blood flow, which in turn may trigger the creation of new blood vessels and brain cells. And a new study showed that older adults performed better on cognitive tests after eating small portions of the sweet stuff. 

 Although more research is needed to confirm this one, a new study showed that regular chocolate eaters who had heart disease were less likely to die following a heart attack compared with the people who didn’t treat themselves to the dark and dreamy stuff.

But some interesting new research shows a compound in chocolate — theobromine — may be just as good as fluoride at hardening tooth enamel. So the compound could find its way into toothpastes and mouthwashes one day. Until then, keep in mind that most commercially prepared chocolate has lots of sugar in it.

Magnesium in the body serves several important functions, including energy and enzymes:

* Muscle control, and relaxation
* Assisting DNA and other enzymes that act as genetic building blocks
* Distribution and creation of human energy
* The production of protein
* Magnesium is essential for calcium to work properly in the body

People have experience dramatic changes in their quality of life after correcting magnesium deficiencies. The best thing about magnesium rich foods is that it is virtually impossible to overdose on magnesium this way, as the body very efficiently processes magnesium from food sources. Most dietary magnesium comes from  dark green, leafy vegetables such as spinach and even broccoli

. Other foods that are good sources of magnesium:

* Fruits or vegetables (such as bananas, dried apricots, and avocados)

* Nuts (such as almonds and cashews)

* Peas and beans (legumes), seeds

* Soy products (such as soy flour and tofu)

* Whole grains (such as brown rice and millet)

From the USDA nutrient database comes the details:

Just recently I discovered this product that is very beneficial especially during winter.
Complete Greens® offers a diverse range of benefits from green vegetables and natural grass fibers that are low in sodium, fat and calories, contain no cholesterol and are a good source of iron, vitamin C, magnesium and calcium. Complete Greens helps to maintain a healthy digestive tract with natural enzymes and provides nutrients to the body’s organs.*