AARP article: health benefit from common spices

The Nov/Dec 2006 issue of AARP magazine offers this intriguing peek at a handful of studies that indicate certain cooking spices may do more than please the palate. As of this posting, the sidebar article in the Navigator/Health section on page 16 was not published at the AARP web site, but included intriguing information on these four spices:

1. Ginger - Relief for osteoarthritis pain documented in a study by University of Miami, and also described by Jacob Teitelbaum, MD in his book "Pain Free 1-2-3". Ginger also demonstrated anti-tumor activity in ovarian cancer study by University of Michigan.
2. Cinnamon - The aroma of cinnamon nhanced motivation and alertness, according to University of West Virginia study. Eating one-half teaspoon daily can reduce the risk of developing diabetes, according to research conducted by USDA, by helping improve sugar metabolism and keeping blood fats in check.
3. Turmeric - A Thai study documented benefit in fighting heartburn and indigestion. Turmeric may also help in fighting brain plaque formations that are identified with the onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study at UCLA.
4. Red Pepper - The hot ingredient in hot peppers, capsaicin, can end congestion faster than over-the-counter decongestants by making your nose run, thus helping you breathe easier. A report in "Cancer Research" also indicates potential benefit in fighting prostate cancer based on animal studies.

Check out the some of the other articles that are posted from this issue at: www.aarpmagazine.org

What is 'natural' weight loss?

If you don't believe that the human body tends toward wellness by design (homeostasis), then skip this article.

If you do, then you're probably already on the search to discover barriers that are keeping your body from being well and fit. Versus looking for solutions that stimulate, constrict, or otherwise jam the body into a state that someone told you is fitness or wellness. If that's you, here's some homework for your barrier-finding quest, from "Natural Weight Loss" at Women To Women.

"Let’s say your body is like a garden, and weight loss is the rose plant you’ve been cultivating that just won’t bloom. You’ve sprayed it and pruned it and applied Miracle-Gro. And even though you’ve seen a few buds, the darned thing still won’t blossom — in fact, it’s withering. Then one day you read a book about organic gardening, and you begin to pay more attention to the whole plant, not just its flower."

"You rule out the simplest stresses (Not enough light? Disease? Pests?). You stop treating it with artificial chemicals, and take note of the unique aspects of your garden. You then add customized support: enriching the soil with nutrients, adjusting the quantity of water, mulching the roots. If the problems are more severe, you call a professional gardener for help. Eventually, your plant is brimming with health. It feels safe and nurtured and robust. Then one day, lo and behold, it blooms with abandon — and does so reliably year after year if you keep up the same measures of care."

Although the target audience for this article is female, most of the principles outlined for knowing your body, knowing your challenges, and taking action accordingly, are not gender-specific. In addition, taking action in those kinds of areas (e.g. chronic inflammation, adrenal exhaustion, detoxification) reaps other health and quality-of-life benefits besides weight loss. Great treatment of all of the above!

"Blooms with abandon ... year after year." Indeed. Our bodies were designed to do that, if we give them the chance. See the complete article here: http://www.womentowomen.com/nutritionandweightloss/naturalweightloss.asp.

AP article: spending to death

Yet another glimpse at the agonizing choices that individuals with deadly health challenges face with the economic realities of many state-of-the-art treatments. The article also touches on the alarming debates and choices that are just around the corner for just about every major country and its economic future, due to the staggering burden of health costs everywhere.

"Others, too, question the current priorities of U.S. medicine. 'We've prioritized end-of-life care as more important than preventive care or chronic care,' says Dr. John Santa, medical director for the Center for Evidence-based Policy in Portland, Ore."

Are you working on your family's strategy now? Make choices that are at hand today, before the pressures described here take them away or drive toward solutions you may not want. Here's the complete article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060812/ap_on_he_me/spending_to_death_5

Aspartame: should you wait for the debate?

Do you postpone a golf outing if a lightning storm is near?

Salvos continue to be fired in the debate about the safety of aspartame artificial sweetner. Unless you've been asleep through all the claims pro and con for the past several years, enough questions exist about the potential risk that the savvy consumer should do some homework before making a personal decision about eating aspartame-sweetened products, versus assuming that the industry, the FDA, et al have 'got your back' on this important subject.

In that vein, look through this site that is 'anti', and refers to the 2005 Italian study that established a link between aspartame and some cancers. It also comments on the European Food Safety Agency's response to the Italian study.

http://www.wnho.net/whopper.htm

For another perspective, here is one industry source that touches on the same study and EFSA conclusion, and also refers to an FDA statement in May, 2006 about its request for the data from Italian study to conduct its own review. The FDA press release link is also listed here:

http://www.beverageworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=49&Itemid=88

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01369.html

You decide for yourself, but its hard to see why a person should sign up for the risks at this point. Giving aspartame (and other synthetic sweetners) a wide berth seems prudent at this point. Especially when alternatives exist. Xlyitol, for example, is a natural sweetner that has been used as a food additive for some time (e.g. chewing gum), is anti-bacterial, and low-glycemic.

We just learned a little about trehalose, a naturally-occuring disaccharide from corn starch, that is also low-glycemic, and is being studied for a possible nutritional role in the health of cell surface membranes. Sweetening and health benefit at that same time? That deserves a closer look. Check this site for more information:

http://www.glycolose.com/

BW article: Medical Guesswork

"Even today, with a high-tech health-care system that costs the nation $2 trillion a year, there is little or no evidence that many widely used treatments and procedures actually work better than various cheaper alternatives."

In case you had any doubts about the need to take an active role in your own health affairs, this article series from the May, 2006 issue of BusinessWeek might motivate you in that regard.

Most of us aren't trained to even follow all of the medical vocabulary around us, let alone have in-depth understanding of health challenges.

"'Because there are no definitive answers, you are at the whim of where you are and who you talk to,' says Dr. Gary M. Kirsh at the Urology Group in Cincinnati."

But we can't go passive and abdicate our role in what can be life-and-death decisions. Somewhere short of doing 'self doctoring', there is a place for active questioning, personal research, seeking out other cases, etc. that the individual should consider. The risks are too great not to, for both our finances and our health.

Improvements are in the works, such as the Archimedes software tool described in the cover article, but you and I need to be proactive today, before that next prescription or outpatient procedure.

See the rest of the article series:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/06_22/B3986magazine.htm

The Savvy Label Reader - Part 2

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Is a shift taking place?

Several months ago, I saw a Dole commercial for the first time that was marketing one of their "100% juice" beverages. The unique thing to me was the specific differentiation they were creating between their product and the myriad of others that are corn syrup-based. I can't recall seeing any general consumer information prior to that which attempted to create that kind of awareness, especially that mentioned corn syrup by name.

At our house, it has been a challenge to find products that do not have high-fructose corn syrup as an ingredient, at least in the mainstream grocery channel. But it's getting a little easier with time. We've found one bread product, one ketchup, one BBQ sauce, one ice cream brand, etc. that offer alternatives. When you add the new-found awareness of trans fats in food labeling and marketing, it makes one think there could be hope after all. Hope that the makeup of the typical North American diet could really shift, and reverse the shocking trends towards obesity and the health impact that comes from it.

Hope you do your part when you buy.

Gattaca: coming soon near you?

"Gattaca Corp. is an aerospace firm in the future. During this time society analyzes your DNA and determines where you belong in life. Ethan Hawke's character was born with a congenital heart condition which would cast him out of getting a chance to travel in space. So in turn he assumes the identity of an athlete who has genes that would allow him to achieve his dream of space travel." (Plot summary courtesy www.imdb.com, "Gattaca", 1997)

While you're being diligent about all the challenges that can affect your health in our modern times, don't forget to keep an eye out for your civil liberties along the way. This article in the Kansas City Star describes current activity around individualizing the genome mapping developments that reached a major completion milestone in 2003.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/13581453.htm

No question that the potential for individual benefits in medical application, nutrition strategies, education, etc. is enormous. With a team from Harvard Medical School going on record with their aim to reduce the cost of individual mapping from $10 million to $1000 by 2014, a timetable for debate on the implications for recording and using this information has also been set. Stay tuned.

"Under Church’s plan [George Church, Harvard Medical School], individual genomes, along with the names and photographs of the donors, will be placed in a public government database, where scientists and anyone else can see them. He acknowledged that such extraordinary openness carries risks as well as benefits. 'The prospect of this new type of personal information suddenly becoming widely available prompts worries about how it might be misused — by insurers, employers, friends, neighbors, commercial interests or criminals,' he acknowledged in Scientific American. Among the risks are exposing genetic flaws that could affect a person’s ability to get insurance or hold a job. A sequence might reveal a disease that lacks a current cure, a devastating finding for anyone. A curious or hostile person might uncover an individual’s hidden racial background. Church even speculated that someone with sufficient knowledge could use the data to 'make synthetic DNA corresponding to the volunteer and plant it at a crime scene.'"

Indeed. Might make an interesting plot for a movie.