. . . how to resist allergy-driven food cravings! Most people attribute food cravings and binges to emotional eating. But although strong emotions can certainly be a factor in uncontrolled or compulsive eating, cravings have a biochemical basis. The more you know about what's happening to your biochemistry when you experience an "uncontrollable" craving, the more freedom you have to get back into the driver's seat. Is there a particular food you eat just about every day, and, when it comes right down to it, you wouldn't give up without a fight? Sorry, but you're probably addicted to it. Wheat/gluten, oats, corn, soy, dairy, sugar, caffeine, eggs, chocolate, tomatoes and citrus are the most common food allergens, but it's possible to develop an allergy-addiction to just about any food. Once you recognize that you’re in the grip of a food craving, what can you do? Nothing works like buffered vitamin C. The powdered form is best. Just mix a rounded 1/2 teaspoon in water, allow th…

. . . a three-step anti-aging program for your skin While we can’t prevent normal aging, we can age in a healthy way, without either falling prey to chronic disease or developing a worn and excessively wrinkled appearance. With a good diet, healthy lifestyle, and a good skincare regimen, it is possible to retain beautiful, smooth, firm and radiant skin for a lifetime. Consider Sophia Loren. At age 71, she was voted the world’s most naturally beautiful person. At the time, she attributed her ageless beauty to both her love of life and to olive oil. Like many beautiful Italian women before her, she used olive oil liberally in her healthy diet and also rubbed it into her skin. In Polynesia, both men and women have traditionally made coconut oil a major part of their diets and applied it from head to toe as a moisturizer. It has protected them from the sun’s UV rays and kept them looking young and beautiful. Without healthy oils in the diet, skin becomes dry and lifeless. But in a…

. . . curcumin may be the answer Although preventing osteoporosis is always preferable to reversing it (see my article, “Boning Up on Osteoporosis”), a new treatment using a compound found in curcumin is being investigated that may be vastly superior to the current ineffective bisphosphonate drugs that our physicians are prescribing. The problem with bisphosphonates is that while they suppress the breakdown of bone, they also suppress bone building. Healthy bone is continually broken down and rebuilt in regular 3-6 month cycles, a process called bone remodeling. Bisphosphonates interfere with this process, resulting in keeping old bone way past its prime. Holding on to old bone too long can lead to the kind of spontaneous fractures that have been reported in long-term bisphosphonate users. The curcumin compound under investigation, however, enhances bone building. While it also suppresses bone breakdown somewhat, it’s not enough to interfere with normal bone remodeling. Whi…

. . . When you do eat salmon, here's the kind to get. Famous dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, MD extols the virtues of salmon as an anti-inflammatory and brain- and skin-healthy food. In fact, if he had his way, he’d have you eating it 5 times a week or more. That would be a big mistake! Perricone has some good reasons for recommending salmon. Salmon are rich in the anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids that most Americans get far too little of. Salmon get their rich red color from astaxanthin, an extremely powerful antioxidant. Salmon are also rich in DMAE, another powerful antioxidant and an important building block in the body’s manufacture of acetylcholine. As Perricone notes in his book, The Perricone Prescription, with age, acetylcholine levels decline, and this has negative effects on both cognitive function and muscle tone (which leads to sagging skin). But despite these very healthy features, sadly, I can’t recommend eating salmon more than a couple of times per year…

Today’s “baby boomer” generation wants to look good and age gracefully, without suffering from the same debilitating and chronic conditions as their parents. Yes, you can age with vitality! We all age over time, but the rate at which we age is a choice. Good health slows the aging process, causing one to feel and look younger. Poor diets, toxic exposures, stress, and lack of exercise all conspire to “age” a human body beyond its years. That’s why aging, as most of us experience it, relates more to disease than chronology. Very simply, a healthy body will maintain healthy, youthful skin. The Skin as a Barometer The skin acts like a barometer for the body, revealing much about overall health. You may not think of your skin as an organ, but in fact it is the largest organ you have. It is also one of the most essential. When intact, skin provides a nearly germ proof barrier to protect us against microorganisms and it also prevents moisture loss. Body temperature is regulated by blood…

. . . many cases of hypothyroidism go undiagnosed You’re troubled with fatigue, cold hands and feet, headaches, dry and rough skin, hair loss, and to top it all off, you’re overweight but the scale refuses to budge no matter how much you cut back on the calories. Someone suggests you might be hypothyroid, so you go to your doctor. Your doctor gives you “the test” and later reports that the results are normal. But if you have several of the above symptoms, or others like edema, muscle aches, decreased libido, poor concentration, poor digestion, insomnia, memory loss, hoarseness and/or anxiety or depression, don’t accept this verdict as final! You may have “subclinical hypothyroidism,” a hypothyroid condition that may not be detected by the usual lab tests. Yet according to a recent article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, subclinical hypothyroidism is a significant risk factor for heart disease. Other problems associated with subclinical hypothyroidism (and regular hypothyroi…

. . . resisting the stealthy encroachment of middle-age spread! I’m not going to lie. If you’re a woman whose had weight problems all her life, it’s not going to get any easier once you hit forty and beyond. Even women who’ve never been overweight tend to gain 7-10 pounds after menopause. Your metabolic rate decreases with age – as much as 5-15%. There’s also a tendency to lose muscle mass, and less muscle burns less fat. Adrenal and thyroid functions tend to decline as well, contributing to a slower metabolism. Declining estrogen levels affects weight distribution in your body; fat no longer gravitates to your hips and thighs but centers in your waist and belly – the unhealthiest site for fat accumulation. Fortunately, if you take a proactive approach you can prevent and minimize “middle-age spread.” Start out by reading or rereading my book Never Be Fat Again for the fundamentals of weight loss. For preventing weight gain or losing weight after the age of 40, exercise…

. . . four nutritional factors shown to help preserve muscle It’s not just bone loss we need to be concerned about as we age. Loss of muscle mass, or sarcopenia, often increases with age and can lead to weakness and eventually diminished ability to take care of daily tasks. It’s also a risk factor for falls and fractures. Although resistance exercise is the standard prescription for maintaining muscle, a new review from Osteoporosis International found nutrition also important in keeping muscles strong. The researchers looked at studies involving hundreds of thousands of patients and found evidence that four nutritional factors help preserve muscle as we age: Adequate protein Systemic alkalinity Vitamin D Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid The researchers estimated that about half a gram of protein per pound of body weight was optimal for an aging population, primarily from plant sources. They advised limiting animal protein, as well as sugar and grains (all acidifying), and…

. . . yum, yum - a quick and refreshing tomato-basil cold summer soup recipe Do you think being healthy requires spending hours in the kitchen chopping vegetables? Not if you have a powerful blender, like a VitaMix. Instead of chopping up vegetables for a salad, try chopping them just small enough so they fit into the VitaMix. Add oil and lemon juice or vinegar and some purified water, and make yourself a delicious cool summer soup. For a warmer soup, simply let the VitaMix run on high until the carafe is warm from the heat generated by the mixing action. Here’s a recipe that can be ready in minutes. The trick to making it delicious is to use top-quality ingredients. Be sure to get fresh, juicy, organic ripe tomatoes at your local farmers market (maybe heirlooms?), or sign up with a nearby farm to get fresh produce delivered to your home. Tomatoes are most flavorful in the summer months and when picked ripe. Look for tomatoes that are fairly firm, smooth and heavy for their si…

. . . yet another reason for including olive oil in your diet Olive oil is well known for preventing heart disease, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and thinning the blood. It’s also known for helping to prevent various cancers, for its positive effects on digestion, and for being conducive to weight loss. But does it also have a protective effect on bone health? A recent two-year study suggests the answer is yes. Spanish researchers looking at the cardiovascular effects of the Mediterranean Diet in 127 older men (ages 55-80), randomly assigned them to one of three different diets: a low-fat control diet or a Mediterranean Diet with either about 3 tablespoons of olive oil a day or about an ounce of nuts. After two years on these diets, only the olive oil supplemented group showed improved markers of bone health. The Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter quotes the researchers as saying, “This is the first randomized study which demonstrates that olive oil preserves bon…

. . . removing body parts to prevent disease is neither necessary nor advisable When told by her doctor that she had a mutated BRCA1 gene and an 87% chance of getting breast cancer, famous movie star Angelina Jolie says she “decided to be proactive and minimize the risk as much as I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.” Her husband, Brad Pitt, called her choice “heroic,” and she has been hailed as a role model for women who want to take an active role in informing themselves about their health and exploring all of their options. While we applaud Ms. Jolie’s courage and her desire to be proactive, we think she has made a big mistake and may have actually increased her risk of getting cancer. We wish she had consulted another celebrity, Suzanne Sommers, who beat already diagnosed breast cancer with good nutrition and other alternative means. Removing body parts to prevent disease is neither necessary nor advisable. In fact, since surgery greatly suppr…

. . . it's estimated that more than 30% of the US population does Just what we need, a new epidemic! A disease that didn’t even have a name until 1980, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) has been claiming more and more victims, and is now estimated to affect 30-40% of Americans including increasing numbers of teenagers. Unless it becomes quite advanced, it usually has no symptoms other than fatigue, general malaise, or an occasional feeling of fullness or dull pain on the right side of the abdomen just below the rib cage. Yet it is a silent source of chronic inflammation and free radical stress, and significantly elevates risk for serious, sometimes fatal, liver disease, as well as for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. NAFLD is thought to be caused primarily by obesity, lack of exercise, poor diet and nutrient deficiency. If you’re overweight, insulin resistant or have diabetes or metabolic syndrome, you are at particular risk. Metabolic syndrome is defined as having thr…

. . . shown to have limitations, the BBT is still helpful Since the 1940s, alternative healthcare practitioners have recommended the basal body temperature (BBT) developed by Broda Otto Barnes, MD for thyroid testing. Patients were instructed to keep a non-digital thermometer at bedside and, moving as little as possible, take their underarm temperature first thing in the morning for ten minutes. A temperature below 97.8° F was considered an indication of hypothyroidism; a temperature above 98.2° F an indication of hyperthyroidism. Broda Barnes was an outstanding clinician/scientist, and the test he developed was the most accurate for its time. However according to Dr. Alan Christianson, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease, it has since been found to have significant limitations. Regulation of body heat, Christianson says, is a multifaceted process. While the thyroid is the key player in this process, various hormones and messenger molecules factor in, as do…

The allergy season is upon us and people are responding with sneezing, wheezing, sinus problems, itchy eyes, and other symptoms. Some grin and bear it, some take antihistamines, and others seek desensitization shots. Most of us think of allergies as a nuisance or even a normal part of life. Few realize that allergies are virtually unknown among healthy populations, and that allergies are serious immune dysfunction diseases with profound, long-term implications. An allergic reaction is actually a significant event. The allergic immune response consumes a lot of precious chemicals and energy that would be better put to use doing daily repairs to the body. Chemicals produced by an allergic reaction are damaging to health. Frequent reactions will create conditions leading to other diseases, infections, loss of normal energy levels, and shorter life span. The formation of immune complexes is just one example of the myriad things that happen during and after an allergic reaction. These…

. . . Be careful about the form of vitamin D you choose We need more real food, not more engineered fake foods, but here’s one more third-rate food choice coming down the pike. The FDA recently granted a petition from bread manufacturers to use irradiated yeast to boost vitamin D levels in bread to about 125 IU a slice. Almost all bread is a toxic food choice to begin with, and the synthetic form of vitamin D (vitamin D2) used to fortify foods is not the form of vitamin D you want to be taking. The one bright spot in all of this is that government authorities are beginning to recognize the value of vitamin D. The latest update from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concedes that vitamin D has many more roles in the body than merely helping calcium get absorbed and incorporated in bones. The NIH information now states that vitamin D is important in the modulation of cell growth, in neuromuscular and immune function, and in the reduction of inflammation. The vitamin D form…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis Diabetes, a metabolic disorder affecting carbohydrate metabolism, is an out-of-control epidemic. It doesn’t have to be this way. Diabetes is both preventable and reversible. About 18 million Americans have diabetes. Another 16 million have pre-diabetes, and about one-out-of-three people with diabetes are unaware they have it. Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes is the most common form, and it has become epidemic in our children, with alarming increases in the last decade. Type 2 diabetes has been transformed from a disease of older people to a disease of children and young adults. An American child born in 2000 stands a one-in-three chance of being diagnosed with diabetes in his or her lifetime. Finding out you have diabetes can be scary because diabetes is a nasty disease. Diabetics suffer from high levels of free radicals, and oxidative stress is central to the damage caused by diabetes. It is a silent killer that causes lif…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis Inflammation is one of the common denominators of disease. Every chronic disease is an inflammatory disease. No matter what so-called disease you have, from cancer to the common cold, inflammation is a major part of your problem. Learning how to prevent and reverse inflammation will go a long way toward preventing and reversing almost all disease, as well as slowing the aging process, keeping us healthy, biologically young and vigorous for a lifetime. Unfortunately, most Americans suffer from chronic inflammation, caused by a variety of factors that seriously undermine health and ages us prematurely. Resulting from an “inflammatory cascade,” common inflammatory diseases include allergies, Alzheimer’s, asthma, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, bursitis, cancer, cervicitis, colitis, cystitis, diabetes, gastritis, heart disease, hepatitis, infections, myocarditis, nephritis, neuritis, osteoporosis, prostatitis, sinusitis, tendon…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis Very few people know what they should be doing to improve their health. This is why the health of the American people is in a long-term downtrend, and why we are experiencing a pandemic of chronic and degenerative disease. One of these diseases is cancer—perhaps the most feared word in the English language. Cancer used to be a rare disease, but we have managed to make it commonplace—half of all Americans will get cancer in their lifetime. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. An anti-cancer diet will prevent and even reverse most cancer. Since we have created this epidemic, we can un-create it. The most important thing anyone can do to prevent and reverse cancer is to eat a good diet. Unfortunately, few people know what a good diet is. A quick trip to a bookstore will quickly reveal so many books on nutrition that the simple act of eating can become bewildering. Some people have anxiety attacks trying to decide what…