Increased vitamin D in blood adds years to life and helps prevent colon cancer

Just in case you needed more proof that low blood levels of vitamin D represent a significant health concern, researchers publishing in theEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutritiondemonstrate that small increases in the sunshine vitamin can add precious years to your life. For nearly a decade scientific evidence has been mounting to show that the vast majorities of adults (and many children) are grossly deficient in circulating blood levels of vitamin D. Further proof is documented in thePLoS Onejournal to show the precise cellular mechanism that helps vitamin D dramatically lower the risk of colon cancer. The bottom line is simple: check your vitamin D blood saturation with an inexpensive test and make the necessary adjustments to live a healthier and longer life.

Using epidemiologic studies, Dr. W.B. Grant of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center in San Francisco found that doubling the serum blood concentration of vitamin D could increase average life expectancy by two years. Dr. Grant and his team identified the major diseases that responded to increased levels of vitamin D. They then compared mortality rates to six identified regions around the country, and contrasted serum blood levels of the sunshine vitamin with disease occurrence.

After compiling all the data, the researchers found that conditions and diseases responsive to vitamin D that account for over half of the world's mortality include cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, tuberculosis and respiratory diseases and infections. It was determined that doubling the circulating level of vitamin D would lower the mortality rates of diseases that are sensitive to vitamin D by approximately 20 percent. Dr. Grant concluded:"several ways to raise serum vitamin D include food fortification, supplementation and increased ultraviolet B exposure."

Researchers have known for some time that low vitamin D levels are associated with a significant increase in colon cancer cases, but they have not understood the specific mechanism responsible. Now, scientists have discovered how a lack of vitamin D promotes DNA damage and colon cancer risk. Specifically, low vitamin D status instigates the development and progression of this devastating form of cancer.

Researchers have focused on a protein in intestinal epithelial cells called beta-catechin that normally helps epithelial cells bond together with other cells to form a protective barrier between the contents in your gut and the physical structure of your digestive tract. They found that when vitamin D is lacking, DNA synthesis is disrupted and beta-catechin builds up in cells, dramatically increasing the risk of colon cancer initiation.

There should be no doubt remaining that one of the most critical foundations to vibrant health is maintaining proper vitamin D blood saturation levels. Prevention is worth a pound of cure. So have your family physician run the simple and inexpensive 25 (OH)D blood test (alternatively, mail-in home testing is now a viable option), and be certain your level runs between 50 and 70 ng/mL to add years to your life and dramatically lower colon cancer and chronic disease risk.

Chlorella as a powerful defense against cancer

Amazing things truly do come in small packages. One of your most powerful weapons against cancer is chlorella -- a unicellular, green algae. This tiny algae packs a powerful punch. InPrescription for Dietary Wellness, Phyllis A. Balch explains, "Chlorella…contains the highest chlorophyll level per ounce of any plant, as well as protein (nearly 58 percent), carbohydrates, all of the B vitamins, vitamins C and E, amino acids (including all nine essential ones), enzymes and rare trace minerals." Due to its dense and nutrient-rich nature, chlorella offers your body a two-fold attack against cancer. You can access these benefits by taking only one or two teaspoons of chlorella once or twice daily, according to Michael Tierra'sTreating Cancer with Herbs.

To grasp chlorella's benefits in fighting cancer, you must first understand cancer's connection to immune system dysfunction. Cancer cells develop in all of our bodies, even in those of us who have never "had cancer." When these cancer cells develop, our immune systems naturally and efficiently destroy them before cancer symptoms appear. On the other hand, when cancer symptoms do appear, these symptoms are an indication of the immune system's sudden inability to effectively fight cancer cells that had been appearing all along. In this sense, cancer is an immune system malfunction more than anything else.

With that in mind, one of your best defenses against cancer is to strengthen your immune system. This is where chlorella comes in. Although Western medicine has largely ignored chlorella, Japanese scientists have been widely researching chlorella's benefits since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As Dr. Ralph W. Moss describes inCancer Therapy, "Japanese scientists studied Chlorella pyrenoidosa as a biological response modifier … Since chlorella does not directly kill cancer cells, the scientists concluded that its effects were caused by boosting the immune response."

In one Japanese study, scientists placed lab mice on a chlorella regimen for ten days, then injected the mice with three types of cancer. According to Dr. Moss, over 70 percent of the chlorella-strengthened mice did not develop cancer, while all of the untreated mice died within 20 days.

Research regarding chlorella's immune-boosting effect is not limited to animal studies. According toHerbal Medicine, Healing Cancerby Dr. Donald R. Yance, Jr., a Virginia-based study treated 15 glioblastoma patients with powdered and liquid chlorella combined at times with standard chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Although glioblastoma patients normally display a two-year   survival  rate of 10 percent, the 15 chlorella-treated patients exhibited a survival rate of 40 percent.

This is only one of the many successful studies linking chlorella to strengthened immune response, thus making chlorella a necessary component of effective and well-rounded cancer treatment. InTreating Cancer with Herbs, Michael Tierra, ND, writes, "I recommend chlorella to all cancer patients regardless of any other green drink they might use … It is virtually a complete food in itself. It acts as both a powerful nutrient and a detoxifying food."

In addition to strengthening the immune system's response to cancer cells, the mighty chlorella acts as a preventative measure against cancer by raising blood levels of the protein albumin. According toEarl Mindell's Supplement Bible, by Earl Mindell, RPh, PhD, "Numerous studies have documented that a low albumin level is a marker for serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. They point to test-tube studies confirming that raising albumin levels can both prevent cancerous changes and extend the life span of human cells."

If you have already developed cancer, we urge you to talk with your heath care provider, preferably a naturopath, about adding chlorella to your diet. If you are cancer-free, chlorella can potentially help prevent you from developing cancer. According to natural healers everywhere, chlorella can also reduce fatigue, making you feel both stronger and healthier. This single-celled algae is a small, but mighty, weapon against disease.

 

Understand DNA Damage and Repair

Most people today are consistently exposed to substances that are known to damage our DNA. Radiation, plastics, cigarette smoke, chemicals in soft drinks, pesticides, and many more common substances have all been found to damage our DNA. It's unfortunate because when our DNA is damaged, we subject ourselves to numerous health problems. Our cells become inhibited in producing what our bodies need and our bodies become challenged in re-growing healthy cells. Worse, the effects of our chemical habits and lifestyles are passed to our children - and our children's children. Fortunately though, our DNA has the ability to repair itself and below are a few easy ways to start your DNA on the road to repair.

Consume Chlorella

Chlorella is a chlorophyll-rich algae and it's known to help the body remove harmful substances like heavy metals, dioxins and pesticides. This is an obvious benefit because some of these substances arecausingthe damage in the first place. Numerous studies have found that chlorella helps our DNA repair itself - and packed with chlorophyll, chlorella adds an alkaline kick that comes in a structure that's similar to the hemoglobin of healthy blood. To add chlorella to your diet, try adding a teaspoon to fresh apple juice or a fruit smoothie each day.

Use Cat's Claw

Peruvian cat's claw is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and is commonly used for arthritis. In Peru, cat's claw is used for cancer and it's known to help cleanse the intestinal track. Cat's claw has been repeatedly shown to help our DNA repair itself and also to prevent further damage. In one human trial, participants taking the herb for just eight weeks showed significant improvements in DNA repair.

Enjoy Enzyme-Rich Raw Foods

Gabriel Cousens, M.D., N.D. tells us that the enzymes in raw foods help our DNA repair themselves. But, because enzymes are needed for digestion and they're routinely destroyed when foods are heated, eating cooked foods robs your body of enzymes. Therefore, the more cooked foods that you eat during your lifetime, the fewer enzymes you'll have available to repair your DNA from common threats. Conversely, the more raw foods you consume, the better your body will be able to repair your DNA - as well as heal, nourish and repair your other tissues and organs.

Eat Cabbage and other Cruciferous Vegetables

Raw cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables are key for DNA repair for several reasons. First, they contain large amounts of folate - which plays an important role in cell division and DNA repair. In 2006, researchers also found that the indole-3s in cruciferous vegetables increase our body's production of BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins - which are proteins that repair damaged DNA. These proteins are also widely acknowledged to be tumor suppressing. To boot, cruciferous vegetables contain a substance called sulforaphane which has been shown to increase our production of phase-2 detoxification enzymes. These enzymes help the body render harmless and eliminate many chemicals and toxins - so really, they help your body remove what is so often causing the problem.

Scientists announce amazing findings: chocolate offers huge protection from heart disease and stroke

 All regular readers of NaturalNews know that researchers have discovered chocolate (especially the organic, not junked up with additives and sugar type) contains phytochemicals which appear to promote good health. But no one has had much of a clue about the specifics of some of those benefits on the cardiovascular system -- until now. Scientists at the European Society of Cardiology Congress currently underway in Paris just announced that chocolate provides huge protection from heart disease as well as stroke.

That's great news because, despite the billions of dollars spent on mainstream medicine's drugs and surgical interventions, the battle against cardiovascular disease obviously needs some serious help. Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by 2030 nearly 23.6 million people will die yearly from heart disease.

So just imagine the fluttering of hearts in Big Pharma offices if they found a no side effect, easy to produce drug that actually worked to lower the risk of developing heart disease in the first place by almost 40 percent. The demand and profits to be made would be enormous. While there is no such medication, it turns out that eating chocolate regularly appears to accomplish what pills can't.

For a new study, which was just published in the online version of theBritish Medical Journal, Dr. Oscar Franco and colleagues from the University of Cambridge carried out a large scale investigation of existing research on chocolate. In all, they looked at research involving over 100,000 participants with and without existing heart disease. Then the scientists evaluated the effects of eating chocolate on cardiovascular events including heart attacks and stroke.

For each of seven studies that were analyzed, the research team compared the group with the highest chocolate consumption against the group with the lowest consumption (to minimize bias, they factored in differences in the way each study had been designed). Bottom line:the highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with an astounding 37 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease and an almost 30 percent reduction in stroke compared with lowest levels of chocolate eating.

The studies did not differentiate between dark or milk chocolate and included consumption of chocolate bars, drinks, biscuits and desserts -- which raises an obvious question not answered by the new research analysis. Would the cardiovascular protection be even more pronounced if the chocolate didn't include extra sugars, unhealthy fats or chemical additives found in many chocolate drinks and candy bars?

The authors of the study did warn their findings need to be interpreted cautiously because commercially available chocolate products are often loaded with calories, so eating too much of these can lead to weight gain and be harmful to health in general. However, in a statement to the media, they concluded that given the health benefits of eating chocolate, "initiatives to reduce the current fat and sugar content in most chocolate products should be explored."

Women with high cholesterol live longer, have fewer heart attacks and strokes

  If the diagnosis of high cholesterol sounds like a death sentence to your ears, you may be the victim of cholesterol propaganda. It's not uncommon to believe that lower is better when it comes to cholesterol, but new research shows otherwise. In fact, a recent study in Norway says women with high cholesterol live longer and suffer from fewer heart attacks and strokes than those with lower cholesterol.

Can High Cholesterol Save Your Life?

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology looked at 52,087 individuals between the ages of 20 and 74. After adjusting for factors like age, smoking and blood pressure, researchers found women with high cholesterol (more than 270 mg/dl) had a 28 percent lower mortality risk than women with low cholesterol (under 193 mg/dl). Risk for heart disease, cardiac arrest and stroke also declined as cholesterol levels rose.

The researchers involved in the study admit this contradicts commonly accepted beliefs about cholesterol. They say current guideline information is misleading because the role of cholesterol in heart disease is overestimated.

These results fly in the face of what most of us have been told about cholesterol. Our misconceptions about cholesterol may in fact be endangering countless lives. For instance, millions of people are prescribed statin drugs to lower their cholesterol levels, believing that this will save their lives. Not only do statin drugs come with a plethora of dangerous side effects, but now the very premise of their existence is also brought into question.

Our focus on lowering cholesterol to prevent heart disease and mortality is misplaced. It also fails to serve in the best interest of our health and wellness. In fact, the dogmatic belief that cholesterol must be lowered appears to best serve pharmaceutical companies, which profit from cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Better results will be achieved when we develop a more well-rounded focus on other risks for heart disease, which include stress, toxins, a sedentary lifestyle and a poor diet. As an added bonus, these factors aren't treated with dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, but with simple, healthful lifestyle changes.

Vitamin D3 does even more than publicized - it enhances mental health

   Most of us know that vitamin D3 helps prevent almost anything from flu to cancer by strengthening our immune systems. But little has been publicized about D3's potential for preventing or getting out of depression. Recent studies link D3 deficiencies to depression. And there is some, who speculate how D3's physiological protections directly affect moods.

D3 Depression studies and speculations

Several studies indicate the potential for preventing and treating mental disorders such as depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), anxiety, and schizophrenia. Though the studies are not considered conclusive, the fact that there is a connection with vitamin D and mood is apparent. 

Another study among the elderly in 2006 showed that those with lower levels of vitamin D were up to 11 times more likely to be depressed than those with healthy vitamin D blood levels.

There is speculation that vitamin D deficiency may directly affect the balance ofdopamineandnorepinephrinereceptors, which can lead to symptoms of depression. Other speculation revolves around Vitamin D3's immune regulating responses to prevent inflammation, which is often linked with anxiety or depression.

An immune response that's too strong can cause inflammation, as well as a response that is not enough allows inflammation to occur. As an immune system regulator, vitamin D3 boosts or dampens immune responses as needed to help prevent inflammation.

Vitamin D deficiency has also been associated with hyperthyroidism (too much thyroid hormonal activity), and hyperthyroidism has often been discovered among older depressed men and women.

In addition to regulating the immune system up or down as needed, so too does D3 regulate the stress hormoneglucocorticoid. Too much or too little of this hormone is associated with mental disorders.

Vitamin D3 provides an enzyme essential for creating catecholamine neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, adrenaline, and noradrenaline. These neurotransmitter imbalances are associated with bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and of course, depression.

It's also known that the summer sun, which has the highest amount of UVB vitamin D3 creating rays, increases serotonin levels. Summertime is the time to ditch any skin cancer paranoia and get plenty of reasonable direct sunlight to the skin.

Reviewing D3 in general

Although the label vitamin D3 is widely accepted, it is not just a vitamin. It is also a prohormone, which acts as a support to existing hormones or as a precursor for more hormonal production.

Vitamin D3 orcholecalciferolis synthesized by the action of the sun's or tanning lamp's ultraviolet B (UVB) spectrum with7-dehydrocholesterolmolecules in our skin. Most vitamin D3 supplements are created by exposing the 7-Dehydrocholesterol molecules of lanolin from sheep's wool to UVB rays.

Of course, winter is an obvious time to take high doses of D3 supplements. Blood serum levels of D3 can be tested to ensure what dosage you may need for your body's optimum health. But around 5000 international units (iu) or more per day is not unusual for many. Not to worry, apparently it's difficult to OD on D3.

It's nice to know you can strengthen and stabilize your moods and protect your mental health, in addition to many other physiological health benefits, with Vitamin D3.

Confront the coffee controversy

(NaturalNews) Just a couple of decades ago, quitting coffee was a prerequisite for establishing a healthy diet and adopting a healthier lifestyle. But gradually, several new research studies into coffee drinking have provided health benefits from drinking coffee. So now we have both positive and negative health effects from drinking coffee.

Coffee benefits

It's not just the caffeine, but a synergistic combination of caffeine and an unnamed natural compound stimulate higher blood levels of GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor), which protect the brain from dementia and degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

This conclusion was published inThe Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, May/June 2011 from research by a team at the University of South Florida.

Coffee drinkers also showed lower rates of diabetes and strokes. An American Heart Association's journal,Stroke, published findings from a long term Swedish study involving 35,000 women. Dr. Susanna Larsson led this study from The Division of Nutritional Epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute's National Institute of Environmental Medicine.

The heaviest coffee consumption is commonly found in regions that are often overcast, drizzly, and dreary. The Pacific Northwest in America is a good example. Apparently coffee offers some protection against depression also.

The protections against the diseases of concern noted in the studies were very substantial. Since coffee beans are loaded with antioxidants, coffee should be consumed without dairy, sugar, or artificial sweeteners. Sweetening with Stevia would be okay. Avoid flavored coffees.

Of course, forget the standard pastries and cigarettes normally associated with drinking coffee. That could be what causes bad health more among coffee drinkers than just coffee.

Organic black coffee with natural whole grain toast or pastries is a good way to have your java fix without adding items that minimize or neutralize coffee's antioxidants.

Coffee drawbacks

Addiction, inability to fall asleep if consumed at night, and caffeine jitters are the most obvious downsides. Using decaffeinated coffee, which leaves just enough caffeine to combine with the mystery compound and antioxidants, has shown similar, albeit lesser, health benefits as regular coffee. Just make sure it's decaffeinated with water or steam, not chemicals.

Since caffeine is a diuretic, any kidney or bladder problems can be exacerbated. If not, beware of not replenishing eliminated liquid with purified water. Perhaps the worst ill effect of excess coffee drinking involves the adrenal glands.

When we drink coffee, the adrenal glands are stimulated to produce adrenaline. This is part of the flight or fight syndrome. It is what causes irritability, especially since it also inhibits soothing serotonin.

If coffee is consumed excessively too often and too long, one can experience Adrenal Fatigue, a malady that seems to be recognized by holistic medicine only. Adrenal Fatigue lowers cortisol production, making it very difficult to cope with stress. 

Clarifying coffee type confusions

There are generally two basic types of beans sold widely, Arabica and Robusta. You'll find Arabica beans in discriminating coffee shops and health food stores. Arabica beans offer richer flavor than Robusta beans, which are usually used in less expensive coffees. Organic coffee beans are easy to find nowadays.

Types of roast vary from light to dark. Contrary to popular belief,dark roasted beans contain slightly less caffeine than lighter roasts. And espresso, commonly spelled incorrectly as expresso, does not depend on the level of roasting. Purists argue that only lever operated steam pressure machines make real espresso. And any roast can be used.