Health Benefits of Ginseng

By Dr. Mercola

Ginseng is one of the most popular herbal supplements in the US, perhaps most well known for its traditional use of boosting memory and energy levels. However, it has many other uses. For starters, ginseng is considered an adaptogen, which means it helps your body to withstand mental and physical stress.

Delving further into the benefits first requires understanding the different typesof ginseng available. There are three major varieties, each with unique attributes, although only two are actually ginseng:

• American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius): This tan, gnarled root contains ginsenosides, which are thought to be responsible for many of its medicinal properties. Chinese medicine, which has used ginseng for thousands of years, considers American ginseng a “cool” calming tonic.¹
• Asian ginseng ((Panax ginseng): Sometimes referred to as Korean ginseng, Asian ginseng also contains ginsenosides, although in different proportions than American ginseng, and is considered an adaptogenic herb. According to Chinese medicine, Asian ginseng is a “hot” stimulant.²
• Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus): Siberian ginseng is not a true ginseng and does not contain ginsenosides. Its active components are called eleutherosides, which are thought to stimulate your immune system.

Like American and Asian ginseng, however, Siberian ginseng is an adaptogen that’s traditionally been used to increase energy, stimulate the immune system, and increase longevity.³

What Are the Health Benefits of American Ginseng?

American ginseng cannot be used for medicinal purposes until it’s at least six years old (the wrinkles around the neck of the root reveal its age). Due to overharvesting, American ginseng is endangered in the wild and quite expensive to purchase, although it’s also grown on farms now as well.⁴

Most research to date has involved Asian ginseng, however the studies that have been done on the American variety suggest it may boost your immune system, function as an antioxidant and also benefit inflammatory conditions. It may also be useful as an all-around stress tonic. According to research published in the Journal of Herbs, Spices & Medicinal Plants:⁵

“[American] Ginseng is traditionally reputed to regularize bodily functions and relieve many ailments resulting from physiological stress. Beneficial effects are thought to be due to a non-specific influence on production and use of regulatory hormones.

As an ‘adaptogen’, ginseng exhibits anti-fatigue, anti-stress, and anti-aging activity, as well as general improvement of mental and physical performance, ‘recognized in therapeutic claims permitted by a plethora of international regulatory constituencies.”

Additional benefits include:

Memory: American ginseng was found to improve working memory and mood in both young individuals and middle-age adults.6 Another study revealed “robust working memory enhancement following administration of American ginseng.”7	Diabetes: American ginseng appears to have anti-diabetic properties. In one animal study, extract of American ginseng root lead to weight loss and lower blood sugar levels in mice with type 2 diabetes.8 It’s also been shown to increase insulin sensitivity in healthy individuals.9
Cancer: American ginseng has anti-cancer properties that appear to suppress tumor growth. It has shown particular promise in treating colorectal cancer.10	Cold and Flu: Older adults who took an extract of American ginseng had a 48 percent reduction in relative risk, and a 55 percent reduction in duration, of respiratory illness.11 This herb was also found to be “a safe and effective treatment for reducing the absolute risk of recurrent colds and the mean number of colds per person.”12
ADHD: A combination of American ginseng and ginkgo biloba may improve symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and teens.13	Immune System Function:American ginseng has also been found to stimulate the immune system, helping your body fight off infections and disease.14

What Are the Health Benefits of Asian Ginseng?

If you’re wondering which type of ginseng is right for you, consider this: if you’re seeking an herb to calm stress-related problems, American ginseng is the “cooling” or “calming” version of the two. Asian ginseng is regarded as heating and is not generally recommended for stress relief.

Differences in levels of the eight major ginsenosides are thought to account for the plants’ varying characteristics. For example, Asian ginseng contain similar quantities of the ginsenosides Rb1 and Rg1, while American ginseng has very little Rg1. Rg1 is regarded as a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, fatigue fighter, enhancer of mental performance.

For comparison, Rb1 is a CNS depressant with tranquilizing and anti-psychotic properties. As written in the journal Phytochemistry:¹⁵

“Since American ginseng has a lower ratio of Rg1/Rb1, it seems to calm the CNS. In contrast, Asian ginseng appears to stimulate the CNS.”

Also, while American ginseng appears promising for type 2 diabetes, the results are less clear for Asian ginseng. While some research suggests a benefit for diabetes, other studies have found it could raise blood sugar levels, so this is an area that needs further study.¹⁶ With that in mind, what else might Asian ginseng be beneficial for?

Heart health:Ginseng shows promise for protecting heart health, including anti-hypertensive effects and protection against heart failure.17 Asian ginseng, in particular, may protect against symptoms of heart disease and supporthealthy cholesterol levels. Heart health is another area where the effects of Asian and American ginseng need to be further explored, as each likely had different heart effects. Some research suggests Asian ginseng increases blood pressure at typical doses but lowers it at higher doses, so be careful with its use if you have high blood pressure.18	Neurodegenerative diseases: Evidence is accumulating that Asian ginseng may have neuroprotective properties, including maintaining homeostasis and anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, and immune-stimulatory activities. The herb could potentially be useful for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological disorders.19	Stroke: Asian ginseng’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties appear useful as a promising neuroprotective strategy in stroke.According to a study published in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, “It can… prevent neuronal death as a result of stroke, thus decreasing anatomical and functional stroke damage. “20
Cancer-related fatigue (CRF): CRF is the most common symptom in patients with cancer. Those who used high-dose Asian ginseng (800 mg orally daily for 29 days) reported improved fatigue, quality of life, appetite and sleep quality.21	Cancer: According to research published in the Alternative Medicine Review,“The mechanisms whereby Asian ginseng is thought to have a potential role as a cancer preventive and treatment agent include the mitigation of DNA damage, anti-inflammatory carcinogenesis, antioxidant chemoprevention, apoptosis induction, inhibition of cancer cell proliferation, and immunomodulation. Studies have shown the capability of ginseng to repair and reverse cell differentiation in hepatoma, melanoma, and adenocarcinoma cells … Asian ginseng has shown promise in the treatment of several specific types of cancer, including leukemia, melanoma, and colon, gastric, hepatic, kidney, ovarian, prostate, and pulmonary cancers.”22	Cold and flu: Like American ginseng, Asian ginseng appears to stimulate the immune system. In one study, those who took 400 mg of Asian ginseng daily for four months had fewer colds, and those they did come down with were shorter in duration.23
Erectile dysfunction: Asian ginseng may be beneficial in treating erectile dysfunction,24and it may also improve sperm production, sexual activity, and sexual performance.	Mental performance:Asian ginseng appears to boost alertness as well as thinking and learning. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, “Early research shows that Asian ginseng may improve performance on such things as mental arithmetic, concentration, memory, and other measures.”25	Menopausal symptoms: There is some evidence suggesting Asian ginseng may help relieve certain menopausal symptoms, particularly depression and well-being.26

What Is Siberian Ginseng Used For?

As mentioned, Siberian ginseng is not true ginseng, although it is often confused with the herb. The main uses of Siberian ginseng are immune-system stimulation, to increase energy and vitality and also as an adaptogenic herb used during times of stress.

Siberian ginseng has also been found to have anti-viral properties, and reduced the number of herpes outbreaks among people with the herpes simplex virus type 2.²⁷ Germany’s Commission E has approved Siberian ginseng “as a tonic for invigoration and fortification in times of fatigue and debility or declining capacity for work and concentration. Ginseng was also approved for use during convalescence.”²⁸

Tips for Using Ginseng

Short-term use of ginseng is considered to be safe among adults. Asian ginseng is best taken in cycles, such as every day for two to three weeks, then taking a break for two to three weeks. In choosing a supplement, fermented ginseng may provide faster, more consistent absorption compared to non-fermented varieties. And if you choose Asian ginseng, look for the unpeeled variety (sometimes called red ginseng), as it will retain more of its bioactive compounds.

While generally safe, if taken in high doses, ginseng may lead to nervousness or insomnia. You should also use caution using ginseng if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you’re taking certain medications, including:²⁹

• Diabetes medications
• Blood-thinning medications such as warfarin
• Antidepressants called MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors)
• Anti-psychotic medications or stimulants
• Morphine

6 Mistakes You Might Be Making With Dietary Supplements

by

Dr. Laurie Steelsmith

As a natural health practitioner, I see many clients who take dietary supplements regularly. As simple as it sounds, supplementing can cause confusion—and people often make mistakes. Do you think you’re taking all the right nutrients, and that you’re taking them the correct way? Let’s look at some common errors people make:

1. Believing taking supplements is “enough”

No one achieves great health from taking a lot of pills. Over the years, I’ve had many people show up in my office with bags or other large containers (one brought a suitcase!) full of dietary supplements, asking, “Am I doing everything right?” Remember: health comes from the lifestyle choices you make every day, not from bottles of pills. Supplements are to supplement an already good foundation of health. You don’t need to take multiple pills a day if you’re eating well! A good multivitamin suffices for many people.

2. Taking calcium with iron

Here’s a little-known fact: calcium can hinder iron absorption. Check the label on your multivitamin. If it contains both of these minerals, you’re most likely not absorbing the full amount of iron. If you suffer from iron deficiency anemia, you can take iron, but make sure you take it at a different time of day than calcium. Iron absorption is enhanced when you take it along with vitamin C.

3. Mixing minerals and antacids

If you’re taking antacids, don’t take mineral supplements at the same time. Adequate stomach acid is needed to absorb minerals. If you take an antacid every day, be sure to take minerals like calcium, iron, and zinc with meals, when your stomach would naturally increase its stomach acidity through the release of hydrochloric acid. It’s advised that you not take zinc on an empty stomach; most people will feel nauseated if they do this.

4. Thinking beta carotene and vitamin A are the same thing

For the record, beta carotene is not vitamin A. Many people read vitamin labels that notes “vitamin A (as beta carotene),” and they take that to mean that beta carotene is the same as vitamin A. But beta carotene isn’t vitamin A—it’s the precursor to vitamin A. This distinction is important because vitamin A in doses greater than 10,000 international units (IU) per day have been reported to be potentially harmful during pregnancy. Beta carotene is non-toxic, even in high doses, and it can be converted in the body to vitamin A. (Your body won’t convert more beta carotene to vitamin A than it needs). Most multivitamins today have only beta carotene on the label, but make sure yours doesn’t have vitamin A if you’re in your childbearing years.

5. Taking calcium carbonate if you have digestive issues

If you have a sluggish digestive system – i.e. constipation – taking calcium carbonate may increase the problem.Calcium citrate would be an ideal alternative. On the other hand, people on the opposite end of the digestive-issue spectrum (suffering from diarrhea) should be aware that taking too much calcium citrate, or magnesium citrate, can worsen their condition.

6. Taking herbal supplements with meals

Finally, it’s generally best to take herbal supplements on an empty stomach to enhance their absorption. However, if your stomach gets upset, you can take them with a small snack.

• About
• Latest Posts

Dr. Laurie Steelsmith

Laurie Steelsmith, ND, LAc, is a naturopathic physician and licensed acupuncturist who specializes in women’s health. She is the co-author of Great Sex, Naturally: Every Woman’s Guide to Enhancing Her Sexuality Through the Secrets of Natural Medicine and co-author of Natural Choices for Women’s Health: How the Secrets of Natural and Chinese Medicine Can Create a Lifetime of Wellness. Visit her website at http://www.DrSteelsmith.com.

You love okra, right??

Okra

Okra is gaining a reputation as a superfood for people at the risk of diabetes

Okra is fast gaining a reputation as a so-called ‘superfood’ for people with or at risk of diabetes or cancer.

Commonly referred to as ladyfingers, or by its biological names Abelmoschus esculentus and Hibiscus esculentus, okra is known to have a positive effect on blood sugar control, among many other health benefits.

What is okra?

Okra is a tall-growing vegetable that traces its origin from ancient Ethiopia (Abyssinia) through to Eastern Mediterranean, India, the Americas and the Caribbean.

Parts of the plant (immature okra pods) are widely used vegetables in tropical countries and are typically used for making soups, stews or as a fried/boiled vegetable

 These tender pods are very low in calories, providing just 30 calories per 100 g, and contain no saturated fats or cholesterol. They are also rich in nutrients, completely non-toxic, and have no adverse side effects.

How can it help treat diabetes?

Evidence of okra having anti-diabetic properties has increased in recent years, with multiple Vitro (laboratory) and Vivo (animal) studies confirming okra as a potent blood glucose-lowering (or anti-diabetic) food.

In one study, published 2011 in the Journal of Pharmacy & BioAllied Sciences, researchers in India found that diabetic mice fed dried and ground okra peels and seeds experienced a reduction in their blood glucose levels, while others showed a gradual decrease in blood glucose following regular feeding of okra extract for about ten days.

Outside of scientific research, many people with diabetes have reported decreasing blood sugar levels after soaking cut-up okra pieces in water overnight and then drinking the juice in the morning, while in Turkey roasted okra seeds have been used as a traditional diabetes medicinefor generations.

What’s behind this effect?

The superior insoluble fibre contained in okra is believed to help stabilise blood glucose by slowing the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract.

Other health benefits

Because okra is a rich source of dietary fibre, important vitamins and minerals, and powerful antioxidants, the vegetable is known to be beneficial for health in a number of ways.

These include:

• Preventing and improving constipation
• Lowering cholesterol
• Reducing the risk of some forms of cancer, especially colorectal cancer
• Improving energy levels and improving symptoms of depression
• Helping to treat sore throat, irritable bowel, ulcers and lung inflammation

Fluoride Deception

The Fluoride Deception Continues as US Government Ignores Fluoride’s Role as an Endocrine Disruptor

June 20, 2015 |

By Dr. Mercola

In 2012 more than 67 percent of Americans received fluoridated water,¹ and of those, more than 11 million people were getting fluoride at or above the “optimal” level of 0.7-1.2 milligrams per liter (mg/L), according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Then, in April this year, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that this “optimal” level of fluoride, recommended since 1962, had in fact been set too high, resulting in 40 percent of American teens showing signs of overexposure²–a condition known as dental fluorosis.

So, for the first time in nearly 55 years, the US government lowered its recommended level of fluoride in drinking water^3,4,5 to a maximum of 0.7 mg/L. The question is, will this new level protect everyone from overexposure?

Considering the fact that virtually all Americans get fluoride from other sources such as toothpaste, dental rinses, processed foods, and beverages, and the fact that fluoride accumulates in your body over time, chances are this lower level will still pose a health risk for many.

The first public experiment was allowed to continue for more than half a century before a reevaluation of the dosage was done. Now, we’ll have to wait another decade before they try to determine whether 0.7 mg/L is really “optimal” or not.

Remember, fluoride is a toxic drug administered without prescription or dosage control, so really, the optimal dosage of fluoride in water is actually zero…

Fluoride Is a Toxic Drug Dispensed Without Prescription or Dosage Control

Fluoride is added to drinking water in an albeit futile attempt to prevent a disease (tooth decay), and as such becomes a medicine by FDA definition—and like most other drugs, there may be side effects.

The severity of those side effects depends on your age, size/weight, health status, and of course the amount of water you consume.

While proponents claim water fluoridation is no different than adding vitamin D to milk, fluoride is not an essential nutrient that many are deficient in, which is the case with vitamin D. Moreover, fluoride isn’t even approved by the FDA for the prevention of cavities!

What’s worse, it’s quite obvious that when you add fluoride to drinking water, you cannot control the dose that people are getting, and this alone is one of the reasons why fluoride should not be added to drinking water at any level.

Doing so can have significant consequences, but the health effects are largely hidden in the general disease statistics, since none of the US agencies promoting fluoridation are tracking and correlating the health outcomes offluoride exposure.

What Happens to the Fluoride in Your Body?

Approximately 98 percent of the fluoride you consume is absorbed into your blood through your gastrointestinal tract. From there, it enters your body’s tissues.

On average, about 50 percent of the fluoride you ingest each day gets excreted through your kidneys, so kidney function is another important factor when it comes to the build-up of fluoride and its potentially toxic effects. The remainder accumulates in your teeth and bones,⁶ pineal gland,⁷ and other tissues—including your blood vessels, where it can contribute to calcification.

According to a 500-page long scientific review⁸ by the National Research Council of the National Academies (NRC), published in 2006, fluoride is an endocrine disruptor that can affect your thyroid function⁹ and even your blood sugar levels.

British researchers recently warned that 15,000 Britons may be needlessly afflicted with hypothyroidism as a result of drinking fluoridated water.¹⁰ Thyroid dysfunction is also rampant in the US,¹¹ so from a public health standpoint, it makes no sense whatsoever to medicate the entire population with a drug that can either induce or exacerbate this condition.

Even more disturbing, 43 human studies¹² have linked moderately high fluoride exposures with reduced IQ in children, and over 100 animal studies have linked it to brain damage.

Recent research¹³ has also linked water fluoridation with higher prevalence of ADHD. Using a predictive model, the researchers show that every one percent increase in the portion of the US population drinking fluoridated water in 1992 was associated with 67,000 additional cases of ADHD 11 years later, and an additional 131,000 cases 19 years later.

HHS Ignores Fact that Fluoride Is an Endocrine Disruptor

Despite massive amounts of evidence of harm, US health authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) insist that water fluoridation has but one documented risk—dental fluorosis. And they claim dental fluorosis is primarily a cosmetic detriment.¹⁴

This ignores the fundamental fact that dental fluorosis is simply the most visibleform of fluorosis. If your teeth are being damaged, you may actually be suffering fluoride damage in areas you cannot see as well, such as your bones and internal organs.

In at least one previous study, bone fracture rates rose sharply with increasing severity of dental fluorosis, indicating that dental fluorosis may in fact be an outward sign of damage occurring inside the body.

According to Fluoride Action Network¹⁵ (FAN), the HHS whitewashed a number of safety issues when finalizing its new fluoride recommendation, including the impact fluoride has on intelligence.

Besides the 43 studies showing water fluoridation lowers IQ, a number of studies^16,17,18,19 have specifically shown that children who have moderate or severe dental fluorosis score lower on tests measuring cognitive skills and IQ.

This suggests that if 40 percent of our kids have dental fluorosis, water fluoridation is likely affecting our children’s IQ as well.

Another key factor ignored by the HHS is that fluoride is an endocrine disruptor—a finding reported for the first time in the NRC’s 2006 report.²⁰ Endocrine disruptors have the potential to disrupt the biology of both humans and animals, and this is certainly far more significant than severe dental fluorosis!

To learn more about why water fluoridation runs counter to good science, common sense, and the public good, please see the following video, which recounts 10 important fluoride facts. I also strongly encourage you to watch the featured interview with Christopher Bryson to get a clear understanding of the true history of water fluoridation.

Water Fluoridation Was Invented to Solve an Industrial Pollution Problem

Christopher Bryson, an award-winning journalist and former radio producer at the BBC, wrote the book: The Fluoride Deception. Both the book and the interview featured above were published in 2004. The book is based on nearly a decade’s worth of research, and it reveals how fluoride—a toxic byproduct of the aluminum industry—ended up being added to drinking water as a dental prophylactic. The commonly repeated history of how water fluoridation came to be states that the practice was spurred on by research from the 1930s, which found that people who drank water containing higher levels ofnaturally-occurring fluoride tended to have less severe tooth decay.

The real story, however, reveals fluoridation was little more than a well-orchestrated PR stunt, designed to sell an inconveniently toxic reality to an unsuspecting public. In his book, Bryson describes the deeply intertwined interests that existed in the 1940s and ’50s between the aluminum industry, the US nuclear weapons program, and the dental industry, which resulted in toxic fluoride being declared not only safe, but beneficial to human health. Prior to 1945 when communal water fluoridation in the US took effect, fluoride was in fact known as a protoplasmic poison that alters the permeability of the cell membrane by affecting certain enzymes.²¹

A 1936 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association stated that fluoride at the 1 part per million (ppm) concentration is as toxic as arsenic and lead. An editorial published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, October 1, 1944, stated: “Drinking water containing as little as 1.2 ppm fluoride will cause developmental disturbances.

We cannot run the risk of producing such serious systemic disturbances. The potentialities for harm outweigh those for good.” Such warnings were not heeded, and today we have even more evidence confirming these conclusions were in fact correct. One of the men responsible for quenching the resistance against water fluoridation was Harold Hodge, who headed up the toxicology department at the University of Rochester.

Back in 1957, Harold Hodge was the nation’s leading, most trusted scientist, and buried within declassified files of the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission, Bryson found proof showing Hodge was tasked with producing medical information about fluoride that could help defend the government against lawsuits over fluoride pollution—an increasingly expensive and legally sensitive problem. Courtesy of his rank and reputation, when Hodge declared fluoride “absolutely safe” at 1 ppm, people believed him, and the naysayers were dismissed.

The Importance of Understanding Water Fluoridation Within Its Historical Context

Once you understand that the endorsement of fluoride as a dental health prophylactic arose from the need to address increasingly debilitating political and industrial problems relating to fluoride pollution, it becomes easier to see why the US government cannot backpedal and admit the whole thing was a scam. In his 2012 article “Poison is Treatment—Edward Bernays and the Campaign to Fluoridate America,”²² James F. Tracy boldly reveals the PR campaign that created this fake public health measure:

“The wide-scale US acceptance of fluoride-related compounds in drinking water and a wide variety of consumer products over the past half century is a textbook case of social engineering orchestrated by Sigmund Freud’s nephew and the ‘father of public relations’ Edward L. Bernays,” he writes. “The episode is instructive, for it suggests the tremendous capacity of powerful interests to reshape the social environment, thereby prompting individuals to unwarily think and act in ways that are often harmful to themselves and their loved ones.”

It’s unrealistic to believe the government will admit to orchestrating such a scheme, as there may be significant legal ramifications. For this reason, getting water fluoridation abolished has proven to be exceedingly difficult. One successful strategy has been to hold those making claims—and the elected officials who rely on them—accountable for producing proof that the specific fluoridation chemical being used fulfills their health and safety claims, and is in compliance with all regulations, laws, and risk assessments already required for safe drinking water.

For example, a few years ago, a Tennessee town stopped adding the hydrofluosilicic acid fluoride product they had been using, while still keeping its resolution to fluoridate its water supplies intact (meaning they didn’t make a decision on whether it might be harmful). They just haven’t been able to find a replacement product that is compliant with existing laws, regulations and safe-water requirements, and they will not add any fluoride product that is not in compliance. To learn more, please see this previous article, which discusses these strategies more in-depth.

The Best Cavity Prevention Is Your Diet

The best way to prevent cavities is not by adding fluoride, but by addressing your diet. One of the keys to oral health is eating a traditional diet rich in fresh, unprocessed vegetables, nuts, and grass-fed meats. By avoiding sugars and processed foods, you prevent the proliferation of the bacteria that cause decay in the first place. Scientific American²³ recently addressed this issue, also noting that excessive sugar consumption is at the heart of the dental caries problem.

According to Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development: “We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10 percent of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay.” Other natural strategies that can significantly improve your dental health is eating plenty of fermented vegetables, and doing oil pulling with coconut oil. Also make sure you’re getting plenty of omega-3 fats, as research suggests even moderate amounts of omega-3 fats may help ward off gum disease. My favorite source is krill oil.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/mercola/special-content/fluoridation.html

The wonders of hydrogen peroxide

A 3-cent tooth whitener and 7 other surprising uses for hydrogen peroxide

Oct. 30, 2014 at 3:09 PM

Bryce Gruber

iVillage

There’s a good chance you have a little brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide in your bathroom right now — but you probably don’t use it for much other than the occasional disinfection of minor cuts and scrapes. Behold all the affordable (and ingenious) uses you’ve been missing out on.

Chris Lenfert / Shutterstock

Whiten teeth 
Instead of unloading serious cash at the drugstore for whitening mouthwash, try three-percent hydrogen peroxide, which you’ll find on drugstore shelves for around a dollar a bottle. “Rinsing with [it] can result in whitening benefits such as less bacteria buildup, less inflamed gums, and fresher breath,” says Dr. Sivan Finkel, of NYC’s Dental Parlour.

Fight foot fungus
If you’ve ever been plagued with athlete’s foot, there’s a good chance all the over-the-counter creams and powders haven’t given you a permanent solution. Instead, put hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and spritz your feet all over two to three times per day until the symptoms disappear.

Revive beauty tools
“In small quantities peroxide can be useful to clean artificial makeup brushes weekly,” says Dr. Debra Luftman, dermatologist with the Simple Advisory Board. Dilute peroxide with 50-percent water in a cup or mason jar, stick your best brushes in for five minutes, and then rinse.

Prevent pimples
One cause of acne is the build-up of bacteria inside pores. Combat germs by swiping a hydrogen peroxide-soaked cotton swab over particularly acne-prone areas and give your existing routine a zit-fighting boost.

Brighten nails
If red polish has left your nails stained, try soaking fingertips in peroxide for three to four minutes. If that doesn’t do the trick, keep swabbing peroxide over the nail beds until the yellow has been fully removed.

Freshen breath
Bad breath is more often than not the result of nasty bacterial overgrowth (not that garlic spinach pizza you had for dinner last night). Try brushing your teeth, then your tongue before gargling with a tablespoon of peroxide for 30 to 60 seconds.

Whiten fabrics
Instead of harsh bleach, add two full cups of hydrogen peroxide to your load of whites.

D.I.Y deodorant
Wipe hydrogen peroxide under your arms to kill the odor-causing bacteria that’s behind body odor.

The Most Dangerous Prescription Drugs

The Most Dangerous Prescription Drugs.

Missing sleep can lead to Alzheimers

By Dr. Mercola

Poor sleep may be an “early warning beacon” or a “distress call” alerting to the beginnings of Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research. While sleep problems are common in Alzheimer’s patients, poor sleep may also be contributing to the disease by driving the buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

Study author Bryce Mander, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, told Medicine Net:¹

“Sleep appears to be a missing piece in the Alzheimer’s puzzle, and enhancing sleep may lessen the cognitive burden that Alzheimer’s disease imparts.”

Disrupted Deep Sleep May Lead to Memory Impairment

Researchers measured the brain waves of 26 cognitively normal older adults during sleep and found those with disrupted deep sleep patterns had higher amounts of amyloid plaques in their brain.²

In addition, both disrupted sleep and the higher levels of amyloid plaque were associated with worse performance on memory tests conducted before and after sleep. The study participants were not followed to see if anyone developed mild cognitive impairment, which is often a precursor to Alzheimer’s, or Alzheimer’s disease in the years to come.

However, the study did show interrupted deep sleep contributes to a buildup of amyloid, which in turn is linked to impaired performance on memory tests. What this suggests is that poor sleep may be an indicator of amyloid buildup, which could be causing very subtle brain changes, long before disease develops.

It’s unclear at this time if remedying sleep problems could slow this progression specifically, but it is known that sleep is absolutely crucial for brain health. And past research has also linked lack of sleep to Alzheimer’s…

Sleep Loss Damages Your Brain

Sleep is necessary for maintaining metabolic homeostasis in your brain. Wakefulness is associated with mitochondrial stress, and without sufficient sleep, neuron degeneration sets in.

In one animal study, inconsistent, intermittent sleep (similar to what might be experienced by shift workers) resulted in remarkably considerable, and irreversible, brain damage—the mice actually lost 25 percent of the neurons located in their locus coeruleus, a nucleus in the brainstem associated with arousal, wakefulness, and certain cognitive processes.³ As reported by Timemagazine:⁴

“The scientists believe that when the mice slept inconsistently, their newer cells would create more sirtuin type 3, a protein meant to energize and protect the mice. But after several days of missing sleep, as a shift worker might, the protein creation fell off and cells began to die off at a faster pace.”

Further, according to research published in the journal Neurology, lack of sleep may affect the size of your brain.⁵ A total of 147 adult volunteers underwent MRI scans to assess the link between sleep and brain volume.

As it turns out, sleep problems like insomnia can have a distinct impact on your brain over time, causing it to shrink—and shrink more rapidly, compared to those who sleep well. This effect was particularly significant in those over 60.

Your Brain Needs Sleep to Detoxify

In your body, the lymphatic system is the system responsible for eliminating cellular waste products. However, the lymphatic system does not include your brain. The reason for this is that your brain is a closed system, protected by the blood-brain barrier, which controls what can go through and what cannot.

Your brain has a unique method of removing toxic waste through what’s been dubbed the glymphatic system. The “g” in glymphatic is a nod to “glial cells”—the brain cells that manage this system.

By pumping cerebral spinal fluid through your brain’s tissues, the glymphatic system flushes the waste, from your brain, back into your body’s circulatory system. From there, the waste eventually reaches your liver, where it’s ultimately eliminated.

This system ramps up its activity during sleep, thereby allowing your brain to clear out toxins, including harmful proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease, for example. During sleep, the glymphatic system becomes 10 times more active than during wakefulness.

What’s more, they discovered that your brain cells actually shrink by about 60 percent during sleep, which allows for more efficient waste removal.⁶ Amyloid-beta, for example, is removed in significantly greater quantities during sleep. According to lead author Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc.:⁷

“The brain only has limited energy at its disposal and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states — awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up. You can think of it like having a house party. You can either entertain the guests or clean up the house, but you can’t really do both at the same time.

…These findings have significant implications for treating ‘dirty brain’ disease like Alzheimer’s. Understanding precisely how and when the brain activates the glymphatic system and clears waste is a critical first step in efforts to potentially modulate this system and make it work more efficiently.”

Poor Sleep May Accelerate the Onset of Alzheimer’s

Adding to the sizeable quantity of research linking poor sleep with brain damage and Alzheimer’s, another study used mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s and exposed one group of mice to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness, while another group was exposed to 20 hours of light and only four hours of darkness.⁸ This lack of darkness significantly reduced the amount of time the mice slept.

At the end of the eight-week study, the mice that slept less were found to have significantly poorer memory. Their ability to learn new things was also impaired—despite the fact that the two groups of mice had about the same amount of amyloid plaque in their brains.

According to lead author Domenico Praticò, professor of pharmacology and microbiology/immunology in the university’s School of Medicine:⁹

“[W]e did observe that the sleep disturbance group had a significant increase in the amount of tau protein that became phosphorylated and formed the tangles inside the brain’s neuronal cells…

Because of the tau’s abnormal phosphorylation, the sleep-deprived mice had a huge disruption of this synaptic connection. This disruption will eventually impair the brain’s ability for learning, forming new memory and other cognitive functions, and contributes to Alzheimer’s disease.”

Since both groups of mice were bred to develop Alzheimer’s but the sleep deprived group developed these dementia-related problems sooner than the others, the researchers believe poor sleep acts as a trigger of pathological processes that accelerate the disease.

The researchers concluded, “Chronic sleep disturbance is an environmental risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.” As UC Berkeley neuroscience professor Matthew Walker, who worked on the featured study, told CBS News:¹⁰

“Sleep is helping wash away toxic proteins at night, preventing them from building up and from potentially destroying brain cells… It’s providing a power cleanse for the brain.”

Sleep Disturbances Are Widespread in the US

Sleep disturbances are endemic in the US, where nearly 40 percent of adults reported unintentionally falling asleep during the day in the past month, and five percent reported nodding off while driving.¹¹ Forty-five percent of teens also don’t get enough sleep on school nights and 25 percent report falling asleep in class at least once a week.

While many are struggling with actual sleep disorders, others lack sleep because they simply stay up too late. If you go to bed at 10 pm and get out of bed at 7 am, you might say you’ve slept for nine hours. In reality, you probably spent at least 15-30 minutes falling asleep and may have woken during the night one or more times.

With the advent of fitness-tracking wristbands such as Jawbone’s UP, however, you can access actual sleep data (and more), which is quite useful on a personal level. Newer devices, like Jawbone’s UP3, can even tell you what activities led to your best sleep and what factors resulted in poor sleep. You may be surprised at how little sleep you’re actually getting. When I first started using a fitness tracker, I was striving to get 8 hours of sleep, but my Jawbone UP typically recorded me at 7.5 to 7.75.

I have since increased my sleep time, not just time in bed, but total sleep time to over 8 hours per day, and the fitness tracker helped me realize that unless I am asleep, not just in bed, but asleep by 10 pm I won’t get my 8 hours. Gradually I have been able to get this down to 9:30 pm. So even if you go to bed at a reasonable hour, you might still be lacking in sleep. Aside from using a fitness tracker, how can you tell if you’re getting enough? And how much do you actually need?

How Much Sleep Should You Be Getting?

Dr. Rubin Naiman — a clinical psychologist, author, teacher, and the leader in integrative medicine approaches to sleep and dreams – recommends you simply sleep “enough hours so that your energy is sustained through the day without artificial stimulation, with the exception of a daytime nap,” which he believes you are biologically programmed for. I agree with this functional description rather than trying to come up with a specific numeric range. I would add to that guideline, however, the suggestion to watch out for physical or biological symptoms.

For example, when I push myself and don’t get high-quality sleep or enough sleep, I’m predisposed to postprandial hypoglycemia. In other words, I have low insulin resistance so when I sleep poorly, it doesn’t take much sugar or carbs for it to be easily metabolized and drop my blood sugar—which also makes me really sleepy. When I get enough sleep, I’m far less susceptible to it. Pay attention to clues your body may be giving you.

For instance, if you need an alarm clock to wake up and you wake up feeling tired and groggy, you probably need to go to sleep earlier (or get more restful sleep). It’s also said that if you fall asleep within a few minutes of your head hitting the pillow, you’re probably sleep deprived. A well-rested person will take about 10-15 minutes to fall asleep at night.¹² If you’re tired during the day, there’s a good chance you need to get more sleep, too. Even if you think can ‘get by’ on five or six hours a night, you’re not fooling your body.

It’s Not Only Your Brain That’s Harmed by Lack of Sleep

Sleep deprivation has the same effect on your immune system as physical stress or illness,¹³ which may help explain why lack of sleep is tied to an increased risk of numerous chronic diseases. Sleeping less than six hours per night more than triples your risk of high blood pressure, and women who get less than four hours of shut-eye per night double their chances of dying from heart disease.¹⁴ According to research from Great Britain, poor or insufficient sleep is actually the strongestpredictor for pain in adults over 50.¹⁵ Besides making you more susceptible to physical aches and pains, interrupted or impaired sleep can also:

• Increase your risk of cancer
• Harm your brain by halting new neuron production. Sleep deprivation can increase levels of corticosterone (a stress hormone), resulting in fewer new brain cells being created in your hippocampus
• Contribute to a pre-diabetic state, making you feel hungry even if you’ve already eaten, which can lead to weight gain
• Contribute to premature aging by interfering with your growth hormone production, normally released by your pituitary gland during deep sleep (and during certain types of exercise, such as high-intensity interval training)
• Increase your risk of dying from any cause

Researchers find genetic variant that could improve drug dosing in African Americans

By John Easton

JUNE 5, 2013

A multi-institutional team of researchers has identified a common genetic variation that can help physicians estimate the correct dose of the widely used blood-thinning drug warfarin, the first genome-wide association study to focus on warfarin dose requirement in African Americans.

The discovery, reported online first in The Lancet, suggests that people of African ancestry who carry this variant—more than 40 percent of the patients enrolled in this study—need significantly less warfarin to obtain optimal benefits compared to those who lack this variant.

RELATED CONTENT

VIDEO: Researchers discuss strategy to correctly dosing warfarin

Adding this genetic marker to standard dosing algorithms could improve the predictability of warfarin dosing by 21 percent in these individuals, increasing the safety and effectiveness of this notoriously hard to administer drug,” said Julie Johnson, a distinguished professor of pharmacy and medicine at the University of Florida and a leader of the International Warfarin Pharmacogenetics Consortium.

Warfarin, used to prevent blood clots after a heart attack, stroke or major surgery, is one of the world’s most widely prescribed drugs, accounting for more than 33 million prescriptions in the United States in 2012. It is also a drug for which correct dosing is notoriously difficult.

“It’s very important to get warfarin dosing right,” said the study’s lead author, Minoli Perera, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. “People take this drug because they’ve had a clotting problem. If you give them too little, they could form another clot, possibly causing a stroke or pulmonary embolism. If you give too much, they could bleed.”

But dose requirements vary widely, making it difficult to get the quantity right. “Some people need a few milligrams per day, and some need 20,” Perera said. The average dose for African Americans generally has been about 30 percent higher than that for Caucasians.

As a consequence, warfarin contributes to a third of hospitalizations for adverse drug reactions in people older than 65 years in the United States. “It is one of the most litigated of drugs,” Perera said.

Earlier studies found that variations of two genes, VKORC1 and CYP2C9, can predict about 30 percent of the difference in warfarin response in people of European or Asian ancestry. These genetic markers have proved less useful in determining the proper dose in African Americans.

To identify additional genetic factors that control warfarin dose requirements in African Americans, Perera, Johnson and colleagues analyzed health information and DNA samples from 533 African American adults on stable doses of warfarin from several sites. The majority of patients came from the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The researchers found a strong association between one gene variant known as rs12777823 on chromosome 10 and warfarin dose. This finding was corroborated in a second independent cohort of 432 additional African American patients.

The genome study showed that African Americans who possess one copy of this genetic variant need to reduce their dose by about 6 milligrams per week. Those with two copies of this variant may need to reduce their dose by as much as 9 milligrams per week.

By factoring genetic information into the standard formula for estimating the dose, physicians could improve their starting point for determining the optimal warfarin dose by 21 percent.

“We still don’t know every genetic or environmental factor that plays a role in determining the ideal dose,” Perera said. “But this improves our starting point. Working from that baseline, we can adjust doses until we have it right. This finding can help us get to the therapeutic dose quicker.”

In an accompanying editorial in the journal, stroke specialist Mark Alberts, professor of neurology and neurotherapeutics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, notes that there has long been a need to identify “additional genetic factors that play a role in determining warfarin metabolism … so that the accuracy of various dosing algorithms can be optimized.”

“This is particularly true for African American patients,” he wrote, “since prior studies have not enrolled such patients in large numbers, and current genetic markers appear to be less predictive of dosing regimens in this population.”

This study is also a triumph for a growing effort to focus more attention on genomic studies of health issues among African Americans.

“There have been several studies like this one that relied almost entirely on Caucasian populations, and they came up dry,” Perera said. “They kept finding the same genes over and over again. It’s reassuring to replicate previous studies, but only when we shifted the focus to African Americans did we find something new and different.”

“The need for more studies such as this in the African American population is critical,” she added. “Not only do they help to make personalized medicine available to everyone, but as our study demonstrates, they can provide clinically important results that could never have been found by looking for them only in Caucasians.”

Funding for the study came from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Wellcome Trust, Wisconsin Network for Health Research and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The International Warfarin Pharmacogenetics Consortium includes 42 researchers from 17 institutions. In addition to Johnson and Perera, study authors include Eric Gamazon, Anuar Konkashbaev, Anna Pluzhnikov, Nancy Cox and Yusuke Nakamura from the University of Chicago; Larisa Cavallari, Edith Nutescu and Shitalben Patel from the University of Illinois at Chicago; Nita Limdi, Jelai Wang and Nianjun Liu from the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Roxana Daneshjou, Nicholas Tatonetti, Hersh Sagreiya, Russ Altman and Teri Klein from Stanford University; Dana Crawford, Yukiko Bradford, Matthew Oetjens and Dan Roden from Vanderbilt University; Stephane Bourgeois and Panos Deloukas from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; Harumi Takahashi from Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo; Benjamin Burkley, Taimour Langaee and Mohamed Shahin from the University of Florida, Gainsville; Robert Desnick, Stuart Scott and Jonathan L Halperin from Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Sherief Khalifa from Qatar University; Steven Lubitz from Massachusetts General Hospital; Matthew Tector from Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee; Karen Weck and Michael Wagner from the University of North Carolina; Mark Rieder from the University of Washington; Alan Wu from the University of California at San Francisco; James Burmester from the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Wisconsin; Mia Wadelius from Uppsala University, Sweden; Taisei Mushiroda and Michiaki Kubo from RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.

– See more at: http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/06/05/researchers-find-genetic-variant-could-improve-drug-dosing-african-americans#sthash.oN4jBNHo.dpuf

Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen Lists

2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Makes Strides Toward Better Nutrition, But Fallacies Remain

By Dr. Mercola

Every five years, the US Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) convene a 15-member panel to update the nation’s dietary guidelines.

The panel’s stated mission is to identify foods and beverages that help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight, promote health, and prevent disease. These guidelines also serve as the foundation for national nutrition policies, such as school lunch programs and feeding programs for the elderly.

The 2015 dietary guidelines^1,2,3 include a number of positive modifications, although I still do not agree with all of its recommendations. Public comments on the report were only accepted through April 8, 2015.⁴

Cholesterol Limit Removed from 2015 Dietary Guidelines

On the up-side, the advisory panel has decided to eliminate warnings about dietary cholesterol, which for decades has been wrongfully blamed for causing heart disease.

The latest guidelines accurately state that there is no such link. According to the report, “cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.”

Until now, the guidelines have recommended limiting dietary cholesterol to 300 milligrams (mg) per day, which amounts to about two eggs. As noted by Steven Nissen, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic:

“Many of us for a long time have believed the dietary guidelines were pointing in the wrong direction. It is long overdue.”

Saturated Fat Myth Remains…

Unfortunately, while high-cholesterol foods like eggs are off the hook, they still insist that saturated fat causes high cholesterol in your blood, thereby promoting heart disease…

The panel recommends limiting both trans fats (which are indeed harmful) and saturated fat (which is not) to less than 10 percent of daily calories. This is still way off base, so while there’s cause for celebration that eggs have been vindicated, there’s still work to be done to correct people’s fear of saturated fat.

Saturated fats are actually important for optimal health, and most people likely need anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of their daily calories from healthy fat—far more than the upper limit of 10 percent suggested by federal guidelines.

For weight loss, they also recommend sticking to low- and non-fat dairy, which I believe is a mistake. Low-fat recommendations are likely to do more harm than good across the board, but it may be particularly counterproductive if you’re trying to lose weight.

In fact, mounting evidence clearly shows that a high-fat, low-carb diet can be exceptionally effective for weight loss—provided you’re eating the right kinds of fats. Saturated fats are not only essential for proper cellular and hormonal function, they also provide a concentrated source of energy in your diet.

The high-fat, low-carb combination is therefore ideal because when you cut down on carbs, you generally need to replace that lost energy by increasing your fat consumption. Sources of healthy fats that you’ll want to add to your diet include:

Olives and olive oil(for cold dishes)	Coconuts andcoconut oil (for all types of cooking and baking)	Butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk
Raw nuts, such as macadamias and pecans	Organic pastured egg yolks	Avocados
Grass-fed meats	Palm oil	Unheated organic nut oils

Another healthy fat is the omega-3 fat docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Approximately 60 percent of your brain is composed of fats—25 percent of which is DHA. Omega-3 fats such as DHA are considered essential because your body cannot produce it, and must get it from your daily diet.

I recommend taking an animal-based omega-3 fat such as krill oil on a regular basis, while simultaneously limiting damaged omega-6 fats found in abundance in vegetable oils and processed foods.

Trans Fat and Sugar Are the Dietary Culprits That Cause Heart Disease

To learn more about the flawed science that led us this far afield, I highly recommend taking the time to watch Dr. Maryanne Demasi’s report on thesaturated fat myth, which aired on ABC News in Australia about two years ago.

Dr. Fred Kummerow, author of Cholesterol Is Not the Culprit, has also detailed exactly where we went off the track. Dr. Kummerow, now nearly 100 years old, was the first researcher to identify trans fat as the real culprit behind clogged arteries, all the way back in 1957!

His research has also demonstrated that neither dietary cholesterol nor saturated fat promote arterial plaque, and are being wrongfully shunned… As initially postulated by Dr. Yudkin in the 1960s, sugar is another major dietary culprit in the development of heart disease.

To break it down into simple terms, to protect your heart health you need to address your insulin and leptin resistance, which is the result of eating a diet too high in sugars and grains. To safely and effectively reverse insulin and leptin resistance, thereby lowering your heart disease risk, you need to:

• Avoid processed foods and other sources of refined sugar and processed fructose, as well as refined grains. Whole grains are also best avoided if you’re insulin and leptin resistant
• Focus your diet on whole foods, ideally organic, and replace the grain carbs with:
  • Large amounts of vegetables
  • Low-to-moderate amount of high-quality protein (think organically raised, pastured animals)
  • As much high quality healthy fat as you want (saturated and monosaturated from animal and tropical oil sources)

Other Notable Changes in the 2015 Dietary Guidelines

Despite continuing the saturated fat myth for another five years, overall, the 2015 guidelines^5,6,7 are probably better than they’ve been in decades. Among the most notable changes is a partial turnaround on artificial sweeteners. While they say artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are probably okay in moderation, they should not be promoted for weight loss.

I believe artificial sweeteners should be removed from the market altogether due to their numerous health risks, but at least this recommendation reflects the voluminous evidence showing that artificial sweeteners do NOT promote weight loss. On the contrary, they tend to promote weight gain, and have been shown to worsen insulin resistance and metabolic disorders to a greater degree than refined sugar.

The 2015 guidelines also reflect the shift away from focusing on specific nutrients such as fat, carbs or protein—which in the past has led to an ever-growing plethora of processed “functional” foods—toward a general focus on eating more whole foods. My only objection there is that they still do not consider the hazards of eating too many whole grains, which can exacerbate insulin and leptin resistance. That said, the panel does recommend limiting refined grains.

As for the panel’s review of research into foods that help combat disease, vegetables and fruits are the only dietary elements found to be consistently helpful against every disease included in the review. One can only hope that this will sink in and eventually lead to much needed changes in agricultural subsidies, which are currently geared entirely toward the manufacturing of disease-promoting processed foods that are high in added sugars.

The 2015 guidelines also break new ground by commenting on the environmental impact of our food choices. The panel notes that switching to a healthier diet higher in veggies, fruits, nuts, and legumes, and lower in animal products, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use up less resources such as water and energy.

Take Control of Your Health

There’s little doubt that simplifying nutritional guidelines to focus on whole foods is a giant step in the right direction. That alone can automatically eliminate most of the added sugars and unhealthy fats from your diet. The rest is just a matter of tweaking the ratios of fat, carbs, and protein to suit your individual situation. So, if processed food still make up the bulk of your meals, you’d be wise to reconsider your eating habits. This is particularly important if you have kids. Not only are processed foods the primary culprit in obesity and related diseases, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, processed foods can also affect the IQ of young children.

One British study⁸ revealed that kids who ate a predominantly processed food diet at age three had lower IQ scores at age 8.5. For each measured increase in processed foods, participants had a 1.67-point decrease in IQ. Another study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics^9,10,11 also warns that frequent fast food consumption may stunt your child’s academic performance. Parents would certainly be well advised to pay heed as you do not need to be a rocket scientist to realize that poor nutrition will ultimately have an adverse effect on performance—both physical and mental.

To optimize nutrition, focus your diet on whole, ideally organic, unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Another key is to trade refined sugar and processed fructose for healthy fat, as discussed earlier. This will optimize insulin and leptin levels, which is key for maintaining a healthy weight and optimal health. Healthy fat is particularly important for optimal brain function and memory. This is true throughout life, but especially during childhood. For more detailed guidance, please see my optimalnutrition plan. It’s a step-by-step guide to feeding your family right, and I encourage you to read through it. I’ve also created my own “food pyramid,” based on nutritional science, which you can print out and share.

Where to Find Healthy Foods

Your best bet for finding healthy food is to connect with a local farmer that raises crops and animals according to organic standards. In the case of eggs, what you’re looking for is eggs from pastured, free-range hens. In the US, the following organizations can help you locate farm-fresh foods:

Weston Price Foundation12 has local chapters in most states, and many of them are connected with buying clubs in which you can easily purchase organic foods, including grass fed raw dairy products like milk and butter.

Local Harvest — This Web site will help you find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

Farmers’ Markets — A national listing of farmers’ markets.

Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals — The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) — CISA is dedicated to sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.

FoodRoutes — The FoodRoutes “Find Good Food” map can help you connect with local farmers to find the freshest, tastiest food possible. On their interactive map, you can find a listing for local farmers, CSAs, and markets near you.