An apple a day keeps the doctor away because of apple pectin

It raises good cholesterol, lowers bad cholesterol and contributes to weight loss.

So what is this miracle substance? An apple.

"I consider apples a magic food," said Bahram H. Arjmandi, Ph.D., director for the Center for Advancing Exercise and Nutrition Research on Aging at
Florida State University. "Apples are not my favorite food, but I buy a bag a week and try to eat two per day. I am convinced this is what I should do
if I want to remain healthy."

According to Arjmandi, apple pectin -- the white stuff under the skin -- binds to cholesterol in the gut and ferries it out of the body. This is well-known, but what surprised Arjmandi is how much cholesterol a couple of
apples can remove from the body.

In one recent study, he divided 160 women between the ages of 45 and 65 into two groups. One group ate 75 grams of dried apple per day -- about 2 1/2
ounces -- while the other ate the same amount of dried prunes. To his amazement, the women who ate apples experienced a 23 percent decrease in LDL
"bad" cholesterol, and increased their HDL "good" cholesterol by 3 percent to 4 percent -- a boost difficult to achieve with drugs or exercise.

The women who ate the dried prunes experienced no such effects on their cholesterol, although another study found that women who ate 10 prunes per day, while taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, had higher bone density in their forearms and spine than women who ate apples.

Cholesterol is manufactured in the liver. Statin drugs, such as Lipitor and Crestor, reduce cholesterol very effectively by blocking an enzyme needed to make it. The problem is that statins can be hard on the liver, which is why
people who take them must have a blood test periodically to make sure their liver is not becoming irritated and inflamed.

"The liver is one of the largest organs in the body, and it can remain pretty functional if only 50 percent of it stays healthy," said Arjmandi.
"You do not see an abnormality in the blood unless you do substantial damage to the liver. Drugs have their place, but if you have to check your liver enzymes, that means the drug is doing something not so good for you, and I don't understand why we would go for drug therapies when eating two apples a day reduces LDL cholesterol so effectively. Eat apples and you not only
don't harm your liver, but you substantially benefit your health."

So why aren't apples prescribed for high cholesterol as avidly as statin drugs?

Statins account for about 6.5 percent of all drug sales in the U.S., according to Forbes magazine, and earn drug companies about $26 billion per year.

"You'd have to sell a lot of apples to make that kind of money," Arjmandi said. "If the drugs earn that kind of money, why would a business bother with apple pectin?"

Egg is a beneficial food and it is the gift of nature

 

1.  Eggs are among the best foods for the body especially to a growing child.

2.   Eggs do not cause an elevation of blood cholesterol.

3.   Eggs do not clog up the coronary vessels as once thought. In fact the opposite is now true.

4.   Eggs are low in energy value, and is a factor to consider in the formulation of a caloric-restriction diet.

5.   Eggs protein quality is extremely high, and has a very high nitrogen-retention value. Hence it is extremely useful in post-surgical care, trauma, and in post-management of hypovolemic shock against negative nitrogen balance.

6.   Eggs contain vitamin D in its natural form. The benefits of vitamin D require several chapters on human nutrition in medicine to discuss.

7.   Eggs are cancer-protective, especially for breast cancer.

8.   Eggs are very rich in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine which is a very crucial amino-acid in blocking damaging free radicals. These are directly linked to the pathogenesis of heart disease, cancers, DNA damage, all degenerative disorders, and accelerated aging.

9.   Eggs protect against fatty liver, slow growth, macular degeneration (degeneration of the macula area of the retina in the eyes. This is responsible for central vision for reading, face recognition and detailed vision), edema (water retention), and various skin lesions

10.    Eggs promote healthy growth of nails, hair and skin.

11.    Eggs are rich in tryphophan, selenium, iodine, and riboflavin (vitamin B2).

12.    Eggs selenium content is cardio-protective against Keshan disease, cardiomyopathies (diseases involving the heart muscles, cardiomegaly (enlarged heart), myocardial dysfunction (poor heart function) and death from heart failure.

13.    Eggs are protective against Kashin-Beck disease (osteoarthropathy), myxedematous endemic cretinism (mental retardation).

14.  Eggs are great for the eyes. According to one study, an egg a day may prevent mascular degeneraton due to the carotenoid content, specifically lutein and zeaxanthin. Both nutrients are more readily available to our bodies from eggs than from other sources.

15.  In another study, researchers found that people who eat eggs every day lower their risk of developing cataracts, also because of the lutein and zeaxanthin in eggs.

16.  One egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein and all 9 essential amino acids.

17.  According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, there is no significant link between egg consumption and heart disease. In fact, according to one study, regular consumption of eggs may help prevent blood clots, stroke, and heart attacks.

18.  They are a good source of choline. One egg yolk has about 300 micrograms of choline. Choline is an important nutrient that helps regulate the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system.

19.  They contain the right kind of fat. One egg contains just 5 grams of fat and only 1.5 grams of that is saturated fat.

20.  New research shows that, contrary to previous belief, moderate consumption of eggs does not have a negative impact on cholesterol. In fact, recent studies have shown that regular consumption of two eggs per day does not affect a person's lipid profile and may, in fact, improve it. Research suggests that it is saturated fat that raises cholesterol rather than dietary cholesterol.

21.  Eggs are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D.

22.  Eggs may prevent breast cancer. In one study, women who consumed at least 6 eggs per week lowered their risk of breast cancer by 44%.

23.  Eggs promote healthy hair and nails because of their high sulphur content and wide array of vitamins and minerals. Many people find their hair growing faster after adding eggs to their diet, especially if they were previously deficit in foods containing sulphur or B12.

Who said eggs are bad for you?  

Tilapia fish

 

 

Eating Tilapia is Worse Than Eating Bacon

by Dr. Josh Axe on June 20, 2012

I’ve written before about the dangers of farmed fish. Most people agree that eating fish is a healthier option for us. And the truth is, it really is! Fish is a low fat, high protein food that has a range of health benefits. However, given what we know of fish and its sources today, I need to clarify the myth that all fish is healthy.
Fish may not always be good for you. Fish can either be incredibly healthy or detrimental to our health, depending on where it’s sourced. There’s a world of difference between fish caught in the wild, and farm bred or farm-raised fish.
The most common types of farm-raised fish are

• Salmon
• Carp
• Tilapia
• Sea bass
• Catfish
• Cod

Why is Farm Raised Fish So Bad for You?

1. Can Cause Inflammation
Farm raised Tilapia has always been a popular source for fish, not only because it’s widely available in the US, but it’s also very inexpensive. It’s known in the food business as “aquatic chicken” because it breeds easily and tastes bland. Tilapia is the perfect factory fish; it happily eats pellets made largely of corn and soy and gains weight rapidly, easily converting a diet that resembles cheap chicken feed into low-cost seafood. Recent studies have concluded that eating
Tilapia may worsen inflammation which can lead to heart disease, arthritis, asthma and a world of other serious health problems. People who have started eating more fish as a way to get their dose of omega-3-fatty-acids and lessen their risk of heart attacks should avoid Tilapia. In fact, scientists have found that the inflammatory potential of Tilapia is greater than that of a hamburger or pork bacon!

2. Contains Cancer Causing Pollutants
Farm bred fish may have at least 10 times the cancer causing pollutants compared to the wild variety. This can most likely be attributed to the feeds used on farm-raised fish. Chicken feces is one of the main ingredients in farm fish feed. Not only that, the transfer of pig and duck waste to fish farms is also a very common practice.

3. Contains Antibiotics and Pesticides
Where do farm bred fish get their antibiotics? The crowded conditions of fish farms cause the fish to be more susceptible to disease. To keep them alive, farm owners give antibiotics to the fish to stave off disease. Farm bred fish are also treated with pesticides to combat sea lice. The pesticides used to treat these fish are so deadly that they have been found to kill wild salmon that are accidentally exposed to them. These pesticides are also eventually released in the ocean where they get into the bodies and systems of other marine life.

4. Low Levels of Nutrients
Many of us consume fish, hoping to reap the omega-3 fatty acid benefits that come with it. However, did you know that the omega-3-acids found in farm raised fish are less usable to our bodies compared to wild bred fish, and they also have a lower protein content. Not only that, because farm raised fish are kept in cages, they have the tendency to contain more fat, and can have a higher concentration of omega-6 acids. The problem with getting too much omega 3 and omega 6 acids is that they may cause inflammation to the body

5. Contains Toxic Chemicals
Dibutylin levels (toxic chemical used in PVC plastics) is said to be 6 times higher in farm raised mussels compared to wild ones. Dibutylin is toxic and can impair immune system function while also contributing to inflammation. Dibutylin may be the reason why we’ve seen a rise in asthma, obesity, allergies and other metabolic disorders in the recent years.

6. Contains Even MORE Toxic Chemicals
Dioxin levels (toxic chemical) are 11 times higher in farm bred salmon compared to wild salmon. Dioxin is actually a very toxic chemical that can contribute to cancer and other complications. The problem with dioxin is that once it enters our system, it can take a very long time until it is let out. The half life of dioxin is about 7 to 11 years.

This is why I only eat Wild Caught fish like Wild Sockeye Salmon. Wild caught salmon is loaded with Omega-3 fats, EPA and DHA, and has incredible health benefits. Plus, Salmon contains astaxanthin (A metabolic building block) which has been shown to be 6,000 times more powerful than Vitamin D at absorbing free radicals.
To see all the fish I recommend, check out my free Healing Food Shopping List. If you’re not eating Salmon or another wild caught fish once daily, then I recommend taking a high quality fish oil that contains astaxanthin, like Oceans 3.

How to cure burns ?

 

A young man sprinkling his lawn and bushes with pesticides wanted to check the contents of the barrel to see how much pesticide remained in it.

He raised the cover and lit his lighter; the vapors ignited and engulfed him. He jumped from his truck, screaming.

His neighbor came out of her house with a dozen eggs and a bowl yelling:"bring me some more eggs!"

She broke them, separating the whites from the yolks.

The neighbor woman helped her to apply the whites onto the young man's face.

When the ambulance arrived and the EMTs saw the young man, they asked who had done this.

Everyone pointed to the lady in charge.

They congratulated her and said: "You have saved his face."

By the end of the summer, the young man brought the lady a bouquet of roses to thank her.

His face was like a baby's skin.

A Healing Miracle for Burns:

Keep in mind this treatment of burns is being included in teaching beginner fireman. First Aid consists of first spraying cold water on the affected area until the heat is reduced which stops the continued burning of all layers of the skin. Then, spread the egg whites onto the affected area.

One woman burned a large part of her hand with boiling water. In spite of the pain, she ran cold faucet water on her hand, separated 2 egg whites from the yolks, beat them slightly and dipped her hand in the solution. The whites then dried and formed a protective layer.

She later learned that the egg white is a natural collagen and continued during at least one hour to apply layer upon layer of beaten egg white. By afternoon she no longer felt any pain and the next day there was hardly a trace of the burn. 10 days later, no trace was left at all and her skin had regained its normal color. The burned area was totally regenerated thanks to the collagen in the egg whites, a placenta full of vitamins.

Since this information could be helpful to everyone please pass it on?

Beware of poison in some common food and fruits.

While eating an apple may give you much needed vitamins, the seeds could actually make you feel sick.
We're not telling you to stay away from the very nutritious fruits and vegetables. And we're not trying to fill you with fear or make you wonder if every meal that's on your plate is safe to eat. But we do want to better inform you on which foods you should be cautious of when preparing, and which ones have leaves or seeds you need to steer clear of.

 Yuca (or tapioca)

Yuca, also known as cassava, is a starchy root and a major source of carbohydrates in subtropical areas. It should never be eaten raw because yuca contains linamarin and lotaustralin, which is very toxic. Improper preparation of yuca can also lead to cyanide intoxication, which in some cases affects one's ability to walk.
 
Kidney beans

Kidney beans have the highest level of the toxin phytohemagglutinin (PHA) than any other bean. And they contain enough of this toxin to cause acute symptoms, even if only a few raw beans are consumed. To be safe, the beans should be soaked for a few hours first, the water discarded and then cooked for at least 10 minutes before being consumed.
 
Cherry Seeds

As you probably know, the flesh of the cherry fruit is not harmful, but the seed inside the pit, when crushed, chewed, or even slightly injured, produces prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide). With this in mind, try to refrain from chewing on the seeds.
 Green Potatoes

It's true, our favorite starch can make us sick. But not just any old potato, only green potatoes. Green spots indicate that concentrations of solanine, a nerve toxin, are present. If ingested in large amounts, it can make you feel sick and can even cause paralysis of the central nervous system.
 
Elderberry

The flower of the elderberry isn't poisonous, but the leaves, stems and seeds are. They contain a bitter alkaloid and glycoside that can make you ill. Be sure to stay clear of the bush, just grab the flowers to make some soda syrup.
 
Apples Seeds

There's a reason that you don't eat the seeds of the apple (besides the fact that they don't taste good); it's because they're poisonous. Those little seeds contain amygdalin, and if you consume enough of them (which is pretty unlikely considering the quantity you'd need to ingest) you could be in trouble.
 
Lima Beans

Raw lima beans contain limarin -- only a handful can be enough to make some people violently ill. These beans are very nutritious otherwise, just be sure to cook them through before adding them to your next meal.
 
Tomatoes

While in the 1800s, the entire tomato was thought to be poisonous, it's now known that just the leaves of the tomato plant should be avoided. The leaves and stems of the tomato plant contain a chemical called "Glycoalkaloid" which causes extreme nervousness and stomach upsets.
 Rhubarb

It's known that the leaves of the rhubarb plant are poisonous, yet it's still unclear as to what exactly makes them dangerous for consumption. The leaves contain oxalate and anthraquinone glycosides, so it's thought that the combination of both compounds could be responsible.
 
Peaches Pits

There's about eighty-eight milligrams of cyanide in the average peach pit. But luckily, if you did swallow a peach pit, the hard shell covering the seed would protect you from ingesting the poison. And if you were to become contaminated from a seed, it would give you a stomach ache at worse.

Walk to Health

• The human body is made to walk.  
• Walking 30 minutes a day cuts the rate of people becoming diabetic by more than half and it cuts the risk of people over 60 becoming diabetic by almost 70 percent.  

• Walking cuts the risk of stroke by more than 25 percent.  

• Walking reduces hypertension. The body has over 100,000 miles of blood vessels. Those blood vessels are more supple and healthier when we walk.  

• Walking cuts the risk of cancer as well as diabetes and stroke.  

• Women who walk have a 20 percent lower likelihood of getting breast cancer and a 31 percent lower risk of getting colon cancer.  

• Women with breast cancer who walk regularly can reduce their recurrence rate and their mortality rate by over 50 percent.  

• The human body works better when we walk. The body resists diseases better when we walk, and the body heals faster when we walk.  

• We don't have to walk a lot. Thirty minutes a day has a huge impact on our health.  

• Men who walk thirty minutes a day have a significantly lower level of prostate cancer. Men who walk regularly have a 60 percent lower risk of colon cancer.  

• For men with prostate cancer, studies have shown that walkers have a 46 percent lower mortality rate.  

• Walking also helps prevent depression, and people who walk regularly are more likely to see improvements in their depression.  

• In one study, people who walked and took medication scored twice as well in 30 days as the women who only took the medication. Another study showed that depressed people who walked regularly had a significantly higher level of not being depressed in a year compared to depressed people who did not walk. The body generates endorphins when we walk. Endorphins help us feel good.  

• Walking strengthens the heart. Walking strengthens bones. 

• Walking improves the circulatory system.  

• Walking generates positive neurochemicals. Healthy eating is important but dieting can trigger negative neurochemicals and can be hard to do.  

• Walking generates positive neurochemicals. People look forward to walking and enjoy walking.  

• And research shows that fit beats fat for many people. Walking half an hour a day has health benefits that exceed the benefits of losing 20 pounds.  

• When we walk every day, our bodies are healthier and stronger. A single 30 minute walk can reduce blood pressure by five points for over 20 hours.  

• Walking reduces the risk of blood clots in your legs.  

• People who walk regularly have much lower risk of deep vein thrombosis.  

• People who walk are less likely to catch colds, and when people get colds, walkers have a 46 percent shorter symptom time from their colds.  

• Walking improves the health of our blood, as well. Walking is a good boost of high density cholesterol and people with high levels of HDL are less likely to have heart attacks and stroke.  

• Walking significantly diminishes the risk of hip fracture and the need for gallstone surgery is 20 to 31 percent lower for walkers.  

• Walking is the right thing to do. The best news is that the 30 minutes doesn't have to be done in one lump of time. Two 15 minute walks achieve the same goals. Three 10 minute walks achieve most of those goals.  

• We can walk 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night and achieve our walking goals.  

• Walking feels good. It helps the body heal. It keeps the body healthy. It improves our biological health, our physical health, our psychosocial health, and helps with our emotional health. Walking can literally add years entire years to your life.

LATEST CANCER INFO

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINSIS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY ..
�

[Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins ]

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and

 

forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.  

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.

 

Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.


WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:  

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b.. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes t o nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.�

To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water: best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the

 

]intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a

 

survivor.

Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

10 Common Habits That Damage the Kidneys

Kidney disease is one of the costliest illnesses in the world and managing kidney disease is very expensive.
Each year, lots of people die of kidney disease all over the world, and the number of people suffering from chronic renal failure, and need dialysis or kidney transplantation to stay alive keep increasing.
Statistics have it that, worldwide, more than millions patients are waiting for kidney transplants, but only a few thousands will receive transplants because of shortage of suitable organ donors.
Patients usually felt surprised when they are diagnosed of Kidney Failure.
Experts have found the explanation from your daily life habits.
Here are the top habits which lead to your kidney failure:
1. Not emptying your bladder early:
Maintaining a full bladder for a long time is a quick way of causing bladder damage. That the urine stays in the bladder for a long time can cause the bacteria breeding in urine to multiply quickly. Once the urine refluxes back to ureter and kidneys, the bacteria can result in kidney infections, then urinary tract infection, and then nephritis, even Uremia.
So, no matter how busy you are, remember to drink a lot of water and urinate regularly. Once you form the habit of holding back urine, it will ultimately damage your kidneys.
2. Not drinking enough water:
The main functions of the kidneys are to regulate erythrocyte balances and eliminate metabolic wastes in urine. If we do not drink enough water, the blood will be concentrated and the blood flow to the kidney will not be adequate, thus the function of eliminating toxins in from blood will be impaired.
3. Taking too much salt:
95% sodium we consume through food is metabolized by the kidneys. Exceeding the salt intake will make the kidneys work harder to excrete the excess salt and can lead to decreased kidney function. This excess sodium will cause water retention, causing edema. Edema usually elevates blood pressure and increases the risk of developing kidney disease. The daily salt intake should be controlled within 6g per day.
4. Not treating common infections quickly and properly:
Common infections, such as pharyngitis, tonsillitis, common cold etc, usually triggers or aggravates kidney damage. They do this by causing an acute attack of acute glomerulonephritis or chronic nephritis. So, you will see that people who get kidney disease for the first time or whose illness condition becomes worse usually present in hospitals with a history of cold or sore throat.
If after having cold, symptoms like blood in urine, swelling, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, poor appetite appear, you should consult your doctor immediately, to assess your kidney functions, and start treatment if compromised.
5. Eating too much meat:
Eating too much meat and protein can increase the metabolic load of the kidney. For those suffering from proteinuria, meat consumption too may aggravate protein leakage, worsening renal pathological lesion.
It is suggested that protein intake should be 0.8g/kg per day. This means that a person with 50 kg should consume 40g of protein per day. Meat consumption per day should be limited within 300g.
6. Not eating enough:
This is equally as dangerous as eating too much, both of them will lead damages to your digestive organs where is full of mucosal tissues. Mucosal tissues relates closely to your immune system. This is why many kidney failure patients are diagnosed with “autoimmune kidney damages”.
7. Painkiller abuse:
The use of analgesics for a prolonged duration may reduce the flow blood and greatly affect kidney function. In addition, patients with analgesic-induced renal failure are more likely to suffer from bladder cancer.
>> Use analgesics only when it’s absolutely necessary, learn to rest instead of taking to the bottles. If you have been on pain killers for a long term, it’s about time you had a test to access you renal function done.
8. Missing your drugs:
Hypertension and diabetes have been shown to precipitate or accelerate kidney damage, so if you are diagnosed as having any of these disease don’t live your life in denial, USE YOUR DRUGS.
This will ultimately help control your condition while also helping to preserve your kidneys.
9. Drinking too much alcohol:
Drinking alcohol without limitation may cause the deposition of uric acid in renal tubules, causing tubular obstruction and increasing risks of kidney failure.
10. Not resting enough:
In our society, hypertension as a severe threat to life is largely due to stress. A common symptom of stress is insomnia. Blood pressure may increase by an average of 2-5mg/Hg because of insomnia. Chronically elevated blood pressure can cause damage to kidney capillaries giving rise to kidney problems. Thus, we need to develop a good attitude to life and strike a good balance between work and rest to protect your kidneys and live a healthy life.
At the early stage of kidney diseases, there are usually no the special symptoms, so lots of patients are not diagnosed until the acute attack appears or the illness condition develops into the late stage. So you should endeavor to do kidney function test from time to time to assess how healthy your kidneys are.
Never ignore the soreness of waist, swelling of the feet, changes in urine color or volume, increase in night urination, palor, high blood pressure and other such symptoms. Once found, you should go and see your doctor immediately. 

Learn How to Make Cultured Veggies at Home to Boost Your Immune System

By Dr. Mercola

Your digestive tract is probably the most underappreciated system of your body, often ignored until its screams of discontent become loud enough to grab your attention.
By the time your gut reaches this degree of disgruntlement, the problems have usually been developing for months — or years — and are challenging to resolve.
Instead of waiting for obvious signs of a problem, why not perform some regular “gut maintenance” that will lessen your chances of developing a problem in the first place?
Your gut is much more than a food processing tube — it houses about 85 percent of your immune system. This is in large part due to the 100 trillion bacteria that live there, both good and bad that can stimulate secretory IgA to nourish your immune response.
When your GI tract is not working well, a wide range of health problems can appear, including allergies and autoimmune diseases. If you suffer from any major illness, you simply will NOT be able to fully recuperate without healing and sealing your gut. Balancing the menagerie of microorganisms that occupy your GI tract is a key part of maintaining your immune health, which will be the focus of this article.
Your stomach is where digestion really gets rolling, with the introduction of more enzymes and a whole lot of acid. Fortunately, your stomach is uniquely designed for this process, as it is SO acidic. Its lining must actually regenerate at a feverish pace — just to keep up with the continuous digestion of itself! You require a brand new stomach lining every few days.

Your Stomach Actually Protects You from Infections

A recent article in Scientific American¹ explores an alternate explanation about how your stomach works. The “sieve hypothesis” suggests your stomach may operate as a sieve or filter, preventing some of the more harmful microbes from passing through to your small intestine. Evidence for this is not new. It comes from a 1948 study by Dr. Orla-Jensen, a retired professor from the Royal Danish Technical College — a study that has essentially been “lost” in the literature for more than 60 years.
The professor argued that your stomach uses acid to kill pathogenic disease causing bacteria, fungi, viruses, worms and protozoa, while allowing the more beneficial microbes (which are acid-tolerant) to pass through. If your stomach is unsuccessful at killing these pathogens, then they can dominate your intestines, damaging and eroding your intestinal walls and causing illness.
Your stomach generally becomes less acidic as you age, particularly after age 70. In his study, Orla-Jensen compared the gut bacteria of young people with that of healthy seniors, as well as with seniors suffering from dementia. He found that as people age, they have a greater proportion of pathogenic microbes to beneficial microbes in their intestinal tracts. This was particularly pronounced in seniors with dementia... which begs the question about whether dementia could actually be caused by an “intestinal infection.”
A study done at UC Davis found that E. coli and salmonella bacteria in mice produce fiber-like structures very similar to the inflammatory brain plaques seen in people with Alzheimer’s disease². Your brain is shaped by bacteria in your digestive tract. Bacteria in your gut actually control how your brain cells express specific genes.³ Other studies report that disturbed gut flora in seniors contributes to accelerated aging, frailty and premature death.
More research is needed in order to understand the exact relationship between dysbiosis and dementia. But at the very least, these studies underscore the importance of maintaining high levels of beneficial bacteria in your intestinal tract. In fact, this bacterial community may be in charge of your entire metabolism.

Unhappy Gut Bacteria May Make You Fat

Inflammation from bacterial endotoxins may be a factor helping to drive the obesity epidemic.⁴ Junk food causes nasty microbes to bloom and friendly bugs to decline, just as sugar and refined carbohydrates feed the bacteria in your mouth that are responsible for tooth decay. Sugar and processed foods make your “friendly” microbe community unfriendly — even downright hostile. Humans today have lost the microbial diversity that once kept us healthy.
When dysbiosis occurs, bacteria release noxious byproducts called endotoxins. Endotoxins increase the permeability of your gut wall (“leaky gut syndrome”) and make their way into your bloodstream, triggering system wide inflammation. It’s been shown that the hypothalamus, which houses the appetite control center of your brain, is often inflamed and damaged in obese individuals. When inflammation affects your brain, and especially your hypothalamus, your entire metabolism changes.
So, here’s how it goes...
When you consume junk foods, certain bacteria flourish and produce endotoxins, which your immune system detects and, interpreting these endotoxins as an attack, responds with inflammation. Your body changes its metabolism to redirect energy for “battle.” The result is overproduction of insulin, increased fat storage, dampening of your appetite control signals, and eventually obesity. The best way to reverse this inflammation and restore a healthy metabolism is by eliminating excess sugar and processed food, and adding more friendly, beneficial bacteria from naturally fermented foods.

Cultured Vegetables are the Ultimate Superfood

One of the leading experts in the optimization of intestinal flora is Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who developed the GAPS nutritional protocol (Gut and Psychology Syndrome/Gut and Physiology Syndrome). For decades, Dr. McBride has successfully treated adults and children with severe illnesses, including autism, epilepsy, mood disorders, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease and many more, with her GAPS protocol.
A key component of the GAPS program is the daily consumption of fermented foods. Fermented foods are potent chelators (detoxifiers) and contain much higher levels of probiotics than probiotic supplements, making them ideal for optimizing your gut flora. In addition to helping break down and eliminate heavy metals and other toxins from your body, beneficial gut bacteria perform a number of surprising functions, including:

• Mineral absorption, and producing nutrients such as B vitamins and vitamin K2 (vitamin K2 and vitamin D are necessary for integrating calcium into your bones and keeping it out of your arteries, thereby reducing your risk for coronary artery disease and stroke⁵)
• Preventing obesity and diabetes, and regulating dietary fat absorption
• Lowering your risk for cancer
• Improving your mood and mental health
• Preventing acne

Now that you understand the importance of optimizing your GI flora, let’s take a look at just how easy it is to accomplish this task by making fermented vegetables at home, in your own kitchen. If you aren’t accustomed to these foods, you may have to work them into your diet gradually. Many folks really enjoy the taste of fermented vegetables, which really have a pleasantly salty-tart flavor.
According to nutritional consultant Caroline Barringer, just one quarter to one half cup of fermented veggies, eaten with one to three meals per day, can have a dramatically beneficial impact on your health.
If you’ve never eaten fermented foods, too large a portion may provoke a healing crisis, which occurs when the probiotics kill off pathogens in your gut. When these pathogens die, they release potent toxins. If you are new to fermented foods, you should introduce them gradually, beginning with as little as one teaspoon of sauerkraut with a meal. Observe your reactions for a couple of days before proceeding with another small portion, and increase your dose gradually, as tolerated.
Realize that many food preferences develop very early in life, so the sooner you can introduce fermented vegetables to your child, the better. Traces of the flavors of the foods mothers eat are perceptible in their breast milk and amniotic fluid. Babies whose mothers eat things like garlic or broccoli while pregnant tend to be more likely to enjoy these foods later in life.

Making Cultured Veggies at Home: Equipment Checklist

Culturing your own vegetables is not difficult, but as with anything, having the right tools makes the job much easier and more fun. I have spent the last six months streamlining the process and refining my basic recipe. One of the key ingredients though is the starter culture. We are in the middle of a very extensive testing process to provide a culture that will give you large amounts of vitamin K2 in your fermented vegetables. We hope to have that available later this year if all goes well. In the meantime you can use the following kitchen tools to make your own fermented vegetables:

1. Food Processor: You’ll be cutting up large quantities of raw vegetables, which is very labor intensive without a food processor. Make sure yours has a shredding disc, as a typical S-blade will result in too fine a chop, which makes for a pulpier, mushier end product.
2. Juicer: My own experimentation has resulted in selecting celery juice as the basic brine for my cultured veggies, making a juicer necessary.
3. Good Knives: Make sure you have a set of good quality, sharp knives for prepping your vegetables.
4. Cutting Board: A large, sturdy cutting board is a must.
5. Very Large Bowl: This bowl should be large enough to hold the entire batch of shredded veggies, so a large capacity stainless bowl is a necessity.
6. Canning Jars: Basic wide-mouthed 32-ounce Mason jars are all that is necessary for both fermenting and storing the vegetables. These are inexpensive and easy to find at your local hardware store, grocery, or online. Make sure they are wide-mouthed, as you’ll need to get your hand or a tool down into the jar for tightly packing the veggies.
7. Krautpounder: This solid wood tool that looks like a small baseball bat is very handy for tightly packing the shredded veggies into your jars and eliminating air pockets.

Making Cultured Veggies at Home in Six Easy Steps

The following are the basic steps to making wonderful cultured vegetables at home. For additional information, refer to our previous article on this topic.

1. Vegetable and Herb Selection: The first step is gathering up your veggies. Make sure they are all organic. Cabbage (red or green) should be the “backbone” of your blend, comprising about 80 percent (I use green.) Choose dense, tightly packed heads. Five or six medium-sized cabbages will yield 10 to 14 quart jars of fermented vegetables. Remember to reserve some cabbage leaves for the jar tops (see Step 3).
Add in hard root vegetables of your liking, such as carrots, golden beets, radishes and turnips. Peel your veggies as the skins can impart a bitter flavor. I also enjoy adding red bell pepper, granny smith apples, and even a hot pepper, like a habanero (make sure you wear gloves!). One pepper for the entire batch is plenty.
Aromatics can be added in small quantities — a little goes a long way, as fermenting concentrates the pungent flavors. Tasty additions include peeled garlic, peeled ginger, and herbs such as basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, or oregano. Onions tend to overpower the mix, no matter how little are used, so I avoid them.
Finally, you can add sea vegetables or seaweed to increase the mineral, vitamin, and fiber content. You can add pieces of whole dulse, or use flakes. Wakame and sea palm do not have any kind of fishy flavor but need to be presoaked and diced into the desired size. Arame and hijaki DO have a fishy flavor.

2. Culture and Brine: For your brine, I recommend using a starter culture dissolved in celery juice. One quart of celery juice is adequate for 10 to 14 quarts of fermented veggies. While you can do wild fermentation (allowing whatever is naturally on the vegetable to take hold), this method is more time consuming, and the end product is less certain. Inoculating the food with a starter culture speeds up the fermentation process. I currently recommend using two of our Complete Probiotics as the starter culture until we get our refined version which will make more vitamin K2. As I said above we are in the middle of a very extensive testing process to provide a culture that will give you large amounts of vitamin K2 in your fermented vegetables and we hope to have that available later this year if all goes well.
3. Packing the Jars: Once you have your shredded veggies and brine mixture combined in your large bowl, tightly pack the mixture into each Mason jar, and compress using a masher to remove any air pockets. Top with a cabbage leaf, tucking it down the sides. Make sure the veggies are completely covered with brine and that the brine is all the way to the top of the jar, to eliminate trapped air. Put the lids on the jars loosely, as they will expand due to the gases produced in fermentation.
4. Fermentation: Allow the jars to sit in a relatively warm place for several days, ideally around 72 degrees Fahrenheit. During the summer, veggies are typically done in three or four days. In the winter, they may need seven days. The only way to tell when they’re done is to open up a jar and have a taste. Once you're happy with the flavor and consistency, move the jars into your refrigerator.
5. Storage: Refrigerating your vegetables drastically slows down the fermentation. They will keep for many months this way, continuing to mature very slowly over time.
6. Enjoy! Always use a clean spoon to take out what you’re eating. Never eat out of the jar, as you will contaminate the entire batch with bacteria from your mouth. Make sure the remaining veggies are covered with the brine solution before replacing the lid.

Exercise regularly for better health

 

• Exercise is a key factor of optimal health; it's particularly important for controlling your blood sugar and normalizing your insulin levels. When done correctly, exercise can oftentimes act as a substitute for some of the most common drugs used today for things like diabetes, heart disease and depression
• Compelling and ever-mounting research shows that the ideal form of exercise is short bursts of high intensity exercise
• Not only does it beat conventional cardio as the most effective and efficient form of exercise, Peak Fitness exercises also provide health benefits you simply cannot get from regular aerobics, such as a tremendous boost in human growth hormone (HGH), aka the “fitness hormone”
• A recent article by the Human Performance Institute shows how you can fulfill the requirements for a high intensity exercise using nothing more than your own body weight, a chair, and a wall