This was sent to me through a Shaklee associate:
Buyer Be Aware: Splenda® (Sucralose)
New Research Shows There’s No Free Lunch When it Comes to Artificial Sweeteners
When summer rolls around it’s tempting to use food and drink with artificial sweeteners in an attempt to cut down on calories, but no research has ever convincingly shown that using these products contributes to weight loss. In fact, recent research suggests that they may actually confuse the body’s response to sweet tastes and contribute to weight gain.
The artificial sweetener sucralose (brand name Splenda®) is increasingly found in processed foods. Sucralose is sugar with its chemical structure changed to create a chlorocarbon, or a sugar with chlorine added. This causes it to pass through the body largely unabsorbed, which means that it doesn’t add calories. Splenda® is FDA-approved for use in food, and is widely found in processed foods and drinks, from yogurt and iced tea, to cookies and chewing gum.
Splenda® can be Gut Wrenching
Research suggests that Splenda® may be doing damage as it passes through the intestines. According to an article in Dr. David William’s newsletter Alternatives, research with rats has shown that “…Splenda® can reduce the amount of beneficial bacteria in the intestines by as much as 50 percent, increase the pH level in the intestines, increase body weight, and cause the re-routing or inactivation of certain drugs through the alteration of glycoprotein levels.”
Splenda® has Something in Common with Organochlorine Pesticides
There doesn’t seem to be any free lunch when it comes to artificial sweeteners. The sucralose molecular structure resembles the organochlorine pesticides such as DDT, lindane and endosulfan. Although 85 percent or so of sucralose passes through the digestive system without being absorbed, the 15 percent that does get absorbed may be problematic.
According to James Bowen M.D., in an article titled The Lethal Science of Splenda, a Poisonous Chlorocarbon, “Any chlorocarbons not directly excreted from the body intact can cause immense damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal organs. The liver is a detoxification organ which deals with ingested poisons. Chlorocarbons damage the hepatocytes, the liver's metabolic cells, and destroy them.
“In test animals Splenda® produced swollen livers, as do all chlorocarbon poisons, and also calcified the kidneys of test animals in toxicity studies. The brain and nervous system are highly subject to metabolic toxicities and solvency damages by these chemicals. Their high solvency attacks the human nervous system and many other body systems including genetics and the immune function. Thus, chlorocarbon poisoning can cause cancer, birth defects, and immune system destruction. These are well known effects of Dioxin and PCBs which are known deadly chlorocarbons. Just like aspartame, which achieved marketplace approval by the Food and Drug Administration when animal studies clearly demonstrated its toxicity, sucralose also failed in clinical trials with animals. Aspartame created brain tumors in rats. Sucralose has been found to shrink thymus glands (the biological seat of immunity) and produce liver inflammation in rats and mice.”
Why Not Have Some Real Sugar!
Americans have become habituated to the intensely sweet taste of artificial sweeteners and it’s long past time to kick that habit. If you have a yearning for something sweet, why not just have some real sugar! It’s natural, it doesn’t take much to sweeten up food and drink, and it hits the pleasure centers of the brain, which the artificial sweeteners do not. Even better, have some fresh fruit, which comes packaged with nutrition and fiber.
References:
Nakagawa Y, Nagasawa M, Yamada S, “Sweet taste receptor expressed in pancreatic beta-cells activates the calcium and cyclic AMP signaling systems and stimulates insulin secretion,” PLoS ONE. 2009;4(4):e5106. Epub 2009 Apr 8.
Abou-Donia MB, El-Masry EM, Abdel-Rahman AA et al, “Splenda® Alters Gut Microflora and Increases Intestinal P-Glycoprotein and Cytochrome P-450 in Male Rats,” Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, Vol 71, Issue 21 January 2008, pp 1415-1429.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Why We Avoid Splenda...
Splenda (Sucrolose) is an organochloride. This category of chemicals contains some of the most dangerous, carcinogenic toxins known including dioxin ("agent orange") and DDT.
Splenda is made by chlorinating sugar. The sugar is changed enough so that the enzymes in our bodies cannot digest it. So, it still tastes sweet, but your body won't get any calories out of it [or nutrition].
DDT and agent orange are particularly harmful because they are so fat soluble (lipophylic) that they stay in the fat of our bodies for years. If you have ever been exposed to either of these compounds, you probably still have some amount of them in your body. The long-term exposure of your cells to your body accounts for much of the cancer risk.
The best thing you can say about Splenda is that it is water soluble. It will not be presented/remain in your cells for years, normally with very limited usage. However, if someone drinks it/ingests it every day, then this daily exposure might be just as bad as long-term retention within the cells. You might also guess that the place where problems would occur would be the digestive tract (as it may not be absorbed from there absent leaky gut).
My associate googled "Sucrolose" and found the following:
"A new study done at Duke University and published in the Journal of Toxicology
and Environmental Health, Part A has some frightening news about Splenda (sucralose).
According to the study, the use of Splenda:
* Reduces the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%. which is where most of your immune system resides!
* Increases the pH level in the intestines.
* Contributes to increases in body weight.
* And affects the P! -glycoprotein (P-gp) in the body in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected.
The study, authored by Drs. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia, Eman M. El-Masry, Ali A. Abdel-Rahman, Roger E. McLendon and Susan S. Schiffman, was conducted using male rats over a period of twelve weeks."
It is recommended that any organic chemical that contains chlorine should be consumed with caution. We think this is just asking for a cancer risk.
Blessings,
Linda & John
Splenda is made by chlorinating sugar. The sugar is changed enough so that the enzymes in our bodies cannot digest it. So, it still tastes sweet, but your body won't get any calories out of it [or nutrition].
DDT and agent orange are particularly harmful because they are so fat soluble (lipophylic) that they stay in the fat of our bodies for years. If you have ever been exposed to either of these compounds, you probably still have some amount of them in your body. The long-term exposure of your cells to your body accounts for much of the cancer risk.
The best thing you can say about Splenda is that it is water soluble. It will not be presented/remain in your cells for years, normally with very limited usage. However, if someone drinks it/ingests it every day, then this daily exposure might be just as bad as long-term retention within the cells. You might also guess that the place where problems would occur would be the digestive tract (as it may not be absorbed from there absent leaky gut).
My associate googled "Sucrolose" and found the following:
"A new study done at Duke University and published in the Journal of Toxicology
and Environmental Health, Part A has some frightening news about Splenda (sucralose).
According to the study, the use of Splenda:
* Reduces the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%. which is where most of your immune system resides!
* Increases the pH level in the intestines.
* Contributes to increases in body weight.
* And affects the P! -glycoprotein (P-gp) in the body in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected.
The study, authored by Drs. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia, Eman M. El-Masry, Ali A. Abdel-Rahman, Roger E. McLendon and Susan S. Schiffman, was conducted using male rats over a period of twelve weeks."
It is recommended that any organic chemical that contains chlorine should be consumed with caution. We think this is just asking for a cancer risk.
Blessings,
Linda & John
Thank You For Visiting Our Blog
John and I thank you for visiting our Blog.
This Blog was created to share our life and our Shaklee Business. We figure that anyone brave enough to make changes in their lives, whether physical or emotional might like to learn from our mistakes. (:-)
John likes toys; boats, dune-buggies, motorcycles [Harley Davidson]. He also likes fishing in Alaska.
Linda is a business woman who believes that givers gain. She works to help others get what they want and then God Blesses her with success.
As a matter of fact, He Blessed us with this company after our telecom affiliation was compromised. Now, with Shaklee, a 50 year old company, we help others live healthier lives. Shalkee is well known for their decades of research and product testings, including but not limited to: vitamins, nutritional and weight loss supplements, beauty care needs, non-toxic, biodegradeable and environmentally safe cleaning products, plus air and water filtration systems.
Email acreativeconsultant@yahoo.com
Visit http://www.shaklee.net/profitandprosperity
Informational Hotline: 1-925-924-3333
Because John and I are going pesticide-free with our food and our lives, we also use non-toxic cleaners. Watch this video and YOU WILL make that change also.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/files/home/cleaners/tips.html
God Bless you, and remember Jesus died for our sins.
Linda & John Pastor
This Blog was created to share our life and our Shaklee Business. We figure that anyone brave enough to make changes in their lives, whether physical or emotional might like to learn from our mistakes. (:-)
John likes toys; boats, dune-buggies, motorcycles [Harley Davidson]. He also likes fishing in Alaska.
Linda is a business woman who believes that givers gain. She works to help others get what they want and then God Blesses her with success.
As a matter of fact, He Blessed us with this company after our telecom affiliation was compromised. Now, with Shaklee, a 50 year old company, we help others live healthier lives. Shalkee is well known for their decades of research and product testings, including but not limited to: vitamins, nutritional and weight loss supplements, beauty care needs, non-toxic, biodegradeable and environmentally safe cleaning products, plus air and water filtration systems.
Email acreativeconsultant@yahoo.com
Visit http://www.shaklee.net/profitandprosperity
Informational Hotline: 1-925-924-3333
Because John and I are going pesticide-free with our food and our lives, we also use non-toxic cleaners. Watch this video and YOU WILL make that change also.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/files/home/cleaners/tips.html
God Bless you, and remember Jesus died for our sins.
Linda & John Pastor
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Energy
I’ve had a few people asking me about the NEW Shaklee Energy Chews...so here is data from our Shaklee Energy_bulletin.
Make the Healthy Choice.
In today’s world, everyone is looking for a physical and mental edge. But the problem with many energy products is that they contain ingredients you might prefer to do without. Unlike some energy drinks and shots, Shaklee Energy contains:
1. No artificial flavors
2. No artificial colors such as Red #40, Yellow #5, or Yellow #6
3. No artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, or acesulfame potassium (ACE-K); [also, beware that some energy products that have natural sweeteners may contain more than 50 grams of sugars and over 200 calories per can]
4. No artificial preservatives such as potassium sorbate, sodium EDTA, benzoic acid, or sodium benzoate.
Healthy Edge = Healthy Energy + Smart Focus.*
Shaklee Energy is formulated with the right ingredients to help energize your body and support alertness, focus, cognitive function and mood. It’s a great blend to help get your mind and body ready for action!*
Shaklee Energy includes:
* Key nutrients such as energy-releasing B vitamins, immune-supporting vitamin C, and bone-building vitamin D
* Key amino acids L-tyrosine and L-theanine — associated with mental alertness and focus*
* Natural caffeine from green tea — associated with energy and performance*
* 75% organic ingredients
* No gluten
* All natural sweeteners (there are no artificial sweeteners in Shaklee Energy*)
* All natural flavors (there are no artificial flavors in Shaklee Energy*)
If you'd like to order, visit my website:
http://www.shaklee.net/profitandprosperity/product/8030
The Healthy Edge
Shaklee Energy* - SPECIAL OFFER
2 pouches - 20 chews
BUY ONE, GET ONE FOR $5.00!
Save $13.10††
NOTE: Must use this item code.
Item #: 80306
Your Price: $ 26.30
Blessings,
Linda
Make the Healthy Choice.
In today’s world, everyone is looking for a physical and mental edge. But the problem with many energy products is that they contain ingredients you might prefer to do without. Unlike some energy drinks and shots, Shaklee Energy contains:
1. No artificial flavors
2. No artificial colors such as Red #40, Yellow #5, or Yellow #6
3. No artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, or acesulfame potassium (ACE-K); [also, beware that some energy products that have natural sweeteners may contain more than 50 grams of sugars and over 200 calories per can]
4. No artificial preservatives such as potassium sorbate, sodium EDTA, benzoic acid, or sodium benzoate.
Healthy Edge = Healthy Energy + Smart Focus.*
Shaklee Energy is formulated with the right ingredients to help energize your body and support alertness, focus, cognitive function and mood. It’s a great blend to help get your mind and body ready for action!*
Shaklee Energy includes:
* Key nutrients such as energy-releasing B vitamins, immune-supporting vitamin C, and bone-building vitamin D
* Key amino acids L-tyrosine and L-theanine — associated with mental alertness and focus*
* Natural caffeine from green tea — associated with energy and performance*
* 75% organic ingredients
* No gluten
* All natural sweeteners (there are no artificial sweeteners in Shaklee Energy*)
* All natural flavors (there are no artificial flavors in Shaklee Energy*)
If you'd like to order, visit my website:
http://www.shaklee.net/profitandprosperity/product/8030
The Healthy Edge
Shaklee Energy* - SPECIAL OFFER
2 pouches - 20 chews
BUY ONE, GET ONE FOR $5.00!
Save $13.10††
NOTE: Must use this item code.
Item #: 80306
Your Price: $ 26.30
Blessings,
Linda
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Have Asthmatic Children? Avoid Toxic Cleaners
Ok, so I go to my nieces' house because her young [under 10] daughter is in Children's Hospital on 6L of oxygen [O2 levels fluctuating from 80+ to 90%], for the past two days suffering with panic attacks from dyspnea AND asthma AND pneumonia, and find my sister cleaning the bathroom with toxic cleaners... Yes products with the 'B' word.
FYI: Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160%. An average of one out of every 13 school-aged children has asthma. These are alarming statistics. Wake up people, these toxic cleaners are hurting us.
FYI: Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home. Common bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisoning. Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners and even air fresheners, are 2 to 5 times higher inside the home than out.
A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the “acute one-hour exposure limit” for glycol ether-containing products set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
And it's such a shame, but you really only need two or three cleaners to do all the jobs in the kitchen and bathroom...Shaklee Basic H2 and Basic G Germicide.
Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. They drink more water, eat more food, and breathe more air, pound for pound, than adults. The concern here is that children will have a much heavier exposure than adults to any toxins that are present in our water, our food or our air.
What are you and your children breathing???
Learn about the damage that can be done from the products you may be using.I recommend this website: http://www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/ingredients.htm.
My job is NEVER done.
Friday, October 16, 2009
The POWER of PROTEIN!
The Power of Protein Shaklee Health Sciences Bulletin October 2009
It’s essential to the growth, repair, and maintenance of all body tissues. It’s also required for making enzymes - catalysts essential to all life processes, and hormones - powerful chemical messengers that circulate through your bloodstream to specific target cells, where they generate a wide range of biological responses. It also helps your body maintain fluid and electrolyte balance, provides a source of energy, and helps your body fight off disease. These are the powers of protein!
These powers are made possible by consuming adequate amounts of dietary protein from a variety of lean meats, fish, and poultry, as well as soy and milk, which supply the body with amino acids, the basic building blocks from which the body can make its own body proteins.
Not All Protein Is Created Equal: Foods provide about 20 different amino acids, of which more than half are considered to be “nonessential.” In other words, the body can make them for itself. However, nine other amino acids are considered “essential,” meaning the body is unable to make them on its own. And unlike the carbohydrates and fats we consume, amino acids are not stored in the body. Therefore, the body must rely on a constant and steady supply from the protein-rich foods we eat every day.
So what are the best sources of dietary protein? And is there a difference between animal and vegetable sources? Well, it’s true that not all dietary protein is created equal. It really is the protein quality of one’s diet that, in large part, determines how well a child will grow and develop and how well an adult will maintain his or her health. Put simply, high-quality proteins provide enough of all the essential amino acids needed to support the body’s work, and lower-quality proteins don’t. Two key factors that influence protein quality are the protein’s digestibility and its amino acid composition. Protein digestibility is a measure of the amount of amino acids absorbed from a given protein intake, and amino acid composition refers to the simultaneous availability of all the needed amino acids from a food we choose to eat. In general, animal-sourced proteins (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy) are considered high-quality proteins, as is soy, a vegetable-sourced protein. However, other vegetable proteins tend to be of much lower quality and are often referred to as “incomplete” proteins because they do not provide all the essential amino acids the body needs. Incomplete proteins can come from fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts.
Health Benefits: When most of us think about the health benefits of dietary protein, its role in bodybuilding comes to mind—and rightly so. No new body tissue can be built without it. However, research also suggests that the intake of high-quality protein in the context of an overall healthful diet may also have positive effects on our body weight and body composition as we age, as well as play a role in the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart disease, certain types of cancer, and osteoporosis.
Weight Management: Studies have shown that achieving a healthy weight and maintaining that weight can help add years to your life, and scientists believe that dietary protein may play an important role in weight management. High-protein diets may promote significantly more weight loss compared to lower protein diets because of protein’s role in promoting satiety. In a fairly recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers studied the effects of increasing dietary protein while maintaining carbohydrate content on weight loss, appetite, calorie intake, and fat mass in a small group of study participants. Initially, participants were instructed to follow a weight-maintaining diet (50% carbohydrate, 15% protein, 35% fat) for two weeks. Then for the following two weeks, they were asked to follow a diet providing the same amount of calories but with 50% of calories coming from carbohydrate, 30% from protein, and 20% from fat. Two weeks later, they were given an ad libitum diet of 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein, and 20% fat to follow for an additional 12 weeks. Even though subjects could eat as much food as they wanted in those 12 weeks, they actually reduced their calorie intake by an average of 441 calories per day. They also lost an average of 10.8 pounds in body weight and 8.2 pounds of body fat.
Age-Related Muscle Loss: After about age 40, most adults will lose anywhere between 0.5% and 1% of their skeletal muscle mass each year. And in the early years, this gradual loss may go unnoticed because it might be masked by a concurrent increase in body fat. However, chronic muscle loss—or what is known as sarcopenia—is estimated to affect about 30% of people over age 60 and may affect more than 50% of those over age 80. Insufficient protein intake in older adults can contribute to a loss of muscle, and although the optimal amount of protein to prevent or offset the progression of sarcopenia has yet to be established, research findings suggest that protein intakes modestly above the present recommended dietary allowance of 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (i.e. 1 gram per kilogram of body weight per day or higher) enhance muscle mass in older adults who regularly perform resistance exercise.
Protein intake in older adults also appears to have a more beneficial effect when consumed within an hour or so of resistance exercise. Emerging research also suggests that dairy protein, especially whey protein, may minimize sarcopenia because of its high concentration of leucine, an amino acid known to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. For example, findings in older adults suggest that increasing leucine intake may help restore the protein synthesis response to protein-containing meals, which has been shown to diminish with age.
Cardiovascular Disease: One concern that has been raised about the trend in high-protein diets for weight loss has been that eating diets high in protein and fat, and low in carbohydrate, would harm the heart. However, recent research findings suggest that if done in a healthy way, eating a little more protein, especially vegetable protein, while cutting back on refined carbohydrates may actually benefit the heart. A 20-year prospective study of 82,802 women found that those who ate low-carbohydrate diets high in vegetable sources of fat or protein had a 30% lower risk of heart disease, compared to women who ate high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets. But women who ate low-carbohydrate diets that were high in animal fats or proteins did not have a reduced risk of heart disease.
Cancer: There’s no good evidence that eating a little protein or a lot of it significantly influences cancer risk. However, eating a lot of red meat (cured and processed meats, in particular) has been linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. There also has been considerable investigation of the potential of soy-protein-containing foods to reduce the risk of cancer, especially breast cancer. In a fairly recent review of studies based on Asian populations, higher soy intake was associated with an overall 29% decreased risk of breast cancer.
Despite these positive findings, the relationship between soy foods and breast cancer risk has been controversial because of data gathered from cell culture and animal studies that suggest isoflavones (the plant-estrogen-like compounds in soy foods) stimulate the growth of estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells. This has led to questions about the safety of soy consumption in women with a history of breast cancer or women at high risk for the disease. Research continues in this area, but it’s important to point out that several lines of existing evidence suggest that women with breast cancer can safely consume soy.
First, human studies have shown that isoflavones do not stimulate breast cell proliferation or increase breast tissue density (two markers of increased cancer risk), and a lack of harmful effects have been noted in several clinical studies examining the impact of soy food intake on the prognosis of breast cancer patients.
In one study, neither soy nor isoflavone intake was related to the disease-free survival rate of breast cancer patients over a five-year follow-up period, and in a second study, higher soy intake was associated with a more favorable outcome for both total mortality and disease-specific mortality or relapse during a follow up period of two years. And even better news is that the benefit of soy food intake on survival was more pronounced among women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer. Although these studies are encouraging, breast cancer remains a very serious health condition. Women with a history of breast cancer should seek the advice of their doctor concerning the consumption of soy foods as part of an overall healthful diet.
Osteoporosis: Prevention of osteoporosis is a public health priority and among nutritional factors, most attention has focused on the beneficial role of calcium. However, in addition to calcium, many other nutrients are necessary for bone health, including protein. Findings from many, but not all, epidemiological studies point to a beneficial role for dietary protein in bone health. High-protein intakes have been associated with reduced bone loss, high bone-mineral density, and reduced fracture risk in older adults. In a recent trial, increasing protein intake, especially when accompanied by calcium and vitamin D, reduced bone loss, improved muscle strength, and shortened the hospital stay in older patients with hip fractures whose usual intake of dietary protein was low.
On the other hand, some studies suggest that excessive dietary protein intake may have detrimental effects on bone because of its effect on urinary calcium excretion. This controversy may be explained by other nutrients in food or the source of dietary protein. For example, dietary protein has been shown to exert a positive effect on the skeleton of older adults when calcium intake is adequate, but not when calcium intake is low.
Because protein exists in close association with other nutrients in the diet, it is important to consider protein’s role in bone health in the context of foods or the overall dietary pattern. A number of studies have demonstrated that intake of milk and other dairy products benefits bone health. Dairy products such as milk are a unique source of protein because their calcium content is high relative to their protein content and they contain other bone-supporting nutrients such as phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins A, D, and K.
How Much Protein Is Enough? Although no one-size-fits-all answer exists for that question and research on the topic is still emerging, the current recommended dietary allowance for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day for healthy young adults. That comes to about 62 grams of protein a day for a person who weighs 170 pounds. Although growing children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and older adults may need a little more (1.0–1.3 grams per kilogram of body weight), getting the minimum daily requirement of protein is fairly easy. Cereal with milk for breakfast, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, and a piece of fish with a side of beans for dinner adds up to about 70 grams of protein.
It’s also important to pay attention to what comes along with the protein in your food choices. An eight-ounce broiled porterhouse steak is a great source of complete protein—54 grams worth. But it also delivers 44 grams of fat, 16 of which are saturated. Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol, and high blood cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease. On the other hand, a cup of cooked lentils has 18 grams of protein, but less than one gram of fat.
Vegetable sources of protein, including soy protein beverage mixes, are also an excellent choice and many also provide healthful amounts of other essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The best animal protein choices are fish and poultry. If you are partial to red meat, such as beef, pork, or lamb, stick with the leanest cuts, choose moderate portion sizes, and make it only an occasional part of your diet.
It’s essential to the growth, repair, and maintenance of all body tissues. It’s also required for making enzymes - catalysts essential to all life processes, and hormones - powerful chemical messengers that circulate through your bloodstream to specific target cells, where they generate a wide range of biological responses. It also helps your body maintain fluid and electrolyte balance, provides a source of energy, and helps your body fight off disease. These are the powers of protein!
These powers are made possible by consuming adequate amounts of dietary protein from a variety of lean meats, fish, and poultry, as well as soy and milk, which supply the body with amino acids, the basic building blocks from which the body can make its own body proteins.
Not All Protein Is Created Equal: Foods provide about 20 different amino acids, of which more than half are considered to be “nonessential.” In other words, the body can make them for itself. However, nine other amino acids are considered “essential,” meaning the body is unable to make them on its own. And unlike the carbohydrates and fats we consume, amino acids are not stored in the body. Therefore, the body must rely on a constant and steady supply from the protein-rich foods we eat every day.
So what are the best sources of dietary protein? And is there a difference between animal and vegetable sources? Well, it’s true that not all dietary protein is created equal. It really is the protein quality of one’s diet that, in large part, determines how well a child will grow and develop and how well an adult will maintain his or her health. Put simply, high-quality proteins provide enough of all the essential amino acids needed to support the body’s work, and lower-quality proteins don’t. Two key factors that influence protein quality are the protein’s digestibility and its amino acid composition. Protein digestibility is a measure of the amount of amino acids absorbed from a given protein intake, and amino acid composition refers to the simultaneous availability of all the needed amino acids from a food we choose to eat. In general, animal-sourced proteins (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy) are considered high-quality proteins, as is soy, a vegetable-sourced protein. However, other vegetable proteins tend to be of much lower quality and are often referred to as “incomplete” proteins because they do not provide all the essential amino acids the body needs. Incomplete proteins can come from fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts.
Health Benefits: When most of us think about the health benefits of dietary protein, its role in bodybuilding comes to mind—and rightly so. No new body tissue can be built without it. However, research also suggests that the intake of high-quality protein in the context of an overall healthful diet may also have positive effects on our body weight and body composition as we age, as well as play a role in the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart disease, certain types of cancer, and osteoporosis.
Weight Management: Studies have shown that achieving a healthy weight and maintaining that weight can help add years to your life, and scientists believe that dietary protein may play an important role in weight management. High-protein diets may promote significantly more weight loss compared to lower protein diets because of protein’s role in promoting satiety. In a fairly recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers studied the effects of increasing dietary protein while maintaining carbohydrate content on weight loss, appetite, calorie intake, and fat mass in a small group of study participants. Initially, participants were instructed to follow a weight-maintaining diet (50% carbohydrate, 15% protein, 35% fat) for two weeks. Then for the following two weeks, they were asked to follow a diet providing the same amount of calories but with 50% of calories coming from carbohydrate, 30% from protein, and 20% from fat. Two weeks later, they were given an ad libitum diet of 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein, and 20% fat to follow for an additional 12 weeks. Even though subjects could eat as much food as they wanted in those 12 weeks, they actually reduced their calorie intake by an average of 441 calories per day. They also lost an average of 10.8 pounds in body weight and 8.2 pounds of body fat.
Age-Related Muscle Loss: After about age 40, most adults will lose anywhere between 0.5% and 1% of their skeletal muscle mass each year. And in the early years, this gradual loss may go unnoticed because it might be masked by a concurrent increase in body fat. However, chronic muscle loss—or what is known as sarcopenia—is estimated to affect about 30% of people over age 60 and may affect more than 50% of those over age 80. Insufficient protein intake in older adults can contribute to a loss of muscle, and although the optimal amount of protein to prevent or offset the progression of sarcopenia has yet to be established, research findings suggest that protein intakes modestly above the present recommended dietary allowance of 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day (i.e. 1 gram per kilogram of body weight per day or higher) enhance muscle mass in older adults who regularly perform resistance exercise.
Protein intake in older adults also appears to have a more beneficial effect when consumed within an hour or so of resistance exercise. Emerging research also suggests that dairy protein, especially whey protein, may minimize sarcopenia because of its high concentration of leucine, an amino acid known to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. For example, findings in older adults suggest that increasing leucine intake may help restore the protein synthesis response to protein-containing meals, which has been shown to diminish with age.
Cardiovascular Disease: One concern that has been raised about the trend in high-protein diets for weight loss has been that eating diets high in protein and fat, and low in carbohydrate, would harm the heart. However, recent research findings suggest that if done in a healthy way, eating a little more protein, especially vegetable protein, while cutting back on refined carbohydrates may actually benefit the heart. A 20-year prospective study of 82,802 women found that those who ate low-carbohydrate diets high in vegetable sources of fat or protein had a 30% lower risk of heart disease, compared to women who ate high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets. But women who ate low-carbohydrate diets that were high in animal fats or proteins did not have a reduced risk of heart disease.
Cancer: There’s no good evidence that eating a little protein or a lot of it significantly influences cancer risk. However, eating a lot of red meat (cured and processed meats, in particular) has been linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. There also has been considerable investigation of the potential of soy-protein-containing foods to reduce the risk of cancer, especially breast cancer. In a fairly recent review of studies based on Asian populations, higher soy intake was associated with an overall 29% decreased risk of breast cancer.
Despite these positive findings, the relationship between soy foods and breast cancer risk has been controversial because of data gathered from cell culture and animal studies that suggest isoflavones (the plant-estrogen-like compounds in soy foods) stimulate the growth of estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells. This has led to questions about the safety of soy consumption in women with a history of breast cancer or women at high risk for the disease. Research continues in this area, but it’s important to point out that several lines of existing evidence suggest that women with breast cancer can safely consume soy.
First, human studies have shown that isoflavones do not stimulate breast cell proliferation or increase breast tissue density (two markers of increased cancer risk), and a lack of harmful effects have been noted in several clinical studies examining the impact of soy food intake on the prognosis of breast cancer patients.
In one study, neither soy nor isoflavone intake was related to the disease-free survival rate of breast cancer patients over a five-year follow-up period, and in a second study, higher soy intake was associated with a more favorable outcome for both total mortality and disease-specific mortality or relapse during a follow up period of two years. And even better news is that the benefit of soy food intake on survival was more pronounced among women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer. Although these studies are encouraging, breast cancer remains a very serious health condition. Women with a history of breast cancer should seek the advice of their doctor concerning the consumption of soy foods as part of an overall healthful diet.
Osteoporosis: Prevention of osteoporosis is a public health priority and among nutritional factors, most attention has focused on the beneficial role of calcium. However, in addition to calcium, many other nutrients are necessary for bone health, including protein. Findings from many, but not all, epidemiological studies point to a beneficial role for dietary protein in bone health. High-protein intakes have been associated with reduced bone loss, high bone-mineral density, and reduced fracture risk in older adults. In a recent trial, increasing protein intake, especially when accompanied by calcium and vitamin D, reduced bone loss, improved muscle strength, and shortened the hospital stay in older patients with hip fractures whose usual intake of dietary protein was low.
On the other hand, some studies suggest that excessive dietary protein intake may have detrimental effects on bone because of its effect on urinary calcium excretion. This controversy may be explained by other nutrients in food or the source of dietary protein. For example, dietary protein has been shown to exert a positive effect on the skeleton of older adults when calcium intake is adequate, but not when calcium intake is low.
Because protein exists in close association with other nutrients in the diet, it is important to consider protein’s role in bone health in the context of foods or the overall dietary pattern. A number of studies have demonstrated that intake of milk and other dairy products benefits bone health. Dairy products such as milk are a unique source of protein because their calcium content is high relative to their protein content and they contain other bone-supporting nutrients such as phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins A, D, and K.
How Much Protein Is Enough? Although no one-size-fits-all answer exists for that question and research on the topic is still emerging, the current recommended dietary allowance for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day for healthy young adults. That comes to about 62 grams of protein a day for a person who weighs 170 pounds. Although growing children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and older adults may need a little more (1.0–1.3 grams per kilogram of body weight), getting the minimum daily requirement of protein is fairly easy. Cereal with milk for breakfast, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, and a piece of fish with a side of beans for dinner adds up to about 70 grams of protein.
It’s also important to pay attention to what comes along with the protein in your food choices. An eight-ounce broiled porterhouse steak is a great source of complete protein—54 grams worth. But it also delivers 44 grams of fat, 16 of which are saturated. Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol, and high blood cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease. On the other hand, a cup of cooked lentils has 18 grams of protein, but less than one gram of fat.
Vegetable sources of protein, including soy protein beverage mixes, are also an excellent choice and many also provide healthful amounts of other essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The best animal protein choices are fish and poultry. If you are partial to red meat, such as beef, pork, or lamb, stick with the leanest cuts, choose moderate portion sizes, and make it only an occasional part of your diet.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Resveratrol: Can You Really Extend Your Life Span with this Antioxidant?
Can You Really Extend Your Life Span with this Antioxidant?
Dr. Mercola September 29 2009
In 2003, research showed that resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol and anti-fungal chemical, was able to increase the lifespan of yeast cells. The results ignited flames of hope for an anti-aging pill. According to the findings, resveratrol could activate a gene called sirtuin1, which is also activated during calorie restriction in various species.
Since then studies in nematode worms, fruit flies, fish, and mice have linked resveratrol to longer lives. Other studies with only resveratrol have reported anti-cancer effects, anti-inflammatory effects, cardiovascular benefits, anti-diabetes potential, energy endurance enhancement, and protection against Alzheimer’s. Resveratrol is found in grapes and red wine, and has particularly been associated with the so-called 'French Paradox' -- the low incidence of heart disease and obesity among the French, despite their relatively high-calorie diet and levels of wine consumption
If you want to stay healthy and extend your lifespan, eating right, exercising, optimizing your vitamin D levels and addressing emotional challenges at their root cause would be a great place to start.
But assuming you are already leading a healthy lifestyle, resveratrol, a potent antioxidant found in certain fruits, vegetables and cocoa, may be worth looking into.
Resveratrol is unique among antioxidants because it can cross the blood-brain barrier to help protect your brain and nervous system, and studies show that its benefits are wide reaching, including:
Protecting your cells from free radical damage
Inhibiting the spread of cancer, especially prostate cancer
Lowering your blood pressure
Keeping your heart healthy and improving elasticity in your blood vessels
Normalizing your anti-inflammatory response
Helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease
Because resveratrol appears to be so effective at warding off many diseases associated with aging, it is often referred to as a “fountain of youth” that can extend lifespan.
Promising Studies Show Resveratrol’s Anti-Aging Effects
Animal studies have shown that resveratrol helped overweight mice run farther and live about 20 percent longer. It has even been found to increase the lifespan of human cells.
Further, in a study published in the journal Nature, scientists fed one group of mice a high-fat diet consisting of 60 percent fat calories. The mice developed signs of incipient diabetes, and began dying early deaths.
A second group of mice was fed an identical diet, but were also given large daily doses of resveratrol (the equivalent, for a human, of the amount that would be found in 750 to 1,500 bottles of red wine).
The mice did put on weight, but they avoided the enlarged livers and high blood glucose and insulin that signal diabetes. The resveratrol-fed mice also lived as long as mice on a healthy diet.
Aside from these benefits, a new study revealed that resveratrol stops inflammation with a one-two punch that prevents your body from creating two different molecules known to trigger inflammation -- sphingosine kinase and phospholipase D.
While inflammation is a natural response in your body (it’s a process in which your body’s white blood cells protect you from outside invaders such as bacteria and viruses), it’s possible for your body to exist in a chronically inflamed state.
Chronic inflammation is not a beneficial bodily response, and in fact has been linked to numerous chronic diseases including heart disease.
Further, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals has already developed a resveratrol pill that was used in a trial on people with untreated diabetes. The results? Lowered glucose and insulin levels without any changes in diet or taking other drugs.
Should You Take Resveratrol to Extend Your Lifespan?
It’s interesting to note that GlaxoSmithKline recently purchased Sirtris for nearly three quarters of a billion dollars.
Why? Because Sirtris is hard at work developing an anti-aging resveratrol pill, and if they’re able to develop a drug that could slow down all diseases, it would be an FDA-approvable blockbuster of unprecedented scope. I would venture to say that scientists are hard at work on this as we speak.
Resveratrol’s benefits do look promising. Resveratrol seems to produce many similar benefits as exercise, including lowering insulin levels, which is a key to fighting disease and staying young. I also believe it is the reason why calorie restriction works to extend lifespan.
But would I suggest replacing exercise with resveratrol? No way, though I do suspect it is a powerful addition to exercise, and I personally take resveratrol because of this belief.
If you are interested in trying out some resveratrol for yourself, there are numerous products already on the market. Be sure to look for one made from muscadine grapes that uses WHOLE grape skins and seeds, as this is where many of the benefits are concentrated.
**This article is shared [by me] from Dr. Mercola.com.
(The links to my website have been added by me to direct viewers and are not to be considered an official endorsement by Dr. Mercola.)
Dr. Mercola September 29 2009
In 2003, research showed that resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol and anti-fungal chemical, was able to increase the lifespan of yeast cells. The results ignited flames of hope for an anti-aging pill. According to the findings, resveratrol could activate a gene called sirtuin1, which is also activated during calorie restriction in various species.
Since then studies in nematode worms, fruit flies, fish, and mice have linked resveratrol to longer lives. Other studies with only resveratrol have reported anti-cancer effects, anti-inflammatory effects, cardiovascular benefits, anti-diabetes potential, energy endurance enhancement, and protection against Alzheimer’s. Resveratrol is found in grapes and red wine, and has particularly been associated with the so-called 'French Paradox' -- the low incidence of heart disease and obesity among the French, despite their relatively high-calorie diet and levels of wine consumption
If you want to stay healthy and extend your lifespan, eating right, exercising, optimizing your vitamin D levels and addressing emotional challenges at their root cause would be a great place to start.
But assuming you are already leading a healthy lifestyle, resveratrol, a potent antioxidant found in certain fruits, vegetables and cocoa, may be worth looking into.
Resveratrol is unique among antioxidants because it can cross the blood-brain barrier to help protect your brain and nervous system, and studies show that its benefits are wide reaching, including:
Protecting your cells from free radical damage
Inhibiting the spread of cancer, especially prostate cancer
Lowering your blood pressure
Keeping your heart healthy and improving elasticity in your blood vessels
Normalizing your anti-inflammatory response
Helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease
Because resveratrol appears to be so effective at warding off many diseases associated with aging, it is often referred to as a “fountain of youth” that can extend lifespan.
Promising Studies Show Resveratrol’s Anti-Aging Effects
Animal studies have shown that resveratrol helped overweight mice run farther and live about 20 percent longer. It has even been found to increase the lifespan of human cells.
Further, in a study published in the journal Nature, scientists fed one group of mice a high-fat diet consisting of 60 percent fat calories. The mice developed signs of incipient diabetes, and began dying early deaths.
A second group of mice was fed an identical diet, but were also given large daily doses of resveratrol (the equivalent, for a human, of the amount that would be found in 750 to 1,500 bottles of red wine).
The mice did put on weight, but they avoided the enlarged livers and high blood glucose and insulin that signal diabetes. The resveratrol-fed mice also lived as long as mice on a healthy diet.
Aside from these benefits, a new study revealed that resveratrol stops inflammation with a one-two punch that prevents your body from creating two different molecules known to trigger inflammation -- sphingosine kinase and phospholipase D.
While inflammation is a natural response in your body (it’s a process in which your body’s white blood cells protect you from outside invaders such as bacteria and viruses), it’s possible for your body to exist in a chronically inflamed state.
Chronic inflammation is not a beneficial bodily response, and in fact has been linked to numerous chronic diseases including heart disease.
Further, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals has already developed a resveratrol pill that was used in a trial on people with untreated diabetes. The results? Lowered glucose and insulin levels without any changes in diet or taking other drugs.
Should You Take Resveratrol to Extend Your Lifespan?
It’s interesting to note that GlaxoSmithKline recently purchased Sirtris for nearly three quarters of a billion dollars.
Why? Because Sirtris is hard at work developing an anti-aging resveratrol pill, and if they’re able to develop a drug that could slow down all diseases, it would be an FDA-approvable blockbuster of unprecedented scope. I would venture to say that scientists are hard at work on this as we speak.
Resveratrol’s benefits do look promising. Resveratrol seems to produce many similar benefits as exercise, including lowering insulin levels, which is a key to fighting disease and staying young. I also believe it is the reason why calorie restriction works to extend lifespan.
But would I suggest replacing exercise with resveratrol? No way, though I do suspect it is a powerful addition to exercise, and I personally take resveratrol because of this belief.
If you are interested in trying out some resveratrol for yourself, there are numerous products already on the market. Be sure to look for one made from muscadine grapes that uses WHOLE grape skins and seeds, as this is where many of the benefits are concentrated.
**This article is shared [by me] from Dr. Mercola.com.
(The links to my website have been added by me to direct viewers and are not to be considered an official endorsement by Dr. Mercola.)
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