Health Choices for Life Blog

This blog will be used to advise of additions or changes to the site. More importantly, it will be used to comment on contemporary health and alternative medicine issues that mainstream media sees fit to report.

Aug 20, 2010, Two Over Easy? Better Think Twice!

The Wright County Egg Company's 380 million egg recall reported on August 19, 2010 is merely a warning sign of worse things to come.

In this case the contamination was salmonella in eggs but it does bring to mind other recent food poisoning outbreaks such as e-coli and salmonella contaminated spinach, peanut butter, and infected hamburger produced by Cargill.

The egg recall forces us into one of those health-choices-for-life decisions, namely to continue eating factory farmed industrial eggs, switch to eggs from pastured chickens (if you can find them) or stop eating eggs altogether.

Watch the 28 minute video on filth and cruelty in the Wegman's supermarket egg farm and then make your choice.

The problem with factory farming is that, while we have animal cruelty laws that apply to our pets and service animals, farm animals are totally exempt from any protection whatsoever. It is a heartless, filthy, cruel industry focused on volume, efficiency, and profit with no regard for the health of the consumer or welfare of the animals.

Corporate animal factories run by contract operators for Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, Perdue and similar food companies can do anything they please to their confined animals and never have to answer to anyone.

It is time for a revolution focused on getting back to real farming, real animal husbandry and making factory farms a bad memory.

Write or call your congressmen, talk to your supermarket managers, shop your local farmers markets and make your health-choice-for-life with your fork and your food dollars. Instead of two over easy, how about a fluffy pancake with a bowl of fruit.

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Aug 7, 2010, Healthy Choices Means Longer Life

Healthy choices are not in our nature. Knowledge and discipline guide our choices. Learn both here to achieve optimum health.

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Aug 5, 2010, The Food and Pill Tug of War

Hippocrates reportedly said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food". That's all well and good except that Hippocrates probably wasn't taking blood thinners, cholesterol meds, antibiotics or any of the other products flowing from big Pharma.

The fact is that a lot of foods interact with medications in various ways. It goes to absorption; some decrease absorption resulting in the body getting a lower dose than prescribed. Others increase absorption with the effect of the body getting an over-dose of the drug. The whole issue is also complicated by the fact that age, weight and gender can also affect absorption.

Here's a few examples.

It is well known that grapefruit enhances the effects of cholesterol lowering drugs (statins) but what is not so well known is that cranberry and pomegranate also kick statins into high gear.

Our favorite dark chocolates, red wine and nuts are great anti-oxidants and noted for their anti-aging benefits but eat too much and you will increase the potency of many drugs including anti-depressants, stimulants and sleeping pills.

Cancer patients taking Tamoxifen should say no thanks to beer, especially the more bitter ones with more hops. The beer will multiply the effects of the cancer drug.

Eating meat while taking hypertension drugs or beta blockers for heart arrhythmia can enhance the drugs effects. Fatty fish high in omega-3 can also enhance the effects of anti-clotting agents such as Plavix.

Leafy greens can decrease the effects of blood thinners like Coumadin and milk can reduce the absorption of antibiotics like Cipro.

Finally many of the herbals are well known for their interactions with meds. Black pepper enhances allergy medications and black tea enhances almost all drugs. Ginger and chai can decease the effectiveness of flu remedies such as Tamiflu. Click on herbal effects for more information on how herbs and medicinal drugs can interact.

Every prescription drug has an unintended side effect. We can expect the same thing when taking nutrients (or supplements) at high levels. Be safe; when our doctor gives us a prescription, it is wise to ask lots of questions about possible interactions.

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Jun 25, 2010, The Whales Revenge

The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission concludes today, June 25, 2010, and thank God, they did not reverse the 24 year old ban on international whaling.

Thank God, for two reasons. The first has to do with the preservation of whales themselves. Whales are an endangered life form pure and simple. Just visit the Ocean Alliance website at http://www.oceanalliance.org/ for more information on whale populations than is possible to assimilate. For example, according to Ocean Alliance, there are fewer than 400 North Atlantic Right Whales left in the entire world. All other species are also depleted in varying degrees.

While whaling has been banned for over two decades, Japan, Norway and Iceland still engage in commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research.

So just how does all that whale meat end up in Japanese restaurants if someone isn't stretching "scientific research" to the limit or taking bribes to look the other way. These countries aren't strangers to lining a few pockets when it comes to killing whales.

The second reason to thank God, is that according an Associated Press release today, whales are loaded with "stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals". These include mercury, cadmium, lead, antimony, arsenic and a whole lot more contaminants from the pharmaceutical and agriculture industries.

The good news is that with the ban still in place fewer people will be consuming whale meat; except the Japanese, that is. Hope they enjoy their mercury and cadmium laced sushi.

The worse news is that since whales are at the top of the ocean's food chain, it means that every single sea creature is similarly contaminated with these poisons. The larger the fish or mammal, the higher the concentration of toxins.

So now it's time to make one of those healthy choices for life. Don't eat large ocean fish and mammals. For that matter, don't eat farmed fish either. They are raised in overcrowded pools, swimming in the own sewage, fed a diet of corn and antibiotics.

Instead, get your omega-3 from pharmaceutical grade molecularly distilled fish oil.

Lastly, why not make a nice supporting contribution to Ocean Alliance and the Humane Society; both are actively engaged in Saving the Whales.

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Apr 9, 2010, Pharmaceutical Consultant - aka Influence Peddler, Lobbyist, Drug Pusher

Beware the pharmaceutical consultant bearing gifts. They are purveyors of corruption.

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Apr 2, 2010, Glutathione and Bioavailability

Glutathione (GSH) seems to be getting a lot of attention lately and one glaring misconception has come to my attention.

That misconception is that we can get the glutathione molecule directly from food or supplementation.

During a lunchtime conversation with a friend, he said that you can get all the glutathione you need from asparagus, just puree the ends of the asparagus and take a couple of spoonfuls morning and night.

Asparagus may contain glutathione but unfortunately, stomach acid will totally destroy it. Even if it made the passage through the stomach into the small intestine, the glutathione molecule is much too large to pass through the intestine wall and be absorbed.

The bottom line is that we cannot get glutatione from food. Glutathione is manufactured in the cell from three protein building blocks and the only way we can be sure of having enough GSH is to consume those three peptides.

The transformation from three peptides to GSH involves over a hundred enzymatic steps and if any of the catalytic cofactors are missing, no glutathione in produced.

That is where Max Interational and their MaxGXL product comes into the picture. It is the best and surest source of the GSH components and all the associated nutrients to complete the construction process. End of story!

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Apr 2, 2010, Human Cell Physiology: Awesome defined!

A study of basic Human cell physiology to explore how this microscopic factory works and uses nutrition to

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Mar 29, 2010, Green Tea A Powerhouse of Health

Green Tea is arguably the best of the best in beverages for our health. Its benefits can be both life changing and life saving

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Mar 15, 2010, Save the Dolphins; Save Yourself

If you haven't watched the The Cove yet, the oscar winning docmentary about the annual dolphin kill in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan, don't let another day go by without seeing it.

Several messages came through loud and clear.

First is that Dolphins are self-aware, intelligent mammals (not fish), they have an affinity for humans (can't imagine why), and should not be killed for food or kept in captivity to amuse the tourists at SeaWorld (or anywhere else). The brutal killing of dolphins in Taiji has to stop.

Second is that we humans, and particularly the Japanese, are depleteing the food-fish stocks of the ocean as fast possible in the interest of making a buck(or yen)and if the trend continues the whole ocean eco-system will collapse in 40 years or less.

Third, the larger the fish, the higher the toxic load of mercury, cadmium and lead but mostly mercury. If Japan keeps on eating dolphin, tuna and whale meat, maybe the problem will take care of itself since they won't be around much longer to contiue the devastation.

The Cove is on a par with the documentary Food, Inc. in bringing home the message that we are what we eat and if we don't start respecting the dignity of our animal food sources, nature will have its revenge.

That revenge will be in the form of ever increasing incidences of chronic, serious illness due to corn feed stocks, hormones and disease induced into fish, cattle and poultry from the processes inherent in the large multi-national corporate feed lots, slaughter houses and fish farms.

What to do? Eat only organically raised, free range, natural grass fed beef and poultry and that goes for all the byproducts from these animals as well; eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.

Don't eat fish from the corporate fish farms and avoid the larger ocean fish.

Lastly, educate yourself, get your mercury level checked, watch The Cove and Food, Inc. and become an activist.

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Mar 6, 2010, Cancer Prevention is a Lifetime of Smart Choices

Cancer prevention has been sorely lacking in the war on cancer and early detection is still in the realm of

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Mar 5, 2010, Good Sugar Substitute No Artificial Sweeterners Here

A good natural sugar substitute should be incorporated into our diets. There are several to choose from.

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Mar 5, 2010, Probiotics Are "For Life"!

Probiotics are dietary supplements containing live bacteria that bestow a health benefit to the user. Probiotic

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Mar 3, 2010, Alzheimers disease... Do we know what were doing?

Alzheimers disease is the most devastating condition known to man. Is a loss of mental acuity really Alzheimers or something else?

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Feb 26, 2010, Glutathione...the Miracle Anti-oxidant You Never Heard Of

Glutathione is vital to health and made naturally by our bodies if all the right building blocks are present; most of the time they aren't. Find out what it can do for you.

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Feb 22, 2010, Heart Disease...No. 1 on the Hit Parade!

Cardiovascular and heart disease are the top Causes of Mortality yet are totally preventable. Learn how.

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Feb 11, 2010, Nutritional Minerals in Food are Vital to our Health

Minerals in food are essential nutrients but supplementation may be necessary.

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Feb 11, 2010, Danger...HFCS Better Known as High Fructose Corn Syrup

HFCS is stalking you! Does high fructose corn syrup matter?

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Jan 30, 2010, Prescription Fish Oil???

As I was browsing my latest issue of Fortune magazine, one of those "Ask you doctor" ads caught my attention. This one was for Lovaza from GlaxoSmithKline. What is Lovaza? It is our old friend omega-3 fish oil; only now it's being touted as a prescription medication for treating high triglycerides.

Why would anyone go to their doctor for an omega-3 prescription when it is readily available off the shelf at any drug store, health food store, grocery or from a host of network marketers?

Several reason readily come to mind.

1. Money!

Why would a drug company lay out big dollars to get an FDA approval for a common supplement?

Most commercially sold omega-3 sells for less than $.40 per capsule but as a prescription drug, GSK can sell it for $2.00 per capsule or more.

Why would anyone pay that much for fish oil? They wouldn't, but if they can get someone else to pay for it, like an insurance company or Medicare Advantage drug plan for example, then it becomes feasible.

2. The Cure Claim

As an FDA approved drug, GSK can legally make the claim that Lovaza treats high triglycerides which has beneficial implications for controlling high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

Even though GSK has clinically demonstrated the benefits of omega-3 fish oil, if any other company makes the same claims, they will be charged with selling an unapproved drug, face high fines, and possible jail time for company officials.

So in this respect, the FDA approval becomes a powerful weapon to stifle competition.

3. Killing the Supplement Industry

Considering the big picture and knowing how big pharma approaches its strategic planning, what if the drug companies were successful in getting most popular dietary supplements approved as medications?

The next step would be to unleash their army of lobbyists, checkbooks in hand, to buy off congress to have all supplements available only by prescription from a medical doctor.

Every dietary supplement manufacturer and its distributors would be out of business overnight. Want to take coenzyme Q10? See your doctor! Want to supplement with alpha lipoic acid, beta sitosterol, vitamin D3 or whatever? Go get a prescription!

Think it can't happen? We are now living in "Brave New World" and personal freedoms are being steadily eroded.

If we really want to protect our access to dietary supplements and make our own healthy choices for life, then we must watch what is going on in congress.

For starters, support those representatives and senators that are tuned in to our personal freedom of choice in health and support legislation that will protect our rights and keep the FDA and big pharma at bay.

This may be the first shot in what could be a long war with another of our basic freedoms at stake.

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Jan 4, 2010, Nutrition Made Clear

The Healthy by Nature website is all about making the right health choices for living an optimal, high quality lifestyle.

Nutrition is obviously a huge part of a healthy lifestyle and much of the site content deals with making the proper choices in nutrition.

The Teaching Company, which is a valued affiliate advertiser of this site, has just come out with an excellent, college level course, to help us make those nutritional choices.

It is titled Nutrition Made Clear and is presented in 36 very clear, understandable lectures by Prof. Roberta Anding, Director of Sports Nutrition and a clinical dietitian at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital.

To review this course or order it, click on the "The Teaching Company" button below and enter "Nutrition Made Clear" in their search box.

Think you know all about proper nutrition? Think again...watch Professor Anding and learn! You will be well rewarded.

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Nov 19, 2009, Whole Flaxseed and Omega-3 for Better Health

Want a simple assist in lowering your total circulating cholesterol and, more importantly, your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol? Yes?

Then try sprinkling a couple of tablespoons of whole flaxseed a day on your morning cereal or whatever other food it might blend with.

Whole flaxseed contains chemical compounds known as lignan precursors. When these compounds are consumed in our diet, normal bateria in our gut converts them to a form of lignan suitable for use by humans.

Data obtained from 28 different randomized controlled trials involving 1381 test subjects between 1990 and 2008 was studied via a meta-analysis process.

"Meta-analysis" just means that all the data from these various studies were crunched together to arrive at a set of consistent findings.

The findings did indeed show significant reductions in total and LDL cholesterol with whole flaxseed and flaxseed lignan supplements; but not with flaxseed oil.

Flaxseed also is loaded with alpha-linolenic acid, a fatty acid more commonly known as omega-3. Most of us in the U.S. are woefully deficient in omega-3 which is why inflammatory diseases are so rampant.

So before grabbing the statin and cortico-steroid drugs for your high cholesterol and inflammation induced illnesses, try a few tablespoons of whole flaxseed a day. And to take it a step further, supplement with a high grade omega-3 fish oil each day as well.

Try and see what happens...it can't hurt and it won't break the bank.

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