Octobeber 2011

Hello, and welcome to this edition edition of my Natural Alternatives Newsletter!

I hope you will enjoy reading this issue.

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“The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.” ~Hippocrates

IN THIS ISSUE:

1) 6 SURPRISING SUPERFOODS

2) EGGS – ANOTHER REASON TO IGNORE THE WARNINGS ABOUT THIS SUPER FOOD

3) 6 DRINKS THAT CAN HELP WITH WEIGHT LOSS

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1) 6 SURPRISING SUPERFOODS
By Jennifer Matlack

Black Is Back

Green veggies have long been hailed as the go-to good-for-you food, but dark fruits, veggies, and grains are nutritional powerhouses, too. Their color comes from anthocyanins, plant pigments that may help lower the risks of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

In fact, "black foods have more antioxidants than light-colored foods because of their high pigment content," says Cy Lee, PhD, a professor of food chemistry at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Can’t find one of these deep-hued superfoods at your local supermarket? Try natural-foods stores and ethnic groceries.

Black Rice
Brown rice is good for you, but black rice is even better. That’s because the bran hull contains significantly higher amounts of vitamin E, which bolsters the immune system and protects cells from free radical damage. In fact, black rice contains more anthocyanin antioxidants than blueberries, according to a study from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center.

Black Lentils
These legumes are loaded with iron: One cup has about 8 milligrams, getting you almost halfway to the daily requirement of 18 milligrams for women. Lentils also boast high levels of soluble fiber, which may not only lower your cholesterol, but could also improve immune function, according to a new University of Illinois study.

Blackberries
Polyphenols found in dark berries may help reduce cognitive decline in older age by cleaning up cells that impair brain function, researchers at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston say.

Blackberries are also hugely fiber-rich—one cup has almost8 of the 25 grams you need daily.

Black Beans
The dark skins of these beans are packed with bioflavonoids—potent plant-based nutrients that may protect against cancer, research out of Cornell University reveals.

Black Soybeans
Move over, edamame. A Korean study found that eating black soybeans can help reduce the risk of thrombosis—a type of blood clot that’s potentially fatal—even more than yellow or green soybeans.

And all soybean oil contains alpha-linolenic acid, a type of omega-3 fatty acid that may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Black Tea
Green and white teas get all the health hype, but good old black tea has its perks, too. It contains theaflavins—antioxidants that a study from Rutgers University in New Jersey suggests may improve recovery from muscle soreness after intense exercise. Drinking black tea may also lower your risk of having a heart attack.
Source:health.com

2) EGGS – ANOTHER REASON TO IGNORE THE WARNINGS ABOUT THIS SUPER FOOD By Dr. Mercola

Eggs contain high quality proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. And, according to new research, you can also add antioxidant properties to the list.

The antioxidant properties are due to the presence of two amino acids, tryptophan and tyrosine. Two raw egg yolks contain nearly twice as many antioxidant properties as an apple.

Egg yolks are also rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, a class of carotenoids that offer powerful prevention against age-related macular degeneration; the most common cause of blindness.

The research also illustrates how destructive cooking is. The antioxidant properties were reduced by about 50 percent when the eggs were fried or boiled, followed by microwaving, which resulted in an even greater reduction

The idea that eggs, as a source of saturated fats, are unhealthy and promote heart disease is a complete myth. While it's true that fats from animal sources contain cholesterol, this is not necessarily something that will harm you. On the contrary, the evidence clearly shows that eggs are one of the most healthful foods you can eat, and can actually help prevent disease, including heart disease.

For example, one 2009 study discovered that the proteins in cooked eggs are converted by gastrointestinal enzymes, producing peptides that act as ACE inhibitors (common prescription medications for lowering blood pressure). This certainly flies in the face of 'conventional wisdom,' and the latest findings support the stance that eggs are in fact part of a heart-healthy diet.

Although egg yolks are relatively high in cholesterol, numerous studies have confirmed that eggs have virtually nothing to do with raising your cholesterol. For instance, research published in the International Journal of Cardiology showed that, in healthy adults, eating eggs every day did not produce a negative effect on endothelial function (an aggregate measure of cardiac risk); nor did it increase cholesterol levels.

A number of people have cholesterol levels that are too low. While eating egg yolks is a great idea for a number of reasons, it will not increase your cholesterol level. If you need to do that a fairly reliable method is to use coconut oil. Usually about 2-4 tablespoons a day are required to increase your cholesterol.

The Egg—A Source of Health Promoting Antioxidants!

In the featured study, the researchers examined the nutrient content of egg yolks from hens fed primarily wheat or corn. They determined that the yolks from these conventional chickens contain two amino acids with potent antioxidant properties, which is important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer:

1.Tryptophan
2.Tyrosine

Below, I will discuss the nutrient content of organic, pastured eggs, which is far superior to conventional eggs. What's really interesting is that conventional eggs, despite their inferior nutritional content still were found to be such a potent source of heart healthy antioxidants!  The analysis showed that two raw egg yolks have antioxidant properties equivalent to half a serving of cranberries (25 grams), and almost twice as many as an apple.

The research also illustrates just how destructive cooking is. The antioxidant properties were reduced by about 50 percent when the eggs were fried or boiled, followed by microwaving, which resulted in an even greater reduction.

Although not specifically mentioned in the featured study, egg yolks are also a rich source of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, which belong to the class of carotenoids known as xanthophylls. These two are powerful prevention elements of age-related macular degeneration; the most common cause of blindness.

Additionally, as a side note, the amino acid tryptophan is also an important precursor to the brain chemical serotonin, which helps regulate your mood, and tyrosine synthesizes two key neurotransmitters, dopamine and norepinephrine, which promote alertness and mental activity. I mention this to remind you that the potential health benefits of eggs certainly go far beyond heart health...

Not All Eggs are Created Equal

Eggs are also an incredible source of high-quality protein and fat—nutrients that many are deficient in. And I believe eggs are a nearly ideal fuel source for most of us.

However, there are two caveats:

1.Free-range or “pastured” organic eggs are far superior when it comes to nutrient content, and

2.Cooking destroys many of these nutrients, so ideally, you’ll want to consume your eggs raw (but ONLY if they’re pastured organic, as conventionally-raised eggs are far more likely to be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria such as salmonella)

An egg is considered organic if the chicken was only fed organic food, which means it will not have accumulated high levels of pesticides from the grains (mostly GM corn) fed to typical chickens.  

Additionally, testing has confirmed that true free-range eggs are far more nutritious than commercially raised eggs. In a 2007 egg-testing project, Mother Earth News compared the official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs with eggs from hens raised on pasture and found that the latter typically contains:

1/3 less cholesterol 1/4 less saturated fat 2/3 more vitamin A 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids 3 times more vitamin E 7 times more beta carotene

The dramatically superior nutrient levels are most likely the result of the differences in diet between free ranging, pastured hens and commercially farmed hens.

Should You Refrigerate Your Eggs?

Before we get into the issue of eating raw versus cooked eggs, let's review the ideal storage method for your eggs. Contrary to popular belief, fresh pastured eggs that have an intact cuticle do not require refrigeration, as long as you are going to consume them within a relatively short period of time.

This is well known in many other countries, including parts of Europe, and many organic farmers will not refrigerate their eggs. In the U.S., refrigeration of eggs became the cultural norm when mass production caused eggs to travel long distances and sit in storage for weeks to months before arriving at your local supermarket. Additionally, the general lack of cleanliness of factory farms increases the likelihood that your eggs have come into contact with pathogens, amplifying the need for both disinfection and refrigeration.

So, if your eggs are fresh from the organic farm, with intact cuticles, and will be consumed within a few days, you can simply leave them on the counter or in a cool cupboard. The shelf life for an unrefrigerated egg is around 7 to 10 days.

When refrigerated, they'll stay fresh for 30-45 days. Keep this in mind when purchasing eggs from your grocery store, as by the time they hit the shelf, they may already be three weeks old, or older... USDA certified eggs will have a pack date and a sell-by date on the carton, so check the label. For more information about the date codes on your egg carton, see this link.

How to Eat Your Eggs for Maximum Health Benefits

Quite a few people are allergic to eggs, but I believe this is because they are cooked. When you heat the egg, the protein changes its chemical shape, and this type of distortion can easily lead to allergies. When consumed in their raw state, the incidence of egg allergy virtually disappears.

This distortion may be further magnified depending on the manner in which it's cooked. Microwaves heat food by causing water molecules in it to resonate at very high frequencies and eventually turn to steam, which heats your food. But it also changes your food's chemical structure in ways that regular cooking does not.

It is my belief that eating eggs raw helps preserve many of the highly perishable nutrients, and the results in the featured study confirms this as raw egg yolk lost about half of its antioxidant potential when boiled, fried, or worse, microwaved.  Remember that most of the nutrition in an egg is in the yolk, not the white which is merely protein and many have a texture problem when eating them raw. The yolk on the other hand is loaded with nutrients, like bioflavonoids, brain fats like phosphatidyl choline, powerful antioxidants and sulfur.  I have four raw egg yolks almost every day and throw away the whites as I don't need the extra protein, but one can soft boil or poach them  I personally put my raw egg yolks over a bed of dehydrated kale and cucumber pulp left over from juicing, along with a whole avocado and some chopped red onions.

If you choose not to eat your eggs raw, poached or soft-boiled is your next best option. Aside from microwaving, scrambling your eggs is one of the worst ways to cook them as it oxidizes the cholesterol in the egg yolk, which may in fact harm your health.

What about the Risk of Salmonella?

The CDC and other public health organizations advise you to thoroughly cook your eggs to lower your risk of salmonella, but as long as they're pastured and organic, eating your eggs raw is actually the best in terms of your health.

The salmonella risk is primarily heightened when the hens are raised in unsanitary conditions, which is extremely rare for small organic farms where the chickens are raised in clean, spacious coops, have access to sunlight, and forage for their natural food. The salmonella risk can be high in conventional eggs, however, which is why I advise against eating conventional eggs raw. One study by the British government found that 23 percent of farms with caged hens tested positive for salmonella, compared to just over 4 percent in organic flocks and 6.5 percent in free-range flocks.

How to Find Fresh Pastured Organic Eggs

The key to getting high quality eggs is to buy them locally, either from an organic farm or farmers market.  Fortunately, finding organic eggs locally is far easier than finding raw milk as virtually every rural area has individuals with chickens. Farmers markets are a great way to meet the people who produce your food. With face-to-face contact, you can get your questions answered and know exactly what you're buying. Better yet, visit the farm and ask for a tour.

To locate a free-range pasture farm, try asking your local health food store, or check out the following web listings:

Local Harvest, USDA’s farmer’s market listing, Eat Wild

If you absolutely must purchase your eggs from a commercial grocery store, look for ones that are marked free-range organic. They're still going to originate from a mass-production facility (so you'll want to be careful about eating them raw), but it's about as good as it gets if you can't find a local source.

I would strongly encourage you to AVOID ALL omega-3 eggs, as they are some of the least healthy for you. These eggs typically come from chickens that are fed poor-quality sources of omega-3 fats that are already oxidized. Also, omega-3 eggs perish much faster than non-omega-3 eggs.

For more tips on eggs, including how to identify fresh, high-quality eggs, please read Raw Eggs for Your Health.

3) 6 DRINKS THAT CAN HELP WITH WEIGHT LOSS
By Frank Mangano

The overall health of a person is partly determined by the general state of his weight.  Being overweight or obese can be a precipitating factor in the development of several life-altering conditions such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular and respiratory problems as well as arthritis.  It is important therefore, to practice healthy habits – proper diet, health-promoting lifestyle and regular exercise.

Two of the most recommended ways in order for one to lose weight are: balanced calorie intake and exercise. To have a healthy body, these two techniques should be a part of a person’s daily routine and should be closely followed according to one’s metabolic rate.  Majority of us knows that exercises, if properly identified and executed, burns the extra calories in the body.  But not everyone knows that there are certain foods that can increase the body’s metabolism. 

When the body metabolizes, or burns calories, to be used as energy, the body will, in time, decrease body mass, especially if what is burned are the extra body fat.   However, losing weight does not anymore depend on what we, or what we do not eat per se – we can also carefully choose what to drink to help promote weight loss. As it turns out, some drinks, which are actually considered as food, can actually increase metabolism, which will eventually help in losing one’s weight.  Below are some of the helpful drinks:

Water
So we heard about drinking eight glasses of water per day. What is the wisdom behind this advice? Many people argue that drinking lots of water actually decreases their appetite. A study conducted by a group of researchers had proven that this is actually true.  Presented to the American Chemical Society in Boston, Brenda Davy, a nutrition researcher of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, has asserted that drinking more water will actually help one lose weight. 

In a study conducted and reported in 2008, adults with ages 55 to 75 who drank two cups of water approximately 30 minutes before meals are eating fewer calories compared to those who do not. By fewer, it means 13 percent less than the usual calorie intake.  To further evaluate this result, Davy made another study of the same age group of overweight and obese adults. 

They were asked to eat meals consisting between 1200 to 1500 calories/day.  Those who drank 16 oz. of water before meals actually lost an average of 15.5 pounds after 3 months, compared to those who did not, who only lost an average of 11 pounds.  The experiment has shown that water may indeed have a long lasting feeling of fullness to people. 

Further experiments are yet to be conducted to prove this result since there are newer studies showing that water increases metabolism. Additionally, some suspects that the reason might be that people consume less sugar-loaded beverage when they consume more water.  At any rate, there is actually no harm in drinking water to lose one’s weight.

Vegetable Juice
According to Dr. Carl L. Keen of the University of California-Davis, drinking at least an 8 oz. cup of vegetable juice per day will aid in reducing weight, since there will be a reduction of appetite.  In the study he conducted, those who followed a certain calorie controlled diet and drank a cup of vegetable juice daily lost four pounds after 12 weeks, compared to those who followed the diet yet did not drink the recommended vegetable juice; they only lost one pound within the same time period. 

For a longer time, there is a belief that those who consume more vegetables and fruits have lesser weights, and this has been proven by the said study.  However, not only will the person lose weight, they will also gain necessary nutrients from the vegetables. The best vegetable juices which provide greater weight loss are carrots, celery, cucumber, Chinese cabbage and tomato.

Black Coffee
Some studies have shown that drinking coffee, black without sugar, can actually increase the body’s ability to lose weight.  Although, increasing caffeine has not shown that it will result to permanent weight loss, theories on why caffeine has this effect are abundant.  The most common theory is that caffeine suppresses appetite.  Many diet pills have caffeine as a major ingredient for the intention of reducing one’s desire to eat.  Another reason is that the caffeine in coffee stimulates the sympathetic nervous system which will eventually increase the calories burned by the body, resulting to losing of weight.

Green Tea
According to a report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, drinking green tea extract resulted to a boost in metabolism; that is, there is an increase use of energy by the body.  Green tea has a high concentration of catechin polyphenols, which has shown to increase the metabolic rate of a person by four percent.  Additionally, rats which were injected with enough amounts of green tea lost weight by 21 percent due to loss in appetite.  They ate only 60 percent of their food. 

Home-made Smoothie
Smoothies are blended and chilled fresh fruits and vegetables, together with yogurt.  In the right amounts of ingredients, smoothies can help in increasing metabolism through its carbohydrates, protein and fats.  There are hundreds of smoothie recipes available everywhere that can be a meal substitute, especially for breakfast.  Not only will smoothies help in reducing weight, it also gives high amounts of antioxidants helpful for the body to fight off the damaging effects of oxidations brought about by free radicals.

100% Fruit Juice
The US Department of Agriculture recommended that an average person should consume 5-9 servings of fruits daily.  However, it is shown that consuming fresh fruits are difficult to fulfill considering that some have aversion towards eating fruits.  However, by juicing them up, one can achieve the recommended amounts of fruit servings far more quicker than by simply eating and munching on the fruit.  By juicing and squeezing the fruit, all the necessary nutrients are included in the juice, unlike processed juices which have reduced the important enzymes due to heating process. A 100% fruit juice can help in promoting weight loss by up to three pounds during the first week of juice fasting, according to some dieters. 

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!

Thank you for reading.

Livia
https://www.natural-health-and-healing.com
Brampton, Ontario, Canada

P.S. If you have a comment or suggestion, just reply to this e-mail. Your feedback is important to me.

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This newsletter is for educational purposes only. It is your right to educate yourself in health and medical knowledge, to seek helpful information and make use of it for your own benefit, and for that of your family. You are the one responsible for your health. You must educate yourself in order to make decisions in all health matters. My views and advices are not intended to be a substitute for conventional medicine, but simply a help you to make educated changes in order to help your body heal itself. If you have a medical condition or concern you should consult your physician.