Cilantro helps detox heavy metals

Natural News
Mike Adams
Monday, November 09, 2009

Heavy metals are extremely toxic to human neurology. Mercury, lead and cadmium all contribute aggressively to the deterioration of neurological function. Fortunately, there’s a simple, natural way to detox your body and remove these toxic substances from your tissues.

The solution is cilantro. It’s that magical-tasting herb often used in Mexican food recipes. As it turns out, cilantro not only taste great, it also binds to heavy metals and helps remove them from your body.

Below, we’re collected some important research on this remarkable ability of the cilantro herb. Read them all to learn more, then whip up your own delicious recipes using raw cilantro in your own kitchen!

Food, after all, is really potent medicine. You can also purchase cilantro liquid extracts from places like Baseline Nutritionals (their product is called “Metal Magic”) or other vendors of quality superfood supplements.

Cilantro removes heavy metals
Supplements helpful in the detoxification process include: cilantro, Vitamin C, selenium, garlic and others. Eating a clean diet, free of pesticides and hormones, is a must for a detoxification program. I encourage my patients to eat whole foods, with adequate amounts of protein. Eliminating the “whites”– refined sugar, refined flour, and refined salt will help any health condition and help any detoxification program. The glycemic index of carbohydrates can be a helpful guide on which carbohydrates to eat and which to avoid.
- The Miracle of Natural Hormones by David Brownstein

Add cilantro to meals; it can help remove heavy metals. Add dark green leafy vegetables, which contain chlorophyll, a helpful detoxifier. Get curcuminoids from spices such as turmeric. Try herbal detoxification teas containing mixtures of burdock root, dandelion root, ginger root, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, cardamom seed, cinnamon bark, and other herbs.
- Ultraprevention : The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life by Mark Hyman, M.D.

There are several natural chelation products that use only the cilantro and chlorella to extremely positive effect supporting the basic premises being put forth here. The addition of ALA brings in the leading work of Dr. Andrew Hall Cutler, who is one of the world’s leading experts on mercury detoxification. His extensive and successful use of ALA has won him a large devoted audience.
- Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus

Metal Magic is made from two simple herbs: cilantro and chlorella. Alone, each of these has the ability to bind with heavy metals, and together they make a very powerful metal detoxification substance that can literally pull mercury, lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals right out of your body, thereby sparing your body the damage that would normally be caused by those heavy metals. This is potentially a life-saving product, and it can certainly save the health of a fetus, if you happen to be pregnant or you plan to have a pregnancy in the near future.
- Natural Health Solutions by Mike Adams

Eat more foods that contain Vitamin C, such as the supergrain Chia, or red-colored fruits and vegetables, for about ten days. Use cilantro leaves and green leafy vegetables in every main meal to help clear mercury and other metal deposits from the body. Drinking several cups of Pau d’Arco (Lapacho) tea per day, or taking four capsules of its extract three times daily for two weeks may greatly assist you in the detoxification of the blood, liver and kidneys.
- Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You by Andreas Moritz

Since 1 couldn’t afford $9,000 for those treatments, I intensified my detoxification program by taking in more wheatgrass, the sea vegetable chlorella and cilantro, reputed to be a good heavy metal chelator. Fasting is also effective at reducing the body’s toxic burden. Third, make sure you get enough sleep. Studies show that people who don’t sleep enough have intensified appetites due to a lack of the hormone leptin. I have also found coconut oil or butter to be extremely helpful in burning fat. Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids, or triglycerides (MCTs).
- The Live Food Factor: The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet by Susan E. Schenck

As you can see from the following recipes, I adore cilantro! It is said to be a good heavy metal chelator to aid in detoxification. I put an entire bunch of it in almost anything that is not a dessert. Feel free to reduce the amount. You could also use parsley or your own favorite herb as a substitute. When I first started preparing raw dishes, I omitted many of the fresh herbs because I didn’t want to pay two dollars for some fresh organic herbs when the recipes called for so little of them.
- The Live Food Factor: The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet by Susan E. Schenck

We helped him detoxify from this mercury poisoning with foods such as kale, watercress, and cilantro; herbs such as milk thistle; nutrients such as selenium and zinc; and chelating medications that helped him overcome his genetic difficulties getting rid of toxins. We lowered his cholesterol with diet, herbs, and exercise. We lowered his homocysteine with high doses of folate, B12, and B6 to overcome his weak MTHFR gene. And we added an extra, special form of folate called methyl folate, the active form that bypasses the ineffective gene.
- The Live Food Factor: The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet by Susan E. Schenck

Initial studies indicate that fresh cilantro may be extremely effective in helping flush heavy metals out of the blood. Taking 400 mg of cilantro a day can pretty much clean heavy metals out of the body in just 2 weeks. Dr. David Williams has a great recipe for cilantro pesto in his June ‘98 Alternatives newsletter. Process one cup packed fresh cilantro and six tablespoons of olive oil in a blender until the cilantro is chopped. Add one clove garlic; a half cup almonds, cashews, or other nuts, and two tablespoons lemon juice. Blend to a lumpy paste. (Add a little hot water if necessary.)
- Whole-Body Dentistry: Discover The Missing Piece To Better Health by Robert C. Atkins MD

Cilantro stimulates the body’s release of mercury and other heavy metals from the brain and CNS into other tissue. Cilantro’s postulated mechanism of action is to act as a reducing agent changing the charge on the intracellular mercury to a neutral state allowing mercury to diffuse down its concentration gradient into connective tissue.
- Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus

The amount of cilantro varied by individual because some subjects did not like either cooked or raw cilantro, but the researchers found that cilantro worked synergistically with antibiotic drugs and rapidly reduced symptoms and infection. They also found that cilantro accelerated the elimination of mercury, lead, and aluminum through the urine. They hypothesized that certain infectious organisms somehow use mercury or lead to protect themselves from antibiotics or that deposits of heavy metals somehow make antibiotics ineffective.
- Disease Prevention and Treatment by The Life Extension Editorial Staff

Organic foods decrease the toxic burden that pesticides cause. Cilantro, parsley, dark leafy greens help to bind up toxins, such as heavy metals, for excretion. Goat milk, yogurt and cheese are more readily digested than cow dairy products. Rice and soya milk are alternatives to goat or cow milk. Cottage cheese and plain cow milk yogurt are acceptable. Oatmeal, buckwheat, quinoa and brown rice are healthy grains that do not contain gluten. Sometimes oatmeal is cross-contaminated with wheat, which contains gluten. If you are a celiac, be careful with oats.
- Your Drug-Free Guide to Digestive Health by Heather Caruso

Oral chelators such as zeolite, cilantro, chlorella, the sulfur amino acids – methionine, cysteine and cystine – plus all sulfur containing foods, are preferred from a strictly natural health point of view. Exercise that produces perspiration, saunas, and steam baths in combination with the foods indicated above, are also helpful in eliminating heavy metals. Synthetic chemicals and their combinations pose a serious threat to health. It is reported that 80,000 chemicals are in use today, and that this number increases yearly.
- Conscious Health: A Complete Guide to Wellness Through Natural Means by Ron Garner

The essential oils of cilantro are considered to have antifungal and antibacterial properties (Omura et al. 1995; 1996). In studies at the Heart Disease Foundation (New York), Omura et al. (1995; 1996) found that antibiotics used to treat infection were not effective in the presence of heavy metals such as mercury and lead. These metals appeared to coexist with infections such as Chlamydia trachomatis and Herpes simplex, as well as with cytomegalovirus and other microorganisms, including viruses responsible for cancer.
- Disease Prevention and Treatment by The Life Extension Editorial Staff Full article here…

Aren’t green beans supposed to be good for you? New study of BPA in canned food says maybe not…

GreenAndSave.com
Sarah Janssen
Friday, November 6, 2009

Yesterday, Consumer Reports released a study of the levels of bisphenol a (BPA) in food products. They found that nearly all of the 19 canned food products they tested contained levels of BPA which have been associated with harm in laboratory animal studies. These included name-brand products like DelMonte green beans and Progresso vegetable soup, which had some of the highest levels measured. Other popular brands like Chef Boyardee, Campbell’s, Green Giant, and Hormel also contained concerning levels BPA. Even more alarming, organic canned food and other brands labeled as “bpa-free” had detectable levels of BPA, including Annie’s Organic and Eden Foods. None of the contaminated foods list BPA in their ingredients list because it isn’t intentionally added to the food but rather leaches from the lining of the can into the food.

Because this was a small study, this study is just a snapshot of what people eating canned food might be exposed to, but we can assume that, in general, most canned food contains some level of BPA. The bad news is that you can’t know for sure which canned foods are most contaminated.

The good news is that it is possible to eat your vegetables and have them be BPA-free. Tests of frozen food or food packaged in box or pouch contained much lower or non-detectable levels of BPA. Curiously, Hunt’s canned tomato sauce contained low BPA levels – similar to those found in frozen food – which suggests it is possible to can food with little to no BPA contamination.

Why am I concerned about BPA? BPA is a hormone disrupting chemical that acts like the female sex hormone, estrogen, and can interfere with normal development and function of the body. In animal studies, developmental BPA exposure has been linked to prostate cancer, breast cancer, pre-diabetes (insulin resistance), changes in fat metabolism, and changes in the way the brain develops resulting in behavioral abnormalities. Emerging human research has found similar evidence of harm. And all of us are exposed; over 90% of Americans tested by the CDC were found to have residues of BPA in their bodies.

The Consumer Reports study rightly points out that BPA exposure from eating canned food represents a risk to human health. Their study has been disputed by the chemical industry who cling to the results of flawed studies they funded.

The FDA relied on these same industry studies when concluding that current levels of BPA exposure are safe. However, the FDA is currently re-evaluating the safety of BPA after their own scientific advisors sharply criticized them for doing an “inadequate” analysis. FDA is expected to announce an updated of this process at the end of this month and in December the EPA is expected to announce their “action plan” for evaluating the toxicity of BPA.

While it is great that many companies and retailers are voluntarily replacing their use of BPA in consumer products like baby bottles, sippy cups and maybe even some food packaging, we should not assume that just because a product is “BPA-free” means that it is safe.

Often we have little to no information about the replacement chemicals being used and the current law intended to protect us from toxic chemicals is so weak and broken, there is no functional system in place to protect us from toxic chemicals! Fortunately, there is a momentum building to reform this broken law and put in place a new law that will prevent us from having to worry about whether the replacements are really safer.

In the meantime, NRDC recommends that everyone, especially pregnant women and young children, reduce their exposure to BPA as much as possible.

We have more information BPA and recommendations for avoiding exposure on our website. These include:

* Limit your consumption of canned food by eating fresh or frozen produce and buying processed food in “brick” cartons, pouches or glass.

* Limit your consumption of canned soda and beer – where possible choose glass as an alternative.

* If you have a newborn, avoid baby bottles or sippy cups made of polycarbonate (hard, clear, shatterproof) plastic. They are marked with the recycling symbol #7, and sometimes labeled “PC.” (Not all #7 plastics are polycarbonates-the only way to know for sure is to call the manufacturer.)

* Use a BPA-free reusable water bottle, such as an unlined stainless steel bottle.

* Don’t allow your children to have dental sealants made from BPA (or BADGE) applied to their teeth, and don’t have these sealants applied to your teeth while you are pregnant. Ask your dentist to provide BPA-free treatments. Full article here…

Vegetable Juice Helps Promote Weight Loss

Natural News
David Gutierrez
Thursday, October 29, 2009

Daily consumption of vegetable juice may not just help increase vegetable consumption, but also improve the effectiveness of weight loss strategies, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of California-Davis and presented at the Experimental Biology Conference in New Orleans.

The study was funded in part by the Campbell Soup Company.

The researchers conducted the study on 81 adults with metabolic syndrome, three-quarters of them women. Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of symptoms — central obesity, high blood levels of trigylcerides and fasting glucose, high blood pressure, and low levels of HDL (”good”) cholesterol — that significantly raise a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. All the participants were advised to follow an American Heart Association-recommended diet high in fiber, fruit, vegetables, minerals and low-fat diary, and low in salt and saturated fat. They were also told to drink 0, 1 or 2 cups of low-sodium, high-potassium V8-brand vegetable juice daily.

After 12 weeks, participants who drank either one or two cups of vegetable juice per day lost an average of four pounds, while those who drank no vegetable juice lost only one pound. The researchers also found that people in the vegetable juice groups had significantly higher vitamin C and potassium intake, and a significantly lower intake of carbohydrates.

Drinking vegetable juice also made people significantly more likely to reach the recommended intake of five fruits and vegetables per day. Among those not drinking vegetable juice, less than 25 percent reached the daily fruit and vegetable goal, in contrast with more than 50 percent of those in the one-cup-per-day group and 100 percent of those in the two-cups-per-day group.

“What we found in this study is that drinking vegetable juice seemed to address some of the key barriers to vegetable consumption such as convenience, portability and taste, so individuals were more likely to meet their daily recommendations,” researcher Carl Keen said. “Furthermore, vegetable juice drinkers reported that they actually enjoyed drinking their vegetables, which is critical to adopting dietary practices for the long-term.”

Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com; timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

10 Ways Herbal Remedies can help protect you against Colds and Flu

Best Syndication

October 28, 2009

The typical signs of the common cold are a runny or blocked nose, a sore throat, sneezing, cough, headache and mild fever.

Symptoms of the Flu are similar, however the fever is usually higher, and alternates with chills and is accompanied by sweating, aches and pain and fatigue.

Why do we get the cold and flu ?

There are many different viruses that can cause colds and flu. They are passed from person to person by inhaling infected droplets that have been sneezed or coughed into the air or by touching an area with live infection.

Infection is most likely to occur when the immune function is low because of tiredness, stress, poor diet and digestion function, lack of exercise or smoking.

What are the different treatments for cold and flu ?

People spend billions of dollars every year trying to fight off the misery of the common cold.

Want to try something different?

Here are 10 natural ways to help protect yourself against colds or flu using herbal remedies.

1. Eat plenty of leeks and green onions.

These herbs and foods have powerful cold fighting properties. Leeks provide a good source of fiber, folic acid, vitamins B6 and C, manganese, and iron.

Onions are a very good source of vitamins B6 and C, chromium, biotin, and fiber. They are also a good source of folic acid and vitamins B1 and K. The health benefits provided by onions are also due to their content of several organic sulfur compounds. You can eat healthy vegetable soup with leeks or green onions in it.

2.Take a large clove of Garlic, peel and keep it in your mouth.

Bite down every so often to release the natural juices. Replace with a new clove every four or five hours. Cold symptoms are usually gone in twenty four, to forty eight hours.

Garlic provides an excellent source of vitamin B6. It has vitamin C, manganese, and selenium. Garlic also contains sulfur-containing compounds such as allicin. Allicin has been shown to be effective against common infections such as colds, flu, stomach viruses, and candida yeast.

3.Your nose all stuffed up?

Try eating some hot or spicy foods which should open up those blocked nasal passages and you won’t have to take too many nose drops!

4. Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm tea promotes sweating. This is good for feverish colds as it helps to eliminate the toxins from the body.

5. Chest congestion can be effectively cleared up by breathing a mixture of hot vinegar, or white wine. Breathe in the vapors for a few minutes, and you should get relief

6. Coughs and sore throats can be controlled with several home remedies.

A classic remedy requires a large lemon. Start by slowing roasting it until it just splits open. Now take up to half a teaspoon of honey with the juice from the lemon. Repeat at hourly intervals until the cough is under control.

7. Feel better with elderberry or elderberry tea to treat respiratory infections. Now scientific evidence suggests that taking a standardized elderberry extract can shorten the length of time you’re sick by 50 percent.

8. Soothe a sore throat – Drink a tea made of mucilaginous herbs such as marshmallow or slippery elm, which coat the throat.

9. Stop the cough – When you can’t quit coughing, drink hot ginger tea. Ginger stimulates circulation and helps clear your sinuses and lungs of mucus. You may also get some relief with the natural cough suppressant, bromelain, which is an enzyme that comes from pineapple.

10. Breathe easier – One of the best ways to open clogged sinus and bronchial passages is to breathe warm steam to which you’ve added essential oil of eucalyptus. Full article here…

Flexibility exercises like Pilates and yoga could prevent, treat stiff arteries

Natural News
Mike Adams
Saturday, October 24, 2009

From a sitting position, how far can you reach past your toes? Especially if you are middle-aged or older, the answer could indicate how flexible you are — and also how flexible your arteries are. However, if you are stiff and can’t reach too far, don’t despair. New research suggests stretching exercises that increase flexibility could prevent or reverse stiffening of arteries.

In a study entitled “Poor trunk flexibility is associated with arterial stiffening”, just published in the October edition of the American Journal of Physiology, researchers found that how well people age 40 and older performed on a sit-and-reach-past-their-toes test was an accurate way to assess the flexibility of their arteries. So, because arterial stiffness often precedes cardiovascular disease, this simple, non-drug, non-invasive test could become a quick measure of a person’s risk for early death from heart attack or stroke.

“Our findings have potentially important clinical implications because trunk flexibility can be easily evaluated,” scientist Kenta Yamamoto of the University of North Texas and the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Japan said in a statement to the media. “This simple test might help to prevent age-related arterial stiffening.”

Healthy blood vessels are elastic and that flexibility helps to moderate blood pressure. But as we age, arterial stiffness often increases, upping the risk for cardiovascular disease. In previous studies, scientists have documented that physical fitness can delay age-related arterial stiffness, although exactly how that happens in the body is not understood. Because people who exercise and are fit are usually more flexible than those who are out of shape, the researchers hypothesized that a flexible body could be a quick way to check for arterial flexibility.

To test this idea, the scientists investigated 526 healthy, non-smoking adults between the ages of 20 and 83 who had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 30. Then the research subjects were divided into three age groups: the young (20 to 39 years old), middle-aged (40 to 59 years old) and the elder (60 to 83 years old).

The research participants were asked to perform a sit-and-reach test by sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall and legs straight. The volunteers bent at the waist and slowly stretched, reaching their arms forward. Depending on how far they could reach, the research subjects’ flexibility was rated by the scientists. The research team also recorded the participants’ blood pressure and measured how long the pulse took to travel between the arm and the ankle and between the neck and the leg. Other measurements were collected from some of the research subjects, too, including their cardiorespiratory fitness, endurance and muscle strength.

Overall, the scientists discovered that trunk flexibility was the best predictor of artery stiffness among those who were middle-aged and older but not among the younger participants. In the middle-aged and older groups, the systolic blood pressure (the top number of a blood pressure measurement that indicates the pressure as the heart contracts) was higher in those with poor flexibility than in the people with good flexibility.

Why is arterial flexibility related to the flexibility of the body in middle-aged and older people? The scientists say that remains unclear but one possibility is that stretching exercises like yoga and Pilates may put into motion physiological reactions that slow down age-related stiffening of the arteries. Moreover, they cited additional recent research that found middle-aged and older adults who began a regular stretching exercise program significantly improved the flexibility of the carotid arteries in their necks.

“Together with our results, these findings suggest a possibility that improving flexibility induced by the stretching exercise may be capable of modifying age-related arterial stiffening in middle-aged and older adults,” Dr. Yamamoto said in the press statement. “We believe that flexibility exercise, such as stretching, yoga and Pilates, should be integrated as a new recommendation into the known cardiovascular benefits of regular exercise.” Full article here…

Medicinal mushrooms like reishi, maitake can help fight cancer

Natural News
Mike Adams
Friday, October 23, 2009

The cure for cancer already exists. But it wasn’t created in a lab, and it wasn’t funded by pink-ribbon products or walkathons. It was created for free by Mother Nature, and it exists as a collection of literally thousands of powerful anti-cancer phytonutrients found in medicinal mushrooms.

Medicinal mushrooms contain some of the most potent medicine in the world. They are living pharmaceutical factories, but they file no patents and ask for no royalties. They just mind their own business, manufacturing healing medicines day by day, and waiting for someone wise and humble enough to come along and pick them.

Here, we’ve assembled a unique collection of supporting statements about medicinal mushrooms and cancer from some of the top authors in the industry. If you (or someone you know) suffers from any form of cancer, make sure to send them this information so they can learn what their conventional cancer doctor won’t dare tell them… that medicinal mushrooms make chemotherapy virtually obsolete!

Beating cancer with the help of medicinal mushrooms
Many of the medicinal mushrooms, including chaga mushroom, maitake mushroom, ganoderma mushroom, and cordyceps mushroom, contain cancer-preventive and cancer-fighting actions. Research has focused on the polysaccharides with beta 1,3 glucan linkages. Indole-3-carbinol is a nutrient found in large quantities in cruciferous vegetables. It is a potent antagonist of breast cancer, reducing formation of cancerous compounds from hormones and participating in blockage of cancer cell progression.
- The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese, Western, and Ayurvedic Herbal Treatments by Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.

Other mushroom extracts that have been shown to have clinical effectiveness against human cancers are D-fraction extracted from the Maitake mushroom, and extracts from the split gill, turkey tail and Reishi mushrooms. In 1998, Maitake Products received FDA approval for an Investigational New Drug Phase II pilot study of maitake mushroom extract in the treatment of advanced breast and prostate cancer. There is also some evidence that the consumption of mushrooms in the diet may ward off cancer.
- You Don’t Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore by Bill Sardi

As with many of the medicinal mushrooms, Shiitake has been shown to be of benefit as an adjuvant cancer therapy. It has been shown to improve specific immune markers (including natural killer cells, tumor necrosis factor, T-helper cells, and a variety of interleukins), and patient outcomes.
- The Health Benefits Of Medicinal Mushrooms by Mark Stengler

Reishi is one of the most versatile medicinal mushrooms. It has long been used in Asia as an energy tonic to promote longevity and overall health. Studies indicate that reishi is an antioxidant and contains polysaccharides and other compounds that may boost the immune system. Reishi is taken to counter bacteria and viruses and has shown promise as an agent to help prevent or treat cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other conditions. Russian researchers at the Cancer Research Center in Moscow have had positive results using reishi extracts to boost the immunity of cancer patients.
- The Health Benefits Of Medicinal Mushrooms by Mark Stengler

Cancer patients may also wish to investigate medicinal mushrooms (such types as reishi, shiitake, cordyceps, maitake, agaracus, and coriolus) as immune-boosting companions to chemotherapy. These medicinal mushrooms are sources of antitumor and immunity-modulating polysaccharides (a type of carbohydrate) that have been extensively researched. Formulas containing concentrated extracts of medicinal mushrooms are available; talk with your oncologist about which he or she might recommend.
- Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutrition by Hyla Cass, M.D.

Like many other medicinal mushrooms, reishi mushroom can be used to treat cancer patients due to its ability to activate NK cells, macrophages, T-lymphocytes, and cytokines, all important immune system components. Kee Chang Huang reports that reishi “exerts a synergistic effect with other anticancer chemothera-peutic agents or radiotherapy, to augment the clinical therapeutic effect in the treatment of cancer patients.”
- The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese, Western, and Ayurvedic Herbal Treatments by Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.

It takes about 15 pounds of reishi mushrooms to produce 1 pound of the powdered concentrate. Medicinal mushrooms make a significant contribution to the healing process by enhancing and stimulating the body’s own immune system. This is a very important factor in diseases like cancer and HIV, which have components unique to each individual. In my protocols for people with cancer, I always include one or more medicinal mushroom extract products. Descriptions of some of the more frequently used mushrooms follow.
- Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer: A Comprehensive Program for Prevention and Treatment by Donald R. Yance, j r.,C.N., M.H., A.H.G., with Arlene Valentine

Although the Mayo Clinic regards the use of medicinal mushrooms as more traditional than scientific, they operate in a manner similar to prescription drugs known as monocle. Cancer patients need to understand the disconnect between the supposed mission to cure cancer and the objective of the companies that make monoclonal antibodies, which appears to be profits above delivery of an effective treatment. The total therapeutic monoclonal antibodies market was estimated at $296 million in 2002, and was projected to surge to $2.8 billion by 2010.
- You Don’t Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore by Bill Sardi

In another study, researchers exposed mice to a known urinary bladder carcinogen, N-butyl-N’-butanolnitrosoamine (BBN), every day for eight weeks and then fed them medicinal mushrooms, including maitake, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. All of the mice treated with BBN developed bladder cancer. While each of the mushrooms reduced the number of bladder cancers, maitake was clearly most effective (carcinomas were observed in 46.7 percent of the maitake-treated mice compared to 52.9 percent and 65 percent for shiitake and oyster, respectively).
- Natural Cancer Cures: The Definitive Guide to Using Dietary Supplements to Fight and Prevent Cancer by Freedom Press

There have been 150 species of medicinal mushrooms found to inhibit the growth of different kinds of tumors, especially cancers of the stomach, esophagus, and lungs, but chaga seems to stand out from the rest. I learned about this mushroom from herbalist David Winston, who told me it has been used traditionally to treat different forms of cancer in Siberia, Canada, Scandinavia, the United States, and Russia. Chaga is a fungal parasite that draws its nutrients out of living trees, rather than from the ground.
- The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese, Western, and Ayurvedic Herbal Treatments by Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.

Japanese products containing LEM, a polysaccharide-rich extract from the shiitake mushroom, and similar extracts from maitake are currently undergoing trials in Japan and the U.S. to test their effectiveness in treating various forms of cancer. They show promise for treating people suffering from various forms of cancer and AIDS and are currently in strong demand in Japan.
- Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture (Herbs and Health Series) by Christopher Hobbs

Goro Chihara notes that medicinal mushrooms such as shiitake can play an important role in augmenting “intrinsic host defense mechanisms” – boosting the body’s inherent abilities to fight off invading agents. He says that such “host defense potentiators” should be a more important focus for cancer research than the current fascination with cell-killing substances. Shiitake and reishi are the most common medicinal mushrooms in the United States today, though other varieties are beginning to become available either in fresh or packaged forms.
- Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture (Herbs and Health Series) by Christopher Hobbs

In Japan, pushcart vendors on the streets still sell medicinal mushrooms to the average citizen who uses them to maintain health and promote longevity. Some Japanese people have even been said to travel hundreds of miles in order to collect wild mushrooms that only grow on very old plum trees – such as the Reishi – renowned as a cure for cancer and degenerative diseases. Likewise, for over 3,000 years the Chinese have used and revered many fungi for their health-giving properties, especially tonics for the immune system (Liu and Bau, 1980; Yun-Chang, 1985).
- Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture (Herbs and Health Series) by Christopher Hobbs

Often called the “king of mushrooms,” shiitake is just one of a number of medicinal mushrooms currently under study at research centers in Germany, the United States, Japan, and China. Shiitake is being used for a wide variety of conditions involving depressed immune function, from frequent colds to cancer. In Japan, physicians prescribe shiitake in two different forms to treat many health conditions, including asthma, hepatitis B, ulcers, high cholesterol, AIDS, kidney inflammation, herpes, and various skin problems.
- The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs by Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien

In the 1980s, Japanese researchers began to investigate the folklore behind medicinal mushrooms and found that many had truly remarkable properties. For example, maitake mushroom stimulates the immune system by activating T-cells, the body’s natural defenders against viruses and cancer cells. Recent animal studies have shown that maitake extract can shrink tumors in mice even better than a common chemotherapy drug.
- Earl Mindell’s Supplement Bible: A Comprehensive Guide to Hundreds of NEW Natural Products that Will Help You Live Longer, Look Better, Stay Heathier, … and Much More! by Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.

Here is a brief summary of published studies on medicinal mushrooms and beta glucans: Mushroom polysaccharides have remarkable anti-tumor activity. Mushrooms have anti-hyperlipidemic, hypotensive, and hypoglycemic actions. Beta-glucan from maitake mushrooms may induce apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. Shiitake extracts have reduced cholesterol and have anti-viral effects. Mushrooms are high fiber and function as prebiotics, antioxidants, and antibiotics.
- The Anti-Aging Solution: 5 Simple Steps to Looking and Feeling Young by Vincent Giampapa, Ronald Pero, and Marcia Zimmerman

As with most of the medicinal mushrooms, unique polysaccharides present in H. erinaceus have immune-enhancing properties, and preliminary studies are demonstrating some anticancer effects. The most intriguing potential of H. erinaceus is that it may stimulate the production of a substance known as Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). This specialized protein is necessary for the growth of sensory neurons. An in vitro study found that an extract from Hericium erinaceus mushroom promoted myelin sheath growth on brain cells.
- The Health Benefits Of Medicinal Mushrooms by Mark Stengler

Two species of medicinal mushrooms employed for healing purposes by Mazatec Indian shamans in southern Mexico have gone extinct in the past half century. And tribes themselves continue to disappear. This is just as great a tragedy, because almost every plant or plant derivative employed for medicinal purposes by Western society was investigated scientifically after being observed in use by “primitive” cultures. Everything from codeine for pain to quinine for malaria to podo- phyllotoxin for cancer is based on plants discovered by ancient healers.
- Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature’s Healing Secrets by Mark J. Plotkin

Shiitake and reishi offer a diverse range of potential health benefits. You can take all of these supplements in perhaps eight to ten pills or capsules daily. If you take just three or four of these natural supplements at breakfast and the same number later in the day, you will have substantially increased your energy levels, boosted your immune system, lowered your risk of heart disease and cancer, and strengthened and balanced your overall system.
- Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature’s Healing Secrets by Mark J. Plotkin

GM Soy Herbicide Linked to Birth Defects

Natural News
David Gutierrez
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The active ingredient of the popular herbicide Roundup, widely used on lawns and genetically modified (GM) crops worldwide, causes birth defects of the brain, heart and intestines even in minuscule doses, Argentinean researchers have found.

“The observed deformations are consistent and systematic,” said lead researcher Andres Carrasco, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Embryology at the University of Buenos Aires.

Argentina is the world’s third largest exporter of soy, planting nearly 17 million hectares (42 million acres), or half of the country’s cropland. Much of this soy has been genetically modified by the Monsanto Corporation to be resistant to the company’s trademark herbicide, Roundup. As a consequence, massive quantities of Roundup are sprayed over soy fields across the country. In many cases, the herbicide is sprayed from the air and may drift over nearby communities or enter their water supplies.

Approximately 200 million liters (53 million gallons) of Roundup are used in Argentina each year.

The new study, conducted by the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), was ordered by the Argentinean Health Ministry in response to complaints filed before federal courts over the health effects of widespread herbicide spraying. For the past five years, a wide coalition of environmental and rights groups have pointed to significantly higher rates of birth defects, cancer, lupus, and diseases of the kidney, skin and respiratory systems in communities located near field of GM soy. Most recently, the nonprofit Rural Reflection Group (GRR) published a paper containing reports of health effects from rural doctors, residents and experts.

The group has called for a ban on the use of Roundup in accordance with the precautionary principle.

In the first phase of the CONICET study, researchers diluted Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, to a strength 1,500 times less than that used on GM soy crops. Other than water, no ingredients were added. The researchers then submerged amphibian embryos into this glyphosate solution, finding that the embryos consistently developed into animals with deformed heads.

In the second phase, researchers injected embryos directly with the diluted glyphosate solution. In addition to head deformity, the researchers observed reduced head size, increased death of skull-forming cells, deformed cartilage and genetic changes to the animals’ central nervous system, on a much larger scale than in the first part of the study.

“One should be able to suppose, with certainty, that the same thing that happens to amphibian embryos can happen to humans,” Carrasco said, noting that the observed results were “completely comparable to what would happen in the development of a human embryo.”

“Pure glyphosate, in doses lower than those used in fumigation, causes defects … (and) could be interfering in some normal embryonic development mechanism having to do with the way in which cells divide and die,” he said. Because the researchers deliberately excluded any of the additives that are also found in Roundup, they concluded that the herbicide’s active ingredient was definitely to blame for the effects.

Because the levels of glyphosate used “were much lower than the levels used in the fumigations,” the risk in real life “is much more serious” than that seen in the lab, Carrasco said.

“The companies say that drinking a glass of glyphosate is healthier than drinking a glass of milk, but the fact is that they’ve used us as guinea pigs,” Carrasco said.

“It is clear that glyphosate is not innocuous and that it does not degrade or break down, but accumulates in cells.”

Carrasco called for immediate government action, pointing to the fate of communities such as Ituzaingo, where approximately 300 cases of pesticide-related cancer have been reported in the last eight years.

“In communities like Ituzaingo it’s already too late,” he said, “but we have to have a preventive system, to demand that the companies give us security frameworks and, above all, to have very strict regulations for fumigation, which nobody is adhering to out of ignorance or greed.”

Astragalus “super herb” protects, supports immune system function

Natural News
Mike Adams
Monday, October 12, 2009

Astragalus has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for literally thousands of years. Today, in the western world, it’s being rediscovered as a powerful adaptogenic herb with a remarkable ability to balance and boost immune function. With more and more people concerned about immune function today — especially with the swine flu pandemic on peoples’ minds — ancient herbs like astragalus are experiencing a resurgence in interest.

Here, we present a unique collection of supporting research quotes about astragalus and how it protects and enhances the immune system. Feel free to forward this information to friends, family members or coworkers who may benefit from it.

Astragalus and the immune system
One of the best known herbs used in Chinese medicine, astragalus strengthens the digestion and stimulates the immune system. It also aids adrenal gland function, acts as a diuretic and dilates blood vessels. Astragalus can be used to boost the immune system in people who frequently suffer from infections such as colds. It can also be used in convalescence and to aid in cancer treatment and recovery from chemotherapy. Astragalus should not be used in cases of acute infections or fevers.
- The New Encyclopedia of Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements and Herbs by Nicola Reavley

Astragalus is one of the best-researched immune system stimulants now available. It works like echinacea, in that both herbs increase the number and activity of immune cells. However, astragalus concentrates on building the immune system, and unlike echinacea, it can be taken on a daily basis. Echinacea boosts immune system activity and promotes fast recovery, especially when taken at the onset of symptoms. The most potent formulas have a peculiar tingling and numbing effect on the tongue.
- The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing: A Comprehensive A-Z Listing of Common and Chronic Illnesses and Their Proven Natural Treatments by Gary Null, Ph.D.

Astragalus is another ancient Chinese herb that is frequently combined with ginseng to strengthen the body’s natural defenses, namely, the immune system. Astragalus has also shown some vasodilatory as well as anti-inflammatory action. Its anti-inflammatory effects occur, it seems, because it inhibits the release of histamines from mast cells. Quercetin, a polyphenol, works the same way. Consequently, astragalus could help relieve hay fever and other allergic conditions. I have personally used astragalus as a remedy for my seasonal hay fever.
- Optimum Health – A Cardiologist’s Prescription for Optimum Health by Stephen T., M.D. Sinatra

Examples of popular adaptogenic herbs include astragalus, panax ginseng, Siberian ginseng, lonicera, and glycyrrhiza, also known as licorice root. The herb astragalus has been researched thoroughly and is available from an abundance of sources. Studies have revealed that astragalus is quite effective in enhancing immune function and can be used to treat a wide variety of illnesses, ranging from the common cold to cancer. Instead of directly attacking infectious organisms, astragalus aids the body by fortifying the existing immune system.
- The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing: A Comprehensive A-Z Listing of Common and Chronic Illnesses and Their Proven Natural Treatments by Gary Null, Ph.D.

The immune-building and adaptogenic effects of astragalus have been studied extensively. Modern research has isolated the constituents in astragalus that are believed to be responsible for its effectiveness. Two types of chemical compounds found in astragalus, polysaccharides and saponins, are credited with many of the herb’s benefits. But traditional herbalists believe there may be dozens of other active, synergistic, or supportive components. Astragalus heightens the efficiency of virtually every component of the immune system.
- Herbal Defense by Robyn Landis

Another traditional energy tonic, astragalus strengthens the immune system and is good for both digestion and lung function. Sometimes this root is available in bulk in health food stores – long and flat, it looks like a tongue depressor. These sticks can be added to soups, stews, rice, or any food that simmers for at least 30 minutes. When cooking is complete, remove the wilted stick and discard. The medicine has gone into your food! Astragalus has a neutral, somewhat pleasant taste.
- The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White, M.D.

Astragalus was originally used in China for a variety of reasons including immune system support, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Dr. Mauligit of Texas University found it helped to restore immune function in cancer patients. Astragalus helps to invigorate vital energy, drain pus, reduce swelling and strengthen the spleen. It is helpful for lingering diarrhea. It has been shown to augment interferon response to viruses.
- Powerful and Unusual Herbs From the Amazon and China by World Preservation Society

Astragalus is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb used for viral infections. Research in animals has shown that it apparently works by stimulating several factors of the immune system, particularly in those whose immune system has been damaged by chemicals or radiation. In immunodepressed mice, Astragalus has been found to reverse the T cell abnormalities caused by cyclophosphamide (a cancer drug), radiation, and aging. It also increases T cell activity in normal mice.
- Total Wellness: Improve Your Health by Understanding and Cooperating with Your Body’s Natural Healing Systems by Joseph Nd Pizzorno

Astragalus (Huang chi root) in Chinese medicine, is known to strengthen the body’s natural defenses that involve the immune system. It is one of the main herbs used in fu-zheng therapy to enhance the immune system during chemo and radiation therapy. It seems to increase not only interferon levels but also natural killer-cell and T-cell activity. It also makes the T-cells more aggressive. Astragalus has been shown to have liver-protective activity against a number of toxic substances, including carbon tetrachloride.
- Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer: A Comprehensive Program for Prevention and Treatment by Donald R. Yance, j r.,C.N., M.H., A.H.G., with Arlene Valentine

Research in animals has shown that Astragalus apparently works by stimulating several factors of the immune system, including enhancing phagocytic activity of monocytes and macrophages, increasing interferon production and natural killer cell activity, enhancing T-cell activity, and potentiating other antiviral mechanisms. Astragalus appears particularly useful in cases where the immune system has been damaged by chemicals or radiation. In immunodepressed mice, astragalus has been found to reverse the T-cell abnormalities caused by cyclophosphamide, radiation, and aging.
- Textbook of Natural Medicine 2nd Edition Volume 1 by Michael T. Murray, ND

In the exotic language of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), astragalus boosts the immune system by “stabilizing the exterior” and strengthening the “chi.” The Chinese knew thousands of years ago that astragalus could strengthen our shield (”exterior”) against disease and increase overall vitality (chi), long before anyone knew about bacteria, white blood cells, or the immune system. You may already be accustomed to taking echinacea at the first sign of a cold or flu, or when people around you are getting sick. How is astragalus different?
- The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs by Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien

The effectiveness of astragalus and the fu-zheng treatment was put to the test in a study of cancer patients undertaken at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in the early 1980s. After giving a specially prepared astragalus extract to 19 cancer patients and 15 healthy people, doctors found that the treatment restored immune system functioning in the majority of the patients. In some cases, it made the cancer patients’ immune systems resemble those of the healthy subjects. The researchers concluded that astragalus contains a potent immune stimulant.
- Nature’s Medicines : From Asthma to Weight Gain, from Colds to High Cholesterol — The Most Powerful All-Natural Cures by Gale Maleskey

They use astragalus to boost immune function during and after radiation or chemotherapy treatments. When cancer invades your body, your immune system naturally weakens. In the advanced stages of the disease or after rounds of chemotherapy or radiation – which are lifesaving but very toxic treatments – your immune system can be devastated.
- Nature’s Medicines : From Asthma to Weight Gain, from Colds to High Cholesterol — The Most Powerful All-Natural Cures by Gale Maleskey

Also known as huang qi, astragalus has been used for centuries by the Chinese to boost energy and vitality. Several studies of the herb have convinced me that it’s an immune system stimulant as well. In fact, it appears to be almost as effective as echinacea. Astragalus helps counteract TRF. And because the herb enhances immunity, it helps treat all manner of infections, which can deplete your energy. But the herb’s effects are subtle, very subtle, so don’t expect a coffee buzz.
- The Green Pharmacy Anti-Aging Prescriptions: Herbs, Foods, and Natural Formulas to Keep You Young by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

To fight infections without stimulating the components of the immune system that aggravate lupus, use astragalus or Scutellaria. Astragalus increases activity of natural killer (NK) cells, which fight infection. For people who are responding well to steroid drugs, taking astragalus reduces the risk of infection, especially when infections are “going around.” Take 500 to 1,000 milligrams of the freeze-dried herb in capsules three times daily. However, be sure to let the doctor know if you are taking astragalus, since it increases the body’s response to steroids.
- Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Astragalus also is useful in the treatment of viral myocarditis, a flulike infection that affects the heart. Astragalus treats infections caused by Proteus, which can cause kidney stones. Astragalus increases the body’s production of the immune-system chemical interleukin-2 (IL-2). It also releases polysaccharides that act in the same way as important antibodies, complementing their production by the immune system. Chinese studies have found that astragalus increases the activity of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells, an immune-system component.
- Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Astragalus is known as an immune stimulant. It works by stimulating the body’s production of interferon (antiviral compounds) and by restoring red blood cell formation in bone marrow. Because it stimulates the immune system, astragalus is being used to treat HIV viral infections, pneumonia, and cardiac arrhythmia.
- The Doctor’s Complete Guide to Vitamins and Minerals by Dr. Mary Dan Eades

As with most Chinese herbs, astragalus is generally used in a formula that’s made up of a blend of herbs, and it’s a perfectly good addition to soup or rice. In fact, in China, it’s not uncommon to use astragalus root as a standard ingredient in cooking. There is not a whole lot known about the exact constituents of astragalus that boost the immune system. Large, sugarlike molecules known as polysaccharides probably help to stimulate the “good” immune cells. Astragalus also contains substances called saponins, which have a similar immunity-enhancing effect.
- The Natural Physician’s Healing Therapies by Mark Stengler, N.D.

Preliminary research suggests that astragalus may also have powerful anticancer properties. In a study conducted at the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston, researchers found that a water extraction of astragalus restored or enhanced the function of T-cells (white blood cells that play specific roles in the immune system) taken from people with cancer. In some cases, astragalus stimulated the damaged cells to greater activity than found in normal cells taken from healthy individuals.
- The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs by Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien

Anderson Hospital in Houston found that astragalus was able to enhance the immune capacity using the cultured blood of cancer patients as well as augment the anti-tumor ability of Interferon-2. In a study of 176 patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancers of the gastro-intestinal tract, astragalus and ginseng were able to prevent the normal immune depression and weight loss that occurs. In a variety of human studies, astragalus has been shown to stimulate various parameters of the immune system, has anti-tumor activity, and inhibits the spreading (metastasis) of cancer.
- Beating Cancer with Nutrition by Patrick Quillin, PhD,RD,CNS

In addition to general immune strengthening, astragalus offers powerful help when immunity is severely challenged. Clinical studies show astragalus infusion highly effective at improving and restoring T-cell functioning, improving bone marrow activity, and augmenting interferon response. Chinese hospitals give astragalus to strengthen the immune systems of those with cancer, and to protect them from the detrimental effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
- Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way by Susun S. Weed

6 Reasons Food is Central to the Health Care Debate

Treehugger
David DeFranza
Thrusday, October 8, 2009

The debate over health care has, thus far, revolved around access and cost. While these are important issues, and will no doubt be the focus of any reform plan that emerges from Congress, they overshadow other more fundamental health concerns.

Food, what we eat and how we eat it, is central to the health care debate in America for six reasons.

1. America’s Epidemics

The CDC reports that preventable chronic diseases account for three quarters of America’s health expenses each year. This includes, as Michael Pollan points out, “$147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to” our diets.

Indeed, America is suffering from several costly epidemics and nearly all of them are related to what we eat. Reducing the frequency of these diseases would significantly lower our annual health care expenditures, making a universal plan without deficits, rations, or extreme tax increases possible.

2. The Answer is Health, not Care

Instead of creating a system focused on solving expensive problems we create for ourselves, a universal health care system should be devoted to helping people get and stay healthy.

Writing about the health care debate in the Huffington Post, Dr. Andrew Weil explained that if we did so:

It would be a system that puts the health back into health care. And it would also happen to be far less expensive than what we have now.

The first step to a plan that encourages health, rather than manages disease, is to change what we eat.

3. You Are What You Eat

“You are what you eat,” a mother once scolded when her family chose chips over fruit. It turns out, that mother was right.

It’s becoming increasingly apparent to more and more people that fast food, corn syrup, processed snacks, and sodas are the root of our nation’s problems of obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes.

A health care system that gave doctors an incentive to teach healthy ways of eating and living would help fight these epidemics. A national food system that encouraged healthy, local eating would be even more powerful: it would remove the very source of the problem

4. Food is Part of the Environment

Fast food and soda are easy targets but out-of-season fruits, factory farms, and other elements of our industrial food system are also to blame. Understanding that food is part of the environment, that something grown locally and organically is better for you, for the producer, and for the planet, is an integral part of America’s transition to health.

Making the switch to local and organic food will lead to reductions in pollution, another serious health concern, fewer farm workers poisoned by pesticides, and leave the American public with simpler food choices based on what’s fresh and in season, rather than what has the most evocative marketing.

5. Food is a Gateway Choice

Eating good, fresh, healthy food is one choice that leads to many others. Once you start down the road of locally-sourced vegetables, sharing grass-raised meat or becoming a vegetarian is not far behind. If you spend an afternoon walking around the farmers’ market, it’s easier to make the choice to walk home or to work the next day. Over time, all that walking may lead to running and other forms of exercise.

Understanding that your food is a product of the environment encourages you to care for your surroundings. Conserving water is easy when you know the relationship it has to the food you eat and composting makes much more sense if you’ve seen the magic it can produce in a garden.

People’s habits won’t change overnight, but, through many small steps, the can change. Finding healthy food is just one of the first of those steps.

6. It’s All About Respect

Ultimately, a system based on health instead of health care will depend on respect. Insurance companies must respect the choices of doctors who say it’s better to prevent illness than treat it. Doctors must respect patients by teaching them healthy ways to avoid illness. Most importantly, however, patients, the American people, must respect their own bodies.

Eating food that was grown with dignity, near your neighborhood, without chemicals or engineering, is one way, an easy way, to respect your body.

If our diets in America changed, health care would be a much smaller issue. Indeed, people would have reformed the system themselves, using nothing more than their kitchens and their stomachs.

How Soy Reduces Diabetes Risk

Science Daily

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Nutrition scientists led by Young-Cheul Kim at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have identified the molecular pathway that allows foods rich in soy bioactive compounds called isoflavones to lower diabetes and heart disease risk. Eating soy foods has been shown to lower cholesterol, decrease blood glucose levels and improve glucose tolerance in people with diabetes.

According to Kim, the study shows that “what we eat can have tremendous impact on health outcomes by interacting with certain genes. Recent research also suggests that diet can even change the copy number of a certain gene, leading to biological changes.”

Soy is the most common source of isoflavones in food. In experiments with mouse cells, Kim, a molecular nutrition researcher who studies how fat cells develop in the body, and colleagues, focused on daidzein, one of the two main isoflavones found in soy. Many epidemiological observations and human clinical studies have shown that adding soy to one’s diet is associated with lower diabetes risk and improved insulin sensitivity, as well as lower cardiovascular disease risk, Kim notes. However, until now the direct target tissue and molecular pathways by which soy exerts its anti-diabetic effects was not clearly understood.

Kim and colleagues at Southern Illinois University, with others at the universities of Tennessee and Florida, had earlier found that dietary isoflavones reduced the severity of diabetes in an animal model of the disease by increasing the activity of certain transcription regulators in the fat tissue. For the current study, they hypothesized that daidzein and its metabolite, equol, are part of this activation process.

They found that daidzein and equol enhanced adipocyte differentiation, or the formation of fat cells, through activation of a key transcription regulator, the same receptor that mediates the insulin-sensitizing effects of anti-diabetes drugs. Thus, daidzein and equol daidzein and equol seem to work in a similar manner as anti-diabetic drugs currently in the market. Their findings are reported in a September online version of the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

“Our results suggest that soy isoflavones exert anti-diabetic effects by targeting fat cell-specific transcription factors and the downstream signaling molecules that are important for glucose uptake and thus insulin sensitivity,” Kim notes. “The new findings help us to understand the cellular mechanisms.” That is, how these biologically active compounds in soy interact to regulate and initiate metabolic and biological functions.

Results demonstrate that daidzein and equol enhance adipocyte differentiation by activating a specific receptor. The downstream responses include increased expression of three proteins, resulting in enhanced glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity.

“Although some details remain to be worked out, our data provide an additional molecular basis for the mechanism of insulin-sensitizing action by soy isoflavones,” says Kim. “These new findings help fill a critical gap between epidemiological observations and clinical studies on the anti-diabetic benefits of dietary soy.”

Future studies will extend the work to primary cultures of human cells through collaboration with researchers at Pioneer Valley Life Science Institute and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. If replicated, studies can move on to further work in whole body systems. Full article here…

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