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Healthy Tips

This Vilified Daily Food Slashes Heart Attack Risk in Half…

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The Weston A. Price Foundation provides accurate information about nutrition and is dedicated to putting nutrient-dense foods back on American tables.
Members receive a lively and informative quarterly journal and email updates on current issues and events.Visit their website at www.westonaprice.org .
Are you still shunning butter from your diet? You can stop today because butter can be a very healthy part of your diet.

Why Butter is Better:-
•Vitamins …
Butter is a rich source of easily absorbed vitamin A, needed for a wide range of functions, from maintaining good vision to keeping the endocrine system in top shape.
Butter also contains all the other fat-soluble vitamins (D, E and K2), which are often lacking in the modern industrial diet.

•Minerals …
Butter is rich in important trace minerals, including manganese, chromium, zinc, copper and selenium (a powerful antioxidant). Butter provides more selenium per gram than wheat germ or herring. Butter is also an excellent source of iodine.

•Fatty Acids …
Butter provides appreciable amounts of short- and medium-chain fatty acids, which support immune function, boost metabolism and have anti-microbial properties; that is, they fight against pathogenic microorganisms in the intestinal tract. Butter also provides the perfect balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Arachidonic acid in butter is important for brain function, skin health and prostaglandin balance.

•Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) …
When butter comes from cows eating green grass, it contains high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a compound that gives excellent protection against cancer and also helps your body build muscle rather than store fat.

•Glycospingolipids …
These are a special category of fatty acids that protect against gastrointestinal infections, especially in the very young and the elderly. Children given reduced-fat milks have higher rates of diarrhea than those who drink whole milk.

•Cholesterol …
Despite all of the misinformation you may have heard, cholesterol is needed to maintain intestinal health and for brain and nervous system development in the young.

•Wulzen Factor …

A hormone-like substance that prevents arthritis and joint stiffness, ensuring that calcium in your body is put into your bones rather than your joints and other tissues. The Wulzen factor is present only in raw butter and cream; it is destroyed by pasteurization.

Butter and Your Health:-
Is butter really healthy? Let us count the ways …

1.Heart Disease
Butter contains many nutrients that protect against heart disease including vitamins A, D, K2, and E, lecithin, iodine and selenium. A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine (Nutrition Week 3/22/91, 21:12).

2.Cancer
The short- and medium-chain fatty acids in butter have strong anti-tumor effects. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in butter from grass-fed cows also gives excellent protection against cancer.

3.Arthritis

The Wulzen or “anti-stiffness” factor in raw butter and also Vitamin K2 in grasss-fed butter, protect against calcification of the joints as well as hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland. Calves fed pasteurized milk or skim milk develop joint stiffness and do not thrive.

4.Osteoporosis
Vitamins A, D and K2 in butter are essential for the proper absorption of calcium and phosphorus and hence necessary for strong bones and teeth.

5.Thyroid Health
Butter is a good source of iodine, in a highly absorbable form. Butter consumption prevents goiter in mountainous areas where seafood is not available. In addition, vitamin A in butter is essential for proper functioning of the thyroid gland.

6.Digestion
Glycospingolipids in butterfat protect against gastrointestinal infection, especially in the very young and the elderly.

7.Growth & Development
Many factors in the butter ensure optimal growth of children, especially iodine and vitamins A, D and K2. Low-fat diets have been linked to failure to thrive in children — yet low-fat diets are often recommended for youngsters!

8.Asthma
Saturated fats in butter are critical to lung function and protect against asthma.

9.Overweight
CLA and short- and medium-chain fatty acids in butter help control weight gain.

10.Fertility
Many nutrients contained in butter are needed for fertility and normal reproduction.

Why You Should Avoid Margarine, Shortening and Spreads:-
There are a myriad of unhealthy components to margarine and other butter imposters, including:

•Trans fats: These unnatural fats in margarine, shortenings and spreads are formed during the process of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oils into a solid fat
Trans fats contribute to heart disease, cancer, bone problems, hormonal imbalance and skin disease; infertility, difficulties in pregnancy and problems with lactation; and low birth weight, growth problems and learning disabilities in children.

A U.S. government panel of scientists determined that man-made trans fats are unsafe at any level. (Small amounts of natural trans fats occur in butter and other animal fats, but these are not harmful.)

•Free radicals: Free radicals and other toxic breakdown products are the result of high temperature industrial processing of vegetable oils. They contribute to numerous health problems, including cancer and heart disease.
•Synthetic vitamins: Synthetic vitamin A and other vitamins are added to margarine and spreads. These often have an opposite (and detrimental) effect compared to the natural vitamins in butter.
•Emulsifiers and preservatives: Numerous additives of questionable safety are added to margarines and spreads. Most vegetable shortening is stabilized with preservatives like BHT.
•Hexane and other solvents: Used in the extraction process, these industrial chemicals can have toxic effects.
•Bleach: The natural color of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is grey so manufacturers bleach it to make it white. Yellow coloring is then added to margarine and spreads.
•Artificial flavors: These help mask the terrible taste and odor of partially hydrogenated oils, and provide a fake butter taste.
•Mono- and di-glycerides: These contain trans fats that manufacturers do not have to list on the label. They are used in high amounts in so-called “low-trans” spreads.


•Soy protein isolate:
This highly processed powder is added to “low-trans” spreads to give them body. It can contribute to thyroid dysfunction, digestive disorders and many other health problems.
•Sterols: Often added to spreads to give them cholesterol-lowering qualities, these estrogen compounds can cause endocrine problems; in animals these sterols contribute to sexual inversion.
How to Purchase Butter:-
The BEST butter is raw butter from grass-fed cows, preferably organic. Next is pasteurized butter from grass-fed cows, followed by regular pasteurized butter from supermarkets. Even the latter two are still a much healthier choice than margarine or spreads.

For sources of raw butter, visit www.realmilk.com.

Source: The Weston A. Price Foundation

Posted by Dr.Mercola on December 07 2010

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Indian Cooking Oils Unfit

Masala Tea and South Indian Filter Coffee - Ch...
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Trans fat, a known trigger for heart attacks, causing thousands of premature deaths globally every year, has been found in tremendously  high quantities in almost all popular Indian cooking oils.
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Laboratory tests conducted by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on seven vanaspati brands, 21 different brands of vegetable oils (soybean, sunflower, groundnut, mustard, coconut, olive, sesame and palm), desi ghee and butter available in Indian markets found that trans fat levels were five to 12 times higher than the world’s recommended standards in all vanaspati brands.

According to the latest recommendations, trans fat in oil should not exceed 2% of the total oil. However, the study found trans fat levels to be as high as 23.7% in the case of Panghat vanaspati brand and 23.31% in the case of Raag vanaspati . Rath vanaspati had 15.9% trans fat, Gagan had 14.8%, Jindal had 13.7% while Gemini had 12.7% trans fat content.

Interestingly, the lowest trans fats level was found in desi ghee and in Amul butter — 5.3% and 3.73% respectively.

Trans fat occurs when liquid oils solidify by partial hydrogenation, a process that stretches food shelf life and changes safe unsaturated fat into a killer. It is known to increase bad LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin levels and reduces beneficial HDL cholesterol. Trans fats also trigger cancer, diabetes, immune dysfunction, obesity and reproductive problems.

In 2005, all restaurants in California went trans fat free voluntarily. In 2008, the US government made it mandatory. The following year, even New York banned trans fat.

Scientists say an increase of 5 gm of trans fat a day is equivalent to a 25% increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Shockingly, say CSE researchers, even while Indian food regulators have accepted trans fat as a serious health concern, they are delaying setting the standard, presumably under pressure from the edible oil industry. As a result, India has no regulation to check the content of trans fat in oil.

Sunita Narain, CSE director, said, “If you consider what the Union ministry of health has issued in the name of labelling nutrition facts, you will know how our food is at risk. It literally allows companies to get away with anything — as long as it is on the label. This is just not acceptable.”

In 2004, the health ministry’s oils and fats sub-committee, under the Central Committee for Food Standards, begun discussions on a standard for trans fat. In January 2008, the sub-committee forwarded its recommendations to the central committee for standards. But the central committee is still awaiting more data and information.

“This procrastination means while there are no legal standards, companies are literally getting away with murder,” CSE said.

Instead of standards, in September 2008, the health ministry issued a notification for labelling of trans fat on oil and food. “So today, oil companies get away by giving the composition in a range. Rath vanaspati , for instance, says its package has 8-33% trans fat. This would mean that the product has 15 times higher trans fat than the Danish standard. This makes a complete mockery of the science of food regulations,” Narain said.

Sources: The Times Of India

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Natural Trans Fats May be Good for You

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Found in milk and yogurt, vaccenic acid — a naturally occurring trans fat — lowered cholesterol in rats, a Canadian study finds.

Trans fats: We’ve been told that they’re worse for our hearts than saturated animal fats. Now, as consumers increasingly turn to food that’s trans-fat-free and manufacturers pull them from more and more processed foods, comes a twist. Some trans fats, ones that exist naturally, may be good for you.

In a 4-month study at the University of Alberta presented in March at a scientific meeting, obese rats fed a diet enriched with vaccenic acid — a naturally occurring trans fat found in milk and yogurt — had significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol and triglycerides.

The researchers reported that a key benefit of vaccenic acid is its ability to reduce the production of chylomicrons — small particles of fat, protein and cholesterol formed in the gut that transport fats to various tissues of the body.

Like humans, obese rats produce too many chylomicrons, which raises lipids in the bloodstream. After 16 weeks of consuming vaccenic acid-enriched chow, however, the levels of chylomicrons dropped by more than half.

It’s not clear what this finding means for humans. First, the study was done in rats — the researchers say they’re planning some human clinical trials with vaccenic acid supplementation. Second, because the study diets were supplemented with vaccenic acid, the amounts the rats ate relative to their body weight was more than we would naturally eat in our usual diet.

The study is in line with other reports that natural trans fats have different effects on the body than the industrially created ones.

Most of the trans fats we eat — by far — come from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, produced from liquid oils by industrial processing to create a firmer fat. Others occur naturally in milk products, formed in the rumen (or first stomach) of ruminant animals such as cows, goats, sheep and yaks when they’re fed a grass-rich diet.

Several studies of large populations have looked at the link between trans fatty acid intake and risk of developing atherosclerosis, and all have shown that the risk goes up only with the intake of “industrial” trans fatty acids, not the natural ones. Several clinical trials — in which people were fed special diets for weeks or months — have shown that manufactured trans fats raise LDL cholesterol levels to the same degree as saturated fats, and also lead to lower levels of the good, or HDL, cholesterol. It’s been estimated that it takes only about 12 grams of manmade trans fats to see this effect.

Trans-fat-free foods are big business, and today the majority of margarines, cookies, snack cakes and chips are devoid of the stuff. The change was fueled by the fact that, two years ago, it became law that food labels disclose industrial trans fat content.

Even if all the partially hydrogenated vegetable oil disappeared from our foods, we’d still consume about 1% to 5% of our calories from naturally occurring trans fatty acids, mostly vaccenic acid.

At this point, it’s not known how much vaccenic acid we’d need to consume to reap benefits. But in the meantime, anyone wanting to increase their natural-trans-fat intake might want to develop a taste for exotic cheese.

A study published in February in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry reported that yak cheese, from animals grazing in alpine grassland, contains more than four times the vaccenic acid of conventional cheddar cheese from grain-fed dairy cows. (The study didn’t investigate the levels in cheese from grass-fed cattle.) It also contains three times more beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. The authors conclude that a daily serving of 3 ounces of yak cheese might promote health.

Yak cheese isn’t easy to find — but the bottom line seems to be that the fatty acid composition of milk, cheese and yogurt from grass-fed animals may be more healthful than we knew — and perhaps, when the clinical trials are done, vaccenic acid-rich milkfat may join the ranks of other healthful fats along with those found in fish oil and nuts.

Cheese as a new, heart-positive snack? Just make sure you put it on a whole-grain, trans-fat-free cracker.

Susan Bowerman is a registered dietitian and assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition.

Sources: Lon Angeles Times

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Healthy Tips

A Few Tips for Healthy Aging

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Today, due to numerous medical and scientific advances, people are living longer than ever before. But you don’t just automatically live longer  you have to be good to your body, mind, and soul. The following tips may be a good start for getting you on your way to living a long and healthy life.

CLICK & SEE
Eat a balanced diet
:- One that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber and low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. A well-balanced diet can provide your body with the essential nutrients needed to achieve and maintain optimum health.
Be physically active :– Try to incorporate 30 minutes of activity into your day, every day. The options are endless; start walking on the beach in the mornings, join a yoga class, try jogging with a friend, sign up for a basketball league, or go for a bike ride in the afternoons. Make sure you choose activities that you enjoy, that way you’ll be more likely to make them a habit.

If possible Try to do some yoga rxercise under the supervision of an expart.

Meditation and deep breathing exercise considered very effective for aged people.
Get regular preventive check ups: – See your doctor regularly; remember your doctor is your partner in healthcare. The two of you are working toward the same goal—your optimum health. By having regular check ups, you may be able to catch small problems before they become big problems. And, it is just as important to visit you dentist regularly as well.

You will get more information on men’s health screenings, if you click here.
You will get more information on women’s health screenings,if you click here.
Don’t smoke :- Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death. This year alone, more than 400,000 people will die from smoking-related causes. It is never too late to quit. Your body will begin to feel the benefits almost immediately. Did you know that after one day of quitting, your risk of having a heart attack decreases?
Be Safe:– Use common sense and be street smart. Don’t put yourself in situations that are questionable. Just a few ways you can put safety first include:
Always wear your seatbelt and bike helmet.

Use smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home.
Don’t go for a run, walk, or jog at night by yourself. Most attacks happen to people who are alone. Just by bringing a friend, you reduce your risk.
Use medicines wisely: follow directions and ask your doctor or pharmacist about side effects and drug interactions.
Keep your home well lit and free of things that could make you fall.
Avoid environmental extremes :- Protect your skin when you are outdoors—don’t get too much sun. Dress appropriately for the weather and avoid getting too hot or too cold.

If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation :- For a man under 65, moderation means no more than two drinks a day; for a man over 65 or a woman of any age, moderation means no more than one drink a day.

One drink is:
One 12-ounce bottle of beer
One 5-ounce glass of wine
1.5 ounces of spirits


Keep your personal and financial records in order
: – start planning now for your long-term housing and financial needs. For information on banking, saving, buying, getting credit, and investing, check out Consumer.gov at http://www.consumer.gov/yourmoney.htm—an excellent resource that can answer many of your questions.
Stay in touch with family and friends :- get to know your neighbors. Take the time to be involved with your community. By creating a strong social network, you will not only have friends to celebrate with when good things happen, but also a support system in difficult times.
Always Keep a positive attitude :- studies have shown that people who have a positive attitude tend to live longer, and lead healthier and happier lives. Don’t take it all so personal; rarely does it really have anything to do with you. Try to find the humor in life. And remember to laugh; several studies have shown that laughter makes you feel better. But really, who needed a study to prove that. Just laugh, and you will know it is true.

Help taken from:www.beliefnet.com

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