Shilajit is Unproven Yet Touted as a Panacea for Many Ills

AYURVEDIC MEDICINE


Shilajit is Unproven Yet Touted as a Panacea for Many Ills

The substance, said to be used for thousands of years across the mountain regions of Central Asia and Northern India, is an ancient Ayurvedic medicine.

By Susan Bell

It has a smoky, bitter taste, a deeply unpleasant odor and bears a close resemblance to black gobs of tar. Pricey tar, mind you: 10 grams (a month's supply) will set you back $80.

The substance, called shilajit, is an ancient ayurvedic medicine. On websites, you'll read that it has anti-anxiety, "rejuvenating" and aphrodisiac properties and is a panacea for many ills, from diabetes to bronchitis — and, further, that it was praised by Aristotle, prized by Genghis Khan and was the closely guarded secret weapon of Soviet cosmonauts and Olympic athletes. Whew. Now it's hit Hollywood, and "Big Love" actor Branka Katic, for one, is a fan. "It brightens my view of the world. My head feels calmer and I have more energy," she says.

What exactly is this stuff? Shilajit consists of ancient plant matter transformed over millions of years into a black substance that oozes from the rocks of the Himalayas. Johann Helf, founder of Los Angeles-based importer Lotus Blooming Herbs, says he navigated a narrow Himalayan pass in a snowstorm, with a Buddhist monk — praying all the while — riding pillion on his motorcycle, to obtain a source of shilajit from a village in Ladakh, India. The curious and the hopeful are now sampling the stuff at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Helf is quick to distance his water-purified product from processed shilajit capsules manufactured by Dabur India Ltd. that were banned in Canada in 2005 after authorities there found heavy metal contamination. His own supply, he says, has been tested for heavy metals in aU.S. Food and Drug Administration-registered lab.


For the full article:
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-shilajit-20120407,0,5358725.story


Copyright © 2012 Los Angeles Times.  All Rights Reserved.

7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips

FOODS

7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips

Is your food loaded with toxins and chemicals? Here, simple swaps to protect yourself

Source: http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/7-foods-should-never-cross-your-lips


Which foods should you avoid?

Clean eating means choosing fruits, vegetables, and meats that are raised, grown, and sold with minimal processing. Often they're organic, and rarely (if ever) should they contain additives. But in some cases, the methods of today's food producers are neither clean nor sustainable. The result is damage to our health, the environment, or both. So we decided to take a fresh look at food through the eyes of the people who spend their lives uncovering what's safe—or not—to eat. We asked them a simple question: "What foods do you avoid?" Their answers don't necessarily make up a "banned foods" list. But reaching for the suggested alternatives might bring you better health—and peace of mind.

Article continues: http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/7-foods-should-never-cross-your-lips

Copyright ©2011 Rodale Inc. "Prevention" and "Prevention.com" are registered trademarks of Rodale Inc. All rights reserved.

What Drugs Was Your Thanksgiving Turkey On?

FOODS

What Drugs Was Your Thanksgiving Turkey On?
Antibiotics and other drugs are common in the turkey that thousands of Americans eat every day.

By Martha Rosenberg

Source: http://www.alternet.org/story/153149/what_drugs_was_your_thanksgiving_turkey_on_?page=entire


So far, 2011 has not been a great year for turkey producers. In May, an article in Clinical Infectious Diseases reported that half of U.S. meat from major grocery chains--turkey, beef, chicken and pork--harbors antibiotic resistant staph germs commonly called MRSA. Turkey had twice and even three times the MRSA of all other meats, in another study.

In June, Pfizer announced it was ending arsenic-containing chicken feed which no one realized they were eating anyway, but its arsenic-containing Histostat, fed to turkeys, continues. Poultry growers use inorganic arsenic, a recognized carcinogen, for "growth promotion, feed efficiency and improved pigmentation," says the FDA. Yum.

And in August, Cargill Value Added Meats, the nation's third-largest turkey processor, recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey because of a salmonella outbreak, linked to one death and 107 illnesses in 31 states. Even as it closed its Springdale, Arkansas plant, steam cleaned its machinery and added "two additional anti-bacterial washes" to its processing operations, 185,000 more pounds were recalled the next month from the same plant.

Article continues: http://www.alternet.org/story/153149/what_drugs_was_your_thanksgiving_turkey_on_?page=entire

Copyright 2011.  All Rights Reserved.  Alternet.org

Joint Pain Supplements

SUPPLEMENTS

Joint Pain Supplements

The market for joint pain supplements is enormous — and only set to grow as baby boomers age.

More than 46 million Americans are diagnosed with arthritis, and while glucosamine and chondroitin are popular treatments, study results are inconsistent on their benefits.

While the variety of joint pain supplements keeps growing, just a few have been well studied, and even fewer have been shown to work. But the best of these studies have been funded by the supplement's manufacturers, leading some experts to question the findings.

Here in the U.S., two supplements are popular: glucosamine and chondroitin, both natural components of joint tissue. The compounds have been used in Europe and Asia for decades and became popular in the U.S. about 10 years ago. They're among the bestselling of all supplements on the market and are also the best-studied.

Recently, large-scale, well-designed studies have examined the effects of the two supplements together and independently, usually in people with knee osteoarthritis, one of the most common forms of arthritis.

In 2006, researchers at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City published results of the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), a study of more than 1,500 adults with knee osteoarthritis, randomized to take either glucosamine, a form of chondroitin called chondroitin sulfate, both, a prescription anti-inflammatory drug or a placebo daily for six months.

Neither glucosamine nor chondroitin sulfate — taken alone or together — worked much better than the placebo, the researchers found. But among patients with severe pain, the combination of glucosamine plus chondroitin sulfate did appear to reduce pain; 79% of those with severe pain experienced relief compared with just over half of those who took the placebo. Overall, the drug provided the most relief — and did so faster than the supplements or placebo..

A review by a group of U.S. and Canadian researchers was published last year by the Cochrane Collaboration, a nonprofit organization that reviews the science on health topics. Analyzing data from the 25 top studies on glucosamine alone for arthritis, they found that, on average, the supplements result in a 22% reduction in pain, but, again, in some studies the supplements worked no better than a placebo.

The Cochrane review included another observation: Glucosamine seemed to work best to reduce knee pain in studies that used a standardized, prescription form of glucosamine sulfate sold in Europe, made by the German company Rottapharm.

The findings on Rottapharm's glucosamine sulfate constitute the best evidence in favor of the compound to date, says study author Dr. Marc Hochberg, professor of medicine and head of the division of rheumatology and clinical immunology at the School of Medicine in Baltimore.

The problem is complicated by the fact that glucosamine comes in several forms — including glucosamine, glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine hydrochloride — but only glucosamine sulfate has been shown to have the potential to reduce pain. Likewise, the bulk of evidence seems to support the use of chondroitin sulfate over other forms of chondroitin.

The daily doses used in most studies are 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine and 1,200 milligrams of chondroitin. Based on the existing evidence, taking both appears more likely to reduce joint pain than taking either one alone.

If there's one good piece of news for people with arthritis pain, it's this: Side effects of both supplements are rare to nonexistent. So at least they're safe for those who want to give them a try.

Cholecalciferol; Vitamin D3

SUPPLEMENTS

Cholecalciferol; Vitamin D

QUESTION:

I have heard that there are different forms of Vitamin D. Is there a preferred form?

ANSWER:

Vitamin D is an inexpensive, over-the-counter dietary supplement. There are two forms to be aware of, D3 and D2.

The most useable form of vitamin D is D3 or "Cholecalciferol", and not D2, so read your labels carefully.
Supplementing with 5,000 IU of "Cholecalciferol" or D3 every morning is a good strategy.

Many studies have concluded that D is good for people, especially those who have high insulin, prediabetes, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, pancreatitis, breast or prostate cancer and heart disease.

Low vitamin D is associated with depression, fatigue, osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, autoimmune disease, cancers and chronic pain.

Back in 2001, The Lancet found that infants who took 2,000 IUof vitamin D daily, experienced a lower risk of developing type 1 diabetes.


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Cordyceps and Cancer

NATURAL HEALTH

Cordyceps and Cancer

Scientists at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, published research in the November 30th edition of the journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy showing that oral Cordyceps can reduce the occurrence of cancer spreading to the lungs in metastatic breast cancer. Although the researchers found that Cordyceps does not reduce the growth of the primary breast tumor, they noted that deaths from breast cancer are primarily due to the development of metastases. That means a treatment that stops the spread of metastatic tumors could save countless lives.

Although various medical therapies currently exist that attempt to stop the growth of cancerous metastatic tumors, they have little effect - so this makes the Dalhousie University research into Cordyceps very important. The Canadian researchers stated the evidence they have so far suggests that the mushroom reduces the growth of metastases due to Cordyceps' effects on the tumors' cell cycles.