Eliminate Wrinkles While you Sleep

Heather Locklear attributes her unlined appearance to being a “back sleeper.” Dermatologists recommend that you don’t sleep on your face to avoid wrinkles.

What’s a girl to do? Buy this copper-powered pillowcase from Cupron, who pioneered the use of the mineral in products. It’s made from a luxurious satin but the best part is seeing a subtle difference even after just a week of sleeping on it! Plus it’s anti-microbial; great for people with allergies.

Originally a medical research company, with many patents in the use of copper oxide, after 10 years of research they discovered it also had many consumer applications such as with the wrinkles and body-odor. Many people know them for their deodorant copper sole socks which fight against foot-odor-causing bacteria and fungi the special Cupron fibers eliminate 99.9% of the growth of foot-odor-causing bacteria and fungi that were tested, for the life of the sock. ($11.99 for men’s socks.)

We wondered if the beneficial properties would wear out after repeated washings but the company explained that the “biocidal properties of cupronized fabrics are permanent.” One caveat, don’t use fabric softeners for your copper socks, towels, bedding etc.

At $37 for the pillowcase, we consider it one of the best investments we’ve ever made.  Right now, it’s on sale for the holidays for only $28.99!

Slow Down the Aging Process Now With All-Natural Solutions!

If you're in your 40s, 50s, 60s or 70s... you may be experiencing heart problems, joint pain, blood sugar imbalance, vision problems, memory loss or muscle fatigue. Your doctor may have chalked these symptoms up to "old-age". And just like millions of Americans, you may have turned to dangerous prescription drugs or risky surgical procedures to help slow down the effects of aging. But, medical science has now shown that many of these health problems can be improved and may even be able to be REVERSED...

One of the main causes of aging is free radical damage. These rogue molecules can lead to dozens of health problems. By controlling free radical damage, you can help slow down aging... help prevent illness... and protect your body's energy storehouse.

Block DNA and RNA function—DNA is the "blueprint" that tells your cells how to act... duplicate... and even how to repair itself. RNA transmits the information in the DNA to your cells. Free radicals can damage both DNA and RNA communication—causing your cells to malfunction and even self-destruct.Plus, free radical damage can also:

• Release dangerous cholesterol in your bloodstream—When fat molecules such as cholesterol get oxidized, they become sticky. That means they can clog up your arteries and set the stage for future heart and brain problems.
• Quickly drain your energy—Free radicals release a toxic waste matter called lipofuscins. This yellowish-brown cell debris can interfere with your body's ability to metabolize protein—your #1 source of energy.
• Trigger joint pain and muscle aches—An overproduction of free radicals in a specific area can cause inflammation.
• Prematurely age your skin—Free radicals destroy delicate collagen that keeps your skin soft, smooth and flexible. If you've got age spots on your hands or face, that's a tell-tale sign you've got free radical damage.

The truth is you can't get away from free radicals. The very process of breathing creates these destructive molecules. What's more, foods... environmental pollutants... toxins... and even stress can trigger "hits" from free radicals.

Fortunately, Mother Nature gives us remarkably safe and effective solutions to help clobber pesky free radicals. They're called antioxidants:

• Phosphatidylserine (PS for short)—proven incredibly effective for age-related memory loss in 60 human studies and over 2,800 scientific papers... PS helps restore a more youthful memory and helps sharpen thinking and reasoning ability...
• Vinpocetine is natures powerful memory enhancer that works by expanding your blood vessels to allow healthy blood flow to the brain and gingko biloba helps boost memory, improve concentration and fight off mental fatigue...
• Omega-3 is the powerful anti-inflammatory oil that helps lubricate your brain cells to keep them working at peak capacity and DMAE can help scrape away and remove harmful lipofuscins that cause brain "rust"....
• Folic acid—helps protect your veins, arteries and capillaries supplying blood to your brain and your entire body...
• CDP choline—is one of the basic building blocks for brain function...
• Acetyl-L-carnitine—helps boost energy levels to your entire body...
• Alpha lipoic acid, L-glutathione, vitamin C and
  vitamin E—these antioxidants help "switch off" faulty DNA before it can trigger health problems...
• Plus, quercetin, selenium, hesperidin and RNA—boost memory recall and brain function... reduce damage from stress... allow your brain cells to "talk" to one another more effectively... and slow your total body aging to a crawl.

By adding these and other powerful antioxidants to your daily regimen, you can expect to feel and look younger for decades to come!

Original article by Dr. Cutler 

How Lack Of Sleep Can Effect How You Age and what you can do about it

Lack of sleep doesn't just affect your energy levels, concentration and focus through out the day. It has been shown in many studies like the  University of Chicago one that it actually alters hormones and metabolism as well which simulate effects of aging.

They found that cutting back from the standard eight down to four hours of sleep each night produced striking changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function--changes that resembled the effects of advanced age or the early stages of diabetes--after less than one week.

Most of these studies are only done on short term effects but no none really knows how will effect you over the long term. Although some research has speculated that it increases the risks for heart disease, high blood pressure and other related medical conditions. Especially if someone is exposed to chronic sleep disruptions.

With that being said what can we do about it. Ive compiled some tips to help you get some more ZZZZZZ's

The recommended sleep requirement for adults is between 7-9 hours a night. However, each person is different and it may change throughout their life.


The following tips will help any individual achieve a great night's sleep and feel rejuvenated for a new day:

• Stick to a sleep schedule: Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
• Avoid caffeine and nicotine: The stimulating effects of these products can prevent a sufficient night's sleep.
• No midnight snacking: The stimulating effects of these products can prevent a sufficient night's sleep.
• Sleeping Environment: The best sleeping environment is somewhere: dark, quiet, cool (67-68 degrees), with a comfortable sleeping surface and privacy (closed door/shut blinds).

Overall, proper sleeping habits are required in order for us to maintain good health and keep us functioning at our very best! 

Anti-Aging Drug Breakthrough

Drugs that combat aging may be available within five years. 

Four thousand synthetic activators, which are 100 times as 

potent as a single glass of red wine, have been developed -- 

the best three are in human trials. (Credit: © vgstudio / Fotolia)

Mar. 8, 2013 — Drugs that combat aging may be available within five years, following landmark work led by an Australian researcher.

The work, published in the March 8 issue of Science, finally proves that a single anti-aging enzyme in the body can be targeted, with the potential to prevent age-related diseases and extend lifespans.

The paper shows all of the 117 drugs tested work on the single enzyme through a common mechanism. This means that a whole new class of anti-aging drugs is now viable, which could ultimately prevent cancer, Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes.

"Ultimately, these drugs would treat one disease, but unlike drugs of today, they would prevent 20 others," says the lead author of the paper, Professor David Sinclair, from UNSW Medicine, who is based at Harvard University. "In effect, they would slow aging."

The target enzyme, SIRT1, is switched on naturally by calorie restriction and exercise, but it can also be enhanced through activators. The most common naturally-occurring activator is resveratrol, which is found in small quantities in red wine, but synthetic activators with much stronger activity are already being developed.

Although research surrounding resveratrol has been going for a decade, until now the basic science had been contested. Despite this, there have already been promising results in some trials with implications for cancer, cardiovascular disease and cardiac failure, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, fatty liver disease, cataracts, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, sleep disorders and inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, arthritis and colitis (inflammatory bowel disease).

"In the history of pharmaceuticals, there has never been a drug that tweaks an enzyme to make it run faster," says Professor Sinclair, a geneticist with the Department of Pharmacology at UNSW.

The technology was sold to pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline in 2008[i]. Four thousand synthetic activators, which are 100 times as potent as a single glass of red wine, have been developed -- the best three are in human trials.

"Our drugs can mimic the benefits of diet and exercise, but there is no impact on weight," says Professor Sinclair, who suggests the first therapeutic to be marketed will be for diabetes.

There have been limited trials in people with type 2 diabetes and the skin inflammatory disease, psoriasis. There were benefits to the metabolism in the first group and a reduction in skin redness in the second.

The drugs can be administered orally, or topically. So far, there have been no drugs developed targeting aging skin, but one major skin care range has developed a crème with resveratrol in it.

While any drug would be strictly prescribed for certain conditions, Professor Sinclair suggests that one day, they could be taken orally as a preventative. This would be in much the same way as statin drugs are commonly prescribed to prevent, instead of simply treating, cardiovascular disease.

In animal models, overweight mice given synthetic resveratrol were able to run twice as far as slim mice and they lived 15 per cent longer.

"Now we are looking at whether there are benefits for those who are already healthy. Things there are also looking promising," says Professor Sinclair, who also heads the Lowy Cancer Research Centre's Laboratory for aging Research at UNSW.

"We're finding that aging isn't the irreversible affliction that we thought it was," he says. "Some of us could live to 150, but we won't get there without more research."

[i] Professor Sinclair formed a started up company Sirtris to develop the anti-aging technology. This was subsequently sold to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Professor Sinclair is now a scientific advisor to GSK. Several other authors on the paper work for GSK or an affiliated company.

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of New South Wales.

LifeExtension Earns Top Rating in CL Survey

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla..—Dietary supplement consumers rated Life Extension first in three categories in the 2013 ConsumerLab.com Survey of Vitamin and Supplement users. Life Extension received top ratings in the CoQ10 and multivitamin products and, for the second year in a row, was rated No. 1 catalog/internet supplement brand. Nearly 11,000 supplement users participated in the survey.

"We endeavor to formulate and produce the finest quality products backed by science and are proud of our online and catalog offerings and customer service," said Paul Gilner, Life Extension CEO. "We're thrilled consumers rated us number one again in those three categories."

LifeExtension offers more than 350 supplement products, including its popular CoQ10. Learn more about challenges in the brain-boosting CoQ10 industry in the INSIDER slide show "Creating CoQ10 Products."

If you are not familiar with the benefits CoQ10 can have on your brain function check out this article from teh LiveStrong Foundation.

Telomerase Research and Current Products on the Market

Telomerase Background

Telomere's in red at end of chromosomes

The HeLa cell line was derived for use in cancer research. These cells proliferate abnormally rapidly, even compared to other cancer cells. Like many other cancer cells, HeLa cells have an active version of telomerase during cell division, which prevents the incremental shortening of telomeres that is implicated in aging and eventual cell death. In this way the cells circumvent the Hayflick Limit, which is the limited number of cell divisions that most normal cells can later undergo before becoming senescent(cell death).

Current Research

The journal Nature published a fascinating study about the enzyme’s effect on genetically engineered mice last year. In the study, researchers bred mice that, in normal conditions, didn’t create telomerase. The mice grew to adulthood without the enzyme. Then, for a month, the team provided the mice with a trigger chemical that allowed the mice to create telomerase.

Without the telomerase, the researchers discovered that the mice tend to age prematurely. They contracted osteoporosis or diabetes, and they tended to die earlier than normal mice. Then, during their month with telomerase, things turned around.

Sterile animals became fertile again. Prematurely aged internal organs returned to health. Telomerase also reversed aging’s effects in the mouse’s brains.

Other cutting edge research on telomerase shown to extend telomeres length longer than usual

Products On the Market Now
1.TA sciences and ta-65 telomerase shortening supplements
October 2010, Intertek/AAC Labs, an ISO 17025 internationally recognized lab, found the largest component of TA-65 to be Cycloastragenol
600$ per 3 months supply at TA Sciences

2.Alternative that may work is  Cycloastragenol supplements  1-2months supply for 300$

3.Astragulus directly from the root where the ta-65 extract came from. If you go this route be careful as Astragulus root has been shown to suppress the immune system or even be toxic in some species of this plant.

Warnings

Some precautions before trying these supplements. Since this is new research there is always the possibility of unknown side effects over longer term usage. Telomerase is produced in cancer cells so it is possible that telomerase may support existing cancer cells. Of course this is only theoretical

Telomerase shortening does not occur the same way in animals as humans making it very difficult to test the viability of telomerase preserving products.

Proven Therapies
To date altering your lifestyle to live longer has been proven to be effective in many parts of the world. Dan Buettner's Blue Zones book explores cultures around the world that live longer on average by 10-20 years than that of the majority of westerners. Places like Ikaria Greece, the Swedish town of Kungsholmen, Okinawa, Japan and Nicoya in Costa Rica show that maintaining active social networks, pursuing leisure activities, avoiding smoking, getting regular exercise, eating lots of vegetables and fruit, a little fish and whole grains and a little red wine is their secret to longevity. Some scientists have speculated that these people are increasing telomerase activity already naturally.

Further Reading
Dan Buettner's The Blue Zones
Workbook for the Blue Zones Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way

The Paleo Diet

Recently I started learning about the Paleo elimination diet. Its basically about how our bodies evolved over millions of years by eating specific types of natural foods. These days obesity and diabetes is becoming an epidemic. Why? Diabetes is usually blamed on poor eating of too much sugary foods but grains produce the same insulin spike as sugars do since starches are metabolized into sugars. So why aren't grains on this list? The Paleo Solution asks these questions.

I am looking for more clinical data on grain heavy diets and how they affect our health.I have been unable to find any clinical data or studies done on grain heavy diets. High starch vegetable diets however seem to be unhealthy for you as the starches are converted in sugar in the body which is nearly the same.

The majority of the information in the book I found to be very convincing  and overall his theory seems sound. I completely agree with his advice on eating a large amount of vegetables and fruit,nuts with lean protein sources,low sugar intake and plenty of exercise. There are many other studies like The China Study that have been done that have proven this. See "The China Study"

Unfortunately there are many statements by the author on what constitutes healthy fats like flax oil and vegetable oils to be very inaccurate. The authors a stance on a very low salt diet has been proven to be true as high salt diets have been shown to be a factor in high blood pressure but i felt he was doing a little too much scaremongering. Some other advice like you can't eat too much protein is just plain wrong and

Overall a quick read with a plan for you to take action on the information within the book. Its hard to go wrong with this book
The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health

Life-Extension-The future is now

Have you ever had a profound life altering experience?

I had one 3 years ago when i watched this video. The experience came when i seriously asked myself

"Do i want to live forever?".

This video is a little long at 1hr 16mins but its well worth your time.
If you are seriously interested in anti aging you need to get involved.

You can start by signing up for our 100% free e-report on superfoods that have anti-aging properties. In the near future i will be providing as much free information, materials and resources that i can get my hands on to be available for people that are interested in being proactive.

Jason McDonald
Senior editor

How to lose 50 years of aging in 16 days

Gold nanoparticles darken white hair after treatment for one day, 

center, and 16 days, right (credit: American Chemical Society)

Attention seniors: French scientists have developed a process that permanently dyes white hair without harmful chemicals.

Philippe Walter and colleagues soaked white hairs in a solution containing fluorescent gold nanoparticles.

The hairs turned pale yellow and then darkened to a deep brown. The color remained even after repeated washings.

Using an electron microscope, the scientists confirmed that the particles were forming inside the hairs’ central core cortex.
The discovery has applications ranging from hair dyeing to electronic sensors to development of materials with improved properties, the scientists said.

The synthesis and detailed characterization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) inside human hair has been achieved by treatment of hair with HAuCl4 in alkaline medium. The AuNPs, which show a strong red fluorescence under blue light, are generated inside the fiber and are arranged in the cortex in a remarkably regular pattern of whorls based on concentric circles, like a fingerprint. It opens an area of genuine nanocomposites with novel properties due to AuNPs inside the hair shaft. (Credit: American Chemical Society)

 

 

Article by Kurzweilai.net

Increase life Span- Surprising and little known hacks

I found this poster on Pinterest the other day I'd like to share. Some of these are obvious but some suprised me and I'm a complete health nut. I checked out some of these and it turns out they are all right with scientific/clinical studies to back them.

The most suprising to me however was not being married. I would think it would have the opposite effect due to all the stress. I guess it depends on the partner you have(mental note to self:get new GF ASAP!)

1.Thinking Negative thoughts reduces your life by 9 years
2.Smoking cigarettes by 14 years
3.Not flossing your teeth by 6.4 years
4.Being a policeman by 8 years
5.NOT drinking alcohol will reduce your life by 5.6 years
6.Being a male by 10 years(not really true anymore, male life expectancy is now tied with women)
7.Not having sex by 8 years
8.Not getting married by 5 years
9.Sitting more than 6 hours a day by 6 years
10.Not owning a pet by 2 years

If you notice Numbers 1,4,8 and 10 deal mainly with stress reduction possibly even Number 7. Just goes to show you the importance of a good consistent stress reduction strategy in your life.

Quercetin: Fitness Without The Work?

Is it really possible to get fit without all the work that comes along with it like eating healthy& exercising and just get fit while reading your favorite blog or watching TV?

Recently there was a study that followed people that took large doses(500milligrams 2x/day) of a nutrient called Quercetin for a week and were able to increase endurance on a stationary bike much longer than people who did not take Quercetin nutrient. In lam ens terms their fitness was enhanced without the the work.

Quercetin was thought to possibly help build your mitochondria which are the mini energy factories in your bodies cells that convert your food energy to the energy your body uses(ATP). So it would potentially create more body energy so you wouldn't run out as fast during a workout.

So what is Quercetin made of exactly? It is a plant-derived flavonoid shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. A diet high in fruits and veges has shown to decrease cancer rates and was thought quercetin might be responsible for this. It is found in vegetables and citrus fruit like apples,red onions, green beans and buckwheat. Usually most food sources of this nutrient don't contain a large amount though. A average apple has around 9 milligrams.

As far a it being able to get fit without the work its not likely to happen since exercise does far more for you than increase your mitochondria. It builds bone density, reduce stress, helps you sleep better, and most importantly increase sex drive! It also has been found to help your memory and cognitive functions.

My advice, quit looking for the easy way out, get your butt off the couch and exercise. I'd come get your butt off your couch for you but i gotta get moving.

How antibiotics can do more harm than good.

It seems every time me or my family go to the doctor over the last 5 years when we are sick the first thing prescribed is antibiotics. I've heard people criticize doctors over this and wondered if there was something to this so i decided to do a little research. Doctors need to make sure patients understand the pros and cons and explain all side effects of all prescribed medication.

What i found really disturbed me. But first a little background on antibiotics.

First off the term antibiotics means "against life." Antibiotics are used to kill bacterial infections but in the process of killing the bad bacteria it also KILLS THE GOOD! There are several types of antibiotics and some are worse than others for the good bacteria. The antibiotics prescribed are usually to kill the bad bacteria in your gut but in doing so can expose your intestinal walls to unprocessed foods and irritants that can cause inflammation and other digestive irritations.

Some of the problems caused by antibiotics that have been proven in clinical studies are:
1)flatulence or embarrassing gas
2)some constipation
3)painful bloating
4)heartburn
5)diarrhea
6)upset stomach
7)leaky gut
8)food allergies and sensitivities some linked to asthma
9)bad breath
10)yeast infections
11)reoccurring illness or colds
12)anal itching around the rectum
13)prevalence of cold sores(herpes simplex)
14)acne
15)vaginitis
16)headaches
17)hypoglycemia

In more extreme cases where a patient uses them over long periods of time, has high doses or incorrectly uses them can actually cause some of the bad bacteria like Clostridium difficile—or even pestering yeast such as Candida albicans—to grow and colonize in the bowels due to the patient developing tolerance to the drugs. This bad bacteria can cause health problems such as diarrhea, yeast infections, allergies, fatigue and even worse! There have been some growing concerns about a very strong type of antibiotic called Fluoroquinolones. Some people have reported brain damage in some cases.

Some of the good bacteria in your intestines(colon) like lactobacteria and beneficial flora which synthesize important vitamins for your body like vitamin K and some B vitamins as well as helping your colon maintain a proper pH balance. For adults one of the first indicators that normal bacteria levels are critically low id bad breath. If you are not replenishing these good bacteria you are indirectly setting our self up for future health problems.. Lactobacteria are the only elements in your body that keep candida and harmful infections under control. without these bacteria candida spread like wildfire. A candida infection suppresses the immune system

Bad breath is a result of low intestinal bacterial levels not your mouth that it commonly touted by dentists. That's why your breath stinks even after you brush, floss and use mouthwash.

If your colon has been impaired for prolonged periods the food decays and eventually putrefies your body produces enormous amounts of mucus in your system to try to clear out the toxic side effects.

Yet At times the taking of antibiotics can be necessary, even life saving. My some had a serious bacterial infection when he was 2 years old and was prescribed an antibiotic. As a side-effect he developed a yeast infection(thrush) at the back of his tongue and throat. It took several months to get rid of that after he stops using the antibiotics.

I myself have asthma and require the use of inhalers. If i do not drink liquids after my inhalations of the steroids i will develop a yeast infection in my throat as well. I did experience several of these symptoms myself and went on a week long cleanse. to clear out my colon and replenish all the good bacteria in it. I'm happy to say it was a success. I do not endorse prolonged cleanses since your body naturally cleanses itself it you take proper care of it. The problem in our society is that most do not.

If you want to be proactive some steps you can take to avoid having to take antibiotics in the first place are:

1)Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Raw preferably since chlorophyll feed the god bacteria. cooked and processed food actually feeds that bad bacteria
2)Some dairy products are a good source of friendly bacteria(lactobacillus) like yogurt and kefir.
3)Reduce meat consumption. It's interesting to note that many of the opponents to vegetarianism insist that if one doesn't east meat one has no source of vitamin B-12 and is undernourished. That theory is rather upside-down. Those who eat meat destroy the B-12 as soon as they cook it. Meat eaters generally have a very poor intestinal flora (little or no friendly bacteria) and are therefore unable to produce or assimilate B-12 properly. Vegetarians who have a healthy intestinal flora are able to produce it.
4)Alcohol- it destroys enzymes and lactobacteria, not to mention actual cells (particularly brain cells)
5)Coffee- each cup can destroy 20% of the friendly bacteria in your gut.
6)Bread- especially white flour or any wheat bread that was baked in an oven.
7)Sugar- that includes breakfast cereals, chocolate, cakes, pies, cookies, ice cream, soda pop, etc.
8)Fried foods- e.g. potato chips, fries, and anything fried in oil.

If your already experiencing low levels of good bacteria you should go on a cleanse. Its the first step since using supplementation to revive your bacteria is useless if your bowels are full of garbage. After you clean your system then start with supplementation to revive your intestinal bacteria.
If you are experiencing a yeast infection you can take supplementation to kill off the yeast in your bowels then use the supplements to revive your good bacteria.

Some ways to support your system while taking antibiotics

1)Probiotic Supplements

Antibiotics don't just kill the bacteria causing your sickness; they also wipe out beneficial bacteria (called probiotics) that contribute to a healthy digestive system. Taking a probiotic supplement could help prevent gastrointestinal problems resulting from antibiotic use, according to a research review published in 2008. Probiotics, also found in fermented foods like yogurt and kefir, can help stave

2.Herbal Tea

If you experience nausea while taking antibiotics, try sipping ginger tea to soothe your stomach. Another common complaint among patients on antibiotics? Loose stools, which may be relieved by drinking raspberry leaf tea.

3.Milk Thistle

Taking antibiotics can tax your liver, which is responsible for breaking down the medications you ingest. The herb milk thistle has been associated with protective antioxidant effects on the liver.

Scientists uncork a potential secret of red wine's health benefits

Biology News Net July 30, 2009

Scientists from Scotland and Singapore have unraveled a mystery
that has perplexed scientists since red wine was first discovered
to have health benefits: how does resveratrol control inflammation?
New research published in the August 2009 print issue of The FASEB
Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), not only explains resveratrol's
one-two punch on inflammation, but also show how it—or a
derivative—can be used to treat potentially deadly inflammatory
disease, such as appendicitis, peritonitis, and systemic sepsis.

"Strong acute inflammatory diseases such as sepsis are very difficult to treat and many die every day due to lack of treatment," said Alirio Melendez, senior lecturer on the faculty of medicine at Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre in Scotland and one of the researchers involved in the work. "Moreover, many survivors of sepsis develop a very low quality of life due to the damage that inflammation causes to several internal organs. The ultimate goal of our study was to identify a potential novel therapy to help in the treatment of strong acute inflammatory diseases."

In this study, researchers administered an inflammatory agent to two groups of mice. One group was pretreated with resveratrol and the other group was not. The mice that were not pretreated with resveratrol experienced a strong inflammatory response, simulating disease in humans, while the group pretreated with resveratrol was protected from the inflammation. The scientists then examined the tissues of the mice to determine exactly how resveratrol was able to protect the mice from inflammation. They found that resveratrol used a one-two punch to stop inflammation in the mice by preventing the body from creating two different molecules known to trigger inflammation, sphingosine kinase and phospholipase D. This finding suggests that resveratrol may be harnessable as a treatment for inflammatory diseases and may also lead to entirely new resveratrol-based drugs that are even more effective.

"The therapeutic potential of red wine has been bottled up for thousands of years," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "and now that scientists have uncorked its secrets, they find that studies of how resveratrol works can lead to new treatments for life-threatening inflammation."

Check out Resveratrol here

A Guide to Vitamin E

The e vitamin is extremely important for a variety of functions in the body. A healthy heart needs plenty of the e vitamin as it has been shown to actually prevent heart disease. The e vitamin can also help contain any existing heart disease and stop it from getting worse.

E vitamin is also vital in protecting the cell membranes from the harmful free radicals that are present in the body. Without e vitamin, amongst others, the cell membranes would be damaged and this could lead to serious health problems, including cancer. The reason that the e vitamin is so effective against free radicals is that it is fat soluble so it can be absorbed into the cell membranes. The e vitamin is therefore essential for the immune system. The recommended daily amount of the e vitamin that a person requires depends on their body weight. This is connected to the fact that the more fat a diet contains then the more of the e vitamin that is needed. However, the only foods that really contain any reasonable amount of the e vitamin are vegetable oils, seeds, wheat germ, and nuts. It is for this reason that most people should take some form of e vitamin supplement.

A deficiency of the e vitamin does not affect a person immediately. In fact, it can take months for the effects of insufficient e vitamin to be detected. After years of e vitamin deficiency there maybe some detectable damage to the nerves of the spinal cord or retina of the eye but this is very rare. Most people obtain enough e vitamin from a normal diet but it is essential that the food that a person eats contains a little fat to help with the absorption of the e vitamin.

There are a few medical conditions that may lead to a deficiency of the e vitamin and may require the person to take e vitamin supplements. Cystic fibrosis causes a person to be unable to digest fats well which leads to less of the e vitamin being absorbed. Crohn disease causes to lower absorption rates of the e vitamin and a supplement may be necessary. Some forms of liver disease can also lead to problems absorbing the e vitamin, especially through the intestine. Of course, as fat is required to help absorb sufficient amounts of the e vitamin, anyone on an extremely low-fat diet will need to discuss their options for increasing the amount of e vitamin that their body needs.

Excersise protects eyesight

Ok so we all know that exercise improves your overall cardiovascular health, reduces weight and makes you attractive to the opposite sex but did you know research has found that it actually lowers your risk of getting two kinds of sight-stealers: macular degeneration and cataracts?

So how much exercise is needed to reap these rewards? Well if you jogged for a little over a mile a day you reduce your risk of developing age-related macular degeneration by a whopping 36 %. Those who were really into it and jogged about five miles a day reduced their risk by 54 %.

Studies have also found that men who ran more than five and a half miles a day had a 35 % lower risk of cataracts than guys who ran less than one and a half miles a day.

If you've never jogged a mile in your life or have some kind of physical impairment you could walk which would reduce the risk but not quite as much. Its thought that for the same reason exercise helps prevent heart trouble it prevents eyesight problems by keeping inflammation at bay.

Selenium may worsen prostate cancer

BOSTON - Higher selenium levels in the blood may worsen prostate cancer in some men who have the disease, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the University of California, San Francisco, said a higher risk of more-aggressive prostate cancer was seen in men with a certain genetic variant found in about 75 percent of the prostate cancer patients in the study.

In those subjects, having a high level of selenium in the blood was associated with a two-fold greater risk of poorer outcomes than among men with the lowest amounts of selenium.

In contrast, the 25 percent of men with a different variant of the same gene and who had high selenium levels were at 40 percent lower risk of aggressive disease.

The variants are slightly different forms of a gene that instructs cells to make manganese superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that protects the body against harmful oxygen compounds, the researchers said.

The findings suggest that "if you already have prostate cancer, it may be a bad thing to take selenium," senior author Dr. Philip Kantoff, director of Dana-Farber's Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, said in a statement.

Supplements of selenium have been sold and promoted as a means of preventing prostate cancer -- largely based on observational studies that found higher risk of prostate cancer incidence and mortality in areas of the country that are naturally low in selenium, Kantoff said.

The findings are published online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Protect Your Brain from Parkinson's
With THIS Nutrient

You may know that the super nutrient Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) works to support the immune system and cellular antioxidation. But it also appears to help with Parkinson's disease.

The basis for many neurodegenerative diseases is called mitochondria dysfunction. The powerhouse of each cell is the mitochondria. If the powerhouse of the cell is disrupted or loses energy, the body is vulnerable to attack at the cellular level. This can be devastating and can result in many chronic diseases.

Some scientists believe that nerve cell damage can result from diminished energy levels among neurons. That may result in a biologic energy decline and therefore be intimately involved in the development of Parkinson's disease. It appears that CoQ10 may offer protection for neurons against toxicity.

According to a study published in Neurotoxicity, restoring these neuronal energy levels might boost these defenses. Supplementing with CoQ10 will not only boost your cell energy levels, but boost your body's brain and heart health, too!

Resveratrol: How it prevents Aging

Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant found in grapes, pine trees, peanuts and other plants. For years scientists have been fascinated by the "French Paradox", which is the high fat diet that the French have and the low incidence of heart disease. There has been much research on this and it has been concluded that the answer lies in the wine that the French also drink and the high levels of resveratrol found in the grapes that go into producing it.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging have found that resveratrol in high doses let mice eat a high fat diet and somehow avoid the problems associated most commonly with obesity. The liver and other systems of these mice remained healthy and related deaths dropped by 31%.

Another study showed that mice that were feed high levels of resveratrol along with high fat diets exhibited less weight gain, greater physical endurance and better insulin sensitivity.

Resveratrol also showed the ability to increase the life span in yeast, mice and certain fish.

There are other benefits to resveratrol that are related to the fact that is a powerful antioxidant. It has been quoted as "one of the best free radical scavengers". Free radicals in the body are produced by naturally occurring environmental stress and damage healthy cells in the body.

Resveratrol shows promise in a number of human age related health studies focusing on diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A recent 60 Minutes interview highlighted some of the research going on today. There are several clinical trials already underway on this subject. The research being done now is focusing on resveratrol as being a substance which can increase longevity by eliminating some of the diseases associated with growing older such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart associated diseases. To do this, they believe it can slow done the aging process. Scientists have long known that one way to live longer and healthier is to always be hungry. Reduced caloric intake seems to trigger a gene known known for its "survival instinct". This someday may allow a 80 year old man to have the health of a 50 year old today. The ability to prevent or delay the onset of life threatening diseases would have a enormous effect on the quality of human life as you can well imagine.

The American Heart Association doesn't recommend that you start drinking alcohol just to prevent heart disease or any other illness. Alcohol can be addictive. Too much increases your risk of high blood pressure, high triglycerides, liver damage, obesity, certain types of cancer, accidents and other problems. In addition, even small amounts of alcohol can cause cardiomyopathy — weakened heart muscle — and heart failure in some people. If you have heart failure or a weak heart you should avoid alcohol completely. The safest and most effective way of taking resveratrol would be as a dietary supplement. This gives you the advantages of benefitting from this very important substance as well as avoiding the problems associated with alcohol.

Get Younger From The Inside Out

The goal: You want to keep your heart and arteries young, like they were when you were a kid. The plan: Eat 13 to 21 walnuts a day for four weeks.

Yep, it could be that simple. When people in one study replaced some of the already good monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil and corn oil) in their diets with eight to 13 walnuts a day (they contain omega-3 fats), their blood vessels expanded after just a few weeks, allowing better blood flow.

That's not all that our favorite nuts can do. In another study, raising the walnut ante to an ounce and a half -- that's about 21 walnut halves -- six days a week reduced lousy LDL cholesterol by nearly 20 percent. That's a big deal that translates into slightly more than an 18 percent decrease in your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Traditional thinking is that it's the omega-3 fatty acids in these nuts that have been credited with these heart and artery benefits (they have brain, eye and joint benefits as well). That's still true, but there may be something extra in walnuts that makes LDL drop even more than expected from its omega-3s alone.

But whatever it is that's doing the magic, the point is the same: To fit the fat from walnuts into your diet, take some of the other fat out. Not hard to do; the flavor and crunch of these nuts adds enough to your foods -- be it a main course, salad or side dish -- that you won't miss the fat that was there before.

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The YOU Docs
Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.-- are authors of "YOU: Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty". To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to www.RealAge.com, the docs' online home.

Three Health Advantages Of A Vegetarian Diet

While many people in my experience lament the nutritional disadvantages
of a poorly planned vegetarian diet, few stress the
health advantages of adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
In this article, I will cover the major three nutritional
advantages of becoming a vegetarian.

The first major advantage of a vegetarian diet is
increased heart health. Vegetarians, on average, consume
more nuts (often as a supplemental form of protein). Nuts
contain "good" fats, such as omega-3 and omega-6. This
promotes good heart health by reducing "bad" cholesterol
and unclogging arteries.

In addition to nuts, vegetarians also consume more soy
milk (often to replace milk), which reduces "bad"
cholesterol and has been linked to good heart health.

The second major advantage vegetarians enjoy is increased
skin health. In addition to consuming larger quantities
of nuts (which contain healthful oils), vegetarians tend
to consume more fruit and vegetables, which are rich in
essential vitamins, including A and E, which are linked
to good skin health.

Fruits and vegetables also contain high amounts of fiber,
which helps flush toxins out of the body, further
contributing to better skin health.

The last health advantage vegetarians enjoy is an increased
natural consumption of antioxidants.

Antioxidants are foods that help prevent cancer by
destroying free radicals. Vitamin C and Vitamin E, two
strong antioxidants, are commonly found in vegetarian
meals.

Vitamin C can be found in berries, tomatoes, citrus fruit,
kale, kiwis, asparagus and peppers.

Vitamin E can be found in wheat germ, seed oils, walnuts,
almonds, and brown rice--all foods that are commonly a
part of a well-balanced vegetarian diet.

So what does this all mean for you as a prospective
vegetarian?

It means the popular mythology about vegetarian diets
is false. Not only can a vegetarian diet be nutritionally
sufficient, but it can also affect better skin
health, prevent cancer, and increase your
heart health.

Starting as a hard-core carnivore and then becoming vegetarian for 2 years and then converting to a vegan for the last year I can honestly say I dont miss meat at all anymore knowing that it will likely enhance my health for a lifetime as well as longevity.

If you are interested in learning how to cook simple, great tasting, quick and low cost vegetarian meals I'd recommend How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food or Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook