Pare leer este artículo en español oprima aquí.
Something to know about nutrition regarding: Aspartame, Tropicana Slim, Equal, NutraSweet, Canderel, Splenda, Saccharin. These might not be the healthy alternative that most people expect them to be. They are documented to cause health problems like cancer and even increase obesity.
According to Wikipedia "Formaldehyde - based solutions are used in embalming to disinfect and temporarily preserve human remains." So happens that "Approximately 10% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into methanol in the small intestine."
From the Doorway to Discovery, explains how it happens
How it happens: Methanol, from aspartame, is released in the small intestine when the methyl group of aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin (Stegink 1984, page 143). Free methanol begins to form in liquid aspartame-containing products at temperatures above 86 degrees F.. also within the human body.
The methanol is then converted to formaldehyde. The formaldehyde converts to formic acid, ant sting poison. Toxic formic acid is used as an activator to strip epoxy and urethane coatings. Imagine what it does to your tissues!
Phenylalanine and aspartic acid, 90% of aspartame, are amino acids normally used in synthesis of protoplasm when supplied by the foods we eat. But when unaccompanied by other amino acids we use [there are 20], they are neurotoxic.
That is why a warning for Phenylketonurics is found on EQUAL and other aspartame products. Phenylketenurics are 2% of the population with extreme sensitivity to this chemical unless it’s present in food. It gets you too, causing brain disorders and birth defects! Finally, the phenyalanine breaks down into DKP, a brain tumor agent.
In other words: Aspartame converts to dangerous byproducts that have no natural countermeasures. A dieter’s empty stomach accelerates these conversions and amplifies the damage. Components of aspartame go straight to the brain, damage that causes headaches, mental confusion, seizures and faulty balance. Lab rats and other test animals died of brain tumors.
Artificial sweetners are generally used to loose weight. If so, it should be of interest to learn the following:
Artificial sweetners including sucralose have been identified as possible factors in raising population obesity levels by making the consumer take up more calories later, because it confuses the brain and body responses about sugary substances and calories - associating sweet foods with fewer calories.[34]
Below are related links:
TheTruthAboutStuff - Dangers of Aspartame
ScienceDaily - Artificial Sweetners Linked to Weight Gain
DORway to Discorvery - Aspartame: What is it?
Bienvenidos a la página de información sobre el aspartame
And for those who rather not think and continue using sweetners like aspartame, here is the official Aspartame Information Service.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Can Vitamin D Save Your Life?
Pare leer este artículo en español oprima aquí.
Article published by Discovery Magazine.
12.12.2007
Can Vitamin D Save Your Life?
New studies highlight the importance of the forgotten vitamin.
by Mariana Gosnell
For years doctors believed that vitamin D, sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” because sunlight triggers the body to produce it, was important primarily in preventing rickets (a softening of the bones) in children. Once milk became fortified with vitamin D, rickets pretty much disappeared, and the problem of vitamin D deficiency seemed to have been solved. But according to Michael F. Holick, director of the Vitamin D, Skin, and Bone Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical Center, who has spent 30 years studying the vitamin, “rickets can be considered the tip of the vitamin D–deficiency iceberg.”
Today a lack of the vitamin has been linked to a host of other maladies, including cancers of the colon, prostate, and breast; tuberculosis; schizophrenia; multiple sclerosis; hip fractures; and chronic pain. How can one vitamin play a role in so many diverse illnesses? The answer seems to lie in the fact that most tissues and cells in the human body (and not just those in the intestine and bone that help fix calcium) have receptors for vitamin D, suggesting that the vitamin is needed for overall optimal health. In addition, some cells carry enzymes for converting the circulating form of vitamin D to the active form, making it available in high concentrations to the tissues locally.
A recent laboratory experiment at Boston University revealed that by activating the circulating form of the vitamin, prostate cells could regulate their own growth and possibly prevent the rise of cancer. Directly or indirectly, Holick points out, “the active form of vitamin D controls up to 200 different genes,” including ones responsible for cell proliferation, differentiation, and death.
Theories about vitamin D’s cancer-prevention qualities have begun to be validated. In June, Joan M. Lappe, professor of nursing and medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, and her colleagues published the results of a 4-year, double-blind, randomized trial in which nearly 1,200 healthy postmenopausal women took calcium alone, calcium with 1,100 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day, or a placebo. The women who took calcium with vitamin D had a 60 percent lower risk of developing cancers of any type than the placebo group; the calcium-only group’s risk didn’t significantly change.
Currently, the median vitamin D intake of adult Americans is only about 230 IU a day; Lappe was prompted by the study’s findings to recommend the dose be increased to 1,500 to 2,000 IU. “It’s low risk, with maybe a high payoff,” she told a Canadian newspaper in June. Vitamin D comes from three sources: the sun’s ultraviolet (UVB) rays penetrating the skin, a few D-rich foods like fatty fish and some fortified foods, and supplements. The Canadian Paediatric Society has already recommended that pregnant or breast-feeding women get 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily.
Some clinicians have suggested that increased vitamin D intake might help ward off multiple sclerosis (MS), believed to be a progressive autoimmune disease. Last December, a team of researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and other institutions published results from the first large-scale prospective study of the relationship between vitamin D levels and MS. After analyzing stored blood samples taken from 7 million military personnel and identifying those individuals who developed MS during a 12-year period, the team determined that the risk of getting MS was 62 percent lower for those whose blood concentration of vitamin D put them in the top quintile than for those in the bottom quintile. The study did not make clear, however, whether low vitamin D levels were a cause of MS or a marker of MS risk.
Vitamin D status may also affect vulnerability to infections. For example, African Americans need more sun exposure than Caucasians to make sufficient vitamin D; they also suffer from increased risk of tuberculosis. In a breakthrough study published in March, scientists from several institutions, including UCLA, discovered a possible link. On encountering the TB bacillus, receptors on immune-system scavenger cells known as macrophages stimulate the conversion of circulating vitamin D to its active form, which produces a peptide that destroys the bacillus. If circulating levels of D are low, macrophages can’t activate the vitamin D to initiate this response. A similar scenario could be operating with other infectious agents, maybe even the influenza virus.
Article published by Discovery Magazine.
12.12.2007
Can Vitamin D Save Your Life?
New studies highlight the importance of the forgotten vitamin.
by Mariana Gosnell
For years doctors believed that vitamin D, sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” because sunlight triggers the body to produce it, was important primarily in preventing rickets (a softening of the bones) in children. Once milk became fortified with vitamin D, rickets pretty much disappeared, and the problem of vitamin D deficiency seemed to have been solved. But according to Michael F. Holick, director of the Vitamin D, Skin, and Bone Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical Center, who has spent 30 years studying the vitamin, “rickets can be considered the tip of the vitamin D–deficiency iceberg.”
Today a lack of the vitamin has been linked to a host of other maladies, including cancers of the colon, prostate, and breast; tuberculosis; schizophrenia; multiple sclerosis; hip fractures; and chronic pain. How can one vitamin play a role in so many diverse illnesses? The answer seems to lie in the fact that most tissues and cells in the human body (and not just those in the intestine and bone that help fix calcium) have receptors for vitamin D, suggesting that the vitamin is needed for overall optimal health. In addition, some cells carry enzymes for converting the circulating form of vitamin D to the active form, making it available in high concentrations to the tissues locally.
A recent laboratory experiment at Boston University revealed that by activating the circulating form of the vitamin, prostate cells could regulate their own growth and possibly prevent the rise of cancer. Directly or indirectly, Holick points out, “the active form of vitamin D controls up to 200 different genes,” including ones responsible for cell proliferation, differentiation, and death.
Theories about vitamin D’s cancer-prevention qualities have begun to be validated. In June, Joan M. Lappe, professor of nursing and medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, and her colleagues published the results of a 4-year, double-blind, randomized trial in which nearly 1,200 healthy postmenopausal women took calcium alone, calcium with 1,100 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day, or a placebo. The women who took calcium with vitamin D had a 60 percent lower risk of developing cancers of any type than the placebo group; the calcium-only group’s risk didn’t significantly change.
Currently, the median vitamin D intake of adult Americans is only about 230 IU a day; Lappe was prompted by the study’s findings to recommend the dose be increased to 1,500 to 2,000 IU. “It’s low risk, with maybe a high payoff,” she told a Canadian newspaper in June. Vitamin D comes from three sources: the sun’s ultraviolet (UVB) rays penetrating the skin, a few D-rich foods like fatty fish and some fortified foods, and supplements. The Canadian Paediatric Society has already recommended that pregnant or breast-feeding women get 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily.
Some clinicians have suggested that increased vitamin D intake might help ward off multiple sclerosis (MS), believed to be a progressive autoimmune disease. Last December, a team of researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and other institutions published results from the first large-scale prospective study of the relationship between vitamin D levels and MS. After analyzing stored blood samples taken from 7 million military personnel and identifying those individuals who developed MS during a 12-year period, the team determined that the risk of getting MS was 62 percent lower for those whose blood concentration of vitamin D put them in the top quintile than for those in the bottom quintile. The study did not make clear, however, whether low vitamin D levels were a cause of MS or a marker of MS risk.
Vitamin D status may also affect vulnerability to infections. For example, African Americans need more sun exposure than Caucasians to make sufficient vitamin D; they also suffer from increased risk of tuberculosis. In a breakthrough study published in March, scientists from several institutions, including UCLA, discovered a possible link. On encountering the TB bacillus, receptors on immune-system scavenger cells known as macrophages stimulate the conversion of circulating vitamin D to its active form, which produces a peptide that destroys the bacillus. If circulating levels of D are low, macrophages can’t activate the vitamin D to initiate this response. A similar scenario could be operating with other infectious agents, maybe even the influenza virus.
Monday, May 19, 2008
May 19 2008 Scotland, The island house that powers itself - with a little help from 100mph gales
Pare leer este artículo en español oprima aquí .
Photo and text below are excerpts from the article published by The Guardian. Should pay close attention to this type of home building because it is the way of the future. The attention being paid by the Chinese could be a key to develop low cost equipment used in building green homes. Note the concept of carbon-constrained future as a most recent level of measurement.
Michael and Dorothy Rea outside their home on Unst. Photograph: Murdo Macleod
Life on the most northerly inhabited island in Britain can be very tough indeed. On Unst the winters are harsh, and the winds brutal and relentless, regularly sweeping across the treeless landscape at more than 100mph.
But Unst is the island chosen by a retired couple from Wiltshire to build one of the world's greenest houses - a "zero carbon" home powered entirely by the wind and the sun. It sits on the same latitude as southern Greenland, but will soon boast lemon trees, grapevines and green pepper plants in its greenhouse, an electric car powered by the wind, and floors heated by drawing warmth from the air.
The three-bedroom home designed by Michael and Dorothy Rea, near the shoreline of a secluded bay, has become a test bed for living "off-grid": generating all their power from renewable sources, growing most of their food at home, and running a car without a petrol station.
Their home - built for just over £210,000 from an off-the-shelf timber framed house - has quietly become famous. The Scottish executive in Edinburgh is using it as a benchmark for new sustainable house-building rules; officials in the prime minister's office watch its progress and Chinese officials are studying its innovative technologies for a new 5,000-home eco-town in Guangzhou, in southern China.
Last year, the Reas learned that their website - zerocarbonhouse.com - was the fourth most popular site worldwide on Google. Michael Rea is often up at 5am answering emails from PhD students, green activists and even Canadian senators.
...
"It's definitely significant," said Duncan Price, a director of one of the world's largest green energy consultancies, ESD, and an advisor to the Reas. "What's very special is they're trying to address the carbon impact of their whole lifestyle. It's a microcosm of how the world would be in a carbon-constrained future."
...
Around 80 people living on Scoraig, which is only accessible by boat or with a five-mile trek overland, power their homes and businesses chiefly using small hand-made wind turbines designed by local resident Hugh Piggott, a guru of self-sufficient off-grid living. Solar panels and diesel generators supplement the turbines.
In February, the islanders of Eigg, just south of Skye, switched on the UK's first independent "green grid". It provides power to all the 45 homes and 20 businesses by combining electricity from wind turbines, solar panels and two small hydro-electric dams into a single supply. For the first time, islanders can run fridges, electric kettles, satellite TVs and computers without using unreliable oil-powered generators.
Forced by their isolation to become self-sufficient, many observers believe these communities prove that micro-generation and home energy schemes are viable UK-wide. Nick Rosen, author of How to Live Off-Grid, a handbook on off-grid communities, said: "It doesn't mean we should all live like Scoraig but we should be fostering communities like it all over the place. It increases the self-reliance of our society overall, in the event of sudden energy price hikes, the Russians cut off the gas or strikes in the oil industry."
...
With help from Dundee University and Duchy College in Cornwall, they are building a greenhouse which uses hydroponics where their vegetables, fruit and herbs will be grown in a liquid with specially controlled lighting to create artificial "seasons". The University of Delaware is refitting a Toyota Yaris car with an electric engine.
...
The house is very heavily insulated and its under-floor heating uses warmth drawn from the outside air and stored in a giant "water battery". Heat inside the house is captured by a ventilation system and reused. Rainwater is harvested for toilets and the washing machine. Large windows capture warmth from the sun.
Power for dishwasher, cooker, toaster, fridge, computers and lights comes from a wind turbine, which charges fuel cells able to store power for four days. The house's LED lights will use the same power as one 100W bulb.
The greenhouse will have its own wind turbine. Plants will grow in high-nutrient hydroponic liquids, with special LED lights to create artificial seasons and daylight. A converted battery-powered Toyota Yaris will be charged from the fuel cells.
Photo and text below are excerpts from the article published by The Guardian. Should pay close attention to this type of home building because it is the way of the future. The attention being paid by the Chinese could be a key to develop low cost equipment used in building green homes. Note the concept of carbon-constrained future as a most recent level of measurement.
Michael and Dorothy Rea outside their home on Unst. Photograph: Murdo MacleodLife on the most northerly inhabited island in Britain can be very tough indeed. On Unst the winters are harsh, and the winds brutal and relentless, regularly sweeping across the treeless landscape at more than 100mph.
But Unst is the island chosen by a retired couple from Wiltshire to build one of the world's greenest houses - a "zero carbon" home powered entirely by the wind and the sun. It sits on the same latitude as southern Greenland, but will soon boast lemon trees, grapevines and green pepper plants in its greenhouse, an electric car powered by the wind, and floors heated by drawing warmth from the air.
The three-bedroom home designed by Michael and Dorothy Rea, near the shoreline of a secluded bay, has become a test bed for living "off-grid": generating all their power from renewable sources, growing most of their food at home, and running a car without a petrol station.
Their home - built for just over £210,000 from an off-the-shelf timber framed house - has quietly become famous. The Scottish executive in Edinburgh is using it as a benchmark for new sustainable house-building rules; officials in the prime minister's office watch its progress and Chinese officials are studying its innovative technologies for a new 5,000-home eco-town in Guangzhou, in southern China.
Last year, the Reas learned that their website - zerocarbonhouse.com - was the fourth most popular site worldwide on Google. Michael Rea is often up at 5am answering emails from PhD students, green activists and even Canadian senators.
...
"It's definitely significant," said Duncan Price, a director of one of the world's largest green energy consultancies, ESD, and an advisor to the Reas. "What's very special is they're trying to address the carbon impact of their whole lifestyle. It's a microcosm of how the world would be in a carbon-constrained future."
...
Around 80 people living on Scoraig, which is only accessible by boat or with a five-mile trek overland, power their homes and businesses chiefly using small hand-made wind turbines designed by local resident Hugh Piggott, a guru of self-sufficient off-grid living. Solar panels and diesel generators supplement the turbines.
In February, the islanders of Eigg, just south of Skye, switched on the UK's first independent "green grid". It provides power to all the 45 homes and 20 businesses by combining electricity from wind turbines, solar panels and two small hydro-electric dams into a single supply. For the first time, islanders can run fridges, electric kettles, satellite TVs and computers without using unreliable oil-powered generators.
Forced by their isolation to become self-sufficient, many observers believe these communities prove that micro-generation and home energy schemes are viable UK-wide. Nick Rosen, author of How to Live Off-Grid, a handbook on off-grid communities, said: "It doesn't mean we should all live like Scoraig but we should be fostering communities like it all over the place. It increases the self-reliance of our society overall, in the event of sudden energy price hikes, the Russians cut off the gas or strikes in the oil industry."
...
With help from Dundee University and Duchy College in Cornwall, they are building a greenhouse which uses hydroponics where their vegetables, fruit and herbs will be grown in a liquid with specially controlled lighting to create artificial "seasons". The University of Delaware is refitting a Toyota Yaris car with an electric engine.
...
The house is very heavily insulated and its under-floor heating uses warmth drawn from the outside air and stored in a giant "water battery". Heat inside the house is captured by a ventilation system and reused. Rainwater is harvested for toilets and the washing machine. Large windows capture warmth from the sun.
Power for dishwasher, cooker, toaster, fridge, computers and lights comes from a wind turbine, which charges fuel cells able to store power for four days. The house's LED lights will use the same power as one 100W bulb.
The greenhouse will have its own wind turbine. Plants will grow in high-nutrient hydroponic liquids, with special LED lights to create artificial seasons and daylight. A converted battery-powered Toyota Yaris will be charged from the fuel cells.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The Wonders of Epson Salt By Carol Belanger
Pare leer este artículo en español oprima aquí.
Epsom salts are named for the mineral rich waters of Epsom, England, where they were known at least as far back as Shakespeare's day. When bathing, the magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) is absorbed through the sjavascript:void(0)
Publish Postkin and is an inexpensive and natural way to reduce stress, treat skin problems, and draw toxins from the body.
It has been a long time remedy natural remedy for a number of ailments. An Epson salt bath is known to relieve aching limbs, muscle strain and back pain. In addition, it has been known to heal cuts, reduce soreness from childbirth and relieves colds and congestion. Furthermore, Epson salt will flush toxins and heavy metals from the body.
It is a natural stress reliever too. Stress drains the body of magnesium. An Epson salt bath absorbs magnesium into our body thus helping to relieve stress. The magnesium helps to produce adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of calm and relaxation.
Ithas many uses, as an all body exfoliate to remove dead skin cells and promote circulation, as a foot soaking agent to smooth, relax and refreshes your feet and neutralize odors, and as a facial exfoliate.
Below are some easy skin care recipes using Epson salt. The cost is minimal yet very beneficial for your skin.
Just Like the Spa!
Massage a handful of Epsom Salt mixed with 1-tablespoon bath oil or olive oil and rub all over wet skin to cleanse exfoliate and soften the rough spots! Rinse well. Note recommended on freshly shaved legs.
Easy Facial Cleanser:
Mix ½ Tsp of Epsom Salt into cleansing cream for a deep-pore cleansing. Massage on skin. Rinse with cool water. Pat dry.
Epsom Salt Detox Bath Recipe
1 Cup Epsom salt
1 handful sea salt
2 Tablespoons bath oil
Pour the ingredients into the tub while the tub is filling.
It has wonderful properties and uses that are beneficial to the mind, body, and soul. In addition, the cost of a box of Epson salts is so minimal compared to all the fancy packaged skin care products, that you can indulge yourself as much as you like.
For those people that suffer from high blood pressure, heart problems, or diabetes, you should consult your doctor prior to using it in the bath. Additionally, the information provided above is not intended to replace the care or advice of a physician if you suffer from skin disorders, severe stress or anxiety, or other health problems.
Carol Belanger, author of 300+ Skin Care Recipes
For wonderful homemade skin care recipes, including body scrubs, facial peels and masks, etc., visit Complete Skin Care Therapy
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Belanger
Epsom salts are named for the mineral rich waters of Epsom, England, where they were known at least as far back as Shakespeare's day. When bathing, the magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) is absorbed through the sjavascript:void(0)
Publish Postkin and is an inexpensive and natural way to reduce stress, treat skin problems, and draw toxins from the body.
It has been a long time remedy natural remedy for a number of ailments. An Epson salt bath is known to relieve aching limbs, muscle strain and back pain. In addition, it has been known to heal cuts, reduce soreness from childbirth and relieves colds and congestion. Furthermore, Epson salt will flush toxins and heavy metals from the body.
It is a natural stress reliever too. Stress drains the body of magnesium. An Epson salt bath absorbs magnesium into our body thus helping to relieve stress. The magnesium helps to produce adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of calm and relaxation.
Ithas many uses, as an all body exfoliate to remove dead skin cells and promote circulation, as a foot soaking agent to smooth, relax and refreshes your feet and neutralize odors, and as a facial exfoliate.
Below are some easy skin care recipes using Epson salt. The cost is minimal yet very beneficial for your skin.
Just Like the Spa!
Massage a handful of Epsom Salt mixed with 1-tablespoon bath oil or olive oil and rub all over wet skin to cleanse exfoliate and soften the rough spots! Rinse well. Note recommended on freshly shaved legs.
Easy Facial Cleanser:
Mix ½ Tsp of Epsom Salt into cleansing cream for a deep-pore cleansing. Massage on skin. Rinse with cool water. Pat dry.
Epsom Salt Detox Bath Recipe
1 Cup Epsom salt
1 handful sea salt
2 Tablespoons bath oil
Pour the ingredients into the tub while the tub is filling.
It has wonderful properties and uses that are beneficial to the mind, body, and soul. In addition, the cost of a box of Epson salts is so minimal compared to all the fancy packaged skin care products, that you can indulge yourself as much as you like.
For those people that suffer from high blood pressure, heart problems, or diabetes, you should consult your doctor prior to using it in the bath. Additionally, the information provided above is not intended to replace the care or advice of a physician if you suffer from skin disorders, severe stress or anxiety, or other health problems.
Carol Belanger, author of 300+ Skin Care Recipes
For wonderful homemade skin care recipes, including body scrubs, facial peels and masks, etc., visit Complete Skin Care Therapy
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Belanger
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