Keeping Clean: An Inside Job
by Steven Horne, RH(AHG)
Most of us spend a lot of time keeping things clean. We bathe, wash dishes, vacuum our carpets, sweep our floors, take our cars to the car wash, and launder our clothes. However, very few of us ever give thought to the idea of internal cleanliness. But, it isn’t just the outside of the body and our environment that must be kept clean. We also need to be clean on the inside.
Every day, as we consume foods and beverages and burn them for energy, the body creates waste products. Eliminating these by-products of metabolism is so important that the body has many different systems for breaking them down and eliminating them. Were it not for the incredible efficiency of the lymphatic system, the liver, the kidneys, the sweat glands and oil ducts in our skin, our colon, and the mucus membranes of our sinuses and lungs, our body would suffocate in its own waste in a couple of days.
Just because we aren’t dead, however, doesn’t mean that our eliminative organs are working at peak efficiency. When a furnace, automobile, or any other mechanical device starts to get dirty, its efficiency diminishes. The same is true for the body. If the efficiency of one or more eliminative channels drops just 10-20% it won’t be enough to kill us, but it certainly will have a gradual, and cumulative effect on our energy level and health.
That’s why traditional herbalism and naturopathy have always placed a heavy emphasis on hygiene, not just external hygiene, but internal hygiene as well. Therapies dedicated to opening up and strengthening eliminative channels have been collectively known as cleansing.
Cleansing is especially important in modern society. While public sanitation and attention to external cleanliness have helped to ensure we don’t have plagues or get diarrhea from contaminated water, we have a new problem on our hands—environmental pollution.
Every day we are exposed to hundreds (if not thousands) of chemicals, many of which did not even exist 100 years ago. These chemicals are present in the air we breathe, in the water we drink, in the food we consume and products which come in contact with our skin. We have air pollutants from automobiles and industry. We have water pollutants from agricultural runoff, industrial contamination, and even from the water treatment delivery systems that bring treated water into our homes.
The foods we eat also contain chemicals. There are traces of agricultural chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides that are used on crops. Processed foods are also laced with additives—preservatives, artificial flavorings and colorings, emulsifiers, anti-caking agents, texture enhancers, and so forth. My personal health regime involves avoiding as many of these chemicals as I can by purchasing foods in as natural a state as I can, and using organically-grown foods whenever possible.
Click here to read the rest of this article online...
Another view of why we should cleanse and specific information on various popular cleanses.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Digestive Health
Created by Dr. William J. Keller
Properly balanced diet
The digestive process and maintaining good health depends on a properly balanced diet. The digestive system essentially converts the foods that we eat into the energy needed to support life. The anatomy of the digestive system process involves a complex series of organs and glands that work in concert to break down our consumed foods into smaller molecules that can be utilized by the body.
The digestive process
The digestive process begins in the mouth where food is partially broken down by the process of chewing and by the enzymatic action of the carbohydrate-digesting amylase enzymes present in the saliva. Food is then swallowed and makes its way down the esophagus to the stomach.
In the stomach, food is mixed, ground and digested by gastric acid and a protein-digesting enzyme called pepsin. Gastric acid is an important part of the digestive process, consists mainly of hydrochloric acid (HCl), and it very efficiently breaks down food material, particularly protein. If production of gastric acid decreases (as is often the case with advancing age), the digestive process is less efficient. Researchers in the U.S. found that over 30 percent of men and women past the age of 60 suffer from atrophic gastritis, a condition marked by little or no gastric acid secretion (1).
Fortunately, natural approaches and nutritional supplements can help support an optimal digestive process in the stomach. (Digestive System Products)
The partially digested food leaves the stomach and continues through the digestive process by entering the small intestine, a tubular structure composed of three segments: the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. The duodenum continues the digestive process of breaking down food with the aid of bile from the gallbladder and enzymes released by the pancreas and the duodenal walls. Bile causes a breakdown of fat from large to smaller globules. Further digestion of fats, protein and carbohydrates takes place with the help of the pancreatic enzymes lipase, trypsin and amylase, respectively. Nutritional supplements can help support small intestinal digestive action.
The digestive process is basically complete once food passes through the duodenum. Absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream takes place in the jejunum and ileum segments of the small intestine. After absorption of food molecules into the bloodstream, the blood is purified by the liver to remove harmful substances. The liver also stores fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) and excess glucose for future use. Digestive supplements can be used to support these valuable liver functions.
The importance of fiber and friendly bacteria
The large intestine receives mostly indigestible material and water from the small intestine. Excess water and any residual minerals are absorbed in the large intestine. Fiber aids the process of moving the remaining debris through the large intestine, thus easing the passage of waste known as a stool. In addition to promoting elimination, fiber also helps to support friendly bacteria. About 100 trillion bacteria contribute to the digestive system process. These bacteria in the large intestine perform several essential functions.
Probiotics, as these bacteria are called, promote an efficient digestive process, support the immune system, inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, and produce several vitamins. Many supplement products consist of soluble and/or insoluble fiber from a variety of plant sources. Additionally, many different bacterial species found in nutritional supplements are capable of functioning as probiotics.
Probiotics
Probiotics have long been known to provide many benefits to the digestive system process and overall human health as mentioned in the previous paragraph. I have read with great interest several recent research reports on some additional actions that are very different from what you would expect.
One example is an experiment where mice, fed broth containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus, behaved less anxiously than mice fed broth without bacteria. These behavioral changes were partially explained by differences in brain chemical receptors and stress hormone (corticosterone) levels.
The overall observation was that a change in the mix of intestinal bacteria provided by L. rhamnosus influenced mouse behavior by way of the vagus nerve. The vagal impulses induced by the microbes resulted in an increase in GABA (gamma amino butyric acid, which is a neurotransmitter or brain chemical) receptors in the brain and lower levels of stress hormone. The net result was a significant decrease in anxiety observed in the mice receiving the bacteria-containing broth (2).
Just a few years ago, most scientists were of the opinion that probiotics only acted locally in the gut. However, this study suggests that gut bacteria could play a role in various brain and psychiatric disorders as well as individual behavioral differences.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Another fairly intense research area involves how intestinal microbes contribute to or counteract chronic inflammation and affect the digestive system process. As we all know, chronic inflammation is associated with many disease states. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is one of these conditions that appears to be directly influenced by specific probiotic species. It was interesting to read that those probiotic strains that specifically keep IBD in remission do not function normally in the presence of an iron-rich environment (3).
Species of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were found to be inhibited by high iron levels and this resulted in a failure to reduce inflammation. These research data suggest plausible explanations as to why IBD becomes established. As this probiotic research continues, valuable therapies will eventually emerge. Of equal importance here is that we will have a greater understanding of the digestive system process and health.
References
(1) Krasinski SD, Russell RM, Samloff IM, Jacob RA, Dallal GE, McGandy RB, Hartz SC. Fundic atrophic gastritis in an elderly population. Effect on hemoglobin and several serum nutritional indicators. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 1986 Nov;34(11):800-6.
(2) Bravo JA, et al. Ingestion of Lactobacillus strain regulates emotional behavior and central GABA receptor expression in a mouse via the vagus nerve. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2011 Sep 20;108(38):16050-5.
(3) Bailey JR, Probert CS, Cogan TA. Identification and characterisation of an iron-responsive candidate probiotic. PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e26507.
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Properly balanced diet
The digestive process and maintaining good health depends on a properly balanced diet. The digestive system essentially converts the foods that we eat into the energy needed to support life. The anatomy of the digestive system process involves a complex series of organs and glands that work in concert to break down our consumed foods into smaller molecules that can be utilized by the body.
The digestive process
The digestive process begins in the mouth where food is partially broken down by the process of chewing and by the enzymatic action of the carbohydrate-digesting amylase enzymes present in the saliva. Food is then swallowed and makes its way down the esophagus to the stomach.
In the stomach, food is mixed, ground and digested by gastric acid and a protein-digesting enzyme called pepsin. Gastric acid is an important part of the digestive process, consists mainly of hydrochloric acid (HCl), and it very efficiently breaks down food material, particularly protein. If production of gastric acid decreases (as is often the case with advancing age), the digestive process is less efficient. Researchers in the U.S. found that over 30 percent of men and women past the age of 60 suffer from atrophic gastritis, a condition marked by little or no gastric acid secretion (1).
Fortunately, natural approaches and nutritional supplements can help support an optimal digestive process in the stomach. (Digestive System Products)
The partially digested food leaves the stomach and continues through the digestive process by entering the small intestine, a tubular structure composed of three segments: the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. The duodenum continues the digestive process of breaking down food with the aid of bile from the gallbladder and enzymes released by the pancreas and the duodenal walls. Bile causes a breakdown of fat from large to smaller globules. Further digestion of fats, protein and carbohydrates takes place with the help of the pancreatic enzymes lipase, trypsin and amylase, respectively. Nutritional supplements can help support small intestinal digestive action.
The digestive process is basically complete once food passes through the duodenum. Absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream takes place in the jejunum and ileum segments of the small intestine. After absorption of food molecules into the bloodstream, the blood is purified by the liver to remove harmful substances. The liver also stores fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) and excess glucose for future use. Digestive supplements can be used to support these valuable liver functions.
The importance of fiber and friendly bacteria
The large intestine receives mostly indigestible material and water from the small intestine. Excess water and any residual minerals are absorbed in the large intestine. Fiber aids the process of moving the remaining debris through the large intestine, thus easing the passage of waste known as a stool. In addition to promoting elimination, fiber also helps to support friendly bacteria. About 100 trillion bacteria contribute to the digestive system process. These bacteria in the large intestine perform several essential functions.
Probiotics, as these bacteria are called, promote an efficient digestive process, support the immune system, inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, and produce several vitamins. Many supplement products consist of soluble and/or insoluble fiber from a variety of plant sources. Additionally, many different bacterial species found in nutritional supplements are capable of functioning as probiotics.
Probiotics
Probiotics have long been known to provide many benefits to the digestive system process and overall human health as mentioned in the previous paragraph. I have read with great interest several recent research reports on some additional actions that are very different from what you would expect.
One example is an experiment where mice, fed broth containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus, behaved less anxiously than mice fed broth without bacteria. These behavioral changes were partially explained by differences in brain chemical receptors and stress hormone (corticosterone) levels.
The overall observation was that a change in the mix of intestinal bacteria provided by L. rhamnosus influenced mouse behavior by way of the vagus nerve. The vagal impulses induced by the microbes resulted in an increase in GABA (gamma amino butyric acid, which is a neurotransmitter or brain chemical) receptors in the brain and lower levels of stress hormone. The net result was a significant decrease in anxiety observed in the mice receiving the bacteria-containing broth (2).
Just a few years ago, most scientists were of the opinion that probiotics only acted locally in the gut. However, this study suggests that gut bacteria could play a role in various brain and psychiatric disorders as well as individual behavioral differences.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Another fairly intense research area involves how intestinal microbes contribute to or counteract chronic inflammation and affect the digestive system process. As we all know, chronic inflammation is associated with many disease states. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is one of these conditions that appears to be directly influenced by specific probiotic species. It was interesting to read that those probiotic strains that specifically keep IBD in remission do not function normally in the presence of an iron-rich environment (3).
Species of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were found to be inhibited by high iron levels and this resulted in a failure to reduce inflammation. These research data suggest plausible explanations as to why IBD becomes established. As this probiotic research continues, valuable therapies will eventually emerge. Of equal importance here is that we will have a greater understanding of the digestive system process and health.
References
(1) Krasinski SD, Russell RM, Samloff IM, Jacob RA, Dallal GE, McGandy RB, Hartz SC. Fundic atrophic gastritis in an elderly population. Effect on hemoglobin and several serum nutritional indicators. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 1986 Nov;34(11):800-6.
(2) Bravo JA, et al. Ingestion of Lactobacillus strain regulates emotional behavior and central GABA receptor expression in a mouse via the vagus nerve. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2011 Sep 20;108(38):16050-5.
(3) Bailey JR, Probert CS, Cogan TA. Identification and characterisation of an iron-responsive candidate probiotic. PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e26507.
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School Turns Abandoned Field Into Organic Garden
Denver Green School (DGS), an urban "innovation" school, has brought new life to an unused, one-acre athletic field by turning it into an organic garden -- and the garden has been such a success in just eight months that the school is able to serve fresh produce from it to students in the cafeteria.
"We have harvested over 3,000 pounds of produce from this ground," said Megan Caley, the programs and outreach coordinator for Sprout City Farms (SCF), which partnered with DGS to create the garden. "Lots of salad greens and root vegetables, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers."
The goal of SCF is to transform unused or underused urban land into thriving agricultural space, which can then be used to grow food for local residents. And the group's partnership with DGS has been landmark in that it not only produces a plethora of fruits and vegetables, but it has also sparked a renewed interest among children in growing and eating them. Read the entire article.
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"We have harvested over 3,000 pounds of produce from this ground," said Megan Caley, the programs and outreach coordinator for Sprout City Farms (SCF), which partnered with DGS to create the garden. "Lots of salad greens and root vegetables, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers."
The goal of SCF is to transform unused or underused urban land into thriving agricultural space, which can then be used to grow food for local residents. And the group's partnership with DGS has been landmark in that it not only produces a plethora of fruits and vegetables, but it has also sparked a renewed interest among children in growing and eating them. Read the entire article.
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
On SALE: HistaBlock, Olive Leaf, Children's Antioxidants
ON SALE - 01/22 - 01/28
HISTABLOCK - Buy Now
$2 OFF - $12.95
Buy 4 Get 1 FREE - $59.80
Mast cells are responsible for the drastic reactions that occur during seasonal respiratory attacks. HistaBlock is a unique formula that helps stabilize these cells and inhibits swelling that occurs in the mucous membranes.
OLIVE LEAF EXTRACT CONCENTRATE - Buy Now
$2 OFF - $15.95
Buy 4 Get 1 FREE - $71.80
When it's time to assist immune function or strengthen the circulatory system with help from powerful nutrients, Olive Leaf Extract stands ready to help.
ON SALE - 01/22 - 02/04
Expires Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 11:15 PM MST
SUNSHINE HEROES WHOLE FOOD-ANTIOXIDANT - Buy Now
50% OFF - $7.48
Sunshine Heroes Whole Foods Antioxidant offers the antioxidant power equivalent to two average servings of fruit or vegetables (based on ORAC values)
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Expires Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 11:15 PM MST
$2 OFF - $12.95
Buy 4 Get 1 FREE - $59.80
Mast cells are responsible for the drastic reactions that occur during seasonal respiratory attacks. HistaBlock is a unique formula that helps stabilize these cells and inhibits swelling that occurs in the mucous membranes.
OLIVE LEAF EXTRACT CONCENTRATE - Buy Now
$2 OFF - $15.95
Buy 4 Get 1 FREE - $71.80
When it's time to assist immune function or strengthen the circulatory system with help from powerful nutrients, Olive Leaf Extract stands ready to help.
ON SALE - 01/22 - 02/04
Expires Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 11:15 PM MST
SUNSHINE HEROES WHOLE FOOD-ANTIOXIDANT - Buy Now
50% OFF - $7.48
Sunshine Heroes Whole Foods Antioxidant offers the antioxidant power equivalent to two average servings of fruit or vegetables (based on ORAC values)
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Treadmill Stress Tests Not Recommended for Women
Treadmills as a screening tool for diagnosing heart disease are accurate in men but not so in women. In one study comparing the accuracy of treadmill tests in women and men, misleading treadmill results occurred in 35 percent of the women studied. When combined with nuclear imaging using thallium (a low-dose radioisotope), the accuracy rate improved in women, provided the interpreter was trained to take breast tissue and valve plane artifacts into account.
Abnormal treadmill tests have been related to phases of the menstrual cycle and to oral contraceptive use, implicating sex hormones as a factor. It may be estrogen's effect on cardiocytes - the cells of the heart muscle.
Another explanation for the variations in test results may be the effect of catecholamines (stress hormones i.e. adrenaline) on the vasomotor tone and the higher prevalence of mitral valve prolapse among women. Read the entire article.
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Abnormal treadmill tests have been related to phases of the menstrual cycle and to oral contraceptive use, implicating sex hormones as a factor. It may be estrogen's effect on cardiocytes - the cells of the heart muscle.
Another explanation for the variations in test results may be the effect of catecholamines (stress hormones i.e. adrenaline) on the vasomotor tone and the higher prevalence of mitral valve prolapse among women. Read the entire article.
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Beans and Gas: Clearing the Air
From NutritionFacts.org
Let me start off by saying that intestinal gas is normal and healthy. When patients present to physicians complaining of too much gas, they are typically instructed to go home and keep track for a week. “Although this may sound complicated,” wrote researchers in a gastroenterology journal, “we have found that patients rather enjoy keeping such a record.”
Americans report passing gas an average of 14 times a day, with the normal range extending up to a frequency of 22 times daily. Many people who think they have too much gas fall well within the normal range, concludes famed flatologist Michael Levitt, M.D., “and they simply have to be informed of their ‘normality.’”
Wondering who funded this research? You may be surprised that the real ground-breaking work in this area was done by NASA in the 1950s—our grandparents’ tax dollars hard at work. NASA was genuinely concerned that astronauts might suffocate, or some spark would ignite the methane. So papers with names like “Recent Advances in Flatology” represent space age research! As one NASA research scientist recommended, “it may prove advantageous to select astronauts…who do not normally produce large quantities of flatus.” Read the entire article.
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Let me start off by saying that intestinal gas is normal and healthy. When patients present to physicians complaining of too much gas, they are typically instructed to go home and keep track for a week. “Although this may sound complicated,” wrote researchers in a gastroenterology journal, “we have found that patients rather enjoy keeping such a record.”
Americans report passing gas an average of 14 times a day, with the normal range extending up to a frequency of 22 times daily. Many people who think they have too much gas fall well within the normal range, concludes famed flatologist Michael Levitt, M.D., “and they simply have to be informed of their ‘normality.’”
Wondering who funded this research? You may be surprised that the real ground-breaking work in this area was done by NASA in the 1950s—our grandparents’ tax dollars hard at work. NASA was genuinely concerned that astronauts might suffocate, or some spark would ignite the methane. So papers with names like “Recent Advances in Flatology” represent space age research! As one NASA research scientist recommended, “it may prove advantageous to select astronauts…who do not normally produce large quantities of flatus.” Read the entire article.
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School Lunches and The Food Industry
An increasingly cozy alliance between companies that manufacture processed foods and companies that serve the meals is making students — a captive market — fat and sick while pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.
At a time of fiscal austerity, these companies are seducing school administrators with promises to cut costs through privatization. Parents who want healthier meals, meanwhile, are outgunned.
Each day, 32 million children in the United States get lunch at schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program, which uses agricultural surplus to feed children. About 21 million of these students eat free or reduced-price meals, a number that has surged since the recession. The program, which also provides breakfast, costs $13.3 billion a year.
Sadly, it is being mismanaged and exploited. About a quarter of the school nutrition program has been privatized, much of it outsourced to food service management giants like Aramark, based in Philadelphia; Sodexo, based in France; and the Chartwells division of the Compass Group, based in Britain.
They work in tandem with food manufacturers like the chicken producers Tyson and Pilgrim’s, all of which profit when good food is turned to bad. Here's how it works .....
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At a time of fiscal austerity, these companies are seducing school administrators with promises to cut costs through privatization. Parents who want healthier meals, meanwhile, are outgunned.
Each day, 32 million children in the United States get lunch at schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program, which uses agricultural surplus to feed children. About 21 million of these students eat free or reduced-price meals, a number that has surged since the recession. The program, which also provides breakfast, costs $13.3 billion a year.
Sadly, it is being mismanaged and exploited. About a quarter of the school nutrition program has been privatized, much of it outsourced to food service management giants like Aramark, based in Philadelphia; Sodexo, based in France; and the Chartwells division of the Compass Group, based in Britain.
They work in tandem with food manufacturers like the chicken producers Tyson and Pilgrim’s, all of which profit when good food is turned to bad. Here's how it works .....
Sponsored by The Herbs Place - Wholesale Prices Always
On Sale Now * Women * Men * Children * Essential Oils * Cleansing * Weight Loss
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