Calcium Supplements Increase Risk of Having a Heart Attack

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You might want to think twice before using calcium supplements. More is not better, synthetic is not better.

An analysis of data on nearly 24,000 people followed for over a decade suggests taking calcium supplements may increase the risk of having a heart attack. This is serious stuff. This is the main finding of a study published online this week in the journal Heart that also concludes boosting overall calcium intake through dietary sources brings no significant benefit in terms of reducing risk of heart disease or stroke.

The researchers say calcium supplements, which are often recommended to the elderly and women after  menopause to protect against bone thinning, should be "taken with caution".

The First Ever Study to Show How Fructose Affects the Brain

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A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning — and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology publishes the findings in its May 15 edition.

"Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think," said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of integrative biology and physiology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. 

"Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain's ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage."

Why Gardening Makes You Happy and Cures Depression

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While mental health experts warn about depression as a global epidemic, other researchers are discovering ways we trigger our natural production of happy chemicals that keep depression at bay, with surprising results. All you need to do is get your fingers dirty and harvest your own food.

In recent years I’ve come across two completely independent bits of research that identified key environmental triggers for two important chemicals that boost our immune system and keep us happy - serotonin and dopamine. What fascinated me as a permaculturist and gardener were that the environmental triggers happen in the garden when you handle the soil and harvest your crops.

Spotlight on: 65 Year Old Raw Foodist Karyn Calabrese

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Meet 65 year old vegan raw food pioneer and the forever young Karyn Calabrese.

Her positive attitude and boundless energy have helped her maintain the longest operating raw food restaurant in the United States. Karyn’s passion for clean living and her love of life are her greatest motivations. She has been eating a plant based diet for over 40 years, and feels amazing despite her family history working against her: her mother, grandmother and great grandmother died at ages younger than she is now.

Her motto: “If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?” 

13 External Things To Do For Healthy Hair

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13 very helpful external tips, for getting and maintaining beautiful and healthy hair, that you may not have known about.

Modern Life Increases Our Loneliness, Technology to Blame

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The demands and technology of modern life are leaving people feeling increasingly isolated, recent research by the Mental Health Foundation has concluded.

Technology allows us to separate ourselves from reality – moving people away from the real to the imagined, from the emotional to the controlled,” observes Derek V. Smith, t he author of A Survival Guide in the Information Age. He sees a darker side to the proliferation of personal gadgets and the use of technology in daily life. “Escaping into technology, someone can create false worlds, identities and experiences.”

Technological gadgets are keeping people apart and breaking down our society.
 

Raw Honey For the Skin

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Raw honey is a universal beauty tonic for all skin types because of its potent yet gentle healing benefits for skin. 

It does wonders for acne, rosacea, eczema, hyperpigmentation, enlarged pores, sensitive, mature, and dull lifeless skin.

Throughout the centuries, legendary beauties like Cleopatra and Poppea, wife of Roman Emperor Nero have used raw honey as part of their skin and hair care treatments to keep them looking youthful. This natural healing agent contains an enzyme called glucose oxidase, that when combined with water, produces hydrogen peroxide, a mild antiseptic which is great for acne. In addition to the glucose oxidase enzyme, honey also contains antioxidants and flavonoids that may function as antibacterial and ant-aging agents. 

Wheatgrass Juice & Its Spectacular Healing Benefits

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Wheatgrass was identified as the finest grass food of all after a series of intensive agricultural research studies spearheaded by Dr. Charles Schnabel and assisted by Dr. George Kohler, Dr. Richard Graham, Conrad A. Elvehjem and E. B. Hart in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.  

Of particular note, they performed direct comparisons of wheatgrass against other well regarded vegetables including spinach, broccoli and alfalfa.  While animals fed these foods exclusively began to waste away, those fed only wheatgrass thrived on it.  This spawned further research which showed that wheatgrass contains a broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, essential fatty acids and enzymes.  In addition, their research also identified benefits that could not be associated with any of these known nutrients.  The expression "grass juice factor" was termed to descibe beneficial powers in grasses that were distinct.

Spotlight On: Ageless 70 Year Old Annette Larkins

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This size 4 beauty is Annette Larkins. Annette was born in North Carolina, USA in 1942, which makes her 70 years young as of May 2012. She has been vegetarian since 1963 and has been a raw foodist for nearly 30 years.

The Beauty Secret to Get the Glow (4 before and afters)

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Sarma Melngailis, a raw foodist

People spend thousands of dollars on skin preparations to make their skin look vibrant and glowing. They’re all topical products – products that we put on top of our skin. But if we spent just a fraction of the money we spend on these preparations on raw plants instead, we’d begin to see an immediate change in the texture and beauty of our skin, and save a lot of money too.

When you eat raw plants, you put more of the essential vitamins and amino acids your body needs into it. You’re also adding moisture – naturally. Raw foods have a much higher moisture content than cooked foods, simply because the cooking process takes out so much essential moisture. This is evident on hot days when we crave raw foods to replenish our bodies.

Fast Food Diet Increases Risk of Depression by More Than Fifty Percent

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Spanish researchers noted that the link between depression and deficiencies in health-promoting nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins has been studied extensively.

But the researchers wanted to determine if unhealthy foods could also contribute to depression.

Their study, which featured 8,964 participants who were followed up for an average of 6.2 years, showed that consumption of fast foods and processed baked goods increased the chances of depression.

Dandelions Are Food, Not Weeds

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Though many people try to banish dandelion from their lawns and call them weeds, dandelions are actually a very valuable and beneficial edible plant, and are not only an early spring source of nourishment for us but also for the honeybees and butterflies.

The plant has a long history, beginning about 30 million years ago, and was quite important to earlier generations of people as it saved many from malnutrition after long hard winters. 

The whole plant can be consumed: the root can be made into a tea, the leaves can be used in salad or cooking, the flowers can made into jelly, wine or cookies, and even the white sap in the stem can be used to improve skin complexion and to help heal skin blemishes. 

Doctrine of Signatures: Foods That Resemble the Body Parts They Heal

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Walnuts resemble both the human head (skull and brains) and are a prime example of what ancient herbalists called ‘The Doctrine of Signatures‘: namely, herbs or foods that resemble various parts of the body can be used to treat ailments of that part of the body.

In fact, the 17th-century herbalist William Coles, author of The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden, stated that walnuts were good for treating head ailments because “they have the perfect Signatures of the Head.”

Nutritional science now confirms walnuts contain nutrients that are necessary for healthy brain function, such as omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E.

Turmeric is an Amazing Healer, Antioxidant & Detoxer

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Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet, basically able to neutralize free radicals throughout the body.

Turmeric is native to Asia and planted widely in the tropics. In India turmeric has been used for over 2,500 years, the plant is considered lucky and has been used in celebrations and ceremonies for centuries. It’s deep yellow color is good for dyes and perfumes have been made out of its essential oils.

The most powerful compound in turmeric that works against diseases is called curcumin. Studies show that curcumin can be protective against diseases of aging like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Other studies have shown it to be helpful against HIV, as it stops the virus from replicating itself. It is also a very powerful antioxidant and has been shown to be three hundred times as powerful as Vitamin E, already known as a potent antioxidant. Curcumin inhibits carcinogens like benzopyrene, which is found in charcoal broiled meat, and may help prevent the growth of cancer cells.

The medicinal properties of this spice have been slowly revealing themselves over the centuries. Long known for its anti-inflammatory properties, recent research has revealed that turmeric is a natural wonder, proving beneficial in the treatment of many different health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer's disease. 

Spotlight On: 109 Year Old Vegetarian Bernando LaPollo

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On August 17, 2010 Bernando LaPallo turned 109 years old. This Arizona resident lives on his own, still drives and walks around just fine, and looks fantastic.

In 1906, at the age of five, Bernando LaPallo began to learn the secrets of long life and optimum health from his father, a Brazilian-born doctor and herbalist. He was patiently taught the importance of proper nutrition, the wisdom of movement and exercise, and the profound value of faith. It was the start of a remarkable journey- a life that has spanned 109 years without disease or any of the other afflictions so prevalent in today's aging population.

Nature's Aphrodisiacs From Food

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Named after Aphrodite--the Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty--an aphrodisiac is a food, drink, drug, scent, or device that supposedly has powers to increase sexual desire, or libido.

Foods that are exotic or suggestive of certain body parts are especially desirable as aphrodisiacs. The avocado tree, for example, was called a "testicle tree" by the Aztecs because its fruit hangs in pairs. And its aphrodisiac value is based on this resemblance. The phallus-shaped carrot has been associated with sexual stimulation since ancient times and was used by early Middle Eastern royalty to aid seduction. The fig it another fruit that claims to be an aphrodisiac, based on its appearance.

 

Effective Ways to Improve Your Empathy For Others

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In order to begin to develop empathic ability, it is essential to care how someone feels.

When we have compassion, we attune to the needs and feelings of the person we want to help. When we resist the energies, need and feelings of another, it is pretty hard to really open your self to them enough to know what is going on. 

Urgent Reasons To Go Gluten-Free Right Now

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Gluten is a protein found in most grains eaten in America and all over Europe.

For most people gluten intake will come from wheat products, but as well from barley, triticale, rye, oats, spelt. Oats are supposed by nature to be gluten free, however, they get cross-contaminated by being carried in trucks that also carry wheat. You should also know that American strands of wheat have the highest content of gluten in the World.

Gluten has been isolated as a risk factor is so many diseases, that is almost impossible to count them all. 

5 Easy Exercises to do at Your Desk

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In today's world, many people work long hours behind their desk at the office just to make ends meet.

Stress, convenience foods, and a seemingly forced sedentary lifestyle can wreak havoc on your health and your waistline. There are, however, ways of combating the office-worker bulge. With these five simple exercises, you will be able to retain more muscle tone, get the circulation moving, and keep your metabolism high.

Introduction To Essiac, the Cancer Fighting Tea

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A Canadian nurse named Rene Caisse first discovered an amazing herbal tea formula in 1922, when one of the patients in her hospital was cured of cancer after consuming it. 

The patient originally had received the herbal preparation from an Ojibway herbalist. The tea consists of four ingredients: Burdock Root, Sheep Sorrel, Slippery Elm and Turkey Rhubarb herbs in the correct medicinal proportions.

Rene Caisse devoted over 50 years of her life testing, developing and perfecting that old Indian remedy she called ESSIAC (Essiac is her name spelled backwards). Rene used this Four-Herb Tea to treat literally thousands of cancer patients, and the tea produced phenomenal results. She began to experiment with the Four-Herb formula and found it to be very effective in helping many other ailments.

"30 Ways To Slow & Prevent Aging" By Darya Pino

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This is a great list by Darya Pino at Summer Tomato that just had to be shared. Thorough, yet simple information. I took the liberty of customizing it by changing two of the thirty to ones that resonated more with me.