Why you should avoid GMOs

1. GMOs have increased the use of herbicides.

One of the main selling points of genetic engineering is the creation of more pest-resistant crops. This is a double-edged sword however as chemical- and pest-resistant weeds infest farmers’ fields. In an effort to control the “superweeds” that have sprung up, farmers use more and more herbicides to kill them, but the resistant weeds are still growing–the rate at which they are spreading increased by 25% in 2011, and 51% in 2012. These dangerous chemicals are used in higher and higher amounts as an answer to increased resistance, eventually making their way into your body via the food you eat.

2. The impact of GMOs is poorly understood, and they have the potential to cause disease.

There is no requirement that the safety of GMOs be guaranteed, or even researched. The research is left up to the manufacturer, and why would a company like Monsanto (one of the world’s leading producers of genetically engineered seed) acknowledge the danger of the products they sell?
There is significant evidence beginning to surface that GMO foods promote disease. A study published in 2012 showed that rats on a diet of GMO corn suffered increased tumor growth and early mortality when compared to a control group. Similar studies on GMO animal feed prompted the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) to publicly denounce GMOs in the food supply, warning that “it is biologically plausible for Genetically Modified Foods to cause adverse health effects in humans.” GMOs have been correlated with a long list of health problems, including thyroid cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and infertility.
Crops are genetically altered to make them weather- and pest-resistant. Corn has been engineered to produce a natural insecticide, called Bt-toxin, which kills insects by destroying the cell walls of their digestive tract. This potent chemical can’t be washed off–it’s part of the genetic makeup of GMO corn. Bt-toxin is not specific to insects and has been shown to poke holes in human cells, damaging the intestines and causing leaky gut.

3. GMOs cross-contaminate non-GMO crops.

Perhaps the biggest reason to avoid GMOs is that if we continue to grow them, it’s possible we won’t be left with any crops that haven’t been genetically engineered. Farmers can’t protect against cross-pollination by wind and insects, and the resulting seed will be a hybrid of their non-GMO crop with the GMO crop. Corn is one of the most commonly genetically engineered foods, with about 90% of it being GMO, and due to cross-pollination, that remaining 10% is not guaranteed to be GMO-free. Because we don’t understand the impact of consuming GMOs, it’s clear that we need to understand the gravity of this situation before we are left without

Nutrient Benefits of Soya

Nutrient Benefits

According to a recent research analysis, U.S. adults would increase their intake of folate, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, iron and fiber if they replaced their meat and dairy intake with soy. Since legumes like soybeans are often overshadowed by vegetables and fruits in terms of nutrient richness, we sometimes forget just how beneficial legumes like soybeans can be.

Along with the nutrients listed above, soybeans are also an important source of the minerals copper, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, and potassium; the B vitamin, riboflavin; and omega-3 fatty acids (in the form of alpha-linolenic acid). Replacing meat and dairy with soy would also lower total cholesterol intake by about 125 milligrams per day and saturated fat by about 2.4 grams per day.

These nutritional changes, in turn, would lower risk of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases. The idea of getting 10 grams of fiber and 25-30 grams of high-quality protein for 300 calories (1 cup of soybeans) is somewhat amazing. On a diet of 1,800 calories, 300 calories would only represent 16-17% of the total calories for one day. Yet, while only taking up one-sixth of the day's calories, a cup of soybeans provides us with 40% of the Daily Value for fiber and 50-60% of the Daily Value for protein!

How to Give up Coffee

For so many of us, coffee is that little break that perks up the day. I'm convinced that the ritual of doing it daily is one of the reasons it's so hard to give up. And why should we?

Daily pauses like a coffee or tea break are emotionally beneficial to our health.

However, the coffee itself has some negative side effects on our over all well being and performance. So if you're looking to give it up, the best way to do it is to replace it with something else (so you still get that little break in your day to do something nice for yourself).

How to lower cholesterol by eating right !!

 

How to lower cholesterol by eating right (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

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Fight cholesterol with food by making these simple changes to your diet and lifestyle
There is little doubt that choice of food is the best medicine not just for a sound and healthy heart but also for lowering blood cholesterol levels. This is best done by cutting back on saturated fats and limiting other cholesterol-rich foods. Says holistic health guru, "About 80 per cent of the body's cholesterol is manufactured in the liver and 20 per cent is derived from dietary sources. By itself the cholesterol found in food is safe but becomes a health concern when it gets oxidised as is seen in processed foods, cakes and cake mixes, cured and processed meats, dehydrated milk."
Food sources
The most common sources of dietary cholesterol are animal products like eggs, red meat, dairy products and shellfish like prawns. Many people often ask if eggs are hazardous to health. Says Mehta, "The truth is that if you are leading a healthy and active lifestyle and if you have normal cholesterol levels, having 3-4 eggs a week will not cause much harm. Saturated animal fats and transfats found in processed foods are the real enemies."
Healthy digestion and consumption of healthy fibre-rich foods help to maintain a constant level of cholesterol in the blood stream. But this level can change or rise with age, a diet high in saturated fats and a poor lifestyle.
"A diet high in polyunsaturated fats and fibre helps to lower levels of blood cholesterol while a diet high in meats, cream, full cream dairy products and white flour tends to increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood thereby increasing the risk of heart diseases," says Mehta.
Good and bad cholesterol
A common question that is often asked is how to increase the good cholesterol known as HDL (high-density lipoproteins) and how to decrease the bad cholesterol known as LDL (low-density lipoproteins). This can be done by increasing your intake of fruits, vegetables like greens, broccoli, capsicums and other high-fibre vegetables. It's also advised to increase one's consumption of oils that have beneficial effects on your health. Oils high in omega-3 fats found in soya beans, walnuts, fish oils, flax seed oil and olive oil are useful in raising the HDL levels. Restricting your intake of foods like saturated fats from red meats, cheese, cream, high fat milk, junk foods and processed foods will go a long way in reducing your LDL or the bad cholesterol.
Guidelines to help you in lowering bad cholesterol level
1. Include soluble fibre in your daily diet as it helps in reducing the serum cholesterol levels. This is found in beans, pulses, barley, oats, brown rice, fruits and bran. Beans and whole grains have more fibre and less sugar.
2. Fresh vegetable juices with carrots, bottle gourd (lauki), celery, aloe vera juice have been found to be beneficial in controlling cholesterol.
3. Red meats and dairy products contain high amounts of cholesterol and are considered prime offenders. Processed and refined foods, white bread, tea coffee, alcohol and tobacco are just as bad.
4. Mehta recommends a diet rich in fibre, fruits, whole grains and a regular exercise programme to lower your bad cholesterol levels or to maintain normal levels. A combination of 30-minute walks four days a week, yoga with deep breathing exercises and other aerobic activities like cycling or swimming is helpful.
5. Use healthy oils like vegetable oils, cold pressed virgin olive oil, oils from nuts, seeds, soy bean, flax seed and groundnut oil.
6. Be careful while eating out as restaurant foods are rich and oily and cause elevation of cholesterol levels if these foods are consumed very often. Suggests Mehta, "Avoid fried, cheesy and creamy foods. Opt for smaller portions of grilled, steamed or broiled foods." Sauces and salad dressings should be used sparingly as they are high in fat and sodium content

How to lower cholesterol by eating right - The Times of India

Lower your blood pressure in 6 easy steps !!!

 

Lower your blood pressure in 6 easy steps (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

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Hypertension is directly responsible for 57% of all stroke deaths and 24% of all coronary heart disease deaths in India.
This even though hypertension is a controllable disease and 2mmHg population-wide decrease in blood pressure can prevent 151,000 stroke and 153,000 coronary heart disease deaths in India.
*mm HG IS a unit of pressure equal to 0.001316 atmosphere)
Hypertension: Relation between Sodium and High Blood Pressure
"One of the effective ways to control hypertension is to restrict salt or to be more specific about sodium intake", points RD Disha Jhaveri, Dietician with Global Hospital, Mumbai. As per the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), JNC 7 report, a sodium restriction of not more than 2.4g can approximately reduce the systolic blood pressure by 2-8mm Hg.
When we generally talk about sodium, we think of salt. Because 6 gms of salt is about a teaspoon and that is 2.3g of sodium. Salt is present in other food ingredients like preservatives, black salt, Sodium Bicarbonate, baking powder, Monosodium glutamate (MSG) or ajinomoto and also various drugs like antacids, antibiotics.
*mm HG IS a unit of pressure equal to 0.001316 atmosphere
Hypertension: Relation between Sodium and High Blood Pressure
Where can you find sodium?
Drinking water
Milk, green leafy vegetables
Sea foods
Butter, margarine, cheese
Bakery products like breads, biscuits, pastries, bread sticks, pies, processed breakfast cereals.
All sauces like soya sauce, tomato ketchup and chutneys also
Snack items such as potato chips, salted popcorn, noodles, macroni, crackers, farsan, etc
Canned and instant soups, gravies, fruits and vegetables
Dried foods like: salted nuts, packed frozen vegetables, dried fruits.
Ready masala
Ready-to-make food packets
Hypertension: Relation between Sodium and High Blood Pressure
Ways to Limit Mr. Sodium's Presence in Our Diet
It will be a good idea to avoid use of salt while cooking and add specified measured amount for the day separately.
Avoid use of salt substitutes as they contain potassium and so are medically not advisable.
Use different flavours as a substitute to salt. Try mustard powder, bay leaves, curry powder, unsalted oregano, unsalted chilli flakes, parsley, basil, tulsi leaves, mint, lemon juice, onions, garlic,, green chillies, vinegar, tamarind and amchur powder (check sodium intake on the packet) to make your food palatable.
Hypertension: Relation between Sodium and High Blood Pressure
Ways to Limit Sodium in Our Diet
Avoid bakery food items like breads, pizzas, cakes, biscuits as they contain hidden sodium in the form of baking powder. Choose chapatis, unsalted khakhras, crispy bhakkris and homemade sweets.
Avoid salted foods like papads, pickles, chutneys, sauces, salted nuts, salted chips, popcorn and other canned products. Instead, you can have salt-free chutney, homemade sauces, unsalted popcorns and fresh fruits.
Avoid seasoning as it contains salts like ajinomoto, readymade masalas, etc. Try freshly made homemade masalas.
Hypertension: Relation between Sodium and High Blood Pressure
Ways to Limit in Our Diet
Avoid instant foods like noodles, macaroni, ready to make soup cubes, processed breakfast cereals. Instead make fresh soups and hot healthy breakfast.
Avoid processed cheese and salted butter and replace them with homemade cottage cheese (paneer) or homemade salt free butter.
Avoid organ meats and seafood's like crabs, prawns, lobsters and dried fish. Prefer fresh water meats and fishes.
Check the sodium content of the medicines that you are taking.
Hypertension: Relation between Sodium and High Blood Pressure
Ways to Limit Sodium in Our Diet
Check the food labels for total sodium in it. Do not get carried away with the DV or RDA values. Read carefully if the units of sodium are in mg or gm, it makes a huge difference in your sodium intake calculation.
Ideally one can afford to use 1/2 tsp salt per day as sodium is present in other food products too.
Know your numbers
1/4 tsp. salt = 590 mg sodium
1/2 tsp. salt = 1,180 mg sodium
3/4 tsp. salt = 1,770 mg sodium
1 tsp. salt = 2,360 mg sodium

Lower your blood pressure in 6 easy steps - The Times of India

The Amazing Healing Properties of Acai | EnergyFanatics.com

 

Flickr Commons: Image provided by Alexandre R. Costa

Acai is considered to be one of the most nutritious and high energy superfruits in the world. Besides its high levels of nutrients, acai is believed to have the highest levels of antioxidants of any known edible fruit. To be more accurate, it contains nearly 300 percent more antioxidants than blueberries.

Since acai has such amazing healing properties, it is very popular for longevity, energy, weight loss, and stamina. In addition, it is commonly used for boosting the immune system and increasing sex drive. The strong antioxidant properties of acai are one of the main reasons why it is being studied for its role in treating certain forms of cancer.

Acai is found in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. It looks similar to grapes with a royal purple color. Acai tastes similar to blueberries with a hint of chocolate. Acai has amazing healing properties but its potential is strongest when the berry is consumed within 24 hours of picking. Fortunately, new ways of freezing and drying the berry have allowed the rest of the world to enjoy acai’s amazing healing properties.

 

The Amazing Healing Properties of Acai | EnergyFanatics.com

Vitamin A Curbs Spread of Prostate Cancer : Health & Medicine : Science World Report

 

The study published in the journal Oncogenesis state that Vitamin A is the best remedy to treat and prevent the spread of prostate cancer. (Photo : Reuters)

A study published in the journal Oncogenesis states that vitamin A is the best remedy to treat and prevent the spread of prostate cancer.

Scientists at the University of York have found that retinoic acid that is made from vitamin A turns particular genes within prostate cancer stem cells back on, thereby lowering the chances of the cancer to invade the tissues surrounding it. This retinoic acid is supplied in our diet by green vegetables, liver and carrots. The researchers emphasize on the fact that vitamin A-related compounds can be used to improve the clinical treatments for prostate cancer.

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"We have found that specific 'twin' genes are turned off in malignant prostate cancer stem cells. When we turn them back on using retinoic acid, the cancer becomes less aggressive.  All-trans retinoic acid is already used treat another type of cancer called acute promyelomcytic leukaemia (APL) and has been hugely successful in improving survival rates," professor Norman Maitland, Director of the YCR Cancer Research Unit in the Department of Biology at York said in a press statement.
He continues to state that for prostate cancer, the researchers suggest that it is not needed that the retinoic acid kill the cancer stem cells, instead they just switch them to a more treatable form.

Till date, low vitamin A has been linked with prostate cancer but the mechanism behind this was unknown. More than 10,000 men die annually

Vitamin A Curbs Spread of Prostate Cancer : Health & Medicine : Science World Report