Dr. MERCOLA --> alternative health and fitness

[JasonI am a nobody!]

I do an exercise program that I like that is something like this, Jason. It involves a few to several sets of intense exercise generally with a 25-lb barbell in each hand. I enjoy it, especially in the sunshine. I monitor my heart rate frequently, try to get above 120 bpminute frequently and hold it there a while.

And I'm losing weight! without any special diet really, although my wife is making "green smoothies" these days -- and I'm enjoying those too!

I did the sprinting for about 2 weeks with great success...until pulling a hamstring. I'm back to sprinting again but working back slowly and probably a couple weeks out to get where I was prior to the injury. Also learning about foam rollers, trigger points, stretching, etc...LOL

I'm on a high fat/protein w/ low carbs diet and shedding fat fairly rapidly.

My wife is on the same course but a little wiser and now ahead of me in the sprinting....also shedding fat quite rapidly.

I cut my insulin down to half over Jan/Feb and now am on my 9th day cold turkey. Blood sugars staying fairly low except for the spike from the extra growth hormone (sprinting).

Hoping to pick up a good juicer next month and get into that!

[Juliettecaptain of 1,000]

I do an exercise program that I like that is something like this, Jason. It involves a few to several sets of intense exercise generally with a 25-lb barbell in each hand. I enjoy it, especially in the sunshine. I monitor my heart rate frequently, try to get above 120 bpminute frequently and hold it there a while.

And I'm losing weight! without any special diet really, although my wife is making "green smoothies" these days -- and I'm enjoying those too!

I did the sprinting for about 2 weeks with great success...until pulling a hamstring. I'm back to sprinting again but working back slowly and probably a couple weeks out to get where I was prior to the injury. Also learning about foam rollers, trigger points, stretching, etc...LOL

I'm on a high fat/protein w/ low carbs diet and shedding fat fairly rapidly.

My wife is on the same course but a little wiser and now ahead of me in the sprinting....also shedding fat quite rapidly.

I cut my insulin down to half over Jan/Feb and now am on my 9th day cold turkey. Blood sugars staying fairly low except for the spike from the extra growth hormone (sprinting).

Hoping to pick up a good juicer next month and get into that!

Jason, I just picked up a " Vita Mix" at Costco. I like it so much better than a juicer. I make smoothies with these ingredients:
Banana
strawberries
cranberries
spinach
protien powder
blueberries

I make alot at once, freeze them, and every morning its my breakfast. I also make a good soup with it.

Soup:
cooked chicken
celery
organic chicken broth
onion
garlic
Bell pepper
all natural chili seasoning ( no msg)

put the chicken broth in hot, blend vegetables, add chunks of chicken, seasoning, and viola, a great, organic soup.
I say organic because in the summer I have a huge garden. I know exactly what goes on my plants. I also freeze this soup. Yummy!

[JasonI am a nobody!]

I do an exercise program that I like that is something like this, Jason. It involves a few to several sets of intense exercise generally with a 25-lb barbell in each hand. I enjoy it, especially in the sunshine. I monitor my heart rate frequently, try to get above 120 bpminute frequently and hold it there a while.

And I'm losing weight! without any special diet really, although my wife is making "green smoothies" these days -- and I'm enjoying those too!

I did the sprinting for about 2 weeks with great success...until pulling a hamstring. I'm back to sprinting again but working back slowly and probably a couple weeks out to get where I was prior to the injury. Also learning about foam rollers, trigger points, stretching, etc...LOL

I'm on a high fat/protein w/ low carbs diet and shedding fat fairly rapidly.

My wife is on the same course but a little wiser and now ahead of me in the sprinting....also shedding fat quite rapidly.

I cut my insulin down to half over Jan/Feb and now am on my 9th day cold turkey. Blood sugars staying fairly low except for the spike from the extra growth hormone (sprinting).

Hoping to pick up a good juicer next month and get into that!

Jason, I just picked up a " Vita Mix" at Costco. I like it so much better than a juicer. I make smoothies with these ingredients:
Banana
strawberries
cranberries
spinach
protien powder
blueberries

I make alot at once, freeze them, and every morning its my breakfast. I also make a good soup with it.

Soup:
cooked chicken
celery
organic chicken broth
onion
garlic
Bell pepper
all natural chili seasoning ( no msg)

put the chicken broth in hot, blend vegetables, add chunks of chicken, seasoning, and viola, a great, organic soup.
I say organic because in the summer I have a huge garden. I know exactly what goes on my plants. I also freeze this soup. Yummy!

Does sound very good!!!

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

Good work, Jason and Juliette! I'm not doing the high-meat diet (with very few carbs) -- I admit I did try it about a decade ago and it works... but the weight came back. And it seems to me that D&C 89 talks about using meat SPARINGLY. That's what I'm doing, and feeling better, stronger, more brain power too. I need that, lol!

But like you say Jason, exercise give a human-growth-hormone kick -- and that is very healthy (IMHO)!! Another notch tighter on my belt today... slow fat loss, and muscle gain on my regimen (weights, running some; feel the burn in the muscles EACH day.)

[Thomascaptain of 1,000]

Iv'e had a juicer for about five years now. It is a good juicer (Jack Lalane brand purchased at target for $100.00). The juice is good but I rarely use it because of the time it takes to use it. Preparing the vegatables and cleaning the juicer is a pain. It takes a large amount of vegtables to get a glass of juice. Fruits will yield more juice but have too much fructose and will cause weight gain. I get into it for periods of time but then it gets to be such a chore that I will quit doing it.

Jason, what's the sprint exercises you have been doing? where can I find the details? I do some weight training and walking but I need to kick it up a notch.

[moonwhimcaptain of 1,000]

Is This Fraud Too Big Even For 60 Minutes?
By Dr. Mercola

Exposure and subsequent concern over medical research fraud is on the rise, and for good reason.

It's now reached the point where blogs exist solely to cover retractions of published researchi.

An episode of 60 Minutes, featured above, also highlights the problem.

In this episode, they reveal the dramatic rise and fall of Dr. Anil Potti, whose cancer research at Duke University was heralded as a groundbreaking game changer.

It's a perfect example of how fraud can occur anywhere. Even at the best institutions.

Dr. Potti's work, which entailed matching a patient's tumor to the best chemotherapy drug based on its DNA makeup, was the most exciting cancer breakthrough in recent history, according to many involved.

More than 100 cancer-stricken and desperate patients signed up for Dr. Potti's trial. Unfortunately, two years ago, it became apparent that the method was a failure. Not only that, but as stated in the 60 Minutes segment, Dr. Potti's discovery "may end up being one of the biggest medical research frauds ever; one that deceived dying patients, the best medical journals, and a great University."

Dr. Potti May have Faked Both Credentials and Research Data

Questions about Dr. Potti's research had been raised, but were cleared by a committee at Duke University. It wasn't until a confidential source tipped off the editor of The Cancer Letter to take another look at Dr. Potti's claim of being a Rhodes Scholar that the lies began unraveling.

Joseph Nevins, Dr. Potti's mentor and coworker at Duke University for over four years confronted him about the accusation he may have lied on his resume. Potti admitted that he wasn't really a Rhodes Scholar, rather it was a fellowship from Rhodes Scholars in Australia... Nevins decided to take another look at Dr. Potti's original data, eventually concluding that it was "abundantly clear" Potti had purposefully manipulated the data.

Whenever the data disproved Potti's theory, the data had simply been altered.

The claim that the novel procedure had an 80 percent chance of success was a complete lie, and patients in Potti's trial died. Some of the surviving family members are now suing. Dr. Potti has stated that he "... was not aware that false or 'improper' information had been included in the research." Duke University has also apologized for the trials, and has opened up about the case to serve as a warning example to other institutions.

But the greatest irony of all is brought up at the very end of the 60 Minutes' segment. While patients did not receive any groundbreaking treatment, Duke University has stated that none of the patients in Dr. Potti's failed trial were really harmed "because all of them received the standard of care in chemotherapy."

And THAT, my friends, is the real "Biggest Medical Fraud" of all time.

It's so big, 60 Minutes will not likely discuss that truth any time soon. In reality, virtually the entire cancer industry is one massive fraud, in the sense that it's not really allowing authentic and inexpensive cancer cures that address the cause of the problem to come to market. They are virtually all violently opposed and condemned. It's a massive for-profit industry, and unless a treatment revolves around a costly drug that can be patented, it will never see the light of day. The whole idea that the cancer industry is "searching for a cure" is a sham... because cures already exist. But they're being massively suppressed.

Why Many Groundbreaking Cancer Therapies are Suppressed

It's kind of sad to hear how Dr. Potti's idea of using DNA-matching to customize treatments created such waves of excitement, knowing that similar gene-target therapies have been vehemently suppressed, simply because they did not involve expensive pharmaceuticals patented by Big Pharma.

Burzynski: The Movie tells the story of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, who developed a non-toxic gene-target cancer therapy called antineoplastons, and has been harassed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for over 14 years in an effort to shut him down. His treatment could have helped save millions of lives over the last two decades had his discovery not been criminally suppressed by the U.S. government, as it has been shown to effectively help cure some of the most "incurable" forms of terminal cancer. The film is a powerful expose of the unscrupulous forces that work to maintain the status quo of the medical and pharmaceutical industry at any cost.

Why was Dr. Burzynski attacked while Dr. Potti was worshipped as a wunderkind?

Potti was working within "the standard of care," matching chemotherapy drugs to the DNA of patient's tumors, while Burzynski's antineoplastons are non-toxic peptides and derivatives of amino acids that work as genetic switches. In short, Dr. Burzynski developed a cancer treatment that surpassed all other treatments on the market, and the FDA, the pharmaceutical industry, and the National Cancer Institute all knew it. But he was also the sole owner of the patents for this therapy, and these two facts combined threatened the entire paradigm of the cancer industry.

The cancer paradigm is based on very expensive machines and toxic drugs. There's an enormous amount of money to be made in this paradigm, no one in the cancer industry, aside from Burzynski himself, stand to make a dime if his treatment is granted approval and goes mainstream. That's why it has been suppressed, despite the fact that antineoplastons have been shown to be far more effective than the current standard of care. The film features several remarkable case stories of people who were successfully cured of cancer, but it's when the clinical trial data of conventional therapies versus antineoplastons are stacked against each other that the benefits of antineoplastons become really obvious:

Radiation or Chemotherapy Only Antineoplastons Only
5 of 54 patients (9 percent)

were cancer free at the end of treatment 5 of 20 (25 percent)

were cancer free at the end of treatment
Toxic side effects No toxic side effects
Systemic Corruption within the FDA Threatens Your Health

Unfortunately, our government plays a significant and ongoing role in the committing of this kind of scientific fraud. I recently commented on the fact that the FDA secretly monitored the personal e-mail of nine whistleblowers—its own scientists and doctors—over the course of two years. The whistleblowers, who worked in the office responsible for reviewing medical devices, including those for cancer screening, had warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that posed unacceptable risks to patients.

Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health kept pushing for the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) inspector general to investigate the employees, accusing them of improperly disclosing confidential business information about the devices.

Shuren is also the official who oversees mercury dental fillings, which they have been fraudulently referring to as 'silver fillings'. He had promised to make an announcement about dental amalgam by the end of 2011. But with just six minutes left in the work year, at 4:54 pm on Friday, December 30, the FDA conceded that no announcement was forthcoming – not in 2011, and maybe not at all.

I've long questioned the safety of mammography, based on compelling information from scientists and experts in the field. Here, we have a number of FDA employees warning Congress that the agency is placing patient's lives at risk, due to internal corruption... and still nothing is done.

The fact is, a lot of what the general public assumes is "science-based medicine" is anything but. According to one recent poll for the British Medical Journal, one in 10 scientists and doctors claim to have witnessed colleague's deliberately fabricating data in order to get their research publishedii. Back in 2005, Dr. John Ioannidis, an epidemiologist at Ioannina School of Medicine, Greece, showed that there is less than a 50 percent chance that the results of any randomly chosen scientific paper will be true! He repeated his investigation in 2008 and found that much of scientific research being published is highly questionable. According to his study:

"Simulations show that for most study designs and settings, it is more likely for a research claim to be false than true."

Add to that the fact that the FDA is not doing its stated job either, and it should be quite clear that there's really no one out there protecting your health from dangerous pharmaceuticals and medical treatments...

Notable Cases of Medical Fraud

While many believe Dr. Potti may go down as the largest medical science fraud case in modern history, we've seen several stunning cases in the last few years. Tragically, some if not all of them may have contributed to significant health ramifications and loss of life of many thousands of people:

Scott S. Reuben, a prominent Massachusetts anesthesiologist, allegedly fabricated 21 medical studies published between 1996 and 2008 that claimed to show benefits from painkillers like Vioxx, Celebrex, Bextra and Lyrica. His work was considered important in encouraging doctors to combine the use of painkillers like Celebrex and Lyrica for patients undergoing common procedures such as knee and hip replacements
Last year, autism researcher Poul Thorsen was charged with 13 counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering. He also allegedly stole over $1 million from autism research funding between February 2004 and June 2008. He is said to have stolen the money while serving as the 'principal investigator' for a program that studied the relationship between autism and exposure to vaccines. He was involved in several key studies the CDC uses to support their claims that MMR and mercury-containing vaccines, among others, are safe. One of his papers on the subject, known as 'The Danish Study', is extensively quoted to refute the autism-vaccine connection
In October, 2011, the Office of Research Integrity at the U.S. Department of Health discovered that a Boston University cancer scientist, Sheng Wang, had fabricated his research findings. His work was published in two journals in 2009, and he's been ordered to retract them. But important studies by other scientists like those at the Mayo Clinic, who based their work on his findings, could now see 10 years of their studies going down the drain as worthless...
In November of last year, a noted Dutch psychologist confessed to fabricating research data for years. According to an investigating committee, Dr. Diederik Stapel falsified entire experiments, and several dozen of his fabricated papers were published in respected psychology journals and promoted in the mediaiii.
In January, resveratrol researcher with the University of Connecticut, Dipak Das, was found guilty of 145 counts of fabrication and falsification of data published in 11 different journals.iv
How to Get Solid Information in an Era of Confusion

Ultimately, my take-home message here is that even if a drug or treatment is scientifically proven, all these examples make it crystal clear that this simply is not a guarantee of safety or effectiveness. Likewise, if an alternative treatment has not been published in a medical journal, it does not mean it is unsafe or ineffective. There's a lot to be said for the tried-and-true remedies of old, even if they've not been rigorously studied by modern researcher.

I recommend using all the resources available to you, including your own sense of common sense and reason, true experts' advice and other's experiences, to determine what medical treatment or advice will be best for you in any given situation. Remain skeptical but open -- even if it is something I am saying, you simply need to realize YOU are responsible for your health, not me and certainly not drug companies trying to sell their wares.

Seeing how it's been well established that most drugs do absolutely nothing to treat the cause of disease, it would be prudent to exercise the precautionary principle when evaluating ANY new drug claim, as it will more than likely be seriously flawed or biased -- and is most likely not in your long-term best interest.

If you're facing a health challenge, I recommend seeking out a qualified natural health consultant. A good place to look for recommendations is at your local health food store. Get to know the people who work there, the owners, and those who frequent the store, and obtain a consensus as to who the best clinician for you is in your area. Word travels fast in the natural medical community, so if there's a knowledgeable practitioner in your area that's getting awesome results, his or her reputation will be known. Of course, when it comes to cancer, you'll want to identify someone that is well known and respected for their work in treating cancer patients. If you don't find one locally then scour the Internet and make calls to plenty of patients that the practitioner has seen.

REFERENCES



i Retraction Watch
ii Daily Mail, January 12, 2012
iii Fraud Case Seen as a Red Flag for Psychology Research, The New York Times, November 3, 2011
iv Hold Off On That Glass Just Yet – Red Wine Researcher Charged With Falsifying Data, Singularityhub.com, January 15, 2012,

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

Looks like we get the same newsletter, Moonwhim -- thanks for posting. I will be traveling soon (daughter having a baby!) with even less time for postings.

Dr Mercola, MD, notes:

It's so big, 60 Minutes will not likely discuss that truth any time soon. In reality, virtually the entire cancer industry is one massive fraud, in the sense that it's not really allowing authentic and inexpensive cancer cures that address the cause of the problem to come to market. They are virtually all violently opposed and condemned. It's a massive for-profit industry, and unless a treatment revolves around a costly drug that can be patented, it will never see the light of day. The whole idea that the cancer industry is "searching for a cure" is a sham... because cures already exist. But they're being massively suppressed.

Why Many Groundbreaking Cancer Therapies are Suppressed

...
Burzynski: The Movie tells the story of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, who developed a non-toxic gene-target cancer therapy called antineoplastons, and has been harassed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for over 14 years in an effort to shut him down. His treatment could have helped save millions of lives over the last two decades had his discovery not been criminally suppressed by the U.S. government, as it has been shown to effectively help cure some of the most "incurable" forms of terminal cancer. The film is a powerful expose of the unscrupulous forces that work to maintain the status quo of the medical and pharmaceutical industry at any cost.

So it is not just the truth about 9/11 that is suppressed, but also the truth about REAL cancer treatments. Ditto the truth about mercury-amalgam fillings. And the truth about autism. And the truth about the "fast and furious" gun deal with Mexican cartels. And the truth about where all the "bank bailout" money went. And the truth about new non-conventional energy sources.

Why can we not get the truth out and get REAL investigations? You see the answers in all these instances -- "criminally suppressed by the U.S. government", in the words of Dr. Mercola; and he supports his claims with the facts as we can do in all these cases.

However, I remind you that -- as Joseph Smith stated -- "Truth cuts its own way." People in large numbers are finally awakening, including outside the US.

[moonwhimcaptain of 1,000]

Looks like we get the same newsletter, Moonwhim -- thanks for posting. I will be traveling soon (daughter having a baby!) with even less time for postings.

Dr Mercola, MD, notes:

It's so big, 60 Minutes will not likely discuss that truth any time soon. In reality, virtually the entire cancer industry is one massive fraud, in the sense that it's not really allowing authentic and inexpensive cancer cures that address the cause of the problem to come to market. They are virtually all violently opposed and condemned. It's a massive for-profit industry, and unless a treatment revolves around a costly drug that can be patented, it will never see the light of day. The whole idea that the cancer industry is "searching for a cure" is a sham... because cures already exist. But they're being massively suppressed.

Why Many Groundbreaking Cancer Therapies are Suppressed

...
Burzynski: The Movie tells the story of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, who developed a non-toxic gene-target cancer therapy called antineoplastons, and has been harassed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for over 14 years in an effort to shut him down. His treatment could have helped save millions of lives over the last two decades had his discovery not been criminally suppressed by the U.S. government, as it has been shown to effectively help cure some of the most "incurable" forms of terminal cancer. The film is a powerful expose of the unscrupulous forces that work to maintain the status quo of the medical and pharmaceutical industry at any cost.

So it is not just the truth about 9/11 that is suppressed, but also the truth about REAL cancer treatments. Ditto the truth about mercury-amalgam fillings. And the truth about autism. And the truth about the "fast and furious" gun deal with Mexican cartels. And the truth about where all the "bank bailout" money went. And the truth about new non-conventional energy sources.

Why can we not get the truth out and get REAL investigations? You see the answers in all these instances -- "criminally suppressed by the U.S. government", in the words of Dr. Mercola; and he supports his claims with the facts as we can do in all these cases.

However, I remind you that -- as Joseph Smith stated -- "Truth cuts its own way." People in large numbers are finally awakening, including outside the US.

I have been following Dr Mercola for about 6 years now, lots of good stuff put out by him. It is amazing, as the NWO tries to brainwash us, how much truth is coming out from the alternative media. The Lord promised us this info: "....and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land." (Alma 37:25)

[Juliettecaptain of 1,000]

Good work, Jason and Juliette! I'm not doing the high-meat diet (with very few carbs) -- I admit I did try it about a decade ago and it works... but the weight came back. And it seems to me that D&C 89 talks about using meat SPARINGLY. That's what I'm doing, and feeling better, stronger, more brain power too. I need that, lol!

But like you say Jason, exercise give a human-growth-hormone kick -- and that is very healthy (IMHO)!! Another notch tighter on my belt today... slow fat loss, and muscle gain on my regimen (weights, running some; feel the burn in the muscles EACH day.)

WOW Dr. Jones! I know losing weight is hard to do. I do well on the high protein diet. My body just blows up on carbs. If I eat carbs, its very sparingly. Keep that belt tightening up! Thats great!

[Juliettecaptain of 1,000]

Looks like we get the same newsletter, Moonwhim -- thanks for posting. I will be traveling soon (daughter having a baby!) with even less time for postings.

Dr Mercola, MD, notes:

It's so big, 60 Minutes will not likely discuss that truth any time soon. In reality, virtually the entire cancer industry is one massive fraud, in the sense that it's not really allowing authentic and inexpensive cancer cures that address the cause of the problem to come to market. They are virtually all violently opposed and condemned. It's a massive for-profit industry, and unless a treatment revolves around a costly drug that can be patented, it will never see the light of day. The whole idea that the cancer industry is "searching for a cure" is a sham... because cures already exist. But they're being massively suppressed.

Why Many Groundbreaking Cancer Therapies are Suppressed

...
Burzynski: The Movie tells the story of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, who developed a non-toxic gene-target cancer therapy called antineoplastons, and has been harassed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for over 14 years in an effort to shut him down. His treatment could have helped save millions of lives over the last two decades had his discovery not been criminally suppressed by the U.S. government, as it has been shown to effectively help cure some of the most "incurable" forms of terminal cancer. The film is a powerful expose of the unscrupulous forces that work to maintain the status quo of the medical and pharmaceutical industry at any cost.

So it is not just the truth about 9/11 that is suppressed, but also the truth about REAL cancer treatments. Ditto the truth about mercury-amalgam fillings. And the truth about autism. And the truth about the "fast and furious" gun deal with Mexican cartels. And the truth about where all the "bank bailout" money went. And the truth about new non-conventional energy sources.

Why can we not get the truth out and get REAL investigations? You see the answers in all these instances -- "criminally suppressed by the U.S. government", in the words of Dr. Mercola; and he supports his claims with the facts as we can do in all these cases.

However, I remind you that -- as Joseph Smith stated -- "Truth cuts its own way." People in large numbers are finally awakening, including outside the US.

I have been following Dr Mercola for about 6 years now, lots of good stuff put out by him. It is amazing, as the NWO tries to brainwash us, how much truth is coming out from the alternative media. The Lord promised us this info: "....and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land." (Alma 37:25)

Thanks for the scripture Moon. I hadn't read that for awhile.

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

RE: being responsible for your OWN health decisions!

How Honest Is Your Doctor?
Posted By Dr. Mercola | 799 views

Story at-a-glance

* When making health care decisions, you must be your own advocate; it’s important to ask questions before opting for tests, procedures or treatments, and it’s your decision if you’d rather opt for less medical intervention while choosing a more natural way of healing your body
* Amazingly 40% believed that they should hide their financial relationships with drug and device companies to patients, and 10% said they had told patients something untrue in the previous year
* One-third of physicians polled did not completely agree with disclosing serious medical errors to patients, and one-fifth did not completely agree that physicians should never tell a patient something untrue
* A survey of nearly 1,900 physicians revealed that many are not completely open or honest with their patients

By Dr. Mercola

A U.S. telephone survey found that 79 percent of Americans trust their doctor.i

Only 8 percent said they do not …

But can your doctor really be trusted?

Doctors are human, after all, and though most would certainly expect that their doctor is being upfront when it comes to health advice and diagnoses, it's safe to say that humans are not perfect … nor are they always honest.

Study Reveals Some Physicians Not Always Open or Honest

The Charter on Medical Professionalism, which is endorsed by more than 100 professional groups worldwide, "requires openness and honesty in physicians' communication with patients."

A new study in Health Affairs presented data from a survey of nearly 1,900 physicians to see how well they follow this principle …

The results were less than impressive, to put it mildly:

* One-third of physicians did not completely agree with disclosing serious medical errors to patients
* One-fifth did not completely agree that physicians should never tell a patient something untrue
* Amazingly 40% believed that they should hide their financial relationships with drug and device companies to patients
* Ten percent said they had told patients something untrue in the previous year

While most of the physicians surveyed did agree that they should "fully inform patients about the risks and benefits of interventions" as well as "never disclose confidential information to unauthorized persons," in their entirety the findings cast serious doubt about the trustworthiness of the doctor-patient relationship. As the researchers stated:

"Our findings raise concerns that some patients might not receive complete and accurate information from their physicians, and doubts about whether patient-centered care is broadly possible without more widespread physician endorsement of the core communication principles of openness and honesty with patients."

One Third of Doctors Won't Tell You They Made a Mistake

If your doctor prescribes an inappropriate medication or gives you an incorrect diagnosis, would you want to know about it? Sure you would, but about one-third of doctors would rather stay "mum" for fear of being sued for malpractice. This may be in the best interest of your doctor, but it's certainly not in your best interest, especially considering how common serious medical errors actually are.

A June 2010 report in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, which analyzed 62 million death certificates from 1979 to 2006 (the most recent year available), found that almost a quarter-million of those deaths were coded as having occurred in a hospital setting due to medication errors.ii In an AMA article discussing the study, one co-author was quoted as stating that "medication errors are the second-leading cause of accidental death, and the only kind of accidental death that is increasing over time."iii

An estimated 450,000 preventable medication-related adverse events occur in the U.S. every year, and adverse drug reactions cause injuries or death in 1 of 5 hospital patients. That is nearly HALF a MILLION people who die every year that don't have to. The costs of adverse drug reactions to society are more than $136 billion annually -- greater than the total cost of cardiovascular or diabetic care.iv

Further, an analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010 found that 18 percent of patients were harmed by medical care (some repeatedly) and over 63 percent of the injuries could have been prevented.v In nearly 2.5 percent of these cases, the problems caused or contributed to a person's death. In another 3 percent, patients suffered from permanent injury, while over 8 percent experienced life-threatening issues, such as severe bleeding during surgery.

In all there were over 25 injuries per 100 admissions! In other words you have a one in four chance of getting injured if you are admitted to the hospital, not very good odds by any stretch. Worse still, if you do suffer from a medical error, about one in three doctors may not own up to the mistake, which means you'll have no way of knowing if your new symptoms or health problems are actually the result of inappropriate medical care …

40% of Doctors Believe Their Ties to Drug Companies are None of Your Business …

It's shocking that nearly half of physicians feel they should not have to disclose their financial relationships with drug and device companies to patients, even though it's well known that these relationships can and do influence your doctor's medical advice.

Drug reps are taught tactics specifically to manipulate doctors for industry benefit; it's a standard part of their training because doctors are essentially their "dealers." If you think your physician will be able to see past these persuasive tactics, think again -- and it's not about intelligence or even ethics. Your physician may be very intelligent, and he or she may have every intention of NOT listening to a drug rep's sales pitch. I can tell you from personal experience when I was practicing and actually seeing drug reps, my intention was to be impartial but it was very easy to have my prescription writing patterns influenced by their interactions.

But maybe they just want to take advantage of the free samples they're handing out to offer them to her patients. And there the rep gets a foot in the door, and even if he doesn't say another word is able to keep a certain drug's name upfront in this physician's mind. And maybe they'll drop off a few pens and pads of paper, also with the drug's name, in case it starts to wear off.

Some physicians are even on the drug industry payroll, and make extra money providing lectures to other physicians to recommend, prescribe, and dispense their medications. An ongoing investigation by ProPublica revealed that 12 drug companies paid $761.3 million to physicians for consulting, speaking, research and other expenses in 2009, 2010 and, for some, the beginning of 2011 -- and that represents only the disclosed payments. In all actuality, this figure is probably far too low.

Despite the commonality of this practice, I suspect many Americans would be surprised to learn that many thousands of doctors (and researchers and other medical experts) -- some of whom you probably depend on to provide unbiased information and advice pertaining to your health care -- receive large amounts of supplemental income from drug companies. And it turns out that many doctors would prefer to keep this information quiet as well …

Medicare Fraud Caught on Tape

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Some health care providers may not only withhold information, but may be involved in downright fraud. An undercover investigation by ABC News revealed a case where an active 82-year-old woman was diagnosed with medical conditions she did not have, and even labeled as homebound, presumably so the physician and home health care company could bill Medicare for thousands of dollars for (unnecessary) home health care services.

In reality, the woman was healthy, aside from hypertension and arthritis, exercised regularly and even enjoyed line dancing on occasion -- far from the frail, homebound senior she was portrayed as on the paperwork sent to Medicare.

Money can be a powerful motivator when it comes to physicians' decisions regarding patient care. In her book "Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer," Shannon Brownlee explains that spinal fusion surgery for low back pain is one such example, often recommended as it's one of the "more lucrative procedures in medicine" -- even though the best success rate for spinal fusions is only 25 percent!

Angioplasties and certain types of chemotherapy with similar low success rates are just as prone to be ordered, Brownlee says, because that's where hospitals' investments lie. You see, they have all this equipment and they need to use it to get a return on it – but they also need to get you out of there as quickly as possible, so they can get the next patient in. What ensues is a type of aggressive patient therapy that can end in disaster: according to the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, 1 in 7 Medicare recipients will be harmed every year as a result of the medical care they received in the hospital.

10% of Doctors Lie to Their Patients …

Even if you give the physician the benefit of the doubt, and assume the lies were "white lies" meant to soften the blow of bad news or give a patient hope, it's hard to excuse this behavior. The study's lead author, Dr. Lisa Lezzoni, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, told ABC News that while some doctors lied for self-protection, others did so for the "patient's benefit." ABC News reported:

"MDs might spare an anxious patient from hearing about the slightly abnormal results of a lab test, for example, if it has no impact on the patient's health. Conversely, the doctor might exaggerate a health result in hopes of motivating a patient to take better care of himself. Doctors who sugarcoat patients' prognoses may do so to soften the blow of bad news and help them remain hopeful about their potential recovery. Also, short office visit times may preclude the long and emotional discussions that accompany the delivery of difficult medical news, so doctors may say what they can to avoid causing the patient pain."

Still, even if well intentioned, health care is not an area where people want fibs and half-truths … Not to mention, being fully informed is an essential part of taking control of your health … ABC News continues:

" … as well-intentioned as their fibs may be, other studies consistently show that patients prefer the truth, and would rather hear harsh news than remain ignorant about a dire medical condition. Being fully informed is a way that patients can cope and prepare for whatever might occur."

Your Doctor is Your Guide, but You're in Control of Your Health

When making health care decisions, you should certainly get your physicians' advice -- that's what you're paying them for, after all. Hopefully you have chosen a health care provider who has similar philosophies about health as you do, and whose expertise you can trust. But remember that ultimately it's important that you, as a medical consumer, be your own advocate when it comes to health care decisions.

You can do this by:

* Asking questions when your doctor orders tests: what is each test for? Who will do the test? Are there any side effects? What if you don't get the test – how necessary is it to your care? Is the test "just to be sure," or is there a proven, scientific reason for doing it?
* If your doctor wants to do a procedure after the tests come back, ask the same questions all over again, including: Do you have a definitive diagnosis justifying the procedure? Are there any negative effects that I need to know about this procedure? What is the success rate of this procedure? What is the worst-case scenario if we simply don't do it?
* If you go ahead with the tests and procedures, and your doctor wants to do a surgery or other type of intervention as a result, ask the same questions once more, and then:
* Ask, do I NEED these tests/procedures/surgery, or do you simply suggest them – and if so, for what reasons? And, what if I don't get this test/procedure/surgery? Are there alternatives?

I admit some of these questions seem repetitive. But they need to be asked each and every time, for every single test performed on you. Remember, it's not only YOUR decision whether to get any or all of these tests and procedures, but your RIGHT to seek a second opinion somewhere else if you don't feel comfortable with the options you're given.

It's your body and your decision if you want to opt for less medical intervention while choosing a more natural way of healing your body. Ideally, seek a health care practitioner who will help you move toward complete wellness by helping you discover and understand the hidden causes of your health challenges ... and create a customized and comprehensive -- i.e. holistic -- treatment plan for you, one that involves lifestyle changes that empower you to promote health and healing naturally.

If your physician is not open to such options, and only recommends drugs or surgical solutions again and again, it may be time to find one who is. You trust your physician with the most important asset you have -- your health -- so it's crucial that you establish an open and honest relationship from the start.

REFERENCES

* i Rasmussen Reports August 24, 2010
* ii Journal of General Internal Medicine Volume 25, Number 8, 774-779
* iii American Medical Association June 21, 2010
* iv Centers for Education & Research on Therapeutics "Preventable Adverse Drug Reactions: A Focus on Drug Intereactions" (PDF)
* v New England Journal of Medicine 2010 Nov 25;363(22):2124-34.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Iv'e had a juicer for about five years now. It is a good juicer (Jack Lalane brand purchased at target for $100.00). The juice is good but I rarely use it because of the time it takes to use it. Preparing the vegatables and cleaning the juicer is a pain. It takes a large amount of vegtables to get a glass of juice. Fruits will yield more juice but have too much fructose and will cause weight gain. I get into it for periods of time but then it gets to be such a chore that I will quit doing it.

Jason, what's the sprint exercises you have been doing? where can I find the details? I do some weight training and walking but I need to kick it up a notch.

SPRINT8 or Mercola calls his version PEAK8

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitnes ... cises.aspx
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/phil3.htm
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitnes ... scles.aspx
http://www.ronjones.org/Handouts/Sprint-8.pdf

....I blew it on one word "progressive".....and pulled a hamstring...but its healed pretty quick (less than 2 weeks - due to cayenne pepper???)...and I'm back at it although with more aggressive stretching and working on trigger points.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Good work, Jason and Juliette! I'm not doing the high-meat diet (with very few carbs) -- I admit I did try it about a decade ago and it works... but the weight came back. And it seems to me that D&C 89 talks about using meat SPARINGLY. That's what I'm doing, and feeling better, stronger, more brain power too. I need that, lol!

But like you say Jason, exercise give a human-growth-hormone kick -- and that is very healthy (IMHO)!! Another notch tighter on my belt today... slow fat loss, and muscle gain on my regimen (weights, running some; feel the burn in the muscles EACH day.)

Not a LOW or ZERO carb diet (which can be as damaging as any other extreme diet that doesn't provide for balanced meals that balance the bodies hormone production)......but a lifestyle where one figure's out what their optimum carb ratio is. Carbs trigger insulin which is the fat storing hormone. Too much insulin and it creates a whole host of problems with the body as well as accelerating the aging process. You can work out 24/7 but if your body is running on high insulin....you are in for fat around the middle (best sign of high insulin) as well as potentially serious health problems.

I understand the eat meat sparingly....one also has to realize that the WOW was written for us in the latter days to keep us from being victims of conspiring men. Probably at least 90 percent of the meat on the market is loaded with antibiotics (kills the gut flora which leaves that heavy nasty feeling all night - body bacteria and fungi that need to break down the meat are killed by the meat). So indeed...if you aren't very picky and careful about where your meat comes from (grass fed, organic, no GMO, no antibiotics, no growth hormones, wild caught, etc etc etc).....best to eat it very sparingly (some docs say that protein and amino acid requirements negate the antibiotic risk...but others disagree).

Eggs are your absolute best source of protein. Complete essential amino acid profile as well as 97-98 percent of it is readily absorbed by the body w/o much work by the digestive system to get it.

If you are targeting fast twitch muscle fibers in your exercise routine...you want 48 hrs of rest minimum before hitting that muscle group again. 24 hrs for slow twitch work out.

[Thomascaptain of 1,000]

Jason, thanks for passing on the info. I am going to try it tommorow. It sounds like it will be effective. Thanks for the diet info concerning MS as well. I know the foods my family eat are not what they should be.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Jason, thanks for passing on the info. I am going to try it tommorow. It sounds like it will be effective. Thanks for the diet info concerning MS as well. I know the foods my family eat are not what they should be.

Progressive.....that one bit me on the leg!

Glad to be of service....I've found that diet is a never ending work in progress!

[Randcaptain of 1,000]

Eggs are your absolute best source of protein. Complete essential amino acid profile as well as 97-98 percent of it is readily absorbed by the body w/o much work by the digestive system to get it.

Hey Jason, just a hint that you may find helpful, eggs are great, but if you eat Cayenne pepper with them you will digest them better. Tabasco is a good way to get that cayenne pepper. Great info, and great shares, as usual.

[Fairmindedcaptain of 1,000]

The more I find out about cayenne, the better it looks. So many health benefits as well as being a great spice. I really need to stock up on a bunch more.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Eggs are your absolute best source of protein. Complete essential amino acid profile as well as 97-98 percent of it is readily absorbed by the body w/o much work by the digestive system to get it.

Hey Jason, just a hint that you may find helpful, eggs are great, but if you eat Cayenne pepper with them you will digest them better. Tabasco is a good way to get that cayenne pepper. Great info, and great shares, as usual.

I've been popping Cayenne pepper pills for couple months now....didn't know it helped with egg digestion though....

After healing my thumb up (that I tried to split in two) in a couple of days.....I've become a believer in the power of Cayenne pepper!!!

[ktgcaptain of 100]

Cayenne will also stop bleeding quickly. Just open the capsule and dump it on the wound then apply pressure. Keep a few capsules in you car just in case.

[JasonI am a nobody!]

Cayenne will also stop bleeding quickly. Just open the capsule and dump it on the wound then apply pressure. Keep a few capsules in you car just in case.

Yeah its a coagulator....works awesome too. I split the tip of my thumb to the bone.....just spread the two pieces apart and dumped the cayenne on...slightly pressed together and then covered with cayenne until bleeding stopped....then wrapped it up in gauze for couple days. From Thursday evening until Sunday when I took the wrap off....healed quite nicely. Took a week for the outer skin to repair and cover the flesh....but the flesh healed very rapidly.

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

I'm a cayenne fan also.

Dr. Mercola on exercise, Vitamin D3 and avoiding colds:

Got a Cold? Here's a Trick to Feel Better Fast
Posted by: Dr. Mercola | March 16 2012 | 6,330 views

Story at-a-glance
If you have enough energy to tolerate it, increasing your body temperature by sweating from exercise will help to kill many viruses. Carefully listen to your body, and avoid doing your full, normal exercise routine as overdoing it could stress your immune system and prolong your illness Regular, moderate exercise has also been shown to reduce the risk of colds in postmenopausal women by half
Studies have clearly shown that regular exercise will help prevent catching colds in the first place. In one 2002 study, those who exercised regularly suffered 20-30 percent fewer colds compared to the non-exercisers According to the research, exercising with a cold may be well advised. At the end of one 10-day trial, those who exercised 40 minutes every-other day, at 70 percent of their maximum heart rate, felt better than those who remained sedentary—even though the clinical severity and duration of their symptoms were virtually identical

By Dr. Mercola
Should you work out when you feel like you're coming down with a cold? According to the research, this may in fact be a good idea.
At the very least, it is unlikely to do you any harm unless you exercise too vigorously..
In one such study, participants were infected with a cold virus and then divided into two groups: an exercise group or a non-exercise group.
The exercise group did 40 minutes of supervised exercise every other day at 70 percent of their maximum heart rate.
At the end of the 10-day trial, the researchers concluded that while there were no differences in the severity or duration of the symptoms between the two sets of subjects, there was a difference in how they assessed their own cold symptomsi.
The exercisers reported feeling better overall compared to those who remained sedentary.
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Active People Suffer Fewer Colds
Other studies have clearly shown that regular exercise will help prevent catching colds in the first place.
For example, one 2002 study found that those who exercised regularly suffered 20-30 percent fewer coldsii. Other studies demonstrate an even greater impact.
According to a 2006 trial, regular, moderate exercise reduced the risk of colds in postmenopausal womeniii by half. The year-long study examined 115 sedentary, overweight, postmenopausal women, none of whom smoked or took hormone-replacement therapy. Half were assigned to an aerobic exercise group and the other half attended a weekly stretching class only.
The patients in the exercise group were asked to work out about 45 minutes a day, five days a week, but they were only able to reach the 30-minute mark per day, with brisk walking accounting for the bulk of their body work. By the end of the study, the women who performed aerobic exercises on a weekly basis had half the risk of colds of those who did stretching only.
The ability of moderate exercise to ward off colds also seemed to increase the longer it was used. In the final three months of the study, the stretching-only group had a three-fold higher risk of colds than the exercisers.
The fact that the enhanced immunity was strongest in the final quarter of the year-long trial suggests it is important to stick with exercise long term to get the full effects. I've often said it's crucial to treat exercise like a drug that must be properly prescribed, monitored and maintained for you to enjoy the most benefits. That also means that you can't bank exercise either; it's not like money. Even if you were a world-class athlete, in about two weeks of not exercising you will tend to start to experience deconditioning.
All in Good Measure...
Personally, I believe that if you have enough energy to tolerate it, increasing your body temperature by sweating from exercise will help to kill many viruses. However you need to be very careful and listen to your body, and not do your full, normal exercise routine, as that could clearly stress your immune system even more and prolong your illness if you are not careful and wind up overdoing it.
Also keep in mind that exercising too much can have the opposite effect on your immune system.
This is because intensive exercise boosts production of cortisol; a stress hormone. Stress hormones inhibit the activity of natural killer cells—a type of white blood cell that attacks and rids your body of viral agents. This is why running a marathon can actually increase your chances of getting sick shortly thereafter. In fact, elite endurance athletes can suffer anywhere from two to six times as many upper respiratory infections during a year,
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compared to average, active individualsiv.
According to an article in Sports Science Exchange, athletes are advised to avoid exercise if cold symptoms are "below the neck," or if they're running a fever. So-called "head colds" seem to be less serious in general. I think the same recommendation would be prudent for most people.
Above all, always pay heed to what your body is telling you, and if you feel too fatigued to work out, don't push it. More than likely, what you need then is rest. But if you're thinking of skipping your workout routine simply because you've been told you "shouldn't exercise when sick," then you may want to reconsider, as it could actually help you feel better, sooner. It will be especially helpful to mildly stimulate your immune system with some gentle exercise.
Are Colds Unavoidable?
If you want to avoid colds, it's important to understand what causes them. And while exercise-deficiency may be part of the problem, another factor is likely to get top billing... The average American gets one to four colds per year, and colds are a leading cause of doctor visits and missed days from work and school. The majority of them occur during winter months, and this is a major clue as to one of the primary causes, namely lack of sunshine, and hence decreased levels of vitamin D.
In fact, there's compelling evidence suggesting cold and influenza may be little more than symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. The connection between vitamin D and reduced immune function is so strong that boosting your vitamin D levels anytime you feel a cold coming on should definitely be at the top of your list. Ideally, you'll want to maintain your vitamin D
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levels within the optimal range year-round, of course. But according to Dr. Cannell of the Vitamin D Council, you may also stop a cold in its tracks, or shorten its duration, by taking up to 50,000 IU's of vitamin D3 for three days.
Most people mistakenly believe that colds are caused by bacteria, but this, of course, is incorrect. Colds are triggered by viruses, which is why using antibiotics to treat a cold is an exercise in futility. It simply will not work. This is because viruses are much smaller than bacteria and have entirely different structures that make them impervious to antibiotics. The only thing you're doing by taking an antibiotic for a cold is unnecessarily weakening your immune system further, by destroying all the bacteria—both good and bad—in your gut, which is where 80 percent of your immune system resides.
That said, it's important to recognize that although the virus actually triggers the cold symptoms, the virus is NOT the real cause of the cold. Believing that a virus "causes" a cold is a very dangerous perspective to take, for once you allow external forces to "control" your health, you lose the ability to improve it.
In a nutshell, colds and flu are symptoms of immune system deficiencies, as your immune system is normally fully capable of eradicating viral invaders such as the cold virus. The only time the virus can take hold is when your immune system has been compromised. Although there are many ways you might end up with a weakened immune system, the more common contributing factors are:
1. Vitamin D deficiency as previously mentioned 2. Eating too much sugar (particularly fructose) and too many grains 3. Not getting enough rest or sleep 4. Using inadequate strategies to address emotional stressors in your life 5. Insufficient exercise 6. Any combination of the above
Exercise—It's Not Just for Looking Good
I believe optimal health will remain elusive unless you have an active lifestyle. A regular exercise program can do amazing things for your health, and boosting your immune system is a major part of those benefits. If you are exercising regularly, just as if your vitamin D levels are optimized, the likelihood of your acquiring an upper respiratory infection decreases quite dramatically. Another benefit of exercise is its ability to stabilize your insulin levels, which will have a cascading positive effect throughout your body.
Whenever you struggle with your time management, remember that exercise is every bit as important as eating, sleeping and breathing... Viewing exercise as a necessary, non-negotiable part of your day is the trick to getting it done. Ideally, schedule it into your appointment book the way you would an important meeting or social event. Set the time for it and then make no excuses about keeping it.
To maximize the benefits from exercise, you'll want to include a variety of more challenging techniques. You need not only strength training and aerobics, but also core-building
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activities, stretching and, most importantly, anaerobic or high-intensity interval training-type exercises.
Please don't make the mistake I did for decades by wasting your time on steady, hour-long cardio sessions on the treadmill as your primary form of exercise. It's actually one of the least effective forms of exercise there is. High intensity interval training, on the other hand, whether you do it on a treadmill or a recumbent bike, or using weights (aka super-slow weight training), has been shown to be one of the most effective forms of exercise—even providing benefits you can't get any other way, such as boosting the release of human growth hormone (HGH), also known as "the fitness hormone."
References:
i Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise November 1998; 30(11): 1578-1583
ii Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise August 2002; 34(8): 1242-1248
iii American Journal of Medicine November 2006; 119(11): 937 iv SPORTS SCIENCE EXCHANGE, CONTAGIOUS INFECTIONS IN COMPETITIVE SPORTS, SSE#56, Volume 8 (1995), Number 3

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

Has anyone tried EXERCISE BEFORE breakfast as a weight-loss approach?

By Dr. Mercola

Periodic fasting may offer multiple health benefits, as long as it's done properly.

Many equate fasting with not eating for long periods … but beneficial fasting is not about starving yourself.

After all, you're fasting almost every day insofar as your first morning meal is 'breaking the fast' (breakfast) from the time of your last meal the day before.

Giving your digestive system a rest allows vital energy resources to be directed toward bodily healing, repair, detoxification and maintenance.

Fasting periodically, such as eating very lightly for two days each week, has been found to trigger a variety of beneficial hormonal and metabolic changes that may help prevent age-related brain shrinkage, heart disease, diabetes, and possibly even cancer.

And now new research suggests fasting before exercise may help you to achieve your desired results faster …

Fasting Before Exercise Helps You Burn More Fat

If you're already devoting the time to working out, you're probably interested in making the most of that time and getting in the most possible benefit in the shortest amount of time.

One way to boost your return on your exercise "investment" may be to do your workout while fasting.

A recent study sought to evaluate the effects of aerobic training in a fasted versus a fed state.

Specifically, 19 men were placed in one of two groups -- one that practiced aerobic training after fasting for Ramadan (which requires fasting from dawn to sunset for one month), and one that did the training after eating.

During each session, subjects underwent anthropometric measurement, completed a dietary questionnaire, and provided fasting blood and urine samples.

The fasting group experienced reductions in both body weight and body fat, the latter of which remained unchanged in the fed group.

The researchers concluded:

" … aerobic training in a fasted state lowers body weight and body fat percentage. In contrast, fed aerobic training decreases only body weight. In addition, Ramadan fasting induced change in some metabolic parameters in FAST, but these changes were absent in FED."

When you exercise while fasting, it essentially forces your body to shed fat, as your body's fat burning processes are controlled by your sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and your SNS is activated by exercise and lack of food. The combination of fasting and exercising maximizes the impact of cellular factors and catalysts (cyclic AMP and AMP Kinases), which force the breakdown of fat and glycogen for energy.

Why Fasting Might Take Your Exercise Program to the Next Level

Simply put, exercise and fasting yield acute oxidative stress, which actually benefits your muscle. According to fitness expert Ori Hofmekler, acute oxidative stress is:

" … essential for keeping your muscle machinery tuned. Technically, acute oxidative stress makes your muscle increasingly resilient to oxidative stress; it stimulates glutathione and SOD [superoxide dismutase, the first antioxidant mobilized by your cells for defense] production in your mitochondria along with increased muscular capacity to utilize energy, generate force and resist fatigue.

Hence, exercise and fasting help counteract all the main determinants of muscle aging. But there is something else about exercise and fasting. When combined, they trigger a mechanism that recycles and rejuvenates your brain and muscle tissues."

The mechanism he refers to is triggering genes and growth factors, including brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and muscle regulatory factors (MRFs), which signal brain stem cells and muscle satellite cells to convert into new neurons and new muscle cells, respectively. This means that exercise while fasting may actually help to keep your brain, neuro-motors and muscle fibers biologically young.

The combined effect of both intermittent fasting and short intense exercise may go way beyond helping you to burn more fat and lose weight; it may help you to:
Turn back the biological clock in your muscle and brain Boost growth hormone Improve body composition
Boost cognitive function Boost testosterone Prevent depression



As Ori explains:

"Fasting promotes muscle breakdown along with the removal of broken proteins and damaged cells towards recycling. Nonetheless, to fully rejuvenate your muscle, you need to grant regeneration of new muscle cells. And that's where the short intense exercise comes into play. It turns on the mechanism that converts muscle satellite cells into new muscle fibers. And it targets your fast neuro-motors and helps keep your fast muscle fibers intact."

Tips for Fasting and Exercising Safely: A Post-Workout Recovery Meal is Crucial

Exercise and fasting help counteract all the main determinants of muscle aging, while boosting fat-burning compared to working out after eating. However, fasting incorrectly can cause more harm than good. To start, you need to make sure that you're not fasting to an unhealthy extreme. In other words, fasting does not mean that you starve yourself for days. Instead, intermittent fasting involves either fasting completely or simply minimizing your food intake during the day to small servings of light, low-glycemic, mostly raw foods such as fruits, vegetables, whey protein or lightly poached eggs every 4-6 hours.

You then do your workout while fasting (30 minutes after your latest snack) followed by a very important recovery meal (whey protein) and then you eat your main meal at night. It's very important that you eat an appropriate recovery meal after your workout session, as this will prevent brain and muscle damage from occurring. Ori explains:

"When you implement intermittent fasting you put your body into a strong catabolic state. Your body is literally eating up and destroying damaged and injured brain and muscle cells. You rapidly accelerate this process when you exercise in this state. It's this very powerful synergy that will allow you to effectively rejuvenate your muscle and brain. This is the radical new approach that very few know about and even fewer have implemented.

The MAJOR danger though is that you will need to rescue your muscle tissue out of this catabolic state and supply it with the proper nutrients to stimulate repair and rejuvenation. If you fail to supply these nutrients at the proper time you will hurt yourself.

Your post exercise recovery meal is critically important. It's needed to stop the catabolic process in your muscle and shift the recycling process towards repair and growth. If you fail to feed your muscle at the right time after exercise, you won't just miss this window of opportunity to restore and build your muscle, you'll actually let the catabolic process go too far and potentially waste and damage your muscle."

So it's crucial that you eat within 30 minutes after your workout, and your meal must include fast-assimilating protein. Whey protein is an ideal option here. Then, as mentioned, you will eat your main meal of the day at night, so your "fasting" time consists only of the daytime hours, either fasting completely or eating light, mostly raw foods every 4-6 hours.

Additionally, if you don't have enough energy or don't feel good then it is likely time to shift your experiment and reduce the hours of fasting. This process should make you feel better and if it doesn't then it is best to reevaluate.

If Fasting is Too Extreme, Try Exercising Before Breakfast

You can get many of the same benefits of fasting and exercise by exercising first thing in the morning, when your stomach is empty. This is because eating a full meal, particularly carbohydrates, before your workout will inhibit your sympathetic nervous system and reduce the fat burning effect of your exercise. Instead, eating lots of carbs activates your parasympathetic nervous system, (which promotes energy storage—the complete opposite of what you're aiming for).

As mentioned earlier, training on an empty stomach will effectively force your body to burn fat, while also offering additional benefits. For instance, in one study those who fasted before exercise had increased levels of a certain muscle protein that plays a pivotal role in insulin sensitivity. As I've explained in numerous articles, insulin resistance is the root cause of most chronic disease, making maintaining proper insulin regulation a primary factor of good health.

Always Listen to Your Body When it Comes to Eating and Exercise

The majority of the "fuel" used during most exercise is not actually coming from the food you have just eaten. If you're working out at a moderate to high intensity you're using glycogen and fat that is stored in your muscles, liver, and fat cells. Typically, your body has enough of that stored fuel to last for one to two hours of intense work, or three to four hours at moderate intensity.

Therefore, if you are consuming a high-quality diet, eating every three to four hours, your body probably does not need anything to eat before you begin your workout. Still, some people do have a hard time exercising without eating something first.

Typically these people are more sensitive to changes in their blood sugar levels, which can decline during the first 15-25 minutes of their workout. It is this decline in blood sugar that causes dizziness, faintness, nausea or lightheadedness. This is especially true if you exercise first thing in the morning. Of course, a number of individual factors can also play a role in whether it's appropriate to exercise while fasting, such as your age, when you last ate, whether or not you're pregnant, taking medications, your medical history, level of fitness, and the type of workout you engage in.

I believe the best approach is to use some common sense and listen to your body, and if you feel weak or nauseous while exercising on an empty stomach, you may want to eat a small meal, such as a high-quality whey protein shake, before your workout.

Ideally you will want to shift your body so it is using fat to fuel the bulk of your energy and shift it away from using sugar that most people are using. It may take a few weeks to shift your body into fat-burning mode and your food choices will be crucial. Rather than consuming 50% carbohydrate you can cut that down by 20-25% and replace that with healthy fats, like coconut oil, egg yolks, butter, avocados, and nuts.

A study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise, demonstrated that consuming whey protein (20g protein / serving) 30 minutes before resistance training boosts your body's metabolism for as much as 24 hours after your workout.i It appears as though the amino acids found in high-quality whey protein activate certain cellular mechanisms (mTORC-1), which in turn promote muscle protein synthesis, boost thyroid, and also protect against declining testosterone levels after exercise.

In practical terms, consuming 20 grams of whey protein before exercise and another serving afterward will most likely yield the double benefit of increasing both fat burning and muscle build-up at the same time. Again, not everyone will need to eat something prior to exercise, but if you do, a high-quality whey protein is one of your best bets. It'll curb your hunger while still optimizing fat burning.

References:

* i Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise May 2010 - Volume 42 - Issue 5 - pp 998-1003

[Fairmindedcaptain of 1,000]

I'm glad I found the Alternatives forum. There's so many different good topics about health, not only how to find what's healthy but how to avoid what's not.

I've never been very good with health. Sure, when I was younger I had the same vanity as other young men, and I'd go to the gym and drink the protein shakes. But I never (ever) cared too much about whether what I ate was healthy. A big piece of the puzzle that I pretty much ignored. I used to drink upwards of a liter of soda a day, large amounts of horrible types of candy like Swedish Fish that were mostly high fructose corn syrup, and unhealthy food with lots of white flour, white sugar, and other disgusting byproducts of processed foods. Not to mention every meal having meat or cheese. I figured since I was cooking the food myself (up to a point), it was healthier.

The result was over the last six or so years watching my weight go from 175 up to nearly 250, a gradual decline I barely noticed or just accepted as inevitable. I was starting to encounter various health issues that were extremely troubling. So shortly after Christmas I decided enough was enough. I almost completely cut out the processed foods, including just about anything you can get from a store, began eating fresh fruits, vegetables, and greens, organic if I could find them, with far less meat and no dairy, and began a serious exercise regimen. In the last three months I've lost about 50 pounds, many of the health issues have diminished or disappeared, my thoughts are more clear, and my weekly cycles of depression and even more depression are smoothing out to a generally positive outlook. I'm taking more interest in my life and the things and people I care about.

I won't say I just discovered the changes I've made. Most of them are common sense, and deep down people know what's good for them and what's not, whatever big companies with their "health studies" and experts may claim. I just didn't take them seriously before. Now that I am the difference is night and day.

One issue that always kind of kept me from really diving into a more healthy lifestyle was thinking it would be expensive. Fresh foods, especially organic ones, a gym membership, etc. But aside from the treadmill and a couple of 25lb weights, most of my exercise doesn't need equipment. I'm actually spending less money now on food than I was before, by a significant amount (including soaked wheat for some of my meals). And oddly enough, even though the food I'm eating is simpler and has much less flavoring, I'm enjoying it far more. The thought of eating the candy I used to enjoy makes me shudder.

To to sum up, I think just about everyone knows the simple things they can do to change their life for the better. Like with anything else, the main barrier is that it seems so much easier and more convenient to eat the easy food, to not exercise, etc. When people do decide to change they try drastic diets that aren't sustainable, and usually at the end of them go right back to what they were doing. Like with so many things health doesn't take a titanic effort, all it takes is a little understanding and preparation, then to do it and keep doing it.

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

What you have done is inspiring and awesome, Fairminded! and a great example for all of us:

So shortly after Christmas I decided enough was enough. I almost completely cut out the processed foods, including just about anything you can get from a store, began eating fresh fruits, vegetables, and greens, organic if I could find them, with far less meat and no dairy, and began a serious exercise regimen. In the last three months I've lost about 50 pounds, many of the health issues have diminished or disappeared, my thoughts are more clear, and my weekly cycles of depression and even more depression are smoothing out to a generally positive outlook. I'm taking more interest in my life and the things and people I care about.

I won't say I just discovered the changes I've made. Most of them are common sense, and deep down people know what's good for them and what's not, whatever big companies with their "health studies" and experts may claim. I just didn't take them seriously before. Now that I am the difference is night and day.
[snip for brevity]

To to sum up, I think just about everyone knows the simple things they can do to change their life for the better. Like with anything else, the main barrier is that it seems so much easier and more convenient to eat the easy food, to not exercise, etc. When people do decide to change they try drastic diets that aren't sustainable, and usually at the end of them go right back to what they were doing. Like with so many things health doesn't take a titanic effort, all it takes is a little understanding and preparation, then to do it and keep doing it.

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

A further warning from Dr. Mercola re:engineered foods (GMO)

Booted Out of Germany - the Ignorance that Could Destroy Your Health
Posted By Dr. Mercola | March 20 2012 | 168,084 views

Story at-a-glance

* In Germany, massive resistance to genetically engineered (GE) foods, both among politicians and the general public, has caused chemical giant BASF to move its genetically modified plant science headquarters from Germany to Raleigh, North Carolina
* In the United States, the vast majority of all corn, soy, canola and cottonseed grown are genetically engineered, which means virtually every processed food you encounter at your local supermarket that does not bear the "100% USDA Organic" label is likely to contain at least one GE component
* Last year, Mexico denied Monsanto’s request to expand a pilot planting project in the northern part of the country for fear that the genetically modified variety might cross-contaminate with other native species, and Hungary destroyed nearly 1,000 acres of maize found to be contaminated with GE seeds, to prevent cross-contamination to other fields
* BASF withdrawing their biotech division from Germany is a perfect illustration of the power of public opinion, and why we must insist on labeling of genetically engineered foods in the US in order to regain control over our food supply. As long as millions of people are in the dark about what they’re eating, the biotech industry can continue to destroy the food supply of the US

By Dr. Mercola

In Germany, massive resistance to genetically engineered (GE) foods, both among politicians and the general public, has caused chemical giant BASF to close its German biotech division.

European opponents of GE foods are jubilant.

A reported 75 percent of Germans oppose genetically engineered foods, and few politicians are in favor of genetic technology.

Over there, opposed to the US, it's actually politically risky to support it!

This explains why BASF is moving its genetically modified (GM) plant science headquarters from Germany to Raleigh, North Carolina...

According to Farmers Weeklyi:

"BASF will transfer some GM crop development to the US but stop work on crops targeted at the European market—four varieties of potato and one of wheat.

The decision, which involves a net loss of 140 highly skilled jobs in Europe, also signals the end of GM crop development for European farmers.

Bayer CropScience, BASF's German competitor, is working on GM cotton and rice in Ghent, Belgium—but not for European markets.

"There is still a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe—[by] the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians," said Stefan Marcinowski, a member of BASF's board of directors.

"Therefore, it does not make business sense to continue investing in products exclusively for cultivation in this market." The company instead plans to focus on plant biotechnology markets in the Americas and Asia."

Majority of Common Crops Grown in United States are Genetically Engineered!

Folks, this is exactly why we must demand labeling for genetically engineered foods in the US! The general lack of awareness about genetically engineered foods has allowed biotech giants like Monsanto to dominate large portions of the market in the U.S., and the lack of labeling has greatly helped keep people in the dark about what's really in their food.

"Acceptance" of genetically engineered foods is actually NOT high in the US. It only appears that way because Monsanto has managed to infiltrate the very agencies tasked with regulating them, and are doing everything in their power to prevent any action that might impede their market growth. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of Americans polled say they would avoid buying foods with genetically engineered ingredients, if they knew which foods contained them—which of course is KEY to getting rid of them. It's important to realize that at this point, the vast majority of common food crops grown in the US are already genetically engineeredii, including:

* 94 percent of all soybeans
* 93 percent of canolaiii
* 93 percent of cottonseed oiliv
* 72 percent of all corn
* Approximately 25 percent of all milk and yoghurt contain genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH)v

(Between 2008 and 2009, 95 percent of all sugarbeet acres were also planted with Roundup Ready technology. However, in early 2010, a court ruled to prohibit further planting, cultivation, processing, or other use of Genuity® Roundup Ready® sugarbeets until an environmental impact statement has been completed. The EIS is not anticipated to be completed until 2013, so the future of GE sugarbeets still remains to be seen.)

What all of this means is that virtually every processed food you encounter at your local supermarket that does not bear the "100% USDA Organic" label is likely to contain at least one GE component—corn (most commonly in the form of corn syrup), canola or cottonseed oil, and any kind of soy or soy derivative, and potentially anything containing sugar from sugarbeet too...

Germany Still Worries about Contamination from Genetically Engineered Imports

Last year, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) also deregulated genetically engineered alfalfa in the U.S., which is a perennial crop commonly used in cattle feed. This will undoubtedly end up contaminating even organic animal products as alfalfa is a perennial crop that can easily spread and end up in organic alfalfa fields...

In the video above, Germany expresses similar concerns, stating there's already a huge problem with contaminated animal products. Milk, meat, and eggs get contaminated by imported feed containing genetically engineered components. While GE feed is not allowed, the GE content is oftentimes not reported on the label, and therefore ends up being used unwittingly. There, they have realized that coexistence does not work. It cannot work, because gene technology completely takes over. This then makes it impossible to grow organics... a fact that American regulators have still refused to acknowledge or accept.

Most of Europe Breaking Free of Biotech Threat

Last year, Mexico denied Monsanto's request to expand a pilot planting project in the northern part of the country for fear that the genetically modified variety might cross-contaminate with other native species, which are crucial to Mexico. As explained by GMwatch.orgvi:

"Diversity is important because each strain has not only a distinct look and flavor, but also certain characteristics that make it more likely to survive in given conditions. If only one type of corn existed, it would not be able to be grown in all parts of Mexico, as each part has differing temperature and rainfall."

A couple of months later, in March of last year, Hungary introduced a new regulation stating all seeds must be tested for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) before being accepted into the Hungarian market. When GE seeds were found to have been inadvertently planted, it led to the destruction of nearly 1,000 acres of maize, to prevent cross-contamination to other fields.

But cross-contamination and destruction of biodiversity is not the only threat posed by genetically engineered crops. Both the altered plant itself and the herbicides used on them have been shown to pose profound risks to environmental, animal, and human health.

GE-Triggered Superweeds and Superpests

When the land is doused with a single herbicide for years on end, the ecosystem adapts. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, and has been used in massive quantities on all Roundup-ready crops since their inception. As a result, glyphosate-resistant "superweeds" are getting out of control, driving out their non-resistant counterparts.

An estimated 130 different types of weeds spanning 40 U.S. states and 15 million acres are now resistant to the herbicide, and these superweeds are spreading at a rapid pace. Extremely hardy Roundup-resistant weeds are now boosting costs and cutting crop yields for farmers across the United States. Compounding the problem is that farmers are resorting to ever higher amounts of herbicides and more toxic varieties in an effort to keep these superweeds in check, but all that does is create ever increasing resistance.

The same goes for crops genetically engineered to control certain pests, such as the Bt cotton sold under the trade name "Bollgard" in India. It was designed to control the Bollworm, but today, the insect has become resistant to the Bt cotton.

Bt crops appear particularly prone to create "super pests" as they contain added genes for Bt toxins that allow the plants to produce their own insecticides. (This Bt toxin, by the way, has now been found circulating in the blood of pregnant women and fetuses.) Because the plants release the toxin continuously, pests can evolve resistance to it. Making matters worse, other beneficial insects like bees and Monarch butterflies may be negatively impacted by the massive use of toxic chemicals.

Potential Health Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods

Last but certainly not least are the many potential hazards to animal and human health. Although Monsanto, the world leader in GE seeds, insists that genetically engineered foods are no different from conventional varieties, the research tells of a different reality. Here is just a sampling of the unsavory findings associated with GM foods:
GM peas caused lung damage in mice Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce
GM potatoes may cause cancer in rats Male mice fed GM soy had damaged young sperm cells
Bacteria in your gut can take up DNA from GM food The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning
GM foods lead to significant organ disruptions in rats and mice, specifically the kidney, liver, heart and spleen Several U.S. farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties
Bt corn caused a wide variety of immune responses in mice, commonly associated with diseases such as arthritis, Lou Gehrig's disease, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bowel disease Investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products

Why We MUST Insist on Mandatory Labeling of GM Foods

Mandatory labeling may be the only way to stop the proliferation of genetically engineered foods in the U.S. because while biotech giants like BASF and Monsanto are being driven out of most parts of Europe, many U.S. states are actually passing legislation that protects the use of genetically engineered seeds and allows for unabated expansion! At present, no less than 14 states have passed such legislation. Michigan's Senate Bill 777vii, if passed, would make that 15. The Michigan bill would prevent anti-GMO laws, and would remove "any authority local governments may have to adopt and enforce ordinances that prohibit or regulate the labeling, sale, storage, transportation, distribution, use, or planting of agricultural, vegetable, flower or forest tree seeds."

While legislation like this sounds like crazy nonsense to most people, such bills are essentially bought and paid for through the millions of dollars Monsanto and other biotech companies spend lobbying the U.S. government each year. In the first quarter of 2011 alone, Monsanto spent $1.4 million on lobbying the federal government -- a drop from a year earlier, when they spent $2.5 million during the same quarter.

As mentioned earlier, their efforts of persuasion are clearly made infinitely easier by the fact that an ever growing list of former Monsanto employees are now in positions of power within the federal government.

Proof Positive that GMO Labeling WILL Change the Food Industry

Many don't fully appreciate the strategy of seeking to have genetically engineered foods labeled in California. The belief is that large companies would refuse to have dual labeling; one for California and another for the rest of the country. It would be very expensive and a logistical nightmare. So rather than have two labels, they would simply not carry the product, especially if the new label would be the equivalent of a skull and crossbones. This is why we are so committed to this initiative as victory here will likely eliminate genetically engineered foods from the US.

Powerful confirmation of this belief occurred in early 2012 when both Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc. chose to alter one of their soda ingredients as a result of California's labeling requirements for carcinogensviii:

"Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. are changing the way they make the caramel coloring used in their sodas as a result of a California law that mandates drinks containing a certain level of carcinogens bear a cancer warning label. The companies said the changes will be expanded nationally to streamline their manufacturing processes. They've already been made for drinks sold in California."

This is a PERFECT example of the national impact a California GMO labeling mandate can, and no doubt WILL, have. While California is the only state requiring the label to state that the product contains the offending ingredient, these companies are switching their formula for the entire U.S. market, rather than have two different labels. According to USA Today:

"A representative for Coca-Cola, Diana Garza Ciarlante, said the company directed its caramel suppliers to modify their manufacturing processes to reduce the levels of the chemical 4-methylimidazole, which can be formed during the cooking process and as a result may be found in trace amounts in many foods. "While we believe that there is no public health risk that justifies any such change, we did ask our caramel suppliers to take this step so that our products would not be subject to the requirement of a scientifically unfounded warning," Garza-Giarlante said in an email."

Learn More about Genetically Modified (GM) Foods

Due to lack of labeling, many Americans are still unfamiliar with what genetically engineered foods are. We have a plan to change that, and I urge you to participate and to continue learning more about GM foods and helping your friends and family do the same.

Please, print out and use the Non-GMO Shopping Guide created by the Institute for Responsible Technology. Share it with your friends and family, and post it to your social networks. You can also download a free iPhone application, available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.

Your BEST strategy, however, is to simply buy USDA 100% Organic products whenever possible, (as these do not permit GM ingredients) or buy whole fresh produce and meat from local farmers. The majority of the GMO's you're exposed to are via processed foods, so by cooking from scratch with whole foods, you can be sure you're not inadvertently consuming something laced with GM ingredients. When you do purchase processed food, avoid products containing anything related to corn or soy that are not 100 percent organic, as any foods containing these two non-organic ingredients are virtually guaranteed to contain genetically engineered ingredients, as well as toxic herbicide residues.

To learn more about GM foods, I highly recommend the following films and lectures:

* Hidden Dangers in Kid's Meals
* Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No!
* Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods

Important Action Item: Support California's Ballot Initiative to Label GMO's!

In 2007, then-Presidential candidate Obama promised to "immediately" require GM labeling if elected. So far, nothing of the sort has transpired.

Fortunately, 24 U.S. states have (as part of their state governance) something called the Initiative Process, where residents can bring to ballot any law they want enacted, as long as it has sufficient support. California has been busy organizing just such a ballot initiative to get mandatory labeling for genetically engineered foods sold in their state. The proposed law will be on the 2012 ballot. Michigan and Washington are also starting similar campaignsxi.

Since California is the 8th largest economy in the world, a win for the California Initiative would be a huge step forward, and would affect ingredients and labeling nation-wide. A coalition of consumer, public health and environmental organizations, food companies, and individuals has submitted the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act to the State Attorney General. Now, they need 800,000 signatures to get the Act on this year's ballot.

I urge you to get involved and help in any way you can. Be assured that what happens in California will affect the remainder of the U.S. states, so please support this important state initiative, even if you do not live there!

* Whether you live in California or not, please donate money to this historic effort
* Talk to organic producers and stores and ask them to actively support the California Ballot. It may be the only chance we have to label genetically engineered foods.
* Distribute WIDELY the Non-GMO Shopping Guide to help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. Look for products (including organic products) that feature the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal to be sure that at-risk ingredients have been tested for GMO content. You can also download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.
* For timely updates, please join the Organic Consumers Association on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.
* Look for in-depth coverage of the issue at the Institute for Responsible Technology, subscribe to Spilling the Beans, and check out their Facebook or Twitter.

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

Again, on anti-oxidants and inflammation - reducers:

By Dr. Mercola

Bob Capelli is the Vice President of Cyanotech, the largest grower of astaxanthin in the world. Capelli has also co-authored some of the literature on astaxanthin.

Astaxanthin is now thought to be the most powerful antioxidant found in nature.

It is one of the most amazing supplements I have ever learned about. The only one that exceeds it in importance to be taking every day, from my perspective, is vitamin D.

It is one of the most vital supplements I take, and one that I would not want to be without.

Astaxanthin is a derivative of the microalgae Haematoccous pluvialis (it's the part that give salmon and flamingos that eat the algae their orange or pink coloring).

It is produced when the algae's water supply dries up, forcing it to protect itself from ultraviolet radiation. It's the algae's survival mechanism—Astaxanthin serves as a "force field" to protect the algae from lack of nutrition and/or intense sunlight.

As an analogy, the way the algae produces astaxanthin is similar to the way your skin cells produce melanin in response to sun exposure.

The astaxanthin, just like melanin, protects the algae against excess ultraviolet radiation. Interestingly, one of the benefits of astaxanthin is actually its inherent ability to protect you against sunburn.

Astaxanthin Works as an Internal Sunscreen

Initial animal studies in Japan had discovered that by ingesting astaxanthin, mice could stay under UV radiation longer without getting burned or experiencing deleterious damage to their skin.

Cyanotech tested it on human volunteers, and found that taking 4 mg per day for just two weeks statistically increased the amount of time the subjects could stay in the sun without getting burned.

"Astaxanthin absolutely works as an internal sunscreen," Capelli says.

It will not eliminate the risk of sunburn in everyone, because there are many individual factors involved, but it can radically reduce your risk of developing severe sunburn and related skin damage. Getting sunburned not only causes photoaging, it can also cause skin cancers, so you should always take care not to get burned. Capelli recommends taking 4 mg of astaxanthin per day. It takes several weeks for the dose to build up to achieve UV protection, and to help improve your skin's overall moisture balance and elasticity.

Astaxanthin May Boost Athletic Performance

Emerging evidence, and plenty of anecdotal stories, indicate astaxanthin may be a powerful performance booster for athletes.

"There are many endurance athletes that are taking astaxanthin," Capelli says. "A lot of them are just raving about it. They love the stuff.

There was a study about… 10 years ago in Sweden of young men that were training—they [were] doing deep knee bends; as many as they could do until exhaustion. Obviously the control group [was] taking a placebo; they put the experimental group on astaxanthin… a 4 mg dose. After six months, the men working out taking a placebo could do approximately 22 percent more deep knee bends. The ones taking the astaxanthin could do 62 percent more! They were getting stronger three times faster than those taking placebo.

Absolutely, for strength and endurance, it works wonders… Athletes generate a lot of oxidation, a lot of free radicals floating around their bodies from doing these intense workouts. Because it's such an incredibly strong antioxidant, it helps combat those free radicals."

From my point of view, this is exciting because exercise is one of the crucial components for health that I recommend, and astaxanthin appears useful for protecting against injuries and overuse syndromes that can occur when you're exercising on a regular basis. According to Capelli, higher doses, up to 12 mg/day, is typically used by athletes.

As a Powerful Quencher of Inflammation, Astaxanthin is Useful for Many

As an antioxidant, astaxanthin has powerful anti-inflammatory benefits, which makes it useful for a number of diseases associated with inflammation, such as arthritis. However, it's not a magic cure.

"All of the studies we've done point to the same final conclusion that astaxanthin is not going to cure these problems," Capelli admits. "It's not curative. But it will absolutely help with having people feel better and definitely increase mobility and also help to reduce pain.

For example, rheumatoid arthritis is much harder to treat than osteoarthritis. We've done a study on that. Believe it or not, about halfway through the study when the results started kicking in… the people in the treatment group taking astaxanthin… were asking the researcher, "What is this?" A lot of them with rheumatoid arthritis had tried many different things and had not gotten results. With astaxanthin they were getting very good results. It just took about a month or so to kick in.

We've done studies on people with carpal tunnel syndrome—again, very good results. People with tennis elbow actually made their grip strength 93 percent stronger in eight weeks."

Not mistaking astaxanthin for a cure is an important point. However, it can effectively relieve symptoms when taken consistently over several weeks (effects are usually noticeable after about two to four weeks). And in many cases it can do so more effectively than far more expensive and potentially toxic prescription anti-inflammatories and over-the-counter pain killers.

If you have arthritis or any other inflammatory condition, you still need to address the foundational causes, which in many cases can be traced back to your diet, particularly eating too much sugars and grains, which increase your insulin levels and inflammatory prostaglandins. You would also need to assess your fat intake, to make sure you're getting healthful saturated fats and enough essential animal-based omega-3s, for example.

Absorption Rate Can Vary from Person to Person

While most people, about 85 percent, experience benefits from taking astaxanthin, it doesn't work for everyone.

"The reason why, we think, is because many people have a very poor ability to absorb carotenoids (astaxanthin is a carotenoid)," Capelli explains.

"People absorb anywhere from as low as 5 percent of the carotenoids in their diet or in supplements, up to over 90 percent. If your body absorbs 90 percent, you're going to get a great benefit even at 2 to 4 mg a day. But if you're a 5 percent absorber, you might take 12 mg a day and still get almost no benefit."

Another factor to keep in mind is that astaxanthin is a fat soluble supplement. So unless you take it with a small amount of fat, it's not going to absorb well. Butter, coconut oil, or eggs would be ideal complements to ensure optimal absorption.

Other Benefits of Astaxanthin: Eye- and Brain Health

Research has also shown that astaxanthin may be quite beneficial for eye health in general, and age related macular degeneration (ARMD) and cataracts specifically. ARMD is the most common cause of blindness in the United States and most western countries.

Scientists have studied the most common carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and astaxanthin) and compared their respective abilities to protect the retina. But none perform to the degree that astaxanthin does, in terms of potency as a free radical scavenger and permeability across the blood-brain-retina barrier.

"Astaxanthin has been shown, in nine different human clinical studies, to be able to prevent tired eyes… It helps maintain the motor function of your eyes at the highest level, just like in your other muscles… Also, [astaxanthin] protects your eyes from sun damage just like it protects your skin... all the research points to astaxanthin being the champion of the supplements for eye health," Capelli says.

Other eye problems that may benefit from astaxanthin include:

* Glaucoma
* Retinal arterial occlusion
* Cystoid macular edema
* Inflammatory eye diseases (i.e., retinitis, iritis, keratitis, and scleritis)

It also appears to have potent benefits for your brain. In just the last two years, 10 different studies have demonstrated beneficial effects on brain health. For example, studies have shown that astaxanthin may:

* Improve memory in vascular dementia (Hussein 2005)
* Prevent brain damage due to ischemia (Kudo et al 2002 and Oryza Company 2006)

"One animal study in Japan showed that it could potentially actually make rodents smarter," Capelli says. "That has not really been demonstrated in humans yet, but that's kind of an interesting thing, not just for people as they age but for anybody that just wants to have their brain functioning at maximum capacity."

What Makes Astaxanthin so Unique?

There are several different ways to measure antioxidant strength, but no matter which one is used, astaxanthin consistently comes out way above the others. According to Capelli:

"[Against] vitamin E, comparing singlet oxygen quenching, it was 550 times stronger. CoQ10 – 800 times stronger. Vitamin C, in one of the studies – again, this was singlet oxygen quenching – it was 6,000 times stronger. Compared to some other antioxidants like let's say lutein it might be only 10 times stronger, but overall, whatever you're comparing it with, it's consistently well above all the competitors."

Astaxanthin is also unique in that it can protect the entire cell. The astaxanthin molecule is actually in the same family as beta carotene and other carotenoids like lutein and lycopene, yet it's also very different. This difference is due to the shape of the molecule, and the ends of the molecule.

"One end of the astaxanthin molecule [protects] the water soluble part of the cell, and it spans the cell membrane, and the other end [protects] the fat soluble part of the cell. So it can protect the entire cell," Capelli explains.

"Another thing that's really interesting to note is that many good antioxidants, under certain conditions, can change and have the opposite effect and become pro-oxidants. It can actually cause additional oxidation in your body. It can start doing damage. Astaxanthin has been shown in a few different studies never ever to be able to become pro-oxidant. It's never going to hurt you. It's only going to help you."

Salmon is a Good Source of Astaxanthin, But Beware of Farm Raised Variety

"Pretty much anything that is red in color that comes out of the sea has astaxanthin in it," Capelli explains. "So you're looking at shrimp, lobster, crab, of course salmon has the highest concentrations. In salmon it tends to concentrate mostly in the muscles and so the theory is that… that's what gives the salmon this incredible endurance to swim upstream for weeks to spawn. It's in trout as well. Several different [fish] species have it, but again not in big doses.

If you like wild salmon, the species that has the highest amount is called sockeyei, [which is] common around Alaska. If you eat about half to three-quarters of a pound, you're going to get the same amount of astaxanthin that you get in one 4 mg capsule."

Typically, that's too much for most people to be eating in one day, so it may be difficult to reach commonly used therapeutic doses through diet alone. Also keep in mind that the majority of salmon sold in restaurants and your local food store is farm raised, not wild-caught. The problem with farm raised salmon is that the astaxanthin is a highly inferior synthetic version that may have still unknown toxicities.

As for supplements, synthetic astaxanthin has not yet been permitted to be sold for human consumption, so all astaxanthin supplements on the market contain natural astaxanthin.

"Synthetic astaxanthin is produced from petrochemicals," Capelli explains. "It's made in the laboratory in a very elaborate process that turns it from oil into astaxanthin. Frankly, it's a pretty amazing feat that they have figured out how to do this but…it's not natural and [the molecule] has a very different shape.

… The very important difference is that the natural astaxanthin is sterified, which means that on either one or both ends of the molecule there is a fatty acid molecule attached. Again, this is not proven. We don't know why but that's the theory of why it works so much better, because in animal tests that have been done on synthetic versus natural astaxanthin, there has been a remarkable difference in all sorts of things like immunity, disease resistance, growth rates, strength, all things like that.

Also, in a laboratory test on antioxidant strength, the natural astaxanthin from algae was 20 times stronger in free radical elimination than synthetic astaxanthin from petrochemicals. It's really like comparing apples to oranges. They have the same name, astaxanthin, but again, one is very different from the other. They don't even look the same under a microscope."

Final Recommendations

If you decide to give astaxanthin a try, I recommend starting with 2 mg per day, and working your way up to about 4 mg per day, or more if you're an athlete or suffering from chronic inflammation. If you are on a krill oil supplement, which naturally contains astaxanthin, take that into consideration. Different krill products have different concentrations of astaxanthin, so check your label.

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

Exercise affects DNA -- positively:

By Dr. Mercola

New research published in the journal Cell Metabolism shows that when healthy but inactive men and women exercise even briefly, it produces an immediate change in their DNAi.

Although the underlying genetic code in human muscle doesn't change, exercise causes important structural and chemical changes to the DNA molecules within those muscles.

This contraction-induced gene activation, which modifies DNA at precise locations, appears to be early events leading to the genetic reprogramming of muscle for strength, and to the structural and metabolic benefits of exercise.

According to Science Daily:

"The DNA changes in question are known as epigenetic modifications and involve the gain or loss of chemical marks on DNA over and above the familiar sequence of As, Gs, Ts, and Cs.

The new study shows that the DNA within skeletal muscle taken from people after a burst of exercise bears fewer chemical marks (specifically methyl groups) than it did before exercise.

Those changes take place in stretches of DNA that are involved in turning "on" genes important for muscles' adaptation to exercise...

Broadly speaking, the findings offer more evidence that our genomes are much more dynamic than they are often given credit for."

Exercise Changes Your Biochemistry

Previous studies have identified and measured the biochemical changes that occur during exercise and found alterations in more than 20 different metabolitesiii. Some of these compounds help you burn calories and fat, while others help stabilize your blood sugar, among other things.

What all of this tells us is that exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight creates a positive feedback loop. One of the key health benefits of exercise is that it helps normalize your glucose and insulin levels, by optimizing insulin receptor sensitivity. This is perhaps the most important factor for optimizing your overall health and preventing disease of all kinds, from diabetes, to heart disease, to cancer, and everything in between.

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Exercise Boosts Fat Burning in Multiple Ways...

Going back to the featured study, several of the genes affected by an acute bout of exercise are genes involved in fat metabolism. (Demethylation allows genes to more easily make proteins, such as the proteins involved in the breakdown of fat.) Needless to say, exercising in general is an important factor for successful weight management—especially exercises that help you gain muscle. The study suggests that when you exercise, your body almost immediately experiences genetic activation that increases the production of fat-busting proteins.

Now, when it comes to boosting your metabolism, increasing muscle mass, and maximizing fat burning, one type of exercise stands out above all others and that is high intensity interval training. Research has shown that just 20 minutes of high intensity training, two to three times a week, can yield greater results than slow and steady conventional aerobics done five times a week.

It's also a potent "anti-aging" strategy as it will naturally increase your body's production of human growth hormone (HGH).

As you reach your 30s, you enter what's called "somatopause." At this time your levels of HGH begin to drop off quite dramatically, and this is part of what drives your aging process. Your HGH levels decrease naturally as you age, but people in this age group also tend to fall into increasingly sedentary life styles, which further exacerbate matters. Regardless of your age, incorporating high intensity interval exercises—which are an integral part of my Peak Fitness program—can have a dramatic impact on your overall health by improving metabolism and boosting your levels of HGH, also known as "the fitness hormone." Once you regularly participate in these 20 minute exercises about twice a week, most people notice the following benefits:
Decrease in body fat Firmer skin Improved athletic speed and performance
Improved muscle tone Increase in energy and libido Ability to achieve your fitness goals much faster

How to Maximize the Health Benefits of Interval Training

High intensity interval training can be performed with virtually any type of exercise; with or without equipment. You can just as easily perform interval training by walking or running outdoors as you can using a recumbent bike or an elliptical. As mentioned earlier, you only need to do these types of exercises two or three times a week. As a matter of fact, doing it more frequently than that could be counterproductive.

Rather than increasing frequency, focus on making sure you're really pushing yourself as hard as you can during those two or three weekly sessions, because intensity is KEY for reaping all the benefits interval training can offer. You want to raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold. Keep pushing at maximum effort for 20 to 30 seconds, and then rest for 90 seconds. Repeat this cycle for a total of eight repetitions. When you're first starting out, depending on your level of fitness, you may only be able to do two or three repetitions. Just keep working your way up to about eight.

In this video, Phil Campbell and I demonstrate the proper technique.


Here's a summary of what a typical interval routine might look like using an elliptical:

* Warm up for three minutes
* Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should be gasping for breath and feel like you couldn't possibly go on another few seconds. It is better to use lower resistance and higher repetitions to increase your heart rate
* Recover for 90 seconds, still moving, but at slower pace and decreased resistance
* Repeat the high intensity exercise and recovery 7 more times

Exercise is Medicine

"Epigenetic modifications that turn genes on and back off again can be incredibly flexible events. They allow the DNA in our cells to adjust as the environment shifts," Science Daily reports. ""Exercise is medicine," Zierath says, and it seems the means to alter our genomes for better health may be only a jog away."vi

I couldn't agree more, and I've often likened exercise to medicine that needs to be taken as prescribed, meaning in the appropriate frequency and amount. I look forward to the day when every doctor will hand out a prescription for exercise before deciding on a drug. But there's no reason to wait; I urge you to take control of your own health and implement a comprehensive exercise program sooner rather than later, if you haven't started already.

There are three important variables to keep in mind when exercising:

* Length of time
* Frequency
* Intensity

As mentioned earlier, high intensity interval exercises accomplish greater benefits in a fraction of the time compared to slow, endurance-type exercises like jogging. The frequency is also reduced by about half. However, while interval training is one of the most effective types of exercise there is, you still want to incorporate other types of exercise to reap all the health benefits exercise has to offer. Another key to success is variety. Otherwise, your body will quickly adapt to your program. Whenever exercise becomes easy to complete, it's a sign you need to increase the intensity and/or give your body a new challenge.

So when you're planning your exercise routine, make sure it incorporates the following types of exercise:

1. Aerobic: Jogging, using an elliptical machine, and walking fast are all examples of aerobic exercise. As you get your heart pumping, the amount of oxygen in your blood improves, and endorphins, which act as natural painkillers, increase. Meanwhile, aerobic exercise activates your immune system, helps your heart pump blood more efficiently, and increases your stamina over time.
2. Interval (Anaerobic) Training: Again, this is when you alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods.
3. Strength Training: Rounding out your exercise program with a 1-set strength training routine will ensure that you're really optimizing the possible health benefits of a regular exercise program.

You can also "up" the intensity by slowing it down. For more information about using super slow weight training as a form of high intensity interval exercise, please see my interview with Dr. Doug McGuff.
4. Core Exercises: Your body has 29 core muscles located mostly in your back, abdomen and pelvis. This group of muscles provides the foundation for movement throughout your entire body, and strengthening them can help protect and support your back, make your spine and body less prone to injury and help you gain greater balance and stability. You need enough repetitions to exhaust your muscles. The weight should be heavy enough that this can be done in fewer than 12 repetitions, yet light enough to do a minimum of four repetitions. It is also important NOT to exercise the same muscle groups every day. They need at least two days of rest to recover, repair and rebuild.

Exercise programs like Pilates and yoga are also great for strengthening your core muscles, as are specific exercises you can learn from a personal trainer.

Stretching: My favorite type of stretching is active isolated stretches developed by Aaron Mattes. With Active Isolated Stretching, you hold each stretch for only two seconds, which works with your body's natural physiological makeup to improve circulation and increase the elasticity of muscle joints. This technique also allows your body to repair itself and prepare for daily activity. You can also use devices like the Power Plate to help you stretch.

References:

* i Cell MetabolismMarch 7, 2012: 15(3);405-411
* ii Science Daily March 6, 2012
* iii Science Translational Medicine May 26, 2010; 2(33):33ra37
* iv Unlock Your Muscle Gene by Ori Hofmekler
* v The Journal of Pain March 2007: 8(3); 237-243
* vi Science Daily March 6, 2012

[Thomascaptain of 1,000]

Been doing sprint 8s on my bicycle. Four times in the last ten days. Brutal but effective. I thought doing them on the bike would be less likely to cause injury. I 'll try running in a couple weeks. Already lost five pounds with no change in diet.

[DrJonescaptain of 1,000]

Been doing sprint 8s on my bicycle. Four times in the last ten days. Brutal but effective. I thought doing them on the bike would be less likely to cause injury. I 'll try running in a couple weeks. Already lost five pounds with no change in diet.

Five pounds off in ten days?! That's great!

I'm amazed at the effectiveness of a "daily dose" of HGH (human-growth hormone) that evidently is produced INSIDE our wonderful bodies when we exercise in this way.

What I look for is to get my heart-beat up over 120 beats per minute for about 10-15 minutes or so, at LEAST once a day. I'm 62. If you're younger, you should go a bit higher (OK, ask your doctor first). Yesterday, I did this twice, 2 enjoyable sessions with my 25-pound weights. I bought a heart-bpm monitor for myself, wife and son at Big 5. I use the wrist-watch version; works fine and cost me about $19 bucks.

[Thomascaptain of 1,000]

Been doing sprint 8s on my bicycle. Four times in the last ten days. Brutal but effective. I thought doing them on the bike would be less likely to cause injury. I 'll try running in a couple weeks. Already lost five pounds with no change in diet.

Five pounds off in ten days?! That's great!

I'm amazed at the effectiveness of a "daily dose" of HGH (human-growth hormone) that evidently is produced INSIDE our wonderful bodies when we exercise in this way.

What I look for is to get my heart-beat up over 120 beats per minute for about 10-15 minutes or so, at LEAST once a day. I'm 62. If you're younger, you should go a bit higher (OK, ask your doctor first). Yesterday, I did this twice, 2 enjoyable sessions with my 25-pound weights. I bought a heart-bpm monitor for myself, wife and son at Big 5. I use the wrist-watch version; works fine and cost me about $19 bucks.

Thanks Doc. I'm 49 and and in ok shape. I have been weight lifting and some walking and biking but still the weight has crept up a little to high. I have pushed as hard as possibile on the sprint 8s. I could feel something good going on after the first time. I recomend it for anyone who needs to drop a few pounds. Anyone who needs to lose a lot should work up to it gradually.