Grants Health

What is Resistant Starch? Everything You Need to Know About This Healthy Carb

grantshealth — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 04:25:56 +0000

BY: YURI ELKAIM

With anti-carb fever gripping the fitness world in recent years, you’ve likely come to think of starch as a bad word. However, there’s one type of starch that’s actually good for you: a specific type of healthy carbs known as resistant starch.

Surprised?

As a general rule of thumb, most starchy foods are indeed packed with harmful simple carbohydrates. They’re highly processed, highly refined, and don’t offer much fiber.

You may have even heard they spike blood sugar and insulin, potentially putting you at greater risk for diabetes. It’s all true. Avoiding these kinds of starches is one of those nutrition tips that’s absolutely spot on.

Thankfully, science is beginning to see a new side to starches and it all has to do with something called resistant starch.

What is Resistant Starch?

Resistant starch is food that resists normal digestion in the small intestine.

Lined with enzymes and digestive juices designed to break foods up and absorb available nutrients, most foods are digested there.

However, some foods are resistant to the digestive power of the small intestine. These foods are resistant starches. Undigested in the small intestine, these “super” starches actually end up feeding the good bacteria in your large intestine.

To thrive, your large intestine and the bacteria within it must have proper fuel. Short-chain fatty acids—especially one called butyrate —are the preferred fuel for your internal system.

To make butyrate, the large intestine needs starch. But most starch is broken down in the small intestine. So resistant starch—starch which moves past the small intestine and into the large intestine—is vital for overall colon health because it’s one of the sources for the eventual creation of butyrate.

The Discovery of Resistant Starch

Interest into the benefits of starch and resistant starches began several decades ago. Researchers were first studying cancers of the intestines and saw that tribes and populations in East Africa had oddly low rates of bowel cancers.

This was remarkable because the diet of these populations wasn’t high in fiber, which at the time was thought to be the key to warding off bowel cancers.

Instead, the East African diet was composed of very starchy foods like yams, sweet potatoes, corn and bananas. These are all foods that are relatively low in fiber and very high in the carbohydrates that most people now have an urge to stay away from.

It wasn’t just protection against bowel cancer; these East African groups also had good cardiovascular health and low rates of diabetes too!

Researchers knew there had to be something unrelated to fiber which was contributing to their remarkable health and extremely low rates of bowel cancer. The answer: an unusually high starchy food intake.

Fast forward to today, and there is now significant evidence that a diet which includes healthy starch (especially good amounts of resistant starch) can offer up serious health benefits.

The Health Benefits of Resistant Starch

Resistant starch is just too good to pass up. There are numerous health benefits for the entire body and it’s just too easy to not add to the diet. Here are a few of the most important benefits:

1. Stay Full, Longer

Similar to high-fiber or high-protein diets, resistant starch can keep you feeling full for longer. In light of the low-carb diet obsession, you may have been tempted to cut out starchy foods completely, but healthy high-starch foods can actually help you lose weight, cut cravings and boost energy.

Some studies show no effect on after-meal fullness when people eat resistant starch and others have shown a significant increase.

When you look closer at the studies, it’s clear that the difference lies in the source of the starch beinghttp://www.alldayenergydiet.com/ used. Studies which used resistant starch from breads, corn and wheat showed NO increased fullness. However, studies using resistant starches from potatoes and potato starch DID show a significant increase in fullness after eating. (1)

The cool part about this is that you can actually enjoy white potatoes again, assuming they’re prepared properly to enhance their resistant starch. The same goes for white rice.

Here’s what you need to do to get the most bang for your buck (at least from potatoes and rice):

Step 1: Boil the potatoes or white rice, then…
Step 2: Let the potatoes or rice sit in the fridge for several hours to cool.

It’s the cooling that is very important as it allows the resistant starch to expand within the food. So baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, and so forth just won’t cut it. Other highly recommended options include: tubers, unripe bananas, and legumes.

2. Boost Mineral Absorption

Another exciting feature of resistant starch is how it improves absorption of minerals. Vital minerals like calcium and iron are commonly bound up in foods, making it hard for the body to absorb. Also, these are two minerals that are often deficient in a person’s diet.

When starch is fermented by gut bacteria, it creates an environment that allows minerals to be better absorbed. One study involving resistant starch showed just that—a significantly greater absorption of iron and calcium from the large intestine (2).

3. The Bathroom-Related Benefits

As if all of the above aren’t beneficial enough, resistant starch can also improve bowel function.

Bowel irregularity, constipation or diarrhea can often be improved by adding resistant starch to the diet. Remember, resistant starch isn’t broken down by the small intestine, therefore when it passes to the large intestine it serves as food for all of our good gut bacteria.

These bacteria are the key to a healthy digestion (3). They actively prevent diarrhea, cramping and help create soft bulky stools. This makes resistant starch the perfect solution for anyone who has had to set up shop in the bathroom because of dense and hard bowel movements.

4. Cancer Prevention

Possibly the most important reason to add resistant starch to your diet is for possible protection against a deadly enemy: colorectal cancer.

Today, cancers of the bowel are the 3rd most common form of cancer in the world and they’re the 2nd most deadly for men and women in the United States (4).

This is where much of the resistant-starch research has focused—on the effects of resistant starches to improve bowel health, promote good bacteria and ultimately prevent bowel cancers from forming. Results from these studies continue to come back with good news.

These studies look at makeup of gut bacteria after fermenting resistant starches. If bacteria produces abnormal proteins and acids, there’s a bad environment within the large intestine indicates an unhealthy environment. However, if bacteria make normal byproducts and less acid, the bowels are considered protected and well maintained.

Recent studies have found significantly fewer cancer-related proteins and acids in stools after eating resistant starch. There is even some research now showing resistant starch can help reverse a bad gut environment.

This is all promising, because it means there is likely a link between resistant starch consumption and the possible prevention of some colon cancers.

How to Eat Resistant Starch

Unlike the East African diet studied, you don’t have to have a diet completely composed of starchy foods to reap the benefits. There are some simple ways to add resistant starch to your diet. There are also some less-healthy ways. Let’s walk through all the details.

Four Food Sources of Resistant Starch

There are four different sources of resistant starch which are grouped according to their source (5):

Type 1 is found in the fibrous cell walls of grains and seeds.
Type 2 is made up of raw starches—potatoes, green bananas and some legumes.
Type 3 foods get their resistant starch from the cooking then cooling process. This includes sweet potatoes, rice, yams and some whole grain breads.
Type 4 is man-made or chemically produced. This form is typically used by food manufacturers who add it to processed food items.

How to Eat It Right

The best and most convenient way to get resistant starch in the diet is through cooked then cooled potatoes and rice, unripe bananas, beans and legumes, sweet potatoes, yams and tubers. These are all essentially good carbs.

Raw potato starch flour is also one of my favorites. It’s available in many health food stores and can be easily stirred into your morning glass of water or smoothie. Remember, if you’re using raw potato starch that heat will destroy much of its benefit so cooking with it will lessen its power.

Some legumes such as black beans, red lentils, and navy beans have adequate amounts of resistant starch, too. As an added bonus, evidence shows that across all populations, legume intake is strongly associated with living a long disease-free life. (6) So this is just one more reason to include a daily serving of vegan protein-packed beans to your diet.

Simple Ways to Get More Healthy Resistant Starch

Add 1-2 tbsp of raw potato starch in your water or smoothies
Add small amounts of potato starch to thicken puddings and non-dairy yogurts
Mix potato starch to almond or coconut milk beverages
Add slices of green banana to morning smoothies
Incorporate unripe banana slices (they don’t have to be completely green) into fruit salads
Mix at least 1 daily serving of cooked legumes into salads, soups or have as a side

Does Resistant Starch Remain Even After Reheating?

Retrograded RS (cooked and cooled) is maintained during subsequent heating. You can even heat it and cool it once again to create even more RS. So you don’t have to eat it cold, though I would advise against re-heating a cooked and cooled RS source into oblivion. Keep the heat relatively low.

Will Resistant Starch Spike My Blood Sugar?

Let’s address any concern that healthy resistant starch foods (like potatoes and bananas) will spike the blood sugar and lead to energy crashes. This is simply false, mainly because very little starch (and thus sugar) is being absorbed into your bloodstream. Remember, these starches are feeding your gut bacteria, not you!

Sweet potatoes and other tuber varieties are some of the MOST nutrient dense and health promoting foods.

If you’re still a little worried about the amount of carbohydrates and low fiber, here’s a great trick:

When preparing sweet potatoes or yams, boil them instead of baking or frying. A study in 2011 revealed that when potatoes are boiled, rather than baked or fried, the glycemic index (increase in blood sugar after being eating) is cut in half. (7)

The topic of blood sugar and insulin has been one of the most heavily researched areas when it comes to resistant starch. Numerous studies have shown that when resistant starches are added to a meal or consumed for a short time, than a person’s blood sugar is lowered and their level of insulin release is decreased. (8) The body essentially becomes more sensitive to insulin, which is great.

This glucose and insulin lowering effect has been shown with various types of food derived resistant starches and has very promising implications for diabetics.

Furthermore, researchers think that some resistant starches in foods can take a full 5-7 hours to break down after being eaten. This means hours of having a slow and steady release of glucose into the system, which is what the body much prefers.

Should You Add a Resistant Starch Supplement?

Some advocates say that you can easily get large amounts of resistant starch through supplementing. I’m personally going to stick to what most of the research says, which is that healthy carbs—raw potato starch, tubers, legumes and green bananas—are the best sources with the most health promoting outcomes.

The other thing to remember is that if your gut bacteria is slightly messed up, you will likely experience some gas and bloating as you start adding more resistant starch into your diet.

This goes away fairly quickly as the gut bacteria starts to readjust and your gut health improves. If you’re using raw potato starch, start slowly with 1 tablespoon per day and build up to 3-4 tbsp per day for maximum benefits.

Enjoy This Article on Resistant Starch?

You might like The All-Day Energy Diet Community Cookbook. You’ll get 67 delicious, allergen-free meals that take less than 15 minutes to make – for free. Just click the banner below for instant access.

Thanks to Yuri Ekaim for this article.

The post What is Resistant Starch? Everything You Need to Know About This Healthy Carb appeared first on Grants Health.

6 All-Natural Ways To Beat Gout

grantshealth — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 02:52:56 +0000

Gout is something that plagues more and more people every day, and it’s caused from uric acid buildup in the body. I want to go over my top six home gout remedies — all-natural ways to beat gout — but right before that, go over the diet that is crucial to get rid of gout, along with the worst food offenders.

So if you have gout, the first thing you have to do is eliminate the excess sugar and grains in your diet, as well as processed meat. That means you need to kick that sugar addiction, as sugar feeds yeast in the body and conventional grains turn into sugar. Meanwhile, those meats are full of unhealthy hormones and antibiotics, and they’re so acidic to your system. In terms of beverages, it’s important to stay away from alcohol. Diet- and drink-wise, those are the best things you can do right now to eliminate gout symptoms.

In terms of a gout diet, it’s key to begin eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and organic meats. Some of the best foods include bone broth and my Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe.

6 Natural Remedies for Gout

Studies show that many of the dietary items we consume lead to gout as well as other health problems. Changing your diet and lifestyle may be the easy solution to beating gout. One of the first things to do is eliminate certain foods and beverages from your diet to beat gout.

Now here are my top six all-natural gout remedies to get rid of gout for good. If you follow these tips, you can get rid of gout in 24 hours or less. Yes, that fast, you can get rid of gout pain for good.

1. Celery Seed Extract

Step No. 1 is to consume celery seed extract and celery juice. Celery seed extract actually has been shown to decrease uric acid buildup in the body.

Researchers have identified over a dozen different types of antioxidants that are responsible for the benefits of celery — these include such phenolic acids as caffeic acid and ferulic acid, plus flavanols like quercetin. This makes celery useful for treating a wide range of conditions that are made worse by inflammation: joint pain (such as from arthritis), gout, kidney and liver infections, skin disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, and urinary tract infections, just to name a few.

You can buy the supplement or celery seed extract. You can also use a vegetable juicer to produce celery juice or just eat celery throughout the day — all of which are great for getting rid of gout.

2. Black Cherry Juice

The No. 2 home remedy for gout is black cherry juice or cherry juice extract. Treating gout is one of the many health benefits of cherries. A study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism evaluated 633 individuals with gout who were treated with cherry extract over a two-day period. This cherry treatment was associated with a 35 percent lower risk of gout attacks. When cherry intake was combined with allopurinol use, a prescribed medication for gout and kidney stones, the risk of gout attacks was 75 percent lower.

Cherry juice, then, has very similar benefits to celery juice: It reduces inflammation and uric acid buildup in the body. If you just add celery and black cherry juice to your diet, you will see very fast results in getting rid of gout.

3. Nettles

The third thing you can add is nettles. Nettles is a powerful anti-inflammatory phytonutrient, and you can buy it in tea form. A review of commonly used herbal remedies, including nettles, published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, relays the standing of nettles as an anti-inflammatory food. So again, you can buy nettles as a supplement or drink it as a tea, and it’s great for getting rid of gout.

4. Fish Oil

No. 4 on the gout remedies list is fish oil. Now, fish oil doesn’t act as fast as the first two, but over time, fish oil can decrease your risk for gout because one of the health benefits of fish oil is it’s packed with omega-3 fatty acids that reduce disease-causing inflammation in your body.

Since gout is a form of arthritis and fish oil has been proven to be an effective treatment for arthritis, it only makes sense its omega-3 content benefits people with gout.

5. Proteolytic Enzymes

In terms of supplements proteolytic enzymes like benefit-rich bromelain can treat gout as well. Bromelain is found in the core of a pineapple, and it’s a digestive enzyme that’s been shown to help reduce uric acid and inflammation.

A review of gout treatment published in the Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal mentions bromelain, along with many other foods, as part of a gout treatment diet.

6. Magnesium

One other remedy that’s been very beneficial in treating gout is magnesium. Magnesium is an alkaline mineral. That alkaline mineral can also decrease uric acid formation in the body, and studies show magnesium is an effective treatment for gout, particularly acute cases of gout.

If you have signs of magnesium deficiency, you may be susceptible to gout, so it’s a good idea to add magnesium-rich foods or magnesium supplements to your list of natural gout remedies.

If you get rid of the things that I talked about earlier — the excess alcohol, the sugar, the grains, the conventional meats — and if you add in a diet higher in fruits and vegetables along with those six home gout remedies, you will see your gout disapper in 24 hours or less.

The Gout Diet

Gout, also known as gouty arthritis is caused by the buildup of uric acid, a metabolite of protein and can be extremely painful. Gout generally occurs more often in men and second most in post menopausal women.

The excess of uric acid leads to the formation of small crystals of urate (uric acid crystals). Some of these crystal deposits form in the synovial fluid (lubricating fluid around joints) that then cause inflammation and result in this painful condition.

When someone has a gout attack it can be extremely painful in the area of the big toe and signs also include redness and swelling in the joint. Other joints may be affected and the pain can be so intense that even touching the area can be excruciating.

Causes of gout include: a diet high in hydrogenated fats, alcohol, conventional meat and refined carbohydrates. Also having conditions such as insulin resistance, obesity, kidney disease, stress, high blood pressure, and an acidic system can greatly increase the risk of developing gout.

If you want to overcome gout then diet is key. Follow this gout diet for fast relief and do actually address the cause of gout and get rid of it forever.

High-fiber foods – High fiber foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds that are high in fiber which can help reduce uric acid.

Potassium-rich foods – Foods high in potassium like avocado, raw cultured dairy, coconut water, salmon, squash, bananas and apricots can help balance intracellular fluid relieving gout.

Fresh berries and cherries – Berries and especially cherries can help neutralize uric acid.

Wild-caught fish – Omega-3s help reduce inflammation and can help overcome gout pain.

Water – Drink plenty of water, at least 8 oz every 2 hours to flush uric acid out of your system.

You also want to avoid the following foods:

Foods high in purines – Purines are an amino acid that forms uric acid. Foods that have purines include: fatty red meat, shellfish, small fish, mushrooms, organ meats, peas, lentils, and spinach.

Fried foods and hydrogenated oils – Fried foods and hydrogenated oils like soybean, vegetable, corn, and canola oil can aggravate gout.

Sodium – A diet high in sodium can cause tissue swelling and increase gout symptoms.

Alcohol – Increases uric acid and toxicity of the liver.

Refined carbohydrates – Sugar and other refined carbohydrates can make insulin resistance and gout worse.

Gout Causes

Gout is said to be caused by lifestyle and eating choices. Today the staple American diet has shifted to one full of highly processed foods. Many of these highly processed foods contain high fructose corn syrup which is believed to be a leading contributor to gout.

In fact, a recent study showed that men who consumed two or more sugary drinks per day were 85% more likely to develop gout than those men who only consumed less than one sugary beverage a month. This high sugar intake increases the levels of uric acid in the body. High levels of sugar in the body lead to a number of serious health problems including gout.

It’s also been shown that half of all gout sufferers are obese or overweight. And again, a high intake of sugar is shown to lead to obesity.

Another cause of gout is consuming too many high purine foods. These are organ meats, anchovies, herring, asparagus, and even mushrooms. Eating less high purine foods is one way to try to ward off gout.

Conventional Gout Treatment

There are pharmaceuticals that are used to treat gout but I urge you to use these as a last resort. Some of the pharmaceuticals used to treat gout are NSAIDs, Colchicine, corticosteroids, Corticotropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone),Febuxostat, Aloprim, and Zyloprim.

Not only do many of these drugs not work for gout sufferers the side effects of these toxic pharmaceuticals are not worth the risk. This is especially true when diet and lifestyle changes can end or successfully help to manage gout.

Some of the side effects of these dangerous pharmaceuticals are the following:

Side Effects of Pharmaceuticals Used to Treat Gout

Nausea

Vomiting

Diarrhea

Constipation

Rash

Dizziness

Headaches

Drowsiness

Fluid retention

Shortness of breath

Kidney failure

Liver failure

When there are all natural alternatives available to you to fight off gout I suggest you try these methods before you opt for pharmaceuticals and their dangerous side effects.

Additional Tips for Treating Gout Naturally

Studies show that many of the dietary items we consume lead to gout as well as other health problems. Changing your diet and lifestyle may be the easy solution to beating gout. One of the first things to do is eliminate certain foods and beverages from your diet to beat gout.

1. Eliminate or reduce sugar intake

As many studies are now illustrating, gout is common in people with excessive sugar intake, especially high fructose corn syrup (HFCS.) It’s wise to read the labels of all your food and drinks. If you find HFCS then eliminate that from your diet. In addition, look for sugar added under the guise of other common names for sugar; look for ‘cose’ at the end of words and these are probably types of sugar you don’t want to be consuming.

2. Eliminate grains

Grains in the body are converted to sugars so again you want to limit or avoid grains altogether. They are also very inflammatory to your body.

3. Limit alcohol consumption

Again, alcohol becomes sugar once ingested so eliminate this completely unless you have a healthy body already. Any substance that will be converted to one or another type of sugar by the body should be avoided at all costs. In order to get your uric acid levels down you must consistently avoid sugar in your diet.

4. Eliminate soda and diet soda

Soda and diet sodas are loaded with sweeteners either natural or artificial. It’s vital to eliminate them from your diet altogether if you want to be gout-free. Remember the study I mentioned earlier in which just two to three sweet beverages a week increased men’s chance of getting gout by a whopping 85%.

5. Consume cherries and strawberries daily

In order to combat the inflammation try adding fresh, organic cherries and strawberries to your diet. Cherries are rich in anthocyanicns and bioflavonoids both which help to relieve and prevent arthritis. In addition, both are high in antioxidants which will help to fight off free radical damage.

6. Exercise

Since obesity is linked to gout, it’s a good idea to exercise regularly if you’re trying to relieve gout from your life. Include burst training and weight training to maximize your health benefits from exercise. Exercise should be a part of your life no matter if you have gout or not. Burst Training is the best way to get in shape and keep your body healthy. Click here for my burst workout ideas.

As with many health problems there are all natural treatment methods that often involve lifestyle changes that should take place before you opt for pharmaceuticals or other methods. The same is true for gout. Try these solutions and live an overall healthy lifestyle and you’ll be pain free from gout in no time.

If you want to learn more natural remedies and natural cures, subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Thanks to Dr Axe for this article. Visit his site for more information.

The post 6 All-Natural Ways To Beat Gout appeared first on Grants Health.

Tart Cherry – The Science of Using Cherries For Gout

grantshealth — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 02:25:55 +0000

Cherries, and the anthocyanins they contain, may play an important role in maintaining a healthy uric acid balance. Read on to learn more about this natural solution to gout.

BECOME A BELIEVER IN TART CHERRY FOR GOUT

Round, red, and delicious, tart cherries are stars of the summer season. But did you know they also provide powerful nutrients for fighting pain and inflammation associated with gout?

TERRY’S BOTTOM LINE:

TERRY’S BOTTOM LINE: With gout on the rise, many people are looking for ways to relieve the pain and inflammation the disease brings about. While conventional approaches can’t seem to address the problem effectively, tart cherries can. This amazing fruit will:

Relieve the symptoms of gout

Stop pain, swelling, and inflammation

Reduce the number of gout attacks

Normalize uric acid levels

Prevent oxidative damage

It usually starts something like this: It’s the middle of the night, and you’re woken from a sound sleep by a throbbing pain in your big toe. You feel like someone has your toe in a vice grip. It’s red and swollen and even feels warm to the touch. The pain is intense for a day or two and then slowly subsides after a week or more. You’ve got gout.

Gout is caused by a buildup of uric acid in the blood. The uric acid crystallizes in the joint— often the big toe—and causes severe pain and inflammation. These are not mild aches and discomfort. Many who suffer from gout tell me that the pain is excruciating, making it hard to walk or even dress themselves. Some have resorted to sleeping with a box around their foot because they can’t stand to have even a bed sheet touch their toe.

Uric acid is a chemical your body creates when it breaks down purines, a substance found naturally in the body and concentrated in some foods, like red meat, beans, and alcohol. When your body can’t rid itself of uric acid, it builds up and forms sharp crystal deposits. These deposits often accumulate in joints, including the joint of the big toe, ankles, heels, wrists, and fingers. That’s gout.

Gout is on the Rise
They call it “The Rich Man’s Disease” because, historically, only wealthy people could afford to eat the rich foods associated with gout attacks. But today, we are blessed—and cursed—with an overabundance of dietary choices that contribute to the increasing number of people who suffer from gout.

Sadly, once you’ve had one gout attack, it’s likely you’ll have more, and people with chronic gout may have attacks, sometimes called flares, as often as every month. There is no cure for gout, and standard medical treatment, like heavy-duty NSAIDs (such as Celebrex), corticosteroids, or uric acid-lowering drugs, can cause significant side effects. There has to be a better way to combat gout. And, of course, there is. It’s cherries.

Cherries: They’re Not Just for Pie Anymore
Every summer people in my home state of Wisconsin flock to Door County, where the local cherry crop means roadside stands sell all things cherry—even cherry beer and wine. Many people make it a tradition to go to a “pick-your-own” orchard. What many people don’t know is that this little red fruit is an antioxidant powerhouse that researchers are investigating for their ability to prevent or treat injuries and diseases.

Cherries contain anthocyanins-flavonoids that give cherries their deep red color. Studies show that anthocyanins reduce DNA-damaging inflammatory markers and oxidative stress and promote the production of healthy cells. Scientific studies of tart cherry suggest that it may be beneficial for a wide variety of health concerns, including relieving gout symptoms, improving muscle recovery following exercise, improving sleep quality, stopping chronic inflammation, and reducing the risks of type 2 diabetes—just to name a few.

In all these studies, side effects were minimal or non-existent. This makes cherries a great alternative to pharmaceutical treatments with pages of serious warnings attached to them.

The Science of Tart Cherries

We’ve known about using cherries to treat gout for a long time. Finally, the science is starting to catch up, and recent studies indicate that tart cherry is highly effective as a treatment for gout.

The first clinical study I found on tart cherries that mentioned uric acid was a 2009 study that examined cherry juice in marathon runners. In this study, runners were given cherry juice or placebo daily for five days before a marathon, the day of, and 48 hours after the marathon. The researchers measured muscle damage, inflammatory markers (including uric acid levels), and oxidative stress before and after the race. They reported faster strength recovery and reduced inflammatory markers in the cherry group. Of particular note to those who suffer from gout, uric acid levels stayed virtually the same in the cherry group, but increased post-race in the placebo group.

A 2012 article published in Arthritis summarized three studies that investigated the use of tart cherries as a gout treatment. The in vitrostudy found tart cherry juice concentrate was able to inhibit inflammatory markers in cells, demonstrating tart cherry’s potent anti-inflammatory effects. The researchers theorized that it may be these anti-inflammatory effects that make tart cherry work so well for gout.

Tart Cherry and Black Cherry Extracts – It Works!

Another article also presented the findings of a retrospective study of 24 patients that took cherry juice concentrate for at least four months. In this study, the researchers compared those taking an uric acid lowering medication from those who didn’t. The 11 people in the study who didn’t use the prescription drug were not randomized—they were people who had contraindications, intolerance to the drug, or were not getting any results from the drug treatment. The cherry juice concentrate reduced gout flares in both groups from nearly seven per year to about two per year. Fifty percent of all patients were flare-free at four to six months. It is especially important to note that the people who did not benefit from the uric acid reducing drug still benefited greatly from the use of cherry juice.

A 2014 clinical study examined the effects of tart cherry juice on plasma levels of uric acid and inflammatory markers in healthy volunteers. The researchers found that those who drank 30 or 60 ml of cherry juice for two days had reduced levels of uric acid and C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker, in their blood, regardless of the tart cherry dose. Uric acid output in urine samples was increased, suggesting that tart cherry helps the body process excess uric acid. This is very important in gout because excessive uric acid buildup triggers the excruciating pain and deformities.

Juice vs. Supplement
You may have noticed that a lot of the research on cherries involves cherry juice or cherry juice concentrate. So why shouldn’t you just drink juice? The problem is sugar. Tart cherries are quite sour, and tart cherry juice contains a lot of added sugar to make it palatable. In fact, a cherry juice concentrate used in one of the clinical studies includes 80 calories and 15 grams of sugar in a one-ounce serving. That’s a lot of sugar in two tablespoons of concentrate.

We know that dietary sugar causes inflammation, which is already a problem with gout, so why would you want to add to your sugar load? That’s why I recommend adding tart cherry to your regimen in the form of a supplement. Taking a capsule or two is so much more convenient, and a quality capsule will not have added sugar.

Why Freeze-Drying is Best
Drying is an ancient process used to preserve food. Unfortunately, the nutritional content in foods can be drastically altered or reduced when dried conventionally. This is why freeze-dried cherry fruit is superior. The absence of water combined with the low process temperature stops cellular deterioration, enzymatic activity, and microbiological reactions.

Freeze-drying retains the ideal phytochemical content, enzymatic activity, nutritional value, and bioactivity of fresh cherries. Unfortunately, freeze-drying is expensive, but this is definitely an example of getting what you pay for. That’s why I recommend supplements that use freeze-dried cherries instead of cherries that have been dried by conventional hot air-drying, spray-drying, or sun-drying.

A Dramatic Difference
Tart cherry is the natural choice to stop the pain and inflammation of gout and reduce the number of gout attacks. It also keeps your joints flexible, your blood sugar levels stable, and your arteries healthy. I strongly encourage you to make changes to your daily food choices, drink 8 glasses of water a day, and add a quality freeze-dried tart cherry supplement to your daily regimen. You’ll notice a dramatic difference!

To help stop the pain and inflammation of gout and reduce the number of gout attacks, I recommend taking 750-1,500 mg of tart cherry (Prunus cerasus) twice daily.

Thanks to Terry Lemerond at Terrytalksnutrition.com for this article

Terry Lemerond has 45 years of experience in the health food industry as an owner of several health food stores and dietary supplement manufacturing companies. He has researched and developed over 400 nutritional and botanical formulations that continue to be top selling products on the market today.

The post Tart Cherry – The Science of Using Cherries For Gout appeared first on Grants Health.

Celery Seed Extract for Blood Pressure and Gout

grantshealth — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 16:07:14 +0000

Celery and Celery Seed Extract Are Powerful, Proven Healers

Celery is a member of the umbelliferous family, along with carrots, parsley and fennel. The celery we see today originated from wild celery native to the Mediterranean, where its seeds were once highly valued as a medicine. As with many other folk remedies, modern research is upholding the medicinal value of this common vegetable. In particular, scientists are evaluating the most powerful healing factor of celery—a compound known as 3-nbutylphthalide, or 3nB.

What is 3nB?

3nB is unique to celery and is responsible for the vegetable’s characteristic flavor and odor. It was discovered as the active component of celery by researchers who were seeking to explain some of the vegetable’s medicinal effects. 3nB first drew significant scientific attention when researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center identified it as the component responsible for celery’s blood pressure–lowering effect.

The research was prompted by one of the researcher’s fathers who, after eating a quarter-pound of celery every day for a week, observed his blood pressure dropped from 158 over 96 to a normal reading of 118 over 82. Subsequent animal studies found that a very small amount of 3nB lowered blood pressure by 12 to 14 percent, and also reduced cholesterol by about 7 percent.

How Does 3nB Lower Blood Pressure?

The blood pressure–lowering effect of 3nB appears to be a result of several factors.

Blood pressure refers to the force with which your blood flows through your vessels. High blood pressure is usually the result of too much fluid in your blood and inflexible or resistant blood vessels. Sodium (salt) retention leads to increased fluid volume in the blood, while hardening of the arteries and the hormones released during stress lead to loss of flexibility or constriction of blood vessels. If you put your thumb over a garden hose, the pressure against your thumb and the resultant pressure of the flow of water out of the hose can be reduced by either turning down the faucet (reducing the fluid volume) or by letting more water flow out of the hose (dilating the vessel).

To treat high blood pressure, doctors usually prescribe diuretics (water pills) to reduce the fluid volume; and vasodilators to relax the arteries to reduce the resistance of blood flow, or beta-blockers to turn down the pumping action of the heart. 3nB appears to help lower blood pressure by acting both as a diuretic and vasodilator, as well as working in a manner similar to drugs known as calcium-channel blockers. 3nB has also been shown in animal and test-tube studies to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the formation of arterial plaque. This effect may increase the elasticity of the blood vessels and thus lead to lower blood pressure readings. In addition, 3nB appears to have some effect on areas and systems of the brain that control vascular resistance.

The benefit of 3nB in treating high blood pressure is its apparent safety and the fact that it has a very unusual mechanism of action as a diuretic. Most diuretics change the ratio of sodium to potassium in the blood and as a result, dangerous side effects can occur due to either too much potassium or sodium. In contrast, 3nB acts as a diuretic but does not alter the ratio of sodium to potassium in the blood.

Research on the blood pressure–lowering effect of celery and celery seed extracts is quite preliminary, but I think it is certainly worth giving them a try, as some people have noted significant reductions in their blood pressure. What research will probably show is that some people with high blood pressure will respond to celery seed extract while others will not. This occurrence is not unusual—physicians will tell you there is a similar phenomenon with conventional drugs used in high blood pressure.

Another real advantage of celery seed extract over conventional drugs used in high blood pressure is that the drugs lower blood flow to the brain. While this effect is helpful in reducing the likelihood of stroke, it often makes people feel tired, depressed, dizzy and forgetful. Celery seed extract, on the other hand, has been shown in animal studies to not only help prevent stroke, but also to improve blood flow and protect the brain and enhance brain energy production in a manner similar to Ginkgo biloba extract. Celery seed extract has also produced dramatic recovery in neurological and brain function in animals in studies that simulate a stroke. In addition, it has been shown to significantly increase life spans in animals.

What Other Effects Have Been Noted With 3nB?

3nB has shown tremendous promise in animal studies as an anticancer phytonutrient and detoxification aid, but its use as a pain reliever in arthritis, fibromyalgia and gout is getting most of the attention.

A celery seed extract standardized to contain 85 percent 3nB has been evaluated in the treatment of rheumatism—the general term used for arthritic and muscular aches and pain. In this study, 3nB’s efficacy was evaluated by well-established clinical protocols used to measure the effectiveness of conventional drugs used in arthritis and muscular pain. These protocols allow objective measures of clinical pain that can be assessed statistically and for individual comparisons. Due to the chronic, fluctuating nature of rheumatism, the study compared results with and without 3nB supplementation.

During the 12-week study, 15 subjects suffering from either osteoarthritis, osteoporosis or gout received 34 mg of the celery seed extract twice daily. Each subject’s pain had been present for approximately 10 years in a remittent or continual form, and it led to a lack of joint mobility and pain that prevented the carrying out of household duties, hobbies and other activities.

The results of the study were extremely positive and quite statistically significant. The chance that these results were due to a placebo effect is less than one in 1000. After three weeks of taking the celery seed extract, the average reduction in subjects’ pain scores was 68 percent, with some subjects experiencing 100 percent relief from pain. Most subjects achieved maximum benefit after six weeks of use, although some did notice improvements the longer the extract was used. Detailed blood chemistry as well as clinical evaluation of the subjects did not turn up any side effects. Many subjects noticed the celery seed extract produced a diuretic effect, but no changes were noted in their sodium and potassium balances.

Based on the positive results in this small pilot study, a larger 70-patient study was conducted. Subjects received 75 mg of the celery seed extract twice daily for three weeks. At this higher dosage, subjects reported even better results than in the pilot study. Statistically and clinically significant reductions were noted in pain scores, mobility and quality of life. Again, no side effects were noted other than the diuretic effect with no changes in the sodium and potassium balance. The celery seed extract appeared to be particularly helpful for sufferers of gout, as 3nB appears to lower the production of the uric acid that causes gout by inhibiting the enzyme xanthine oxidase.

What is the Proper Dosage?

More than 100,000 people in Australia have now used this proprietary celery seed extract standardized at 85 percent 3nB without any reports of side effects. The current dosage recommendations, based on the information available from trials as well as clinical experience, are:

For the relief of joint and muscle pain (including pain due to osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia): One tablet two to three times daily.

For gout: Two tablets twice daily. NOTE: Initial blood uric acid measurements may increase in people with gout as uric acid crystals begin to dissolve.

Study results indicate that as long as the celery seed extract is used, it keeps pain at bay. But if it is stopped, the pain tends to recur.

Thanks to DoctorMurray.com for this article. You can read the entire article and references here:

The post Celery Seed Extract for Blood Pressure and Gout appeared first on Grants Health.

Understanding The Signs And Symptoms Of Adrenal Insufficiency

grantshealth — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 20:30:56 +0000

Adrenal insufficiency happens when the adrenal glands of the body are unable to produce normal quantities of adrenal hormones. This condition normally categorized into two types:

Primary adrenal insufficiency – When the condition is caused by a damage or impairment in the adrenal glands, it is classified as primary insufficiency. In most cases, the cause is autoimmune, and this is termed as Addison’s disease.
Secondary adrenal insufficiency – When the condition is instead caused by the impairment of the hypothalamus or pituitary gland, the insufficiency is secondary.

Whether primary or secondary, this study reminds us that it’s important to know how to spot the condition, because proper and immediate treatment could be life-saving.

Signs to Watch Out For

The National Endocrine and Metabolic Disease Information Service mentions a number of signs and symptoms that people need to watch out for, and among them are chronic fatigue, appetite loss, weight loss, and muscle weakness. Other symptoms include vomiting, a sudden craving for salty food, irritability, and even hypoglycemia.

It’s worth noting that these symptoms are actually not normally alarming, and this is why it’s actually quite difficult to pinpoint adrenal insufficiency as a condition in its earliest stages. After all, the mentioned symptoms are the same symptoms for a lot of other diseases. Most of all, these symptoms tend to progress very slowly.

The goal is to ensure that adrenal insufficiency doesn’t progress into an adrenal crisis, which is life-threatening and can really cause death when treated too late. Emergency treatment is needed to stop the condition from escalating into an adrenal crisis or worse, death.

Understanding the Causes

As with all diseases, it’s also important to understand why the condition happens in the first place. While Addison’s disease is usually caused by autoimmune disorders, there are also other infections, related diseases, and even medications that could trigger the disease. Sometimes it’s inherited, and sometimes it could even be caused by a number of things such as tuberculosis, which is a disease that’s known to cause damage in the adrenal glands.

Other viral, bacterial, and even fungal infections could also lead to adrenal insufficiency. In some cases, being exposed to the Cytomegalovirus especially when you have a very weak immune system could trigger the condition.

For secondary insufficiency, the condition can be caused by a number of things, especially when there are changes in the pituitary gland. For instance, when pituitary tumors are surgically removed, this could lead to hormonal disorders. A sudden loss of blood flow to the pituitary gland or radiation treatment to neighboring tumors could also be problematic.

Diagnosis and Treatment

While it’s difficult to diagnose adrenal insufficiency especially in the early stages, the condition can be confirmed via hormonal blood and urine tests. These tests determine whether your cortisol levels are too low, and when they are, they usually order imagine studies of your adrenal and pituitary glands.

To treat adrenal insufficiency you need hormones, but in the earlier stages especially, you can also opt for supplements such as Adrenal Boost – known to improve adrenal function and energy.

The post Understanding The Signs And Symptoms Of Adrenal Insufficiency appeared first on Grants Health.

Help Prevent Gout Attacks With These Doctor Tips

grantshealth — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 05:56:13 +0000

What Exactly Is Gout?

Here is an excellent overview of Gout, or gouty arthritis, including some little known tips for prevention and pain relief.

Gout, or gouty arthritis, is believed to be the most painful type of arthritis. Cases of gout are on a decades long upswing, affecting almost 850 out of every 100,000 Americans, mostly men. Gout is caused by a build up of uric acid in the joints. Uric acid is a naturally occurring chemical produced when the body breaks down purines – a type of protein found in the body, and in most foods.

In normal quantities, uric acid is a natural and healthy antioxidant, helping to prevent damage to blood vessels. But an excess of uric acid forms needle sharp crystals that irritate and inflame the cartilage around the joints, usually at the base of the big toe (also called podagra), although it can strike other joints such as the knees or the elbows.

Symptoms of gout include a sudden onset of excruciating pain, swelling, redness, heat and stiffness in the affected joint. Many podagra sufferers cannot even bear the pressure of a sock or even a sheet on their foot during an attack. Gout attacks are usually intermittent, flaring up every few months to every few years, and lasting from a few days to a few weeks. In severe gout, the uric acid can form knobby, chalky lumps in the joints or under the skin called tophi.

Because uric acid results from a breakdown of purines, gout sufferers have long been advised to avoid high purine foods such as red meat, organ meat, fatty fish, high fat dairy products, mushrooms, peas, beans, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus and alcohol (especially beer and red wine).

More recently, a large long-term study demonstrated that some high purine foods that gout sufferers have traditionally been told to avoid, including mushrooms, peas, beans, cauliflower and spinach, are not associated with attacks of gout. The researchers also discovered that eating low fat dairy products can decrease the risk of gout attacks.

According to Dr. Thomas Cowan, misconceptions about gout abound. He says the newer theories about gout recognize that the disease is not simply a result of high-protein or purine intake, but is associated with excessive carbohydrate consumption, particularly refined flour and sugar. This explains the known connections between obesity and gout, and the connection between high uric acid levels and insulin resistance.

We now know it’s not always high levels of uric acid that bring on a gout attack – a rapid rise or drop in uric acid levels, perhaps as a result of a change in diet, can also trigger a flare-up. Dr. Gowan views gout as a problem of the kidneys not being able to excrete enough uric acid to prevent a buildup, rather than simply a matter of excessive protein intake.

He believes gout is better understood as a situation of unbalanced protein intake compared to fat and gelatin intake, pointing out that traditional peoples always balanced protein consumption with the consumption of fat and gelatinous soup broths.

Natural Treatment For Gout

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A 1999 study reported by the world’s largest scientific society, the American Chemical Society, in the Journal of Natural Products showed that consuming about 20 cherries relieved the intense pain and inflammation of a gout attack as effectively as top-selling anti-inflammatory medications like Aspirin and COX-2 inhibitors such as Celebrex. Capsules of cherry concentrate reduced inflammation at 1/10 the dosage of Aspirin.

But when cherry growers began to cite this scientific research, the FDA sent warning letters to 29 companies threatening regulatory action if they didn’t remove the scientific evidence regarding the anti- inflammatory properties of cherries from their websites.

Dr. Wright has developed another unique treatment to manage uric acid and control gout – low-dose lithium combined with high-dose vitamin C. For well over a century, doctors have known that lithium makes uric acid more soluble and less likely to crystallize, and research has shown that vitamin C promotes the excretion of uric acid into the urine.

Dr. Wright recommends 10 to 15 mg of lithium orotate, twice daily, and 2 grams of vitamin C, twice daily. Although most people think of lithium as a drug, it’s actually a mineral – part of the same mineral family as sodium and potassium. This dosage of lithium is unlikely to cause any toxic effects.

But to be on the safe side, Dr. Wright also recommends 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls of flaxseed oil (or another fatty acid) daily, along with 400 IU of vitamin E, to offset any possible negative responses. He also recommends that this regimen be monitored by a doctor who’s familiar with complementary and alternative medicine.

According to Dr. Wright, “Although there are no published studies on this topic, over the years I’ve found the combination of low-dose lithium (10 to 15 milligrams twice daily) and vitamin C (2 grams twice daily) can be very effective in preventing recurrent attacks of gout. Vitamin C significantly reduces serum uric acid levels. Lithium makes uric acid more soluble so it doesn’t crystallize into painful ‘needles’. These two actions combine to significantly reduce gout attacks.”

Other health practitioners also stress the importance of healthy oils to treat gout, including flax oil, coconut oil, fish oil, cod liver oil, or Udo’s Choice Oil Blend. Mainstream and alternative medical professionals emphasize the need to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water or other non-alcoholic beverages daily to help dilute uric acid and flush it from your body.

Making the blood less acidic is said to lessen its ability to hold uric acid. To alkalize your blood and add beneficial magnesium (helpful for a wide variety of ills) to your body, take 1 tablespoon of Bone Support (a nanoparticle-sized blend of key minerals needed for bone and teeth health) 4 times a day (last dose right before bed).

Note: If you cannot afford Bone Support minerals to alkalize, then you can use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) instead. Take 1/2 teaspoon 4 times a day, dissolved in 8 ounces of filtered water (take the last dose right before bed). However, this remedy has a much stronger taste and is not as beneficial, since along with the beneficial minerals (including lots of magnesium), it contains a lot of salt (sodium).

People with appendicitis, heart, kidney or liver disease should not take baking soda. If you take too much baking soda for too long, you can develop a condition called alkalosis, in which the ph of your tissues is elevated.

Another popular natural remedy for the pain and inflammation of gout is Epsom salt. Epsom salt gets its name from the town of Epsom in England, where it is distilled from springs rising in an area where porous chalk hills meet non-porous clay. Epsom salt is composed of magnesium, sulpher and oxygen, and is also known by its chemical name, magnesium sulphate.

Both magnesium and sulphate can be absorbed through the skin, which is the body’s largest organ. Epsom salt’s ability to relax muscles, reduce swelling, relieve pain, fade bruises, draw out toxins and soften skin has made it the primary ingredient in most bath salts. Of special interest to gout patients, Epsom salt also increases the secretion of uric acid through the skin.

Soaking a gout-affected foot in a footbath of warm water and Epsom salt can provide almost immediate relief for many gout sufferers. Add 2 cups of Epsom salt to a standard size bathtub of warm water (or 1 cup to a warm footbath) and soak for 12 to 20 minutes 2 to 3 times a week (more often for foot baths). Some people claim adding 1 cup of vinegar (preferably apple cider) per every 2 cups of Epsom salt enhances its effects as a gout treatment. I like to add 1 ounce of magnesium oil to the bath water (or foot bath) along with the Espsom salt. I get my Epsom salt in bulk at Costco.

You can also make a compress by dissolving 2 cups of Epsom salt in a gallon of warm water, soaking a cloth or towel in it, and wrapping the cloth around the sore joint (usually the big toe). Some people use a thick sock to hold the compress against the effected area. You can also cut the end off an old sock and use it to secure a compress applied to arthritic knees, wrists, and elbows.

Natural Gout Treatment Summary:

Take pure cherry juice concentrate (unsweetened, with no artificial ingredients or preservatives) – 1 teaspoon, twice per day.

Take 2 grams of vitamin C, twice per day to promote uric acid secretion via urine.

Drink at least 8 to 10 8-ounce glasses of non-alcoholic fluids every day to help flush the excess uric acid from your body.

Decrease your intake of refined carbohydrates (grains, sugars, starches) and alcohol.

Increase your intake of “good fats” (organic butter, olive oil, fish oil, coconut oil, flax oil or Udo’s Oil). Dr. Cowan recommends one teaspoon per day of high-vitamin cod liver oil for its rich supply of vitamin A, which counters uric acid buildup and nourishes the kidneys.

Take 400 IU of Vitamin E per day.

Make and drink homemade bone broths (store-bought do not contain the important gelatin). See my blog for broth recipes.

Take one tablespoon of Bone Support 4 times a day (the last dose right before bed). Or substitute with baking soda, but beware of baking soda’s high sodium content.

Add 2 cups of Epsom salt and 1 ounce of magnesium oil to a standard size bathtub of warm water (or 1 cup to a warm footbath) and soak for 12 to 20 minutes 2 to 3 times a week (more often for foot baths).

The cherry juice, dietary changes, Bone Support, magnesium oil and Epsom salt should resolve the underlying causes and relieve your painful gout symptoms. But if they don’t, then try Dr. Wright’s unique lithium treatment, and take 10 to 15 mg of lithium orotate (available at health food stores) twice daily, along with 2 grams of vitamin C.

Thanks to Listentoyourgut.com for this article

The post Help Prevent Gout Attacks With These Doctor Tips appeared first on Grants Health.

Lower Your Blood Pressure By Doing This One Simple Thing

grantshealth — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 21:53:33 +0000

High Fructose levels greatly increase the risk of having high blood pressure

Dr Mercola is board-certified in family medicine and served as the chairman of the family medicine department at St. Alexius Medical Center for five years. He is trained in both traditional and natural medicine.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure is a very serious health concern that can lead to heart disease and increased risk for stroke. The good news is, by optimizing your dietary intake, exercising, and effectively managing your stress, the odds of lowering your blood pressure are greatly in your favor.

If you or someone you love is affected by high blood pressure, then please review and share the guidelines given below. A list of supplementary articles is also included, if you desire further information. Hypertension is actually an easily treated condition, but one that can cause serious damage to your health if ignored.

Your Diet Will Raise or Lower Your Blood Pressure

Are you on a high grain, low fat regimen? If so, I have bad news for you, because this nutritional combination is a prescription for hypertension and can absolutely devastate your health.

Groundbreaking research published in 1998 in the journal Diabetes reported that nearly two-thirds of the test subjects who were insulin resistant (IR) also had high blood pressure, and insulin resistance is directly attributable to a high sugar, high grain diet, especially if accompanied by inadequate exercise. So, chances are that if you have hypertension, you also have poorly controlled blood sugar levels, because these two problems often go hand in hand.

As your insulin level elevates, so does your blood pressure.

As explained by Dr. Rosedale, insulin stores magnesium. If your insulin receptors are blunted and your cells grow resistant to insulin, you can’t store magnesium so it passes out of your body through urination. Magnesium stored in your cells relaxes muscles. If your magnesium level is too low, your blood vessels will constrict rather than relax, which will raise your blood pressure and decrease your energy level. Insulin also affects your blood pressure by causing your body to retain sodium. Sodium retention causes fluid retention. Fluid retention in turn causes high blood pressure and can ultimately lead to congestive heart failure. If your hypertension is the direct result of an out-of-control blood sugar level, then normalizing your blood sugar levels will also lower your blood pressure readings into the healthy range.

Fructose Can Cause Your Blood Pressure to Skyrocket

The first thing you need to do is remove all grains and sugars from your diet, particularly fructose, until both your weight and your blood pressure have normalized. Eating sugars and grains — including any type of bread, pasta, corn, potatoes, or rice — will cause your insulin levels and your blood pressure to remain elevated.

A study¹ published earlier this year discovered that those who consumed 74 grams or more per day of fructose (the equivalent of about 2.5 sugary drinks) had a 77 percent greater risk of having blood pressure levels of 160/100 mmHg. (For comparison, a normal blood pressure reading is below 120/80 mmHg.) Consuming 74 grams or more of fructose daily also increased the risk of a 135/85 blood pressure reading by 26 percent, and 140/90 by 30 percent.

This is significant because the average American now consumes 70 grams of fructose EVERY day!

Fructose breaks down into a variety of waste products that are bad for your body, one being uric acid. Uric acid drives up your blood pressure by inhibiting the nitric oxide in your blood vessels. Nitric oxide helps your vessels maintain their elasticity, so nitric oxide suppression leads to increases in blood pressure. In fact, 17 out of 17 studies demonstrate that elevated uric acid levels lead to hypertension. For more information on the connection between fructose, uric acid, and hypertension, please see this article that explains it in greater depth.

I’ve also interviewed Dr. Richard Johnson, one of the leading medical researchers in this field, about his research into the health dangers of fructose, specifically how fructose causes health problems such as high blood pressure.

My Recommended Fructose Allowance

As a standard recommendation, I strongly advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day. Since the average 12-ounce can of soda contains 40 grams of sugar, at least half of which is fructose, this can of soda ALONE would exceed your daily allotment.

In addition, most people would be wise to also limit the amount of fructose you get from fruit to 15 grams or less, because you’re virtually guaranteed to consume “hidden” sources of fructose (typically in the form of high fructose corn syrup) from most beverages and just about any processed food you eat.

Fifteen grams of fructose is not much — it represents two bananas, one-third cup of raisins, or just two Medjool dates. In his book, The Sugar Fix, Dr. Johnson includes detailed tables showing the fructose content in different foods, and I’ve included a sample of these values in the linked article.

Additional Dietary Considerations

1. Normalize your omega 6:3 ratio

Both omega-3 and omega-6 fats are essential for your health. Most Americans, however, are getting too much omega-6 in their diet and far too little omega-3. Consuming omega-3 fats is one of the best ways to re-sensitize your insulin receptors if you suffer from insulin resistance. Omega-6 fats are found in corn, soy, canola, safflower and sunflower oil. If you’re consuming a lot of these oils, you’ll want to avoid or limit them.

Omega-3 fats are typically found in flaxseed oil, walnut oil and fish, with fish being by far the best source. Unfortunately, most fresh fish today contains dangerously high levels of mercury. Your best bet is to find a safe source of fish, or if this proves too difficult, supplement with a high quality krill oil, which has been found to be 48 times more potent than fish oil.

2. Eliminate caffeine

The connection between caffeine consumption and high blood pressure is not well understood, but there is ample evidence to indicate that if you have hypertension, coffee and other caffeinated drinks and foods can exacerbate your condition. Caffeine is a drug, and while it’s entirely legal and widely consumed, it can have a powerful effect on your individual physiology. If you want to eliminate caffeine from your diet, try to do it gradually over a period of days or even weeks in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms like headaches.

3. Consume Fermented Foods

Differences in gut flora from one person to another appears to have a large effect on whether or not you develop heart disease. If your gut flora is not healthy, your risk is much greater for heart disease, as well as many other chronic health problems. The best way to optimize your gut flora is by including some naturally fermented foods in your diet, such as sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables, yogurt, kefir, and natto. An additional benefit of fermented foods is that some of them are excellent sources of vitamin K2, which is important for preventing arterial plaque buildup and heart disease.

Use Exercise as a Drug

Physical activity is by far one of the most potent “drugs” there is, and its side effects are exactly the kinds you want to experience. Regardless of the primary reason you start an exercise program, your efforts will be rewarded in countless other ways.

A comprehensive exercise regimen, such as my Peak Fitness program, is very important in producing long-term benefits in people with high blood pressure. Nearly every program should incorporate anaerobic sprint or burst-type exercises one to three times a week, as these have been shown to be even more effective than aerobic exercises at reducing your risk of dying from a heart attack.

If you are insulin resistant, you’ll definitely want to include weight training in your exercise program. When you work individual muscle groups, you increase blood flow to those muscles. Good blood flow will increase your insulin sensitivity. Depending on your physical condition when you embark on your exercise program, you may need to consult with a health care professional for help increasing to the intensity required to lower your insulin level. Exercise in combination with the supplement L-arginine has been shown to correct the abnormal functioning of blood vessels seen in people with chronic heart failure. However, I would view this more as a drug approach and not necessarily a supplement you would consider using for optimizing health in general. L-arginine probably works through its interaction with nitric oxide. I would consider it an adjunct, not a replacement, for coenzymeQ10, which is a well-proven therapy for heart failure.

Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels

Believe it or not, the farther you live from the equator, the higher your risk of developing high blood pressure². And did you know that blood pressure is typically higher in winter months than in summer?

Sunlight actually affects blood pressure in several ways:

Sun exposure causes your body to produce vitamin D. Lack of sunlight reduces your vitamin D stores and increases parathyroid hormone production, which increases blood pressure.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to insulin resistance (IR) and Syndrome X (also known as Metabolic Syndrome), a group of health problems that can include IR, elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, obesity, and high blood pressure.

Vitamin D is also a negative inhibitor of your body’s renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which regulates blood pressure. If you’re vitamin D deficient, it can cause inappropriate activation of your RAS, which may lead to hypertension.

Additionally, exposure to UV rays is thought to cause the release of endorphins, chemicals in your brain that produce feelings of euphoria and pain relief. Endorphins naturally relieve stress, and stress management is an important factor in resolving hypertension.

Exposure to appropriate amounts of sunlight is a basic health requirement that extends far beyond blood pressure normalization. Vitamin D helps systems and organs throughout your body to function properly. Ideally, you’ll want to get your vitamin D through safe exposure to sunshine or a safe tanning bed, but vitamin D3 supplements can also be used. Please do NOT let your doctor give you a “prescription” vitamin D. That is vitamin D2, which is synthetic, and not nearly as beneficial as the real vitamin D, which is D3 (cholecalciferol).

Keep in mind that if you decide to supplement with oral vitamin D3, you must carefully monitor your vitamin D blood levels to avoid overdosing. (This is why it is highly preferable to get your vitamin D through sun exposure, since there is virtually no chance of overdosing.)

To learn much more about vitamin D test values and the best labs to get your tests done, please visit the linked page. I also recommend watching my free one-hour vitamin D lecture for more information about the incredible health benefits of this essential nutrient.

Controlling Your Stress is Crucial

http://http://video-cdn.abcnews.com/100916_wn_blood.mp4

One in three American adults have high blood pressure (hypertension), and just as many, if not more, battle emotional and mental stress on a day-to-day basis.

Are these two conditions connected?

You bet. As reported by ABC World News on September 16, 2010³, one cardiologist believes the connection between stress and hypertension is undeniable, yet still does not receive the emphasis it deserves. In response, Dr. Kennedy developed a stress-relieving technique he calls “The 15 Minute Heart Cure,” a set of breathing and creative visualization techniques that can be done anywhere, anytime. The technique is demonstrated in the ABC World News video above. By teaching your body to slow down and relax when stress hits — essentially short-circuiting your physical stress reaction — you can protect your health.

My preferred method is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), an easy to learn, easy to use technique for releasing negative emotions. EFT combines visualization with calm, relaxed breathing, while employing gentle tapping to “reprogram” deeply seated emotional patterns.

Supplements and Other Alternatives

Although certain supplements may be helpful, it’s important to understand they should never be used as a substitute for basic lifestyle choices that treat the real cause of the problem. Using only supplements without modifying your lifestyle is an allopathic approach not very different from using drugs. In most instances, it is not likely to be effective. Once you have made some beneficial changes to your lifestyle, you can then consider some of the following supplements as a way to further enhance your health:

Calcium and magnesium. Daily calcium and magnesium supplementation can be useful in lowering blood pressure, especially if yours is on the high end of high. However, if you avoid sugars and grains and eat for your Nutritional Type (see above), it’s unlikely additional calcium or magnesium supplements will be necessary.

Vitamins C and E. Studies indicate that these vitamins can be helpful in lowering your blood pressure. Ideally, you’ll want to get the right amount of both these nutrients through diet alone. If you decide you need a supplement, make sure to take a natural (not synthetic) form of vitamin E. You can tell what you’re buying by carefully reading the label. Natural vitamin E is always listed as the “d-” form (d-alpha-tocopherol, d-beta-tocopherol, etc.) Synthetic vitamin E is listed as “dl-” forms.

Olive leaf extract. In one 2008 study, supplementing with 1,000 mg of olive leaf extract daily for eight weeks caused a significant dip in both blood pressure and LDL (“bad cholesterol”) in people with borderline hypertension. If you want to incorporate olive leaf extract as a natural adjunct to a nutritionally sound diet, you should look for fresh leaf liquid extracts for maximum synergistic potency. You can also prepare your own olive leaf tea by placing a large teaspoon of dried olive leaves in a tea ball or herb sack. Place it in about two quarts of boiling water and let it steep for three to 10 minutes. The tea should be a medium amber color when done.

Electrical acupuncture. Acupuncture combined with electrical stimulation has shown to temporarily lower elevations in blood pressure in animals by as much as 50 percent. It’s currently undergoing testing in humans and could be a promising alternative treatment for controlling blood pressure.

Breastfeeding. Studies have shown that babies who are breastfed for more than 12 months have a dramatically lower risk of developing hypertension. Researchers believe long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (the same found in fatty fish) in breast milk provide a protective effect for newborns.

Quick tricks. Increasing nitric monoxide in your blood can open constricted blood vessels and lower blood pressure. Methods of increasing the compound include taking a warm bath, breathing in and out through one nostril (close off the other nostril and your mouth), and eating bitter melon, rich in amino acids and vitamin C.

Like obesity, high blood pressure is an epidemic. And like obesity, your best treatment is to evaluate your lifestyle and make the necessary adjustments.

A natural approach to preventing disease and healing yourself when illness strikes is always the better choice. In the case of high blood pressure, lifestyle changes — with particular emphasis on normalizing your insulin levels — can put you on the road to a drug-free, all-natural return to optimal health.

The post Lower Your Blood Pressure By Doing This One Simple Thing appeared first on Grants Health.

Deepak Chopra’s 6 Things You Can Do To Reduce Workplace Stress

grantshealth — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 20:30:41 +0000

Do you have stress at work? You’re in good company.

In CareerCast’s 2017 Job Stress Survey, 82% of workers said their jobs fall on the more stressful end.

Dr. Deepak Chopra may be able to help.

Chopra, the internationally known author, speaker and founder of Jiyo.com (a site on personal and social transformation), has taught everyone from Oprah to average people how to reduce stress. The first thing to remember, Chopra says, is that everyone is different. What works for one person may not work as well for another. That’s why, he says, it’s important to figure out what works for you and concentrate on doing it.

1. Just Breathe

That said, Chopra notes: “I think that one tip that works for anyone is to take a short breathing break. Just sit quietly and pay attention to your breath or do a deep breathing exercise. There are many apps right now that you can use to guide you with breathing exercises.”

2. Be ‘In the Moment’

When you begin doing breathing exercises, they automatically make you be “in the moment.” Often, Chopra says, we are stressed because instead of concentrating on what we’re doing right now, we’re worrying about our jobs and our relationships or feeling threatened in some way. To reduce this stress means to stop these thoughts.

“Breathing is the beginning of what is called ‘mindfulness practice,’ which means to be mindfully aware of any activity you’re engaged in or even just observing yourself as you do the activity so your mind doesn’t wander,” explains Chopra. “If you’re at work, pay attention to what you’re doing — listen to the keys clicking on your computer keyboard or really pay attention to a conversation you’re having or information that you’re reading.”

3. Focus on One Thing at a Time

In our busy world, many people love to multitask because they believe it helps them get more done. According to Chopra, though, multitasking can actually make you feel worse.

“The conscious mind can only do one thing at a time. So when you think you’re multitasking, you’re actually switching from one thing to another very fast,” says Chopra. “For example, if I’m checking my text messages or my email and I’m speaking to you at the same time, I’m actually doing neither. I’m just switching from one to the other, and that messes up neural networks. In fact, it’s the one thing that gets worse with practice. The more you do it, the worse you get.”

So try to do just one thing at a time. It will be much less stressful.

4. Catch Some Zzzzzzz’s

Chopra believes getting enough sleep is another important way to reduce stress at work.

“Get your seven to nine hours, whatever fits you, but a minimum of seven hours of sleep, and you will naturally be less stressed in the morning,” Chopra says. “If you haven’t slept well, you’ll be irritable and even minor stressors will cause you a lot of stress.”

5. Take Time to Laugh

While you may not be able to find laugh time when you’re supposed to be working, try to do it during lunch or before or after work. Chopra recommends finding a five-minute cartoon on YouTube or watching old clips of Candid Camera — whatever is funny to you. “It’s a break when you laugh, and you’ll be surprised how easily it also breaks the stress,” he says. (If you decide to follow this tip while you’re on the job, be sure that what you’re watching is safe for work.)

6. Follow the STOP Rule

Everyday minor stresses are cumulative and can be more harmful to you than a major stress in your life over the long run. So if you’re getting annoyed about something minor at work, Chopra says, remember the STOP rule: S stands for Stop, T means take three breaths and smile, O stands for observe the sensations in your body (which brings you into the moment and P means proceed with awareness.

“It’s like putting on the pause button. If you put this into practice and you get into the habit of doing this, your brain will create networks for repeating it, and you can break the stress cycle,” says Chopra.

Thanks to Michele Wojciechowski, at Forbes.com

The post Deepak Chopra’s 6 Things You Can Do To Reduce Workplace Stress appeared first on Grants Health.

Simple and Natural Ways To Lower Your Blood Sugar

grantshealth — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 18:05:28 +0000

What can you do to lower your blood sugar without taking more medication?

Being diagnosed with Type II diabetes can be a bummer, and it can be a struggle to keep blood sugars under control.

Sometimes, you may find yourself with blood sugar levels that are higher than normal (let’s say around 150, for example), but not excessive enough to necessitate taking more medication. You don’t feel very good with the higher blood sugar, but taking medication can make your blood sugar TOO low.

So what can you do to lower your blood sugar up to 40 points without taking more medication? Try the following these 13 tips and see if you can lower your blood sugar naturally. (See also: How to Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes)

Health Disclaimer: As always, you need to be careful to monitor your sugar levels so as not to become hypoglycemic (that’s when your blood sugar is too low, which is dangerous). Talk to your physician before making any changes to your diet. And remember, these 13 tips for lowering blood sugar may work for many people, but they won’t work for everyone.

Carb Intake

Carbs are basically sugar, and everybody should make an effort to control their intake, especially diabetics.

1. Cut Back the Carbs

Effects seen: Immediate

Your diet is something you want to talk to your physician about, but the simple fact is that a lower carb diet makes it easier to maintain stable blood sugar levels. It’s part of why you’re hearing so much about the Paleo Diet these days.

Carbohydrates are found in starchy foods — root vegetables, grains, rice, and legumes — and all of their derivatives, like bread, pasta, sushi, French fries, mashed yams, and even lentil soup. As someone who has been diabetic for nearly 20 years, I can attest that eating a diet low in carbohydrates, but rich in leafy greens, nuts, dark fruits like berries, and lean meats has had an amazing effect on my blood sugar control. I get all of the nutrients that I need without consuming grains. It takes a lot more effort to choose low-carb snacks over something as delicious as pie, but it makes a huge difference in the way that I feel. (See also: 12 Cheap and Healthy Snacks)

2. Spread Out the Carbs

Effects seen: Immediate

For the carbohydrates that you do eat, try to spread them out evenly throughout the day. For instance, if you really love apples, but eating an entire apple raises your blood sugar, simply eat your apple wedge by wedge over the course of a few hours, rather than all at once. The apple will likely raise your blood sugar, but not in a huge spike. If you can keep your blood sugar levels more steady (without big jumps and drops), you’ll feel less hungry and grumpy.

Move Around

Exercise helps in the short term by immediately lowering blood sugar, and in the long term helps your body burn glucose more efficiently.

3. Get Some Light Exercise

Effects seen: Within 1 hour

Light exercise can lower your blood sugar level, often within minutes. I’m talking about a brisk walk or bicycle ride — not a long run or weight lifting. I’ve personally lowered my blood sugar by 40 points with a 20-minute walk. Light exercise is my go-to technique for lowering my blood sugar. (See also: Ways to Exercise in Under 5 Minutes)

4. Weight Training

Effects seen: Long term

Strength training may temporarily raise your blood sugar, but over time, it will help you build the kind of muscle that can burn glucose more efficiently.

Drink These

Several beverages can bring your blood sugar down quickly, too.

5. Unsweetened Tea

Effects seen: Within 30 minutes

Unsweetened black, white, and green tea can help lower your blood sugar within as little as a half hour. Green tea supplements also have a positive effect on blood sugar levels. (See also: Types and Benefits of Tea)

6. A Glass of Red Wine

Effects seen: Within 1 hour

Many kinds of alcohol have the effect of lowering overall blood sugar levels (beer may have the opposite effect because of the total carbohydrate content). Red wine lowers your blood sugar by preventing the absorption of glucose by the intestines. Keep in mind that alcohol is not an effective long term blood glucose control, because it can contribute to the build-up of liver fat. (See also: Best Wine Openers)

Take a Supplement

Lots of people take supplements for long term health benefits, but these will bring down blood sugar relatively quickly.

7. Cinnamon Pills

Effects seen: Within 1 hour

Cinnamon has been shown to reduce blood sugars, although not effectively in post-menopausal women. In order to take enough cinnamon to lower your blood sugar, take it in capsule form. I take approximately 3,000 mg at each meal.

8. Chromium Picolinate

Effects seen: Within 1 hour

Chromium picolinate has been shown to lower blood sugar levels in Type II diabetics in many studies. Go easy on this particular supplement, though — it can do damage to your liver if you take too much.

You can read the rest of Andrea Karim’s article here:

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An Introduction To Heaven And Earth Qigong

grantshealth — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 17:24:31 +0000

Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong

Bruce Frantzis is perhaps the foremost western practitioner of Wu and Yang style Tai Chi, with direct lineage to some of the great Chinese masters. He is an excellent instructor, and one of the few who actually know what he is talking about and does not hold back the “secrets” that others may be reluctant to share. Check him out

You won’t get a better initial introduction to qigong/chi gung/chi kung or tai chi than Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong.

As the most popular exercise in the Energy Arts Core Qigong Program, Heaven and Earth Qigong provides a real taste of what tai chi can do for you without the time investment tai chi requires. This simple, repetitive exercise is great for getting your chi moving.

Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong is best known for helping to heal back and spine injuries and is especially effective for mitigating repetitive stress injury (RSI) and carpal tunnel.

Heaven and Earth Qigong has the signature internal work of Taoist chi arts yet the exercises are easy enough to keep you from feeling overwhelmed. Heaven and Earth exemplifies how qigong can:

Open up your mind to entirely new possibilities

Challenge you internally and

Keep you from getting bored from practicing.

Value for Time Invested

Circling Hands, the foundational movement of Heaven and Earth Qigong, is easily integrated into the basics of tai chi, especially when done with three basic circles, waist turnings and weight shifts. This allows even raw beginners to understand tai chi to some depth, but in a highly abbreviated, very easily digestible manner.

In terms of investing a little time for a big gain, learning and practicing Circling Hands and Heaven and Earth Qigong have major advantages over other types of qigong and tai chi:

Heaven and Earth can be learned relatively quickly.

Heaven and Earth can be practiced in many different types of situations. You can build it in to any other exercise routine you already have or adopt it as your primary routine.

You can practice in a relatively small amount of space and even modify the movements to practice while sitting.

Less external, more internal content is the powerful combination that makes Heaven and Earth Qigong and Circling Hands so accessible

Heaven and Earth Is a Core Qigong Set

Heaven and Earth Qigong fits in the middle of the learning curve and bridges the beginning and advanced work within the Energy Arts Core Qigong program.

Pulsing the joints, opening/closing and more complex Longevity Breathing techniques are the neigong (internal components) taught.

Without pulsing, practicing the later programs in the Energy Arts Core Qigong System, such as Bend the Bow Qigong, Spiraling Energy Body Qigong and Gods Playing in the Clouds Qigong, will lack the necessary foundation to fully blossom.

The internal material within Heaven and Earth, including opening/closing and the ability to directly move energy along yin and yang meridian lines inside your body, is therefore extremely important.

A Marriage of Yin and Yang

The name “Marriage of Heaven and Earth” comes from the combination of female qualities of yin, associated with the Earth, and the masculine qualities of yang, associated with heaven. The whole universe (heaven and earth) is pulsating with chi (qi) or energy and so is the human body.

Pulsing: The Rhythm of the Universe

Practitioners of both Western and Eastern traditions agree that the spine, joints, organs, blood and indeed all the internal systems of the body pulsate or open and close in a natural rhythm. When the body is healthy this pulsing is even and strong. When the body becomes ill pulsing deteriorates and our bodies and well-being are compromised.

Opening and Closing

The simple movements of Heaven and Earth Qigong are containers for the internal chi work.

You will learn the procedures for opening and closing of the joints (pulsing) without using muscular tension. Opening and closing is the core energetic process of Heaven and Earth Qigong and an important component of the 16 neigong/nei gung/nei kung.

Benefits of Pulsing

Pulsing is good for your health and relaxation. It enables you to:

Increase chi circulation

Improve the circulation of fluids in your joints

Smooth and release physical, mental and emotional blockages

Deeply relax and reduce the effects of stress and tension inside your body

Develop energetic awareness.

Moving Chi

Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong teaches you how to efficiently move chi through the acupuncture meridian lines, joints, muscles and fascia of the body and to coordinate the ascending and descending flows of chi. The ability of the body to pulse and spring with an elastic quality is a fundamental component of neigong energetic practices.

Advanced Energetics

Advanced levels of Heaven and Earth Qigong teach you to energetically open/close the soft and hard tissues of the body and cavities and progress to opening/closing areas of your subtle energy anatomy (channels, points or aura). These internal components can be incorporated into other energetic practices and are essential for advanced Taoist practices.

Read more at energyarts.com

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