 I Love My Arteries: Carotid CareView Animation Cardiovascular Health
I HAVE READ THE Research DONE AT the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel WHO treated patients with carotid artery stenosis using FRESH pomegranate
Juice for three years and the results were nothing short of remarkable.
The carotid arteries are the two large vessels that run along either side of your neck and supply the brain with blood.
Blockage if these arteries is called Stenosis, of these which is simply a narrowing of the blood flow due to a buildup of deposits along the arterial wall.
Carotid artery narrowing often goes unnoticed for years. Individuals with the problem may not experience any symptoms, though some start to complain that they hear a "swishing" noise with each heartbeat, which is due to blood swirling past the blockage.
A more common complaint is eventually this narrowing can lead to a mini stroke. This occurs when small pieces of the fatty deposits lining the arteries break loose and block small blood vessels further up in the brain. The result can be memory loss, temporary blindness, numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness.
Fortunately, the effects are generally temporary, but these events are often just a prelude to a bigger, full-blown serious stroke.
Normal treatment for carotid artery blockage falls into basically two categories. If the blockage is less than 70 percent, the treatment is to keep the blood thin and flowing with aspirin, anticoagulants, and other drugs-and hope nothing "breaks loose." If The blockage is over 70 percent; surgery to clear out the blockage is often the course of action.
Many folk who have blockage of the artery also have narrowing elsewhere in the body, too. It's a systemic problem, so there is likely some degree of blockage in the arteries of the heart and elsewhere.
Reading the research
Reading the research done on pomegranate juice is exciting and may be the perfect treatment for removing the blockages in the carotid arteries.
It seems that atherosclerosis is best addressed through diet and nutrition.And that’s where pomegranate juice has been shown to be a tremendous help.
Go figure! My favorite juice is not only delicious makes tasty ice cream it also helps my arteries stay healthy.
Everyday is an opportunity to nurture your body-mind, every day is an opportunity to tend your garden, and to nurture all that nurtures you in return.
Now that’s our grokking Numian way to live.
My secret of aging with wellness.
HAPPINESS IS: A daily jogging, grazing the greens from our gardens, and meals made from garden grown veggies.
Pomegranate Juice the Miracle Nectar
Dr. Michael Aviram, with the Lipid Research Laboratory at Rambam, thinks it's possible that many high-risk cardiovascular patients can be spared both bypass and carotid surgery by simply drinking pomegranate juice.
Why Pomegranates Are Better Than Red Wine
NEW YORK, N.Y. and HAIFA, Israel, May 4, 2000 -- In a strong confirmation of the power of pomegranates to fight heart disease, studies of healthy human subjects and mice with atherosclerosis showed why even moderate consumption of pomegranate juice could have significant clinical results.
According to studies at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the cholesterol oxidation process -– which creates atherosclerotic lesions that narrow arteries and result in heart disease -- was slowed by as much as 40 percent when healthy subjects drank 2-3 ounces of pomegranate juice a day for two weeks. Further, the juice reduced the retention of LDL, the "bad" cholesterol that after its oxidation aggregates and forms atherosclerotic lesions.
The study is published in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"Pomegranates are proving to be the most powerful antioxidant available, better than red wine, tomatoes, vitamin E and a variety of other headline makers," says Prof. Michael Aviram of the Lipid Research Laboratory at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, who led the team. Prof. Aviram, who was the first to prove the beneficial effects of red wine on cholesterol oxidation in humans, is an internationally recognized authority on the effect of food on heart disease.
Earlier, pomegranate juice was tested on mice from a special strain susceptible to atherosclerosis. When these mice were fed pomegranate juice for 11 weeks, their arteries had only half as many lesions as did the arteries of the control mice who got no juice. This strengthened the evidence that the juice would also slow or prevent the formation of lesions in humans.
Most recently, using sections of excised human arteries, Prof. Aviram showed that the active ingredient in pomegranates not only slows down cholesterol oxidation but actually minimizes the retention and aggregation of LDL cholesterol, the "bad" cholesterol, two additional processes that create atherosclerotic lesions. These lesions are minimized if the cholesterol is not retained, oxidized and subsequently aggregated.
When the subjects stopped drinking the pomegranate juice, the beneficial effects lasted for about a month.
Aviram chose pomegranates for his study because the fruit has long been in use in folk medicine in the Middle East, Iran and India for treating disease and infections, and he suspected that some of its medicinal value could be due to antioxidants.
Dr. Aviram's recent study involved 19 patients (5 women and 14 men, 65-75 years old) with severe carotid artery stenosis.
Ten were selected to receive 250 mL (8.3 ounces) of 100 percent pomegranate juice daily, and the other 9 were given a placebo.
 "Several tests were performed on the different groups. The primary one Utilized ultrasound to measure any changes in the thickness of the walls of the carotid arteries.
After one year, those not consuming the pomegranate juice had a 9 percent increase in thickness of their carotid arteries, meaning their arteries were becoming even less resilient. Those consuming the juice showed a decrease in thickness of 35 percent. These changes began to show up rather quickly. There was a 13 percent reduction in just the first three months of drinking the juice. And there were other benefits, as well. While the blood pressures of those on the placebo didn't change, the systolic pressure (top number) of those on pomegranate juice went from an average of 174 to 162 mm Hg in just a month. And it reduced even further, to an average of 152 mm Hg at twelve months.
Other tests indicated that the juice drinkers had lower blood levels of oxidized cholesterol and more antioxidants.
Even though this study was relatively small, the results are quite remarkable and confirm the similar findings of previous studies. In one earlier study, atherosclerotic lesions in mice were reduced in size by 44 percent by supplementing the diet with pomegranate juice.
The Promise of Pomegranate
An important branch of his research focuses on the protective role against oxidative stress and atherosclerosis development played by antioxidants and paraoxonases. Dietary antioxidants studied by Aviram include the polyphenolic flavonoids found in red wine, pomegranate, licorice, ginger and olive oil; as well as vitamins E and C, beta-carotene, and tomato's lycopene. HDL ("the good cholesterol") – associated paraoxonase was shown by Aviram to act as a second line of defense against oxidative stress, by hydrolyzing specific oxidized lipids.
Pomegranate juice has exhibited some of the strongest antioxidant activity of any food. For thousands of years, pomegranates have been used medicinally particularly in the Middle East. In fact, the healing powers of pomegranates have been mentioned in the Bible, Greek mythology, and ancient Chinese literature. Some scholars believe that the fruit referenced in the Garden of Eden story was actually a pomegranate. It may be new to our society, but researchers are just rediscovering one of the ancient health secrets known to our ancestors thousands of years ago.
Pomegranate juice may also prove to be promising in the treatment/prevention of breast and prostate cancer as well as in the treatment of diabetes. Additionally, one of the more unusual uses of pomegranate juice has to do with preventing the spread of AIDS.
Since the AIDS pandemic continues to spread researchers have started to look at topical microbicides in the form of creams or suppositories to block the entry of HIV into cells.
Efforts are underway to discover a microbicide that would be acceptable, accessible, affordable, and able to be moved quickly from the development stage to the millions of people who need it.
Researchers evaluated numerous juices and their ability to block HIV infections, pomegranate juice showed remarkable potential. It was not only safe, stable, and economical, it was also more effective than any other juice tested.
Pomegranate juice is rich in tannins, phenolic acids, polyphenols, and flavonoids. It is also known to contain a rare fatty acid, punicic acid that is structurally related to conjugated linolenic acid.
If you’re looking for paradise on Earth, Grow a pomegranate tree, plant fig plants, tend your organic gardens and go solar.
Now let’s relax, watch the sunset and have a glass of red wine together.
Tony Crow, Numian Institute
THE SCIENCE: This randomized controlled study is the FIRST! to show that pomegranate juice may reduce the amount of plaque in the arteries of patients with heavy plaque buildup (severe carotid artery stenosis) as well as substantially benefiting several important blood parameters.
Ten patients consumed 8 oz a day of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice for 1 year. Nine patients who did not consume pomegranate juice served as controls.
The thickness of the carotid artery wall (intima-media thickness, IMT) was measured and blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study and at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. After 1 year, those patients who did not consume pomegranate juice showed a 9% increase in IMT, while those consuming juice showed a decrease of 30%. Furthermore, for those on pomegranate juice, systolic (but not diastolic) blood pressure was reduced by 21%, total antioxidant status of the blood increased by 130%, LDL oxidation decreased by 90%, antibodies to oxidized LDL decreased by 19% and serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1) increased by 83%. Major blood biochemical markers were not affected, including levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol.
Benefits were maintained in five patients who continued pomegranate juice treatment for 3 years, with further improvements in serum lipid peroxidation.
Pomegranate juice consumption for 3 years
by
patients with carotid artery stenosis
reduces
common carotid intima-media thickness,
blood
pressure and LDL oxidation
Pomegranate Juice Research Report
Oxidative stress, a major contributor to cardiovascular
diseases, is associated with lipid peroxidation
in arterial macrophages and in lipoproteins.1–4
Oxidized low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) has been
shown to be atherogenic and inhibition of LDL
oxidation by potent dietary flavonoid antioxidants4,5
attenuated atherosclerosis development
in laboratory animals.
Recently, it was shown that
vitamin E supplementation to patients with carotid
artery stenosis inhibited LDL accumulation in
arterial macrophages.6 Protection of lipids from
oxidation can be also achieved by serum paraoxonase
1 (PON1), an HDL-associated esterase that
can hydrolyze and reduce specific lipid peroxides in
arterial cells and in lipoproteins in coronary and
carotid lesions.
7–10
The medicinal properties of pomegranate are
described by all major religions and by folk
medicine.11 Pomegranate juice (PJ) was indeed
shown recently to possess impressive antioxidative
properties due to its polyphenolics, tannins and
anthocyanins.
We have recently shown the antioxidative
and antiatherogenic characteristics of PJ
consumption in atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E
deficient (E0) mice.
Also, in healthy humans, PJ
consumption was shown to possess potent antioxidative
capabilities against lipoprotein oxidation,
and increased serum PON1 activity and serum total
antioxidant status.13 In the present study, thus, we
analyzed for the first time the effects of PJ
consumption by patients with carotid artery stenosis,
on their serum oxidative stress in association
with the progression of carotid atherosclerotic
lesions.
Subjects and methods
Patients
Nineteen patients from the Vascular Surgery Clinic,
5 women and 14 men, aged 65–75 years, nonsmokers,
with asymptomatic severe carotid artery
stenosis (CAS, defined as 70–90% stenosis in the
internal carotid arteries) were included in the
study. These patients had an abnormal echo
Doppler of the carotids, which was performed
following a finding of carotid ‘‘bruit’’ on physical
examination, or complains of headache or dizziness.
The patients were randomized to either
pomegranate juice or placebo, and they signed an
informed consent before the beginning of the
study. Ten patients were included in the PJ treated
group. Nine patients that did not consume PJ
served as a control group.
Both groups were
matched, with similar serum concentrations of
lipids and glucose, and with similar blood pressures
(data not shown). Both groups were treated with
similar hypocholesterolemic and anti-hypertensive
drugs. In each group, 60% of the patients were
treated with statins, 60% were treated with
angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors,
20% were treated with b-blockers, and 20% were
treated with calcium channel blockers.
The patients
continued their therapy along the study, and
their dietary habits and life style did not change
during the whole study. Ten patients consumed
50 ml of PJ per day (which contain 1.5 mmoles of
total polyphenols) for a period of 1 year, and five
out of them agreed to continue for up to 3 years.
This PJ concentration was chosen based on our
previous study on the beneficial PJ properties in
healthy volunteers.13 Blood samples were
collected after 12 h fast.
Blood analyses and echo
doppler of the carotid arteries were performed at
the beginning of the study and 3, 6, 9, 12, 22, 28
and 36 months after PJ consumption. In the control
group echo doppler of the carotid arteries was
performed at the beginning of the study and
after 1 year.
The study was approved by the Helsinki Committee
of the Rambam Medical Center, Israel Ministry
of Health.
Pomegranate processing
Pomegranates were picked by hand, washed, and
stored in tanks. The fruits were crushed, and
squeezed. The juice was filtered, pasteurized,
concentrated and stored at -18C
ach day along the study period, the concentrated PJ was diluted 1:5 (v:v) with water in order to obtain a single
strength PJ.
The antioxidant composition of the
juice include: 1979 mg/l of tannins (1561 mg/l of
punicalagins and 417 mg/l of hydrolyzable tannins),
384 mg/l of anthocyanins (delphinidin 3,5-diglucoside,
cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside, delphinidin-3-glucoside,
cyanidin 3-glucoside, pelargonidine 3-
glucoside), and 121 mg/l of ellagic acids derivatives.
The juice contained also 3mg of vitamin C
per 100 ml of PJ.
Atherosclerotic lesion analysis by B-mode
ultrasonography
Common carotid artery IMT from B-mode ultrasound
is a widely used measure of early atherosclerosis.
14–16 After careful axial scan, longitudinal
B-mode images of common carotid artery wall
boundaries were obtained with a high resolution
color power Doppler ultrasound (ATL 5000 or 3500
Advanced Technological Laboratories, Bothell, WA)
with a 5–12 MHz multifrequency transducer. IMT
was electronically measured at the far wall of the
distal common carotid arteries, about 1 cm from
the carotid bifurcation, by assessing the boundaries
of intima and media with electronic calipers.
Atherosclerotic plaques at the common carotid
arteries and the carotid bulb, as well as the
proximal and distal internal carotid arteries were
imaged and the length and width of the plaque
were assessed.
On duplex examination of the
internal carotid arteries, flow velocities were
calculated at the stenotic sites, and expressed by
peak systolic velocity (PSV), and end diastolic
velocity (EDV).
The ultrasound outcome analyses
were the change over time in IMT, which was
measured in the same preselected carotid artery
segments, the change in the plaque dimensions and
the change in blood flow velocities. A protocol was
adapted in order to ensure that the arteries were
examined from the same angle (601) at all followup
examinations.
Patients had up to eight duplex
examinations of the common and internal carotid
arteries on each side: there was one ultrasound
Doppler examination at baseline, and seven more
examinations during PJ consumption.
All ultrasound
studies were done by the same physician (DG),
assuring reproducibility of the site of IMT and
plaque measurement, as well as site and interrogation
angles on the duplex follow-up examinations.
In order to avoid potential introduction of scannerdependent
variabilities, the same ultrasound system
was used for individual patients on all followup
examinations.
Analytical methods
All biochemical determinations were performed in
serum. Blood glucose was measured using enzymatic
kit (Roche). Total cholesterol, high density
lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations
in serum were measured by diagnostic
kits (Raichem).
Serum apolipoproteins A-I and B-
100 concentrations were determined using specific
antibodies by an immunoturbidimetric assay.17
Serum paraoxonase 1 (PON1) arylesterase
activity
Serum arylesterase activity was measured using
phenylacetate as the substrate. Initial rates of
hydrolysis were determined spectrophotometrically
at 270nm.
1.0 mmol/l phenylacetate, and
0.9 mmol/l CaCl2 in 20mmol/l Tris HCl, pH 8.0.
Non-enzymatic hydrolysis of phenylacetate was
subtracted from the total rate of hydrolysis. The
E270 for the reaction is 1310M1 cm1. One unit of
arylesterase activity is equal to 1 mmol of phenylacetate
hydrolyzed/min/ml.18
Serum total antioxidant status (TAS)
Total antioxidant status was measured in serum
with a commercially available kit (Randox Laboratories,
Antrim, United Kingdom, catalog no. NX
2332).
Serum anti Ox-LDL antibodies
Serum anti Ox-LDL antibodies concentration was
measured in samples collected from the patients
before treatment and after 3 or 6 months of PJ
consumption, by using the immunoelisa anti-Ox-LDL
test (Immco Diagnostics, Inc. Buffalo, NY, USA, Cat
No 1158). Results are expressed as Enzyme Units
per milliliter (EU/ml).
Serum lipids peroxidation
Serum lipids peroxidation was measured before and
after 12, 22, 28 and 36 months of PJ consumption.
Plasma samples were incubated without or with
100mM of 2.2’-azobis, 2-amidinopropane hydrochloride
(AAPH, Wako, Japan) for 2 h at 371C.19 At
the end of the incubation period, the amount of
lipid peroxides was measured by the method of
Pomegranate juice consumption attenuates carotid artery stenosis 425
El-Saadani et al.20 Plasma lipids peroxidation was
calculated by subtracting the values obtained in
the absence of AAPH.
LDL isolation
Serum samples were drawn from the patients
before and after 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of PJ
consumption and kept frozen at 701 until all the
samples were collected.
Blood was collected also
from healthy volunteers in the same time periods,
for standardization of the assays. LDL was isolated
from the frozen plasma samples by discontinuous
density gradient ultracentrifugation as previously
described.
The LDL was washed at d¼1.063 g/ml,
dialyzed against 150 mmol/l NaCI, 1 mmol/l Na2
EDTA (pH 7.4) at 41C.
The LDL fractions were then
sterilized by filtration (0.45 mm), kept under nitrogen
in the dark at 41C and used within 1 week. The
lipoprotein protein concentration was determined
by the Lowry assay.22 Prior to oxidation, LDL was
dialyzed against EDTA-free, phosphate buffered
saline (PBS) solution at pH 7.4, and at 41C.
LDL oxidation
LDL (100 mg of protein/ml) was incubated with
5 mmol/l of CuSO4 for 2 h at 371C.
Formation of
conjugated dienes was continuously monitored by
measuring the increase in absorbance at 234 nm.23
Lag time required for initiation of lipoprotein
oxidation was calculated from the oxidation curve.
The amount of LDL-associated lipid peroxides was
measured by the method of El-Saadani et al.20 LDLs
isolated from healthy volunteers at the same time
periods were used for standardization of the
oxidation studies.
Carotid Lesion analyses
Complete atherosclerotic plaques, (including the
common, internal and external, carotid parts of the
lesion) were collected from 2 groups of patients
after endartherectomy. One group included seven
patients with CAS that did not consume PJ. The
second group included two patients that consumed
PJ (for 3 or for 12 months).
The two groups were
age matched and had similar serum lipids and
glucose concentration. Treatment with PJ was the
only relevant difference between these two
groups. Lesions were washed in saline, dried, and
their weight measured. The lesions were cut into
small pieces and rinsed in PBS, followed by their
sonication in an ultrasonic processor (320 s at
80 W).
The lesion’s cholesterol content was measured
in the homogenate samples by enzymatic,
colorimetric assay using commercial kit (Sigma Co.
Ltd). The lipid peroxide content in the lesion was
also measured.20 Reduced glutathione (GSH) content
was measured by the DTNB-GSSG reductase
recycling assay.
Statistics
The ANOVA test was performed for all statistical
analyses used to compare repeated measurements.
Results are given as mean7SEM. Assays in each
sample were performed in triplicate. All comparisons
are shown for data after PJ consumption vs.
results obtained before treatment
Results
Mean intima-media thickness (IMT) of the left and
right common carotid arteries from severe carotid
artery stenosis (CAS) patients that did not consume
pomegranate juice (PJ), increased significantly
(Po0.01), by 9%, during 1 year period from
1.5270.03 to 1.6570.04 mm. In contrast, mean
IMT (of the left and right common carotid arteries)
in CAS patients that consumed PJ for up to 1 year
was reduced after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of PJ
consumption by 13%, 22%, 26% and 35%, respectively,
in comparison to baseline values
The inhibitory effect of PJ consumption on
carotid PSV was significant only after 1 year, with
a reduction in mean PSV of both left and right
carotid arteries by 21% (Fig. 1B).
Mean carotid EDV
of both left and right carotid arteries however,
gradually decreased, by 16%, 20%, 31% and 44%,
after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of PJ consumption,
respectively (Fig. 1C).
PJ consumption by the patients did not significantly
affect the levels of all major serum
biochemical markers studied including: glucose
and cholesterol in HDL and LDL (Table 1).
Serum triglyceride concentration however increased by
16%, as reflected by a similar increase in VLDL
cholesterol concentration after 12 months of PJ
consumption (Table 1), but these increased levels
were still in the normal range. Serum markers for
heart, kidney and liver function, as well as
homocysteine, Lp (a), and total protein concentrations
remained unchanged during the whole study
Similarly, blood coagulation and
blood cell count were not significantly affected by
PJ consumption (data not shown).
The patient’s systolic blood pressure was significantly
(Po0.05) reduced by 7%, 11% ,10%, 10%
and 12% after 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of PJ
consumption, respectively, compared to values
obtained before treatment (Table 1).
In
contrast, PJ consumption had no significant effect
on the patient’s diastolic blood pressure (Table 1).
In the control group, systolic and diastolic blood
pressure values were not significantly changed
along 1 year of follow-up (16077/8874 vs.
16379/8576mmHg at baseline and after 1 year,
respectively).
In order to analyze the effect of PJ consumption
on the patients’ serum oxidative state, we measured
serum concentration of antibodies against
oxidized LDL (Ox-LDL).
A significant (Po0.01)
reduction in the concentration of antibodies
against Ox-LDL by 24% and 19% was observed after
1 and 3 months of PJ consumption, respectively,
(from 2070761 EU/ml before treatment to
1563769 and 1670752 EU/ml after 1 and 3 months
of PJ consumption, respectively, n¼10). Similarly,
total antioxidant status (TAS) in serum was substantially
increased, by 130%, from 0.957
0.12 nmol/l at baseline to 2.2070.25nmol/l after
12 months of PJ consumption (n¼10).
These
results indicate that PJ administration to the
patients substantially reduced their serum oxidative
status, and could thus inhibit serum lipid
peroxidation. Indeed, serum lipid peroxidation,
induced by the free radical generator AAPH, was
significantly reduced, by 59%, after 1 year of PJ
consumption (from 1670766 to 691743nmol of
lipid peroxides/ml, n¼10).
The increased resistance
of the patients’ serum to oxidation after PJ
administration could have also resulted from
increased serum paraoxonase1 (PON1) activity.
Fig. 2A demonstrates a significant (Po0.01) increase
in serum paraoxonase, measured as arylesterase
activity, by up to 83%, after 1 year of
PJ consumption (n¼10)
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Everyday groceries contain ingredients that cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis and other chronic diseases
If you go to your favorite corner drugstore, you'll find two types of things for sale: 1) processed foods and beverages that cause disease, and 2) prescription drugs that treat the symptoms of those diseases. It's a brilliant racket: buy the stuff at the front of the store and get diseased, then you become a customer for the drugs sold at the back of the store. That's called "customer retention" in marketing-speak.
The floor plan of these drug stores even encourages this codependent cycle: the pharmacy is hidden away in the back of the store, forcing customers to walk through aisles loaded with high-impulse junk food items like soft drinks, chocolate bars and snack chips. This is no coincidence: store designers know exactly how to boost impulse sales by forcing customers to navigate through shelves that are intentionally stocked with the most high-profit (and low-nutrition) items available.
And, just to make sure nobody gets away without being at least partly diseased, these drug stores also sell products that claim to be helpful for people with diseases, but that actually give them even more disease. For example, did you ever look at the ingredients on those meal replacement shakes for diabetics? The first three ingredients are water, sugar and sugar (sucrose)! It's primarily sugar water, sold as a product for diabetics. With products like this on the shelves, even people who think they're enhancing their nutrition actually end up with a lifelong diabetes problem. (Sugar for diabetics... gee, can it get any crazier?)
On top of all this, virtually every grocery store in America sells a vast array of foods that promote chronic diseases. Foods made with white flour are very common. That includes most breads, cookies, crackers, pastries and pastas. And this one ingredient -- refined white flour -- strips the body of essential nutrition, leaving it deficient in B vitamins as well as minerals like magnesium and zinc. These are precisely the minerals that children need in order to build healthy nervous systems and avoid behavioral disorders later in life. These are also the same nutrients that pregnant women need to be able to give birth to babies that don't have birth defects.
Every grocery store in America sells foods containing cancer-causing chemicals (sodium nitrite), heart disease promoting ingredients (hydrogenated oils), and drinks that promote osteoporosis and bone loss (carbonated soft drinks). It's almost like a disease store, not a grocery store, since most items on the shelves are actually "disease in a box" rather than real food.
In Washington these days, there's a lot of talk about "protecting Americans." But I say that if we really want to protect Americans, we need to start banning the food ingredients that are killing Americans. We could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year right here in America if we just banned hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, and the refining of whole-grain flour into unhealthful white, bleached flour.
And if we told Americans the truth about their foods -- if we gave them honest nutritional advice and dietary advice -- we would help people make better decisions that would eliminate chronic disease in their own life, and, for expectant mothers, allow them to give birth to children without birth defects. We need honest food labeling and we need to outlaw toxic ingredients like aspartame, monosodium glutamate, food additives and chemical preservatives like sodium nitrite that directly cause cancers of the digestive tract.
These ingredients are, technically, chemical assaults on the American public. While the Bush administration is out there worrying about biological agents like anthrax and smallpox, people are consuming bacon every morning all across America made with sodium nitrite, a chemical additive that causes colon cancer.
- And yet the USDA remains silent.
- The FDA remains silent.
- The Bush administration remains silent.
And the food companies, playing a full-press game of food politics, continue to insist that all of these ingredients are perfectly good for you, even while suppressing precisely the information that would educate you about ways to enhance your health by making healthier food choices.
Thankfully, there is a growing list of pioneering doctors and researchers out there who are telling the truth about foods; people like Dr. Russell Blaylock, Dr. Gary Null, Dr. Julian Whittaker and Dr. David Williams. Book authors like Dr. Elson Haas and Eric Schlosser.
I feel honored to be joining those people in telling the truth about the dangers of the American food supply and the real cause of chronic disease in this country. Because we have all our priorities mixed up in this country. We're spending $300+ billion fighting a war in Iraq, and we won't spend even $100 million a year educating our own people on how they can prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease, birth defects, osteoporosis, clinical depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other diseases.
And the decision makers in our federal regulatory agencies who claim to be acting on your behalf are actually censoring the information, making sure the American public doesn't learn the truth, because the truth would hurt the corporate profits of soft drink companies, food processors, fast food restaurant chains and drug companies. After all, there are lobbyists to please. The public be damned.
To turn the tables on the food lobbyists, and in an effort to educate the public about the details of which grocery ingredients to avoid, I've written a book on the subject called "Grocery Warning." This book reveals all the dangerous ingredients to be avoided, along with which foods and beverages contain them. It presents shopping lists: foods to avoid vs. foods to buy, and helps shopper make informed, health-enhancing foods choices each time they shop for groceries (see related ebook on groceries). You'll find details on this book at TruthPublishing.com
Overview:
* Everyday groceries contain ingredients that cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis and other chronic diseases
Source: http://www.newstarget.com/006760.html
http://www.truthpublishing.com/grocerywarning.html
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