Seaweed – A Legendary Nutritional Powerhouse            

If you’ve ever eaten sushi – a traditional Japanese food – you may know that the edible wrapper that surrounds the fish, called nori, is made from dried seaweed. Their slightly salty taste also makes nori good snacks in place of potato chips.  Or, if you’ve ever eaten miso soup – another traditional Japanese food – you’ve eaten ground-dried seaweed along with the soy it contains.  A traditional Japanese dessert – agar-agar – a kind of cross between jello and lemon meringue pie – also contains seaweed.  All of these foods have a high vitamin and mineral content which Asian people eat daily and to which they attest their good health and longevity.

In fact, the Japanese people credit miso soup with the survival of an entire group of people hospitalized after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima at the end of WWII.  Not surprising, as seaweed contains alginic acid which is able to bind with dangerous heavy metals (mercury, lead, barium, cadmium, and radioactive strontium) to make them indigestible and remove them from your body through elimination.

Other forms of seaweed-based “sea vegetables” that you can find at health food markets that carry organic vegetables, or Asian supermarkets, include:

• Arame –  high in calcium, potassium, iodine, vitamins A and B, with a mild,      slightly salty flavor that does well in dishes calling for vegetables.
• Dulse -   contains 4 times more iron than spinach, high in Vitamin C,      potassium.
• Eklonia cava – a type of red and brown seaweed extract. Antioxidant properties 100 times more powerful than blueberries, pomegranates, or green tea catechins with an ORAC  value of 8,500!  Aids in production of nitric oxide that keeps arteries relaxed and open.  Aids in blood flow to the brain, heart, and extremities. Available as a supplement under various brand names.
• Hiziki –  contains 10 times the amount of calcium than a glass of milk.
• Kelp/brown seaweed/Wakame – recent research notes that the active chemical in brown seaweed, fucoxanthin, can be a useful weight loss aid.  In particular, it seems to target abdominal fat and has been research proven to decrease it.  According to Asian medicine, brown kelp also has cancer-fighting properties.       A version of wakame, called phytessence wakame, has been eaten by Japanese women for years who credit their flawless skin to it.  Indeed, it contains hyaluronic acid, an important compound found in youthful skin.

Sea vegetables are usually sold in their dried form and can be reconstituted by placing in water.  You can also crumble and use in salads or other vegetables.  Powdered seaweed can also be taken as a supplement as well which is available in health food stores and more comprehensive vitamin outlets.

The Many Health Benefits of Seaweed

As I mentioned earlier, seaweed has long been used in Asian medicine, particularly Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, which categorizes seaweed as having a salty and cold temperament.  Formulas containing seaweed are used to treat conditions like upper respiratory congestion, and dissolving nodules and cysts.  It is also thought beneficial in:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Common cold
• Bone conditions like osteoporosis
• Detoxing the body – cleanses intestines, removes heavy metals, environmental toxins
• Boosts thyroid health (contains high amounts of iodine)
• Regulates cholesterol and blood sugar (from high fiber content)
• Supports brain, heart and vascular health – brown and red seaweed extracts (see Eklonia cava above).  Improves memory, erectile dysfunction, and sleep.

As I recommend to my patients, seaweed is a nutritional superfood that has many health-boosting properties.  In Okinawa, Japan, there is a mountain town called Longevity Island that has the lowest rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke in the world. Obesity is not an issue there. In fact, 40,000 Japanese people are over age 100! The Japanese attribute their good health and longevity, at least partially, to a diet rich in seaweed and its amazing health benefits.

As a doctor who promotes preventative measures in maintaining health, I feel that seaweed can play an important part in keeping you healthy well into your old age.

Stay Well,

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Natural Health News

Photo Credit: diy-sushi-recipes.com

Brown Seaweed Contains Promising Fat Reducer, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060915204728.htm

Whole Food Supplements, http://www.whole-food-supplements-guide.com/seaweed-health-benefits.html

Okinawan Longevity, http://www.squidoo.com/Okinawan_Longevity

Pterostilbene – A Rock Star Antioxidant   

The name kind of sounds like a prehistoric bird, as one of my patients humorously commented.  No, rather, pterostilbene is an antioxidant compound found mostly in blueberries that is far more reaching than resveratrol and that’s saying a lot.  Both resveratrol and pterostilbene belong to phytolexins the same family of compounds – stilbenes – and both contain plant chemicals called which fight infections.  However, recent studies have shown pterostilbene to out-perform resveratrol in a few areas – notably improving mental functions, controlling blood sugar levels and improving heart health. 

To begin with, pterostilbene is apparently more lipophilic than resveratrol – meaning it works with fat cells better.  That characteristic makes it a more useable brain antioxidant as the brain consists of a higher percentage of fat cells than other tissue. In fact, pterostilbene was found in higher concentrations in both blood and brain tissue than resveratrol.

Although drinking a few glasses of red wine a day (resveratrol) has been thought possible to improve cognitive decline, consuming blueberries, or supplements containing pterostilbene, has proven in animal studies to neutralize cognitive decline.

In addition, much more resveratrol is necessary to accomplish what pterostilbene does at a lower dose. One of the reasons for this is that resveratrol is cleared out of the body much more quickly, i.e., within 30 to 60 minutes of taking it.  Studies have shown that resveratrol is rapidly metabolized by mammals and needs something to protect it during metabolism so all its great health boosting qualities are not lost.  Frequently, it is combined with pterostilbene to do just that.

Pterostilbene is absorbed more easily and is metabolized much more slowly than resveratrol.  In this way, it is being thought of by researchers as a much longer-acting version of resveratrol.  More and more research is suggesting that it may be much more beneficial for people to simply take pterostilbene on its own.

What Does Pterostilbene Do?    

Based on animal studies done with pterostilbene, it has been shown to have the following health boosting properties:

• Anticancer – high antioxidant properties means higher protection against DNA and telomere damage. Shown also to have an inhibitory effect against a form of cytochrome P450, an enzyme that activates “procarcinogens” that turns toxins (cigarette smoke and pesticides into cancers). Specifically, studies show that pterostilbene may be beneficial in fighting breast, digestive and colon cancers.
• Anti-inflammatory – inflammation leads to many diseases.   Antioxidants like pterostilbene reverse inflammation.
• Anti high cholesterol, high triglycerides – animals fed blueberries were found to have lower blood levels of lipids and cholesterol.  Reported to be more effective than some cholesterol lowering drugs.
• Fights cognitive decline  - animals fed pterostilbene containing blueberries showed significant reversal in mental decline from aging versus strawberries and spinach.
• Normalized blood sugar and insulin levels – antidiabetic.  Effects reported are similar to the drug metformin in optimizing insulin output/usage.

How Can I Get The Health Benefits of Pterostilbene?

The most prominent food source of pterostilbene is grapes and blueberries.  However, you’d have to eat quite a bit of these foods a day to get a useful amount of pterostilbene.  Rather, I recommend a good pterostilbene supplement at a dosage of between 50-100 mg a day.

Or, you may take a resveratrol/pterostilbene combination, often known as “optimized resveratrol.” However, consult your doctor if you wish to use pterostilbene to target specific conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, or cognitive issues in perhaps determining a different dosage for you.   Also, be sure that you do not take your pterostilbene with milk or other dairy products as they are known to destroy the antioxidant properties of blueberries.

Antioxidants are crucial to preserving your health and preventing disease. They can also help keep you young beyond your years by fighting free radical damage in all the tissues of your body.  Pterostilbene has been proven in research studies to possess powerful antioxidant capacities.  It has also been shown to improve mental functions and prevent other disease. I feel pterostilbene, like resveratrol, has a place in our disease and age-fighting arsenal of supplements.  It can help you stay youthful and healthy, with sharp mental functions, well into old age!

Stay Well,

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Natural Health News

Photo Credit: health.slides.kaboose.com

Resveratrol vs Pterostilbene and Mental Functions, http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Resveratrol-may-boost-mental-functions-but-pterostilbene-may-be-even-better-Animal-studies

Pterostilbene, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterostilbene

Inflammation – Where Disease Begins

Recently, U. S. News and Health Reports stated that “inflammation is the common denominator in developing diseases like cancer, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer disease” and that by reducing, and/or getting rid of inflammation, we can greatly reduce our risk for getting these devastating conditions.

Inflammation is a dual personality, “good guy – bad guy”, kind of condition.   On the one hand, “good” or acute inflammation fires up to work in tandem with a normally functioning immune system to heal injuries and fight infections.  On the other hand, chronic inflammation is the “bad” guy side who doesn’t know when to quit! Chronic inflammation then actually starts to break down tissues, rather than heal them, and diseases like cancer, or a build up of dangerous unstable plaque in cardiovascular disease can set in.

Here are some things that can fuel chronic inflammation:

• Are you a smoker or do you breathe second hand smoke?
• Do you have chronic high stress lifestyle?
• Do you eat a high sugar, nutrient poor diet?
• Are you overweight?
• Do you drink a lot of alcohol?
• Do you take recreational drugs?

Many people do not know that they have chronic inflammation in their body as there currently isn’t a reliable laboratory test to measure the level of chronic inflammation in your body. Close second, however, is a C-reactive protein, or CRP, and a homocysteine test which can show elevated cardiac inflammatory markers. If these are elevated, it’s very likely that you have widespread inflammation as well.  Researchers do know, however, that high inflammation levels can result from poor health habits – including poor diet, lack of exercise, high stress, and lifestyle choices. To decrease inflammation and its risks, these areas need to be dealt with.

How To Decrease Inflammation and Your Risk of Disease

Recent studies out of Harvard have shown that “statins”, or cholesterol-lowering drugs, reduced the risk of stroke and heart attack in people even though they didn’t have high cholesterol.   This was due to the anti-inflammatory effect of these drugs.  Similarly, another study cited in the Journal of American Medicine showed that colon cancer patients who took a daily aspirin reduced their risk of dying from the disease by 1/3.

However, both these types of drugs have side effects – statins can cause bad muscle aches and long-term safe use of them is unknown; aspirin can cause stomach ulcers and bleeding.  Let me tell you what I recommend to my patients to decrease inflammation and your risk of disease:

• Lower your body fat.  Fat stored around your middle (most people over age 50 have this issue), releases chemicals called “cytokines” which are highly inflammatory.  Reducing the amount of belly fat you have reduces the amount of cytokines you produce.  Aim for a waist measurement lower than 35 for women and 40 for a man.
• Lower your stress levels.  Highly stressed individuals release too much cortisol.  This causes you to gain belly fat. Decompress by getting 7-8 hours of sleep at night, and/or just removing yourself, if only temporarily, from the stressor.
• Limit sugar.  Too much sugar in the diet is the number #1 cause of inflammation. Limit   fruit juices, high glycemic white potatoes and white rice, and processed foods. Read labels – aim for less than 5 grams sugar per serving. Limit high glycemic fruits like oranges, raisins, dates, watermelon.
• Add good monounsaturated fats.  A Mediterranean style diet – legumes, vegetables, nuts, fish, low sugar fruits, olive oil lower inflammatory chemicals in the blood.
• Exercise.  Regular moderate aerobic exercise 4 times a week, not more than 60 minutes at a time, helps decrease inflammation by lessening stress levels.  Also, 20 minutes of strength training with weights helps to build muscle and decrease fat/cytokines.
• Supplements.  Have a few cups of green tea a day or 500 mg of green tea extract, 100 mg of quercetin, 2,000 mg of fish or krill oil, 1/2 cup of berries.
• Take care of your teeth.  Frequently, inflammation enters the body through periodontal disease, or gingivitis.  This can go on to cause heart, esophageal, stomach and intestinal disease. Floss and brush your teeth regularly.  Rinse with an antibacterial mouthwash to kill any bacteria or viruses.

Thankfully, we now know more about inflammation as a cause for disease. Until we develop a specific test for widespread inflammation, however, keep your CRP and homocysteine levels in normal range and you’ll go far in reducing your risk of serious disease.

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Natural Health News

Photo Credit: Chatelaine.com

Chronic Inflammation:  Reduce it To Protect Your Health, http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/articles/2009/11/02/chronic-inflammation-reduce-it-to-protect-your-health?page=3

How Inflammation Affects Your Health, http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/1731-how-inflammation-affects-your-health-.html

Snoring – A Symptom of Other Problems 

Snoring occurs in 45% of Americans.  Because it is so common, many people think snoring is just a normal occurrence of sleeping. It occurs most in men, or overweight people, and occurs more often in older people.  In truth, snoring is not a normal occurrence of sleeping.  If you are breathing normally through your nose while you sleep, without obstruction, snoring does not occur.  Snoring can become a real nuisance to those sharing a bedroom or house with the snorer, keeping them awake.  It can also become a health problem to the snorer.

Snoring is almost always a result of a partially obstructed airway – and most often starts in the back of the throat.  You take in enough oxygen to breathe, but an obstruction causes varying reverberations of sound within the airway.  The obstructions can be temporary from mucous plugged nasal sinuses due to seasonal allergies, house dust, pet dander, or a cold.  Or, the obstruction can be from a physical deformity somewhere in the airway. These types of obstructions can include:

• An overgrown uvula at the back of the throat, and/or age, or alcohol-related decreased muscle tone in mouth allows the tongue to fall back and block the airway
• Deviated nasal septum, or nasal polyps, can partially block the flow of air

Health Risks of Snoring

Snoring puts the snorer at greater risk for developing certain health conditions from inadequate sleep.  Some snorers actually experience periods of breathing cessation during sleep.  This is called sleep apnea. In fact, 75% of snorers actually experience sleep apnea.  This can lead to several health issues and complications including:

•   Heart/vascular disease – Stopping breathing during snoring, not getting enough oxygen can cause blood pressure to rise. Enlargement of the heart can also occur as well as damage to your vascular system.
•  Safety issues/Decreased mental clarity – Decreased restorative sleep can cause daytime drowsiness leading to clumsiness and more personal injury accidents like falls or cuts.  You can have accidents at work like dropping things, making faulty decisions, equipment injuries.  You could have a serious auto accident from sleepiness.
• Weight gain – Lack of sleep can contribute to unhealthy weight gain. Certain weight control hormones like ghrelin and leptin get out of whack.
• Decreased body repair – Your body needs adequate sleep to release growth hormone, a critical repair hormone of your body.  If this process is impaired, it can lead to DNA damage, toxic aging and the onset of age-related disease.

What Can You Do About Snoring?

Breaking the habit of snoring can be done first by determining what is causing it. I suggest an exam by an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to determine any physical obstructions in your airway.  If so, your doctor may offer you a surgical solution if there is one.

Or, if your obstruction is caused by excess weight around your neck, weight loss can help this.  Your doctor may also suggest a device called a CPAP – short for continuous positive airway pressure.  This is a mask that you wear during sleep that keeps your airway open.  This device can be uncomfortable, however, and not everyone can tolerate them.

Another device called a mouth guard (under various brand names) is a plastic mouthpiece that is inserted into the mouth.  It holds the jaw slightly forward to prevent mouth tissues from falling backward.  Some people immediately become snoring-free with these devices.

Here are some other things I recommend to my patients to help them stop snoring:

• Sleep position.  Sleeping on your back most often causes sleep apnea.  Try sleeping on your side. This position prevents the airway tissues from falling back into the throat.  If you have a reclining bed, lift the head of the bed 12”.
• Clean environment. Keep your bedroom as free from dust, mold, pet dander as possible to prevent allergic congestion and snoring.
• Clean nose.  Taking a hot shower before bed opens up congested sinuses.  Also, squirt nasal saline spray up into each nostril.  Hold for 30 seconds or so and then blow out.  The salty solution breaks up the congestion and allows you to expel it.
• Nasal strips.  These can help if the problem is within the nasal passages itself.

Snoring can be an annoying and health damaging habit.  It can cause a number of sleep-deficiency based health and social problems.  As I advise my patients who snore, following the suggestions here can help you stop snoring.  They can also allow you and your housemates to get a healthy night’s sleep and boost your health 100%!

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Natural Health News

Photo Credit: Justakrusen.com

Snoring Fixes, http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/easy-snoring-remedies?page=2

ZQuiet, A Good Night’s Sleep For You, https://www.zquiet.com/c4/whyitworks.aspx

Skin Elasticity – Where Did It Go? 

When you were a kid, your skin was full of collagen and elastin and a substance called hyaluronic acid, or HA for short.  Your skin appeared smooth, tight and plumped up with moisture all the time.  If you ever had a facial cut as a kid, you likely remember how fast it healed with barely a trace of it ever happening, right? That was the effect of hyaluronic acid. It regulates skin tissue repair and supplies the skin matrix (made from proteins collagen and elastin) with natural substances called “glucose based polymers”.  These polymers are a jelly-like substance that holds moisture in the skin and gives that beautiful, cushioning of the skin that children and teenagers have.

Hyaluronic acid production peaks in the early 20’s and after that it starts falling. People over 40 have about half of their HA stores.  Our skin starts to show the decrease of HA by becoming thinner, drier, less elastic, and doesn’t respond as quickly to repair. Over-exposure to sun/tanning can deplete HA stores and hasten loss of elasticity as well.

How To Regain Youthful Skin Elasticity

By now you may be thinking, if I can just replace my HA stores, my skin elasticity issues would vanish.  Well, yes and no.  Even with HA supplements, skin researchers have not yet found a way to completely replace youthful HA levels in the skin. There are complicated synthesis issues (inhibitors that breakdown HA) that only allow a certain percentage of HA to be utilized.  If you smoke or drink a lot of alcohol this will deplete your HA stores as well.

However, supplements can replace HA in the skin and restore much elasticity and make a significant difference in the appearance of your skin.  In addition, we can also boost your body’s natural production of HA through the use of certain vitamins and supplements.  Here are some of the best ways to do that:

• Glucosamine/chondroitin. HA is a component of synovial fluid which helps our joints move smoothly.  Taking glucosamine/chondroitin supplements boosts the production of cartilage as well as HA in joints.  The offshoot benefit is that it boosts production of HA in our skin too.  Recommendation:  800 mg glucosamine/chondroitin.
•  MSM.  Methyl sulfonylmethane, a big word that does big things for the skin, and again, your joints.  Glucosamine and chondroitin helps build and retain HA.
• Hyaluronic Acid.  There are HA supplements on the market that contain HA, MSM, glucosamine and chondroitin together.  If you are allergic or sensitive to chicken or its feathers, you may not be able to take HA supplements as they are made from chicken combs.
• Vitamin C.  An antioxidant, Vitamin C boosts the production of the proteins involved in creating the skin’s matrix, collagen and elastin.  Recommend:  1,000 mg a day.
• Vitamin E.  An antioxidant that helps prevent the actions of free radicals in the breakdown of skin’s collagen and elastin.
• Echinacea.  Helps retain HA stores in the skin.
• Bioflavonoids.   Quercetin, bilberry, cranberry, green tea, grape seed, helps retain HA stores in the skin.
• Seaweed.  Japanese women credit “phytessence wakame”, seaweed that they eat regularly to keeping their skin youthful looking and without wrinkles long into old age.  It appears that its secret is its HA boosting properties. It also prevents the breakdown of HA through inhibitors (hyaluronidase) so it protects your HA stores. Can be eaten fresh or dried.  Available at certain better health food stores or online venues.
• Lutein.  Helps boost elasticity through increasing hydration and the fats that lie directly beneath the skin.  Also fights against free radical oxidation that damages skin.
• Oxygen.  Do deep breathing exercises everyday at an open window to take in more oxygen.  This helps prevent free radical oxidation that ages skin.
• Water.  Dehydration makes your skin sag terribly.  In cold winter weather as well as hot summer sun, you require more water. Drink at least half your body weight, or more, if you are sweating a lot.

Getting older does not have to mean looking older.  And, it doesn’t mean having to buy terribly expensive serums and creams, ingredients that our skin cannot fully absorb anyway! You can age gracefully and keep your skin, hair, bones and joints intact, looking and behaving youthfully.  Although good moisturizers are important, I feel it’s equally as important to pay attention to what you put in your body in the form of foods and supplements.

Try some of the recommendations listed above and see if your skin begins looking tighter, more healthy and youthful in a few short weeks!

Jay Brachfeld, M.D.

Natural Health News

Photo Credit: imodesign.net

Nourish Your Skin and Remove Wrinkles with Collagen, http://www.smart-publications.com/articles/nourish-your-skin-and-remove-wrinkles-with-hyaluronic-acid-and-collagen

Glucosamine:   A Simple Ingredient for Health and Skin Care Benefits, http://pgbeautyscience.com/glucosamine-a-simple-ingredient-for-health-and-skin-care-benefits2.php

Hyaluronic Acid:  Skin Matrix Health Is Not Just About Proteins, http://www.smartskincare.com/skinbiology/skinbiology_hyaluronic-acid.html

What’s ORAC and Why Is It In My Food?

ORAC is the acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity – an antioxidant measurement system developed by researchers at the National Institutes of Health around 1990. Research out of Tufts University completed in 1999 revealed that “eating plenty of high-ORAC fruits and vegetables, such as spinach and blueberries, may help slow the processes associated with aging in both body and brain.”

ORAC pertains to the amount of antioxidant value a particular food has – higher ORAC levels means your food has a higher free radical fighting capability.  It is thought that there is an even exchange of free radicals and ORACs – i.e. 1 ORAC destroys 1 free radical.

What are free radicals? Well, they’re part of a chemical reaction that goes on in our bodies all the time – it’s what turns the oxygen and food we intake into energy.  Free radicals steal electrons from whatever cellular tissue they encounter.  The loss of a cell’s electrons causes it to oxidize making it unstable and easily damaged. Free radical damage causes oxidative stress which is thought to be the reason behind aging and the onset of age-related diseases like cancer, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s and heart disease.

Antioxidants present in the foods you eat, fruit, vegetables, spices, nuts fight the damage that free radicals do and prevents damage to cellular DNA. They keep the telomeres, the little protective caps at the end of the chromosome, intact so that DNA does not get damaged.    Therefore, we want to eat a diet that is rich in ORAC/antioxidant values to be able to slow down aging and avoid disease by preventing telomere breakdown and cellular DNA damage.

How Much ORAC Should I Have A Day?

The USDA says adult men and women should have about a 4,200 to 5,400 ORAC level per day.  However, this amount may be a little conservative and low if you are under a lot of stress and/or have a chronic physical ailment you are dealing with, do not sleep well, or are exposed to a lot of environmental toxins (smoking, job related, pollution).

I recommend getting about 10,000 ORAC a day though there is some controversy amongst ORAC researchers as to how much ORAC level in our foods is beneficial.  Some say even as high as 20-30,000.

What Are Some Good ORAC Level Foods?    

You can get a beneficial daily ORAC level by eating several servings of fruits, vegetables a day and using common kitchen spices in your food regularly! The following are some of the highest ORAC value fruits and vegetables per 100 grams which is equal to 1 average fruit, or about ½ cup, or about 24 teaspoons. Spices listed are per 1/5 teaspoon.

Note:  Some research sources of ORAC levels differ in their evaluation of how much ORAC certain foods contain.  These are common listings for these foods.

By this list, you can see that if you stick to the FDA’s recommended 5-7 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, or if you drink several cups of green tea or cocoa a day, you will be well-covered in getting your ORAC value from your foods.

Keep in mind, however, that these ORAC levels are measured from fruits and vegetables still on the vine/tree, plant before cooking.  Certain cooking methods can destroy perhaps almost half of ORAC levels.  Try to eat fresh organic produce, steaming your vegetables, and eat your fruits raw to get the highest antioxidant capacity out of them.  Although some flash frozen vegetables and fruits probably still have some antioxidant ORAC values left intact, the processing of these foods likely has decreased their values.  Perhaps, soon, the USDA will require ORAC value labels on all produce and other items.   In fact, I have seen this labeling on some foods.
Antioxidants are necessary to our healthy well-being.  They fight free radicals and premature aging and its diseases and boost our immune system.  Make the most of nature’s gift of antioxidants by being sure to get enough of them in your daily diet to ensure your good health!

Stay Well,

Dr. Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Natural Health News

Photo Credit: b4tea.com

ORAC, www.ars.usda.gov/sp2userfiles/place/12354500/data/orac/orac07.pdf

ORAC values, http://www.phytochemicals.info/orac-values.php

Iron – How Much Is Enough?

Iron is a most efficient mineral that our body uses for many processes – one of the most important is making red blood cells that transport oxygen throughout all the cells of our body.  If iron is deficient, from diet or blood loss, we won’t make enough red blood cells and all the tissues of our body will become oxygen deficient.  This is a condition called anemia.

However, too much iron can build up in our bodies resulting in a condition called iron overload and contribute to the development of a number of diseases. In fact, the medical world began to pay closer attention to the correlation of high iron ferritin levels and high heart attack rates that were published in a 1992 Finnish study.

Iron overload creates an aggregate, or extra amount of, red blood cells which creates deposits of a sticky fibrinous material that attaches itself to the inside of internal organs and structures.  These deposits can lead to diseases like:

• Liver cirrhosis or cancer
• Diabetes
• Heart attack/heart failure
• Neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer, Parkinson, or Huntington’s disease
• Osteoporosis
• Low thyroid (hypothyroidism)

I think you get the picture – many serious health conditions can result from the buildup of too much iron in your body.  Here are a few of the warning symptoms of iron overload:

• Chronic fatigue
• Joint pain
• Abdominal pain (from liver involvement)
• Diabetes (from pancreas involvement)
• Elevated iron levels (serum iron, ferritin)
• Irregular heart rhythms

How Do I Prevent Iron Overload?

Not everyone stores too much iron in their body.   It depends on what type of iron you eat, heme or non-heme types, and how well it is absorbed.  Heme types from red meat, fish, and poultry are better absorbed than non-heme types from vegetable sources. However, to make sure you’re not taking in more iron than we need for our age, the following guidelines will help.

Women:   Premenopausal women need about 15-18 mg a day.   However, after a woman enters menopause, and is not having regular monthly menstrual bleeding, her need for iron decreases to about half – about 8 mg. If her multiple vitamin contains 18 mg of iron, she is getting twice what she needs from this source alone!  Add to that her food sources of iron, especially if she eats fortified foods, such as cereals, iron-rich vegetables, red meat, she could easily be getting 3 times the amount of iron her body actually needs!  All this extra iron could be setting her up for higher heart attack and other disease risk noted above.  Recommendation:  Be sure your multivitamin/mineral supplement does not contain iron. Label should clearly state “no iron”.  If in doubt, be sure to read the ingredient label.  If you eat vitamin/mineral fortified cereals or breads each day, then cut down on other iron-rich vegetables and limit your intake of red meat to once a week or less.

Men:   Men below the age of 80 need about 8 mg of iron as well – same as postmenopausal women. This amount can well be met by eating a healthy diet and watching iron levels of fortified foods.  Recommendation:  Be sure your multivitamin/mineral supplement does not contain iron.  Over age 80, dietary intake may be lower than what it was in younger years and a man may need extra iron at this time.  However, this should be confirmed by lab tests (RBCs) first and assessed by a physician who can make the appropriate iron recommendations at that time.         

Assessment for Iron Overload:  Regular CBC, complete blood counts, done by your physician should be done to assess your iron and serum ferritin levels.  If abnormal, your doctor can direct you in the best course.  Frequently, donating blood is recommended for treatment of iron overload.  In other cases, certain drugs can be taken to reduce the amount of iron in your blood.

Iron is an important mineral vital to our survival.  It helps us stay energetic, our muscles strong and active, our bodies well-oxygenated, and our minds clearly thinking.  Too much of this good mineral, though, can create havoc and put us at higher risk for disease if our intake of it is not regulated.  If you follow the above iron intake recommendations and have regular medical check-ups, this will help ensure that you do not become iron overloaded.

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

Natural Health News

Wellness Guide to Supplements – Iron, http://www.wellnessletter.com/html/ds/dsIron.php

Iron Overload, http://www.irondisorders.org/iron-overload

Cinnamon – An Ancient Antibiotic   

Modern science is just now re-discovering the uses of natural healing substances that had been used for centuries, cinnamon being one of them.  Cinnamon has been around for centuries and, in fact, was one of the most valuable and highest priced spices of traders around the world.  No wonder, as cinnamon has both incredible food enhancement and medicinal qualities.

photo credit: 21food.com

The Chinese used cinnamon bark to treat diarrhea, menstrual issues and fever.  Old Egyptian medical texts describe the use of cinnamon for many ailments – including asthma and cancer.  They also used it for embalming.  Cinnamon was also used in the Middle Ages in a concoction called Thieves Vinegar, or “Marseilles Vinegar”, that is reputed to have protected people in France against the plague. This could likely be due to the high antioxidant level of cinnamon.

Interestingly, the International Journal of Food Microbiology lists cinnamon as capable of killing 92% of gram negative and positive bacterial strains out of 25 tested.  Saraushtra University in India rated cinnamon bark as being twice as effective in killing fungus as hexaconazole, a common agricultural fungicide! Cinnamon is also used in natural household cleaners.

Recent medical research credits cassia-derived cinnamon, or cinnamon bark, as being of benefit to diabetics – 1,000 mg (1 gram) dry cinnamon a day, or 1 drop of GRAS essential oil in your food, can help decrease blood sugar levels and keep insulin secretion at even levels. Also reputed to help decrease belly fat as a result.  Note:  Cassia type cinnamon contains cinnamon-aldehyde which can cause liver toxicity in high doses. In the oil form, do not exceed 1 drop a day to your food.  With dry type, do not exceed 1,000 mg, or 1 gram, a day.

Another form of cinnamon oil is derived from its leaf – Cinnamon osmopholuem. This type does not contain the ‘aldehyde’ compounds that Cinnamon cassia has.  Essential oils derived from this type of cinnamon have been research proven at National Taiwan University as having anti-inflammatory properties.  Other research has shown that smelling cinnamon improves memory and the performance of many tasks.

Clove – An Antioxidant Workhorse

Cloves have an ORAC (oxygen radical absorbency capacity) that is off the charts in the millions.  ORAC values determine the antioxidant value of a given substance (see Healthy Answers article on ORAC values of foods).  Cloves contain eugenol oil, which has been used for eons in dentistry for alleviating dental pain from a variety of conditions for improved dental health.  Rubbing a few drops of clove oil on sore joints helps relieve pain.  It also helps relieve sore throat pain with a few drops in warm water and used as a gargle.

A few, 1-2 drops of GRAS essential clove oil diluted in tea, or water and added to your food, can provide extra antioxidant protection in addition to eating a healthy diet. Clove essential oil is very concentrated, so do not use more than a drop or two diluted.

Other health benefits of using clove essential oils include:

• Helps insomnia
• Helps relieve bronchitis, asthma and other respiratory ailments
• Fights infections with its excellent antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
• May even be beneficial in preventing cancer due to its high antioxidant levels.

How To Take/Use Essential Oils For Their Health Benefits

Essential oils are basically the “plant blood” that keeps the plant/tree healthy and able to resist damage from fungus, bacteria and sun.  Most of them are very high in antioxidant value.  These oils confer many of the same health benefits to humans.  However, essential oil versions of spices like cinnamon and clove are very concentrated. You want to be sure you do not use too much to avoid toxicity.  Here are some other things to know:

• Choose a reputable manufacturer of GRAS (FDA’s generally recognized as safe label) grade essential oils.  Most kitchen spices, including clove and cinnamon, that have been processed, as essential oils are GRAS – they can be taken internally as well as used externally.
• Dilute before using.  Both cinnamon and clove essential oils should be diluted using a 1 drop to 4 ounce oil-soluble liquid ratio before taking them internally or applying externally to the skin.

Mother Nature has created some incredible plants, trees and flowers from which we get our basic kitchen spices and their essential oils. Modern medicine is just now starting to turn back to these ancient medicine forms to research the scope of the health benefits they can offer us. In the meantime, you can tap into these ancient health boosters by making use of essential oils regularly in addition to a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Dr. Mark Rosenberg

Natural Health News

20 Health Benefits of Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils, http://www.rejuvinstitute.com/health-benefits-essential-oils

The Health Benefits of Cinnamon, http://www.experience-essential-oils.com/health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html

Health Benefits of Clove Oil, http://www.aromatherapies.net/blog/health-benefits-of-clove-essential-oil.html

How To Use Therapeutic Essential Oils, http://www.yleo-oils.com/gras-safety.htm

photo credit: activereliefla.com

To Keep Moving – Start Moving   

It may sound counter-intuitive to recommend someone who’s having trouble moving their hands and fingers to start moving them more.  Yet, exercise is exactly the best prescription for hand and finger joint pain and stiffness.  However, there are a number of things you can do before exercise to help alleviate inflammation, pain, swelling of hand and finger joints that will allow you to move comfortably, more often.
Here’s what I recommend:

1.  Soak Hands.  First, soak hands in a bowl of warm (not too hot) water with 1 tsp of Epsom salts for 20 minutes. The heated water helps pull any trapped fluids out of joints, which will help relieve stiffness.  The magnesium in the salts also relaxes stiff muscles to make movement less painful.

2.  Topical Pain Relief.  There are over-the-counter pain relief solutions, containing capsaicin as the active ingredient that can be purchased from your local pharmacy. Apply sparingly to hands, especially at the finger joints and wrist joint.  Put a pair of cotton gloves on for a while and/or wrap a heating pad around hands set on low heat for about 15 minutes.

Another option are Far Infrared gloves that you can purchase from health product stores or online.  These can be worn once a day to decrease inflammation and swelling and increase circulation. These can even be purchased without fingertips so that you can wear them while working at a computer.  Your hands should feel much less painful and you should be able to move them much more freely.

3.  Oral Pain Relief.  You can take over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen for temporary pain relief, however, I’d prefer you limit the use of these to very occasionally.

3.  Exercise. As I stated earlier, movement is the best remedy for hand and finger joint pain and stiffness.  Start by doing simple flexing and extending exercises like these:

a.   Bend your fingers toward your palms with the tips of your fingers touching your palm.  Then raise your fingers back up to their extended position.  Repeat this 10 times.

b. Bend your fingertips towards your palm and slowly open them up “walking” your fingers back up to their completely extended position.

c. “Scary hands”.  Hold up the palms of your hands and wiggle all your fingers at once like you would to indicate something is scary. Do several times a day.

d. “Hand Flashes”.  Hold up the palms of your hands and flash your hands open and closed several times a day.

e.  Keep moving.  Do hand/finger mobility activities like knitting, playing a piano, shuffling/dealing cards, kneading dough, cat’s cradle yarn/string exercise.

4.  Massage/acupressure.  After soaking hands, apply a little capsaicin cream to hands, you can massage hands until they feel warm. Be sure to focus on the areas around the finger joints, very gently pulling the fingers forward by their tips.  Reflexology, a form of acupressure, can also help alleviate swelling and pain as well.

5.  Supplements.  Glucosamine chondroitin and MSM supplements can help more long-term to prevent/decrease inflammation and prevent future flare-ups of stiffness and pain.  Omega 3 fats, 2,000 mg of fish oil, or krill oil, or 2 tablespoons of flax oil per day helps prevent/relieve inflammation around all joints. Vitamin D₃ also helps relieve inflammation in your body.

6.  Diet.  Watch the amount of acid in the foods that you are eating.  Eat high acid foods sparingly and be sure to balance them with alkali foods.  High acid foods can all lead to inflammation of joints that can set pain and stiffness into motion.  High acid foods include most animal products, orange and tomato products, chocolate, coffee, sodas, and high carbohydrate (sugar) foods. Find a good acid/alkali food list to balance your food intake.

7.  Check hormone levels.  Sometimes, joint aches and pains can be related to fluctuating hormone levels in both men and women, but most commonly in menopausal women. Estrogen has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body and decreasing estrogen levels can allow inflammation to become more pronounced.  Low “T” (low testosterone) may also aggravate joint pain in men as well.

8.  Stay Hydrated.  You may be surprised to know that not drinking enough water every day can contribute to joint pain and stiffness throughout your entire body, not just your hands and fingers.  Colder winter temperatures can deplete our body’s water supplies as much as hot, humid summer weather.  Joints can become “dry” from lack of lubrication.  This adds to inflammation and pain.  Be sure to drink at least half your body weight in water each day.

As we get older, joint pain in our hands and fingers, and even throughout our entire body, can become more of an issue for many of the reasons listed above.  The good news, however, is that with the proper attention, all of these are fixable issues.  Hand and joint pain doesn’t have to sideline you.  You can stay active and healthy all winter long without pain or stiffness in your bones!

Dr. Mark Bromson

Natural Health News

Hand and Finger Rheumatoid Arthritis, http://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/guide/hand-and-finger-ra?page=2

Arthritis, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/arthritis/AR00030

FIR Therapy/Prolotex, http://www.therapygloves.com/arthritishands.html

Your Mouth – The Door to Your Good Health

You may not know this, but your mouth, and all the structures within it – your teeth, your gums, and your tongue – is one of the first places where disease can start in your body.  That’s right.  Bacteria levels can rise in your mouth just from the simple act of eating and/or drinking.   Without the proper hygiene of regularly brushing your teeth, flossing, and cleaning your tongue, bacteria can infect gums causing serious gum disease and even tooth loss. These same bacteria can travel throughout your blood and go on to create a number of other diseases that include the following:

• Endocarditis.  Inflammation of the lining of the heart thought caused by bacteria that enters the blood stream from poor dental hygiene and/or infections from dental procedures, etc.
• Cardiovascular disease.   Thought contributed to, or caused by, chronic periodontal disease such as gingivitis (inflammation of the gingival/gums).  Also, clogged arteries are now thought possibly due to high oral bacteria levels.
• Stroke.  Thought to be caused by clogged head and neck arteries from high oral bacteria levels.
• Osteoporosis.  Thought possibly associated with periodontal bone loss.
• Gastric and intestinal diseases/infections/cancers.  The H. pylori bug has been found to be the culprit bacteria behind many gastric infections like ulcers and even cancer.  It is thought to enter the body through the mouth in poor hygiene resulting in gum disease.
• Alzheimer’s.  According to the Mayo Clinic, tooth loss before age 35 may be a risk factor for developing Alzheimer disease later in life.
• Type 2 diabetes.  Chronic bacterial conditions can lead to low level inflammation which in turn can decrease insulin uptake in cells leading to diabetes.
• Pancreatic cancer.  A recent study showed that about 2/3 of the participants who developed pancreatic cancer had a history of periodontal disease.
• Lung disease.  Mouth bacteria can get drawn into the lungs through aspiration, a type of sucking-in process, and cause infections like pneumonia or worsen COPD.

What Can You Do To Protect Your Oral Health?

            As I mentioned above, one of the first things I tell my patients, is the best thing you can do for your overall health is to observe good oral hygiene.  Here’s how:

• Get regular, once a year dental check ups and twice yearly cleanings.
• Floss completely, regularly after meals.
• Brush teeth at least twice a day.
• Use a battery-powered spin-type tooth brush.  Studies show that powered tooth brushes get teeth much cleaner and prevent gum disease much better than manual, hand-powered brushing with a regular tooth brush.
• Rinse with an antibacterial mouthwash at least before going to bed to keep bacteria levels down at night while your mouth is closed.
• Be sure your diet contains adequate calcium to prevent periodontal bone loss and osteoporosis.
• Cut down/out refined sugars that produce acid and cause bacteria levels to rise.
• Drink adequate amounts of water to stay hydrated overall and keep mouth tissues moist.   Dry mouth, or xerostomia, contributes to increased bacteria levels and breakdown of tissues.
• Drink a few cups of green tea per day which has been shown to kill oral bacteria, as well as H. pylori bacteria, and boost the condition of oral tissues.
• Clean your tongue at least once a day so bacteria cannot overgrow.
• Do not smoke or use smokeless tobacco products like chewing tobacco, which are noted to increase risk for oral and gastric cancers.

Spend a little extra time each day to make sure that you brush and flush properly and rinse your mouth with an antibacterial rinse to keep down bacterial levels.  Keeping healthy oral tissues can go a long way in preventing disease and keeping you healthy well into your golden years!

Dr. Rosenberg

Natural Health News

Adult Health/Oral Health, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dental/DE00001/NSECTIONGROUP=2

Dental Health and Overall Health, http://www.everydayhealth.com/specialreport/powerful-tips-daily-oral-care/dental-health-overall-health.aspx