Western diets stimulates genes for "fat"

(NaturalNews) New research published in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) has found that the "Western" diet, typically high in sugar and fat, may be responsible for activating genes that signal the body to become fatter. According to scientists, the body's response to high amounts of energy-dense food is to activate the kappa opioid receptor which triggers increased fat storage.

Researchers arrived at this conclusion by conducting an experiment on two groups of mice. One group had its kappa opioid receptors genetically deactivated while the other remained intact. Both groups were fed diets high in fat and sugar for 16 weeks. At the end of 16 weeks, the group with the deactivated receptor remained lean while the control group gained significant weight.

Besides limiting their bodies' ability to store energy-dense food in their fat stores, the mice whose receptors had been deactivated were noted to also have a limited ability to assimilate and store nutrients from the foods they ingested.

Traci Ann Czyzyk-Morgan, one of the study's researchers, indicated that the findings prove the hypothesis long held by many in the scientific community that the kappa opioid receptor may be responsible for causing widespread obesity in Western countries. She and others continue to encourage people to avoid diets high in fat and sugar.

Now that they better understand the process by which fatty, sugary foods turn to fat, those in the medical community are seeking other options as well, including therapeutic ways of deactivating the receptors in order to help curb obesity.

Vegetable juice promotes weight loss

(NaturalNews) Daily consumption of vegetable juice may not just help increase vegetable consumption, but also improve the effectiveness of weight loss strategies, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of California-Davis and presented at the Experimental Biology Conference in New Orleans.

The study was funded in part by the Campbell Soup Company.

The researchers conducted the study on 81 adults with metabolic syndrome, three-quarters of them women. Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of symptoms -- central obesity, high blood levels of trigylcerides and fasting glucose, high blood pressure, and low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol -- that significantly raise a person's risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. All the participants were advised to follow an American Heart Association-recommended diet high in fiber, fruit, vegetables, minerals and low-fat diary, and low in salt and saturated fat. They were also told to drink 0, 1 or 2 cups of low-sodium, high-potassium V8-brand vegetable juice daily.

After 12 weeks, participants who drank either one or two cups of vegetable juice per day lost an average of four pounds, while those who drank no vegetable juice lost only one pound. The researchers also found that people in the vegetable juice groups had significantly higher vitamin C and potassium intake, and a significantly lower intake of carbohydrates.

Drinking vegetable juice also made people significantly more likely to reach the recommended intake of five fruits and vegetables per day. Among those not drinking vegetable juice, less than 25 percent reached the daily fruit and vegetable goal, in contrast with more than 50 percent of those in the one-cup-per-day group and 100 percent of those in the two-cups-per-day group.

"What we found in this study is that drinking vegetable juice seemed to address some of the key barriers to vegetable consumption such as convenience, portability and taste, so individuals were more likely to meet their daily recommendations," researcher Carl Keen said. "Furthermore, vegetable juice drinkers reported that they actually enjoyed drinking their vegetables, which is critical to adopting dietary practices for the long-term."

Sources for this story include: www.reuters.com; timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

It is not obesity, it's inflammation...

(NaturalNews) There is a new game in town that is destroying the health of America and it is causing, simultaneously, rampant morbid obesity. That new game is a chemical cocktail attack on the bodies of Americans which results in extreme inflammation. In this article, we will explore what is known about modern chemical pollutants and warfare and their effect on humans in the developed world. We will also discuss what things can be done about it and how you can, to some degree, protect yourself.

Inflammation as a major cause of disease is not new. It is at least a reasonable consideration that inflammation is involved with, if not the cause of, every other ill from which we suffer as a race. If that has not been true in the past, it is true today. No other cause of disease has a chance to take a foothold. Inflammation troubles have become so dominant that no other process may need to be considered. The cause of this inflammation is chemical toxicity.(1)

Old school chemical damage might have caused either a reduction in function or inflammation and irritability. Mercury poisoning from amalgam fillings is a good example. If you were immuno-sensitized to the mercury when it started entering your body, you suddenly started filling up with inflammation as every endocrine organ got saturated with it.(2) If you were not immuno-sensitized to it, then you developed low grade infections in the tissue that was most saturated with it and that tissue simply got weaker and weaker and maybe developed abnormal growths or degenerative diseases.

Today, however, the cocktail of chemicals we are exposed to make the old days of chemical poisoning feel like your first kiss--a little stressful, but you would gladly do it again. Today we face chemicals from pesticides (which are poured out without measure on crops grown for biofuel), herbacides, non-food fillers in our food, off-gassing from synthetic...well...everything, plastic byproducts in the bottled water revolution, mercury in our teeth, contaminants in our water, etc...oh, and let`s not forget chemtrails and bio-terror experimentation on our home soil! This cocktail, however immediately toxic, culminates, inevitably, in inflammatory responses to it.

Inflammatory responses, we should mention, create various disease processes in the body. Under the stress of inflammation, minerals and vitamins are depleted, circulatory damage is caused, free radicals spike endlessly, immune response becomes excessive but ineffective, pH lowers, endocrine glands become exhausted, digestion diminishes, nerves become frayed and irritable, periodic illness (like a headache every Friday) rules life and brain function decreases.(3) During inflammatory responses, circulation stays near the organs of greatest saturation and other organs starve. It is a state of imbalance, weakness, irritability and chronic disease processes.

Because of the nature of today`s inflammatory chemicals, cancer and auto-immune disease are also sure to be on the rise. These diseases only exist when certain immune physiology fails. Specifically, cells, messengers and chemical solvents that are supposed to stop one phase of immune response and trigger the next are either destroyed, deceived or bound up so that they do not do their jobs. This can, and often does involve the last stage of immune response where clean-up is supposed to follow and break apart all the complex molecules put in place to fight germs, poisons or particles. These complex molecules, actually, are called complexes, complements or opsonins.(4) Normally, they do their job, destroy the invader or neutralize the poison and then they are broken down so that those tissues can return to business as usual. When this does not happen, ongoing cell damage and tissue weakness will occur. You may get cancer and auto-immune disease or chronic fatigue and neurological failure.

The "good" news is that your body also has a back-up mechanism for when it is overloaded with immune and inflammatory complexes that are "stuck on." It takes all the by-products and even some of the immune-complex particles themselves, and stuffs them into either fat or water. If it is fat, you get toxic fat, maybe loads of it, depending on your particular situation. If it is water, your body will not process it and you will build up fluid wherever your body thinks it is safe to put it. You might get both (showing a very watery fat somewhere or everywhere in the body).

Let us regress just a little to discuss obesity by itself. If we can observe a horse that has been kept in a small area and fed oats all winter, we shall see a horse with lots of extra fat. This fat is heavy and flabby and the horse pants when s/he is first worked in the spring again. Quickly, however, this horse burns off the fat and returns to normal. The farmer or cowboy does not expect that the horse will have any difficulty shedding that winter weight quickly. The farmer does not expect that the horse will have arthritis or other pain associated with the fat. The fat is just calories and it comes right off.

Humans are, or should be no different whatever. Nor is any other species any different. They all will put on weight if fed nutrient dense food and will burn it off when they have to work for a living again or have to be exercised for a couple of weeks after a long winter. Anyone who has been around horses knows that it only takes a couple weeks to shed that weight. It usually comes right off. That is natural obesity.

Absolutely ANYTHING ELSE is another kind of pathology. If pain accompanies the obesity, that is a pathology. If the weight will not come off, that is a pathology. If the person gets hugely obese, that is a pathology. Actually, the fat cells themselves are not the pathology, it is important to note. The fat cells are filling up as an adaptation, an effort to absorb what the body feels is an endless supply of toxicity and inflammation. They are providing for survival when death would have been otherwise imminent. For this we should be grateful to our bodies.

Now that we have introduced the problem, let us look at a little anecdotal evidence. The author started a few years ago to do primary research on the impact of chemical load and obesity. It began when a family of six, related to the author, returned from almost 2 years in Egypt. There, the family had made considerably more money. They ate plenty, they had luxuries and they had most of their stuff delivered from a nearby marketplace. To their knowledge, they ate as much or more food as they did in the United States. They did not feel that, beyond where it was unavoidable, their choices in food types had changed much. It is interesting to note that they lived in Cairo, theoretically one of the top 5 most polluted cities in the world. Cairo apparently has less of chemical-laden food, however. While there every one of them lost excess pounds, but when they returned to the U.S. they found that they put on all that weight and about 50% more.

After this observation, the author used his position at his work to investigate Eastern European seasonal workers, most of whom were more physically active by far than when at home, to see if when they were in the United States they consistently gained excess weight. Of those investigated, 100% of them said they had added weight and about half of those felt that it was unwanted weight. A couple in the group had made such seasonal trips to work multiple times. Both of those said that in 3 months after returning home (to Eastern Europe) they would drop down to "normal" again.

This led to an investigation into endocrinology, immunology and practical application with clients who worked with the author. The result was and has continued to bear out that chemical load is somehow interfering with shut down of normal immune response.

There appears to be four basic categories of problems with immune shut-down which result in inflammation and storage of poisons and inflammation in adipose cells.

1.Direct interference (poisoning) with immune shut-down molecules. This appears to be present with mercury poisoning and in about half of the chemtrails in the Atlanta, GA area.

2.In actual infection, low-grade, some microorganism (almost always a colony involving protozoa, yeast and bacteria) may feed on either the poison itself or tissue damaged by it. Fungal infections are detected 100% of the time in every case of mercury amalgam fillings, for example. This appears to be a symbiotic relationship where the microorganism is actually helping to remove the poison from the body, but it is, nevertheless, an infection and is doing some damage. The result is that the immune system attacks it and never shuts down.

3.Direct stimulation (poisoning) of the immune system to remove the poison from the body, but which is constantly coming in. Immune cells and complexes involved with this process are therefore not in any error when they continuously attack and create inflammation. That continuous attack, however, is indeed harmful to the body tissues.

4.Damage to the endocrine and neural systems and organs causes insufficient production of key immune components or inadequate communication within the body.

Any and all of these problems will, if left unchecked, cause some form of disease. They might, and often do result in use of adipose storage as a buffer. You can think of the adipose cells as a place where both parties agree to go to cease hostilities until a solution can be reached.

The other half of this is that if the solution is not reached, the adipose tissue will NEVER disappear for very long. It may reduce, but it will fill back up with fluid and fat very quickly to offer sufficient buffer to the poisons located there. What we need to do, then, is attack the problem at its roots. In the next few paragraphs, five steps are suggested as possible routes to freedom from chronic inflammation and the obesity and other disease associated with it.

1.Remove as many of the irritants as possible from your life. This certainly includes water purification of some kind, air purification of the best kind for your house, removal of all amalgam fillings, cessation of non-food consumption and avoidance of all body and household chemicals that can be avoided. You can choose non-toxic options where needed. In addition, some kind of buffer for electromagnetic pollution is recommended.

2.Learn to eat foods that are easily eliminated. In addition to the minimum standard, the more raw food from organic farms, the better. Green smoothies are something that seem to be a great tool, almost a must! Elimination makes the difference between whether the detox reaction from following step 1 kills you or saves you.

3.Fight the trend. This includes what you watch on television, what you think, what is in your heart about others and what you think about your food when you eat. Do not give in just because it is a strong trend. At the current rate of things, no conspiracy will have to be levied against humanity to reduce the population; we will angrily and fearfully do it to each other. We can do far better. Do not let your mind be saturated with inflammatory media, whether mainstream or alternative. Stick to matters of enlightenment. If something real and of real importance happens, someone will let you know.

4.Detox your liver. The new disease for toxic locations in the world, is called "Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity" and it is a disease of the liver where it can no longer process toxins.(1) The immune system reacts to them instead. This is a sad and sickly state to be in. Various liver cleanses exist, usually in conjunction with juice fasting and lots of wheatgrass juice. One of these should be used every 30-90 days for a 3-5 day span of time.

5.Follow the Cool, Calm and Strengthen plan every day. This plan is as follows:
a.Cool inflammation with liver herbs like dandelion or burdock root taken daily. Turmeric helps with this also by removing inflammatory marker proteins in the blood.
b.Calm the whole body by regulating the major inflammation control hormone: cortisol. This can be done with any good adrenal food; astragalus works well.
c.Strengthen the liver and the whole body using superfoods that heal and create vital energy.
d.Combine these three steps in the following formula for every day use. It helps with mood and overall health. It is as follows:
i. 4 parts Vitalerbs (from Dr. Christopher`s Original Formulas)
ii. 2 parts milk thistle seed powder
iii. 3 parts turmeric powder
iv. 2 parts astragalus root powder
v. 1 part rosemary
vi. 1 part licorice root (optional, for extreme adrenal fatigue cases)
vii. Mix powders together and stir into water, 1 Tablespoon night and morning.
viii. Consider 8-16 ounces of white grapefruit juice twice daily to facilitate calming and cleansing from the liver. Bottled or fresh work equally well. Rinse with water after to protect tooth enamel.

It is important to note that this is a daily maintenance, not a clinical treatment for any illness. If inflammatory processes are "stuck on" in a sinister way in your body, some specific work may be required. Discussions on specifics should be taken to a local naturopath. This program will cause most people to reduce weight and to feel better right away. It may help support a weak person through the process of finding specific problems and healing them.

Sources:
(1) Healing Poisoned Medicine, Medicine that Heals v.s. Medicine that Kills (2008), Reed T. Sainsbury N.D.
(2) Smoking Teeth Presentation by the IAOMT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yln...
(3) The False Fat Diet (2001), Elson Haas, M.D.
(4) Immunology for Medical Students 3th ed.(2004), Nain R, Helbert M, Mosby, Elsevier Science Limited 2002

Thanks for reading,

Kal Sellers, MH

Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of brest cancer

(NaturalNews) Discovering that physiological changes found in about 47 million Americans could be causing breast cancer may not sound like good news, but it is. Here's why: new research just published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, concludes there's a strong link between metabolic syndrome (also sometimes called insulin resistance syndrome) and the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer. And because metabolic syndrome is virtually totally preventable and usually reversible through healthy living the new study could well mean that many cases of breast cancer can be prevented, naturally, too.

Metabolic syndrome consists of several signs and symptoms including abdominal obesity, high blood glucose levels, impaired glucose tolerance, abnormal lipid levels (low levels of HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and high triglycerides) and high blood pressure. Found in sedentary people who are often overweight, eat junk food and make other poor nutrition choices, the syndrome has long been known to increase the risk for two other potentially killer diseases -- diabetes and heart disease. In fact, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) web site notes that almost 25 percent of all Americans have metabolic syndrome and the condition is growing at such an alarming rate due to increasing obesity that it may overtake smoking as the leading risk for heart disease.

Geoffrey C. Kabat, Ph.D., senior epidemiologist in the department of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and colleagues conducted the current study to see if the elevated insulin levels found in metabolic syndrome are connected to the development of breast malignancies. It's the first time scientists have assessed whether women who met criteria indicating they have metabolic syndrome are at greater risk for postmenopausal breast cancer.

For their longitudinal study, the scientists worked with existing data from the Women's Health Initiative. This large, national study was created to assess major causes of chronic diseases in women. Research subjects included women between the ages of 50 and 79 at enrollment who were found to repeatedly have signs of metabolic syndrome over an eight-year period -- including elevated blood glucose, low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides, hypertension and excessive fat around their middles.

Out of 4,888 women with baseline measurements for metabolic syndrome who did not have diabetes, 165 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed during the follow-up period. On the surface, this finding wasn't enough to link metabolic syndrome with breast cancer risk. But when the scientists analyzed repeated measurements, they found that women who had the metabolic syndrome for three to five years prior to being diagnosed with breast cancer had twice the risk of having the disease when compared to other women without the syndrome or who had not had it for long.

Moreover, the researchers also found significant associations between elevated blood glucose levels, triglycerides and diastolic blood pressure and breast cancer. Increased diastolic blood pressure (the second number in a blood pressure measurement), raised the risk of breast cancer an alarming 2.4 times. For both triglycerides and glucose, the relative risk was increased by 1.7 for all breast cancer.

Researcher Tim Byers, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and interim director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, points out that these findings could help explain why being overweight is a known risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer.

"We have assumed that the relationship between weight and breast cancer risk is due to increased circulating estrogens among postmenopausal women who are overweight or obese," he said in a media statement. "An alternative explanation is explored here: that some other aspect of the metabolic syndrome might be involved, such as growth-stimulating effects of insulin, or insulin-like growth factors."

Dr. Byers added that additional research is needed to study specific ways in which the metabolism of the female hormone estrogen metabolism is tied to the metabolic syndrome. "Though estrogens are produced in adipose (fat) tissues, just how these are metabolized in various subgroups of women needs better study. In addition, the hyper-inflammatory state of obesity and the metabolic syndrome need to be better described relative to cancer risk."

Worried about breast cancer and already showing some signs of metabolic syndrome? You can gain control of your health by natural means. Healthy lifestyle changes can prevent and reverse symptoms metabolic syndrome. According to the NHLBI, weight loss, exercise, smoking cessation and nutritious foods are the first line of treatment. As reported previously in Natural News, some of the natural health strategies that can help beat metabolic syndrome include adding nuts to a Mediterranean style of eating (http://www.naturalnews.com/025098_n...), practicing yoga (http://www.naturalnews.com/023726_y...) and eating cinnamon (http://www.naturalnews.com/020826.html). In addition, avoiding diet sodas is wise (http://www.naturalnews.com/025644_d...) because research has linked these chemical-laden beverages with the development of metabolic syndrome.

For more information:< /B>
http://www.aacr.org/
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci...
http://www.nih.gov/news/research_ma...

Junk food triggers our "bliss point"

Junk food triggers our ‘bliss point’

June 28, 2009
Jonathan Leake, Science Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/s...icle6591291.ece


JUNK foods such as Snickers bars and ketchup really are irresistible. Manufacturers have created combinations of fat, sugar and salt that are so tasty many people cannot stop eating them even when full, according to America’s former food standards watchdog.

David Kessler, former head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has warned that snacks, cereals and ready meals devised by food scientists can act on the reward centres of the brain in the same way as tobacco.

He argues that manufacturers are seeking to trigger a “bliss point” when people eat certain products, leaving them hungry for more.

“It is time to stop blaming individuals for being overweight or obese,” said Kessler. “The real problem is we have created a world where food is always available and where that food is designed to make you want to eat more of it. For millions of people, modern food is simply impossible to resist.”

While at the FDA, Kessler was best known for his attacks on the tobacco industry, which he accused of manipulating cigarettes to make them even more addictive.

In a new book, The End of Overeating, he suggests food manufacturers have achieved a similar result using precise combinations of fat, sugar, salt and texture to make foods “hyper-palatable”.

Kessler cites Heinz tomato ketchup and Starbucks white chocolate mocha Frappuccino as examples of the thousands of modern foods that have been engineered to stimulate feelings of pleasure.

A study carried out by Kessler with researchers at Yale University using functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques, showed that about 50% of obese people and 30% of those who are overweight were prone to so-called “excessive activation”.

“The right combination of tastes triggers a greater number of neurons, getting them to fire more,” said Kessler. “The message to eat becomes stronger, motivating the eater to look for even more food.”

In other research, scientists have used rats to study how different combinations of fat, sugar and salt trigger the release of neurotransmitters in the brain’s pleasure centres.

The most powerful combination involved sucrose (table sugar) mixed with chocolate and alcohol – the same mixture found in desserts such as tiramisu.

Kessler said: “Many of us have what’s called a ‘bliss point’ – the point at which we get the greatest pleasure from sugar, fat or salt.

“As more sugar is added, food becomes more pleasurable until we reach the bliss point, after which it becomes too sweet and the pleasure drops off.” The same thing happens with fat and salt.

At the optimum point, food stimulates many people’s appetites instead of suppressing it, according to Kessler, who ran the FDA from 1990 to 1997 and is now professor of paediatrics, epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California.

There have been a series of warnings about obesity in Britain. A landmark report by the National Audit Office in 2001 found that 20% of adults were obese – a figure that has since risen to 25% – while a further 38% were overweight.

The findings alarmed Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, so much that he warned of a “health time bomb” – particularly among children.

In 2007 the government’s science-led Foresight report said: “The wide variety and appeal of modern foods, with their increased palatability and ability to heighten sensory stimulation, drive us to reward ourselves with more food.”

Experts claimed that such evidence showed the need for state intervention. However, when Gordon Brown announced the Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives strategy early last year, he said: “There should be no doubt that maintaining a healthy weight must be the responsibility of individuals first – it is not the role of government to tell people how to live their lives.”

Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University and a government adviser, said politicians’ obsession with promoting “choice” was damaging public health.

“If I walk to my local park for some exercise,” he said, “I pass more than 30 food outlets before I get there. It’s that combination of availability, advertising and seductive taste that makes modern food so addictive. ”

Diet food encourage overeating

Diet foods encourage overeating, study finds

Researchers offer an answer to the conundrum of why sticking slavishly to low-calorie meals often still fails to shift the pounds

By Rachel Shields
Sunday, 14 June 2009
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/he...ds-1704827.html


It is every dieter's nightmare: hopping on to the scales after weeks of forgoing steak for salad, only to find they haven't lost an ounce. Now researchers at the University of Bristol claim to have found a simple explanation for this phenomenon: when people choose lower-calorie dishes, they just compensate by eating bigger portions.


These findings are sure to come as a blow to the diet industry, which makes millions selling low-calorie foods, but should make cheering reading for any dieters sworn off their favourite fatty foods. The study also showed that when faced with foods they liked, participants did not pick bigger portions of them than of any other food.

"A person's perception of how full a meal will make them feel will no doubt affect portion size," said Lisa Miles, a nutritionist at the British Nutrition Foundation. "It's so important to be aware of behavioural triggers for over-eating."

The researchers, who studied the responses of 76 people to 18 different foods, found that people quickly learnt if food offered fewer calories per serving and upped their portion size to compensate. "We know from experimental studies that eating large portions does not necessarily mean that you eat less at a subsequent meal, so this can lead to an increase in calorie intake overall," Ms Miles said.

Dr Brunstrom, senior lecturer at the University of Bristol who led the study, will present these findings at a British Nutrition Foundation conference, entitled "Satiation, satiety and their effects on eating behaviour", on Thursday.

"This is quite a controversial idea, which goes against the perceived wisdom that you just eat what is put in front of you," said Tam Fry, chairman for the Child Growth Foundation and a member of the National Obesity Forum.

In a study to be published later this month, Dr Brunstrom also found that children whose parents restricted their consumption of high-calorie snack foods such as crisps and chocolate were more likely to eat them in much larger portions when they were presented with them.

Researchers tested 70 children aged between 10 and 12 years old, presenting them with six snack foods. They found that a child who is unfamiliar with snack food was more likely to over-estimate how much they would need, regarding a 250kcal portion as only containing 120kcal, whereas a child who had eaten the foods previously would be able to assess accurately how calorific it was, guessing that a 250kcal portion contained 230kcal.

"These findings suggest that limiting access to certain snack foods limits learning about their properties. Thus, when snack foods are eventually encountered they might tend to be selected in larger portions," Dr Brunstrom said.

This could be bad news for parents who believe they are doing their children a favour by placing treats such as sweets and cakes off-limits.

"The object lesson here is that obesity is all to do with education, education, education," Mr Fry said. "Early in a child's life they need to be introduced to portion size as a positive measure, otherwise it becomes forbidden fruit. It isn't just the ignorant affected by obesity, it goes across all social classes."

Snacks banned: 'His problem is portions'

Jane Galley, 43, Sheffield, is mother to David, 10, and Jonathan, 12

"The younger boy has always been as thin as a rake, but Jonathan, the older, has been heavier. When they were little I never gave them sweets and rubbish, I always gave them homemade food, but other people would give them it when they were out of the house. I suppose that I was quite restrictive, but nothing was ever completely out of bounds. When I was swimming with my older son he saw a poster for an organisation called Mend, which helps overweight children. He learnt about portion control, and balancing energy intake and exercise. His problem was never excessive snacking, more just portion control."

Snacks allowed: 'He knows he should eat sensibly'

Tracy Rogers, 35, a civil servant from south Wales, is relaxed about letting her children, Lewis, nine, and Jack, 11, eat snacks

"The only rule, really, is that they have to have eaten their dinner before they can have snacks. They always ask first: they are not allowed to just help themselves. They are allowed to have fruit, crisps, biscuits and chocolate. Jack is at secondary school now and so has access to whatever he wants at school. The snacks I give him for lunchboxes are often portion-controlled, like cake bars. He knows that he should eat sensibly, which is good because it is difficult to monitor what he is eating. Both boys are slim, and I've never worried about their weight. They are very active. Jack plays rugby and cricket, while Lewis plays football three or four times a week."

Tumeric ( curcumin) reduces weight gain

(NaturalNews) In addition to being the seasoning that provides flavor to Indian curries, the yellow-gold spice known as turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) has long been an important part of traditional Asian medicine. Throughout countless centuries, herbalists have prescribed it to treat gastrointestinal problems, lack of energy, arthritis pain and other conditions. Modern day Western medicine has recently taken a serious look at the spice and, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrated the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer properties of turmeric and its major polyphenol (a type of phytochemical), curcumin. Now researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA) have found another possible benefit of turmeric. The curcumin it contains appears to reduce weight gain and suppress the growth of fat tissue.

The new research, just published in the May 2009 issue of The Journal of Nutrition, does not involve humans but it does provide tantalizing clues that turmeric could be helpful in the fight against obesity. Tufts scientists studied mice fed high fat diets supplemented with curcumin from turmeric and they also investigated cell cultures incubated with curcumin. The phytochemical reduced weight gain in curcumin-supplemented mice. Moreover, it suppressed the growth of fat tissue in both the lab animals and in cell models.

"Weight gain is the result of the growth and expansion of fat tissue, which cannot happen unless new blood vessels form, a process known as angiogenesis," said senior author Mohsen Meydani, DVM, PhD, director of the Vascular Biology Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA, in a statement to the media. "Based on our data, curcumin appears to suppress angiogenic activity in the fat tissue of mice fed high fat diets."

Dr. Meydani and his research team fed lab mice a high fat diet for 12 weeks. One group of the animals eating the high fat diet also received curcumin while a control group did not. Both groups ate the same amount of food, which showed that the curcumin didn't change the appetite of the mice. However, the rodents fed the curcumin supplemented diet did not gain as much weight as the mice that didn't eat any curcumin.

"Curcumin appeared to be responsible for total lower body fat in the group that received supplementation," Dr. Meydani, professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, said in the press statement. "In those mice, we observed a suppression of micro vessel density in fat tissue, a sign of less blood vessel growth and thus less expansion of fat. We also found lower blood cholesterol levels and fat in the liver of those mice. In general, angiogenesis and an accumulation of lipids in fat cells contribute to fat tissue growth."

In addition, the scientists found similar results in cell cultures. And, according to their published study, their data suggests curcumin has the ability to interfere with the expression of two genes which contribute to angiogenesis progression in both cell and rodent models.

"We have no way of telling whether curcumin could prevent fat tissue growth in humans," Dr. Meydani said in the press statement. "The mechanism or mechanisms by which curcumin appears to affect fat tissue must be investigated in a randomized, clinical trial involving humans."

Reference:
Ejaz A, Wu, D, Kwan P, and Meydani M. Journal of Nutrition. May 2009; 139 (5): 1042-1048. Curcumin Inhibits Adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and Angiogenesis and Obesity in C57/BL Mice. 919-925.

For more information:
http://news.tufts.edu/releases/rele...
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/...

Drinking water can curb obesity

(NaturalNews) It's not just American adults who are faced with an epidemic of obesity. Children and adolescents are becoming overweight at an alarming rate. In fact, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics show the prevalence of obesity among children between the ages of 6 to 11 has more than doubled in the past 20 years.

But now a study just published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine concludes there's a simple and effective way to reduce the excess intake of calories causing childhood overweight and obesity, as well as contributing to cavities and other health problems. The solution isn't a new drug -- it is simply drinking more water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

That's the conclusion of the researchers from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Harvard School of Public Health who authored the study. They analyzed what children and teens reported they ate and drank over two different days, using nationally representative data from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They then estimated what substituting water for SSBs would mean to the total energy intake of youngsters between the ages two to 19. The result? Drinking water instead of sugary drinks could eliminate an average of 235 excess calories per day among children and adolescents.

"The evidence is now clear that replacing these 'liquid calories' with calorie-free beverage alternatives both at home and in schools represents a key strategy to eliminate excess calories and prevent childhood obesity," Y. Claire Wang, MD, ScD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the study's lead author, said in a statement to the media.

"Making children and teens more active is important," Dr. Wang explained. "However, simply eliminating the extra calories they don't need from these sugary drinks can tip the energy balance in a major way." For example, a typical 15-year-old boy would have to jog for 30 minutes in order to burn off the calories found in just one 12 oz can of soda.

About 90 percent of U.S. children and teens currently consume SSBs every day. These drinks include soda, fruit drinks, punches, sports drinks and sweetened tea. The calories these drinks contain can add up to a whopping 10 percent or more of the youngsters' total daily intake. On the other hand, there is no evidence that when kids eliminate or drink few SSBs that they will increase their consumption of other foods and beverages to compensate, the scientists noted in their media statement. That means that every can of soda or sweetened fruit drink that is replaced by water translates into a substantial reduction in daily calorie intake.

"This study shows the substantial impact that replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with water could have," stated C. Tracy Orleans, senior scientist and distinguished fellow at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which co-funded the study along with the CDC. "Reversing the rise in childhood obesity requires finding approaches like this to close the gap between daily energy intake and daily energy expenditure. Changes such as this one can potentially add up to significant benefits for the population as a whole."

For more information:
http://www.mailmanschool.org/news/d...
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyYouth/obe...

Obesity pill

Chemists to provide obesity pill

Wednesday, 21 January 2009
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7843061.stm


The obesity pill, orlistat, has been licensed to be sold over-the-counter at chemists in the EU.

The pill, which works by blocking the absorption of fat in the body, will be available at a lower dose than doctors generally prescribe.

It is aimed at adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28 or more.

One expert said it may help some people with weight loss but they would have to take a conscious decision to eat less fatty foods.

Pharmacists have systems in place like consultation rooms to make sure these pills can be dispensed safely to the correct people

Graham Phillips
Community pharmacist


Calculate your BMI
The Royal College of GPs said everyone who wanted the pill should go to their GP for advice because some of them would have treatable causes for their obesity - and all of them would have risk factors for other illnesses which would need to be discussed.

GlaxoSmithKline, who make the pill known commercially as alli, say their clinical trials show that adding orlistat to a reduced calorie, lower fat diet, can help people lose 50% more weight than dieting alone.

But if they persist in eating fat, they will experience some nasty side effects such as diarrhoea and gas problems.

Training for pharmacists

Community pharmacist, Graham Phillips, who advises the National Obesity Forum, said he saw no problem with introducing the pill over-the-counter.

"There will be a training pack for pharmacists which will teach them how to measure BMI quickly. Waist measurement is 90% of what you need to know."

"Pharmacists have been dispensing emergency contraception over-the-counter for some time, so they have systems in place like consultation rooms to make sure these pills can be dispensed safely to the correct people."

Obesity in the UK
A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is normal
By 2050, 60% of men and 50% of women could be obese
Obesity accounts for 18 million sick days each year
Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern, said: "It can work, the risks are minimal, but I don't want to see the public being exploited. They have got to use it with knowledge.

"This plays a part in the a weight management regime - but lifestyle changes in terms of eating a better diet must come first and last."

But Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: "My worry is that a lot of people will take these pills without proper advice and support about dieting and exercise."

"It's all too easy to pop a pill instead of making the lifestyle changes we need to keep our weight under control.

"This will only work if pharmacists can spend a lot of time giving ongoing advice."

And Steve Field of the Royal College of GPs said: "The side effects of this drug are very unpleasant in many people. The pill should only be used with support and dietary advice."

Pesticides can bring epidemic obesity besides others...

(NaturalNews) Many people who eat organic food and use natural products are trying to avoid pesticides that are linked to cancer and other diseases. Now Japanese researchers say there is another advantage to "going green" and avoiding toxins and chemical additives in the environment. A common pollutant has been found to have a potent effect on gene activity and could be contributing to the obesity epidemic.

According to an article published in the December issue of the journal Bioscience, the chemical tributyltin affects sensitive receptors in the cells of a host of animals, ranging from water fleas to people. What's more, tributyltin has an impact at extremely low levels -- a thousand times lower than pollutants that are known to interfere with the sexual development of wildlife species, for example. The chemical is known to be damaging to the liver as well as the nervous and immune systems in mammals . But what has just been recognized is that tributyltin also has powerful effects on the cellular components known as retinoid X receptors (RXRs) in a range of species. That's important because RXRs can move into the nuclei of cells and turn on genes that cause the growth of fat storage cells and regulate whole body metabolism. This raises a disturbing possibility: The pollutant could be harming humans by causing slowed metabolism and weight gain.

Scientists Taisen Iguchi and Yoshinao Katsu of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan, who wrote the BioScience article, point out that effects of tributyltin on RXR-like nuclear receptors could be widespread throughout the animal kingdom, including the human species. And they note that the enormous rise in obesity over the past four decades coincides with the increased use of industrial chemicals over the same period.

Several other ubiquitous pollutants with strong biological effects, including environmental estrogens such as bisphenol A and nonylphenol, also have been found to stimulate the growth of fat storage cells in mice. In a statement to the mediam Iguchi and Katsu said it is "plausible and provocative" to associate the obesity epidemic to chemical triggers found in our modern, polluted environment.

Unfortunately, it isn't easy to avoid tributyltin -- it is frequently used as a preservative in paints for boats, wood and textiles and it is also used as a pesticide on high-value food crops. And if you are expecting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make sure you are protected from this potentially dangerous chemical , think again.

A new report just released by the National Research Council warns the EPA's process of generating risk assessments of the adverse effects posed by harmful chemicals found in the environment is bogged down. The EPA is rarely able to connect available scientific data with the information officials need for an accurate risk assessment. The reports states the EPA is struggling to keep up with demands for hazard and dose-response information and doesn't have enough resources to adequately cope.

The risk assessment for trichloroethylene is an example cited by the report. A chemical used to remove grease from metal parts and an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers, trichloroethylene has been associated with cancer, heart problems and liver and lung damage for decades. However, although a risk assessment for trichloroethylene has been under development since the 1980s, official EPA risk management decisions about the chemical is not expected until 2010.

Ginseng-efficient in obesity and diabetes

(NaturalNews) Ginseng has long been one of the foundations of healing in Chinese medicine, and is probably the world's best known herb. The botanical name panax means 'all curing' in Greek. This 5000 year old healer has traditionally been used as a restorative tonic to increase energy, stamina, and well being. Western scientists have confirmed the efficacy of ginseng for many of the traditional uses. Now researchers are adding to the traditional list, documenting ginseng as highly effective in weight loss and diabetes control.

New research documents ginseng's effectiveness against obesity and diabetes

Phytotherapy Research Journal reports an investigation of the molecular basis of ginsenoside Rg3, a red ginseng constituent, focusing on its ability to inhibit differentiation in the cells that store energy as fat. The data showed that ginsenoside Rg3 effectively inhibited this differentiation making the cells less able to complete the fat storage process.

Phytotherapy Research Journal also reports an evaluation of the anti-obesity effect of wild ginseng in obese leptin-deficient mice. Wild ginseng was administered orally to the mice at 100mg/kg and 200m/kg for 4 weeks. The mice showed a loss of body weight and a decrease in blood glucose levels when compared to the control mice.

A follow up study by the same research team reported results suggesting that the anti-obesity effect of identified saponins from ginseng may result from inhibiting energy gain, normalizing hypothalamic neuropeptides and serum biochemcials related to the control of weight gain.

A study reported in Phytomedicine was performed to clarify whether the crude saponins from stems and leaves of panax quinquefolium inhibited lipase activity in vitro and prevented obesity induced in mice. For the in vivo experiments, female mice were fed a fattening diet with or without saponins for 8 weeks. The researchers found that the crude saponins inhibited pancreatic lipase activity. Furthermore, crude saponins inhibited the elevations of plasma triacylglycerol in rats administered the oral lipid emulsion tolerance test. With long-term administration of crude saponins, fat tissue weight was decreased in those fed the fattening diet as compared to the controls.

In a randomized clinical study reported in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers sought to provide evidence of efficacy and safety in the use of ginseng for diabetes. Their research generated a mounting body of evidence to support the claim that American Ginseng is useful in improving diabetes control, reducing associated risk factors such as hyperlipidemia and hypertension, and ameliorating insulin resistance. American ginseng acts in the digestive tract to increase insulin secretion.

The Journal of Ethnopharmacology reports a study acknowledging ginseng's long history as an herbal remedy for diabetes. Researchers investigated the effect and mechanism of Korean red ginseng on stimulation of insulin release in rats. They found that the extract of Korean red ginseng significantly evoked a stimulation of insulin release compared to the controls. Experiments at different glucose concentrations showed that ginseng significantly stimulated on its own, in a glucose-independent manner.

As reported in the Journal of Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, initiating studies have shown that American ginseng increases insulin production and reduces cell death in pancreatic beta-cells. Studies have also revealed American ginseng's ability to decrease blood glucose in type II diabetes patients as well as in diabetes induced animals. These data suggest that the effects of ginseng in improving hyperglycemia may alter mitochondrial function as well as apoptosis cascades to ensure cell viability in pancreatic islet cells.

Characteristics of ginseng

Ginseng is one of the adaptogens, a group of non-toxic, non-habit forming substances that normalize body chemistry and functioning. Adaptogens increase the body's ability to cope with physical, emotional and environmental stress. They work in a synergistic manner, increasing the body's own ability to fight off disease. The greater the body's need for an adaptogen, the increasingly more active the substance becomes.

Ginseng is a plant with many different components. It is used in its entirety in the preparation of teas, and the root is used in powders and capsules. Ginsenosides are a group of its active compounds that are found in saponins, soap-like materials in the roots of the plant. The various ginsenosides are referred to as Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rc, and so on.

The term ginseng is used to refer to panax ginseng and panax quinquefolius, first cousins in the Araliaceae family. Each contains a different balance of the ginsenosides, giving it a unique character. Panax ginseng is the "Yang", providing warming, stimulation and energizing. Panax quinquefolius is the "Yin", providing cooling, relaxing and calming.

Ginseng was first found in Manchuria and was referred to by the ancient Chinese as 'Ren Shen', meaning 'Man root' referring to the human-like shape of the ginseng root. To the Chinese, this shape meant the herb was designated for human use. They believed that regular consumption of ginseng led to a long and happy life. Ginseng became so valuable that it was prized beyond gold. It was so popular that the supply of ginseng from the Chinese mainland could not meet the demand, and imports were brought from Korea. When the wild stock was exhausted, commercial cultivation began. Wild ginseng is believed to contain greater medicinal value than what is cultivated.

Ginseng is used fresh or dried. Sometimes plant leaves are added with the root, but the root is the highly prized part of the plant. Cultivated ginseng is available as Red ginseng and White ginseng. The difference lies in the way the root is processed. The different geographical names before the word 'ginseng' indicate where the plant was grown. Subtle variations exist between the varieties.

Ginseng contains a number of compounds that are unique. Many of these elements have an effect on the adrenal glands, increasing the amount of hormone secretion to ward off both physical and emotional stress. Scientists believe that it is this effect that is responsible for the stress fighting power of ginseng.

Ginseng lives up to its name as a cure-all

Ginseng facilitates metabolic equilibrium. Russian research showed that ginseng stimulated physical and mental activities in tired and weak individuals and aided with balancing. It was found to strengthen and protect under prolonged strain. Ginseng works to stimulate and improve the working of the brain with its ability to promote oxygenation. The Russians also found it to increase energy and physical endurance. It stimulates the functioning of the endocrine glands and promotes vigor of the reproductive organs. Research is underway to determine the effectiveness of ginseng on erectile disfunction.

Asian researchers have documented ginsengs ability to reduce fatigue and increase stamina. They found that ginseng aids in the formation of red blood cells and helps eliminate anemia. Ginseng strengthens the gastrointestinal system, facilitates liver regeneration, and helps detoxify poisons.

Ginseng is one of the few herbs showing promise in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. This puzzling condition has no widely accepted treatment for the numbing fatigue that typifies the condition. However, people suffering from chronic fatigue have reported an improvement in their symptoms after regular use of ginseng.

Additional sources:

"The Health Benefits of Ginseng", health.learninginfo.org.

Dr. Maoshing Ni, Secrets of Longevity.

Obese kids have arteries like 45 yrs.old

Study finds obese kids have arteries like 45-year-olds'

Many overweight children and teenagers could have severe cardiovascular disease in their 20s and 30s, causing a healthcare crisis. Early identification of the problem is a key.

By Thomas H. Maugh II
November 12, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...2C5880043.story


The arteries of many obese children and teenagers are as thick and stiff as those of 45-year-olds, a sign that such children could have severe cardiovascular disease at a much younger age than their parents unless their condition is reversed, researchers said Tuesday.

"It's possible that they will have heart disease in their 20s and 30s," said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of the University of Missouri at Kansas City, who led the study presented at a New Orleans meeting of the American Heart Assn.

"There's a saying that 'you're as old as your arteries,' meaning that the state of your arteries is more important than your actual age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke," she said. "We found that the state of the arteries of these children is more typical of a 45-year-old than of someone their own age."

Experts did not find the results surprising, but they did view it as "alarming."

"We're facing an epidemic of childhood obesity," said Dr. Michael Schloss, co-director of the lipid treatment program at the New York University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. "We are raising a generation of children that are going to have a significant increase in vascular disease as they get older."


A May study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 16.3% of U.S. children and teenagers are obese and an additional 15.6% are overweight.

Raghuveer runs a preventive cardiology clinic for children who have high cholesterol levels, obesity and a family history of cardiac deaths. She and her colleagues used ultrasound imaging to measure the thickness of the inner walls of the carotid arteries on 70 children considered at risk.

The carotid arteries supply blood to the brain, and the thickness of their inner walls is routinely used as a surrogate for the condition of the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart.

The children all had abnormalities in one or more types of cholesterol, and 40 of them had a body mass index, or BMI -- a calculation of weight and height routinely used as a measure of obesity -- in the 95th percentile.

Because the researchers did not have access to healthy children for comparison, they compared the measured values to readily available data for 45-year-olds, using an arbitrary cutoff value of the 25th percentile, Raghuveer said. They found that three-quarters of the children had artery thickness above this level.

The artery thickening was most advanced in patients who were the most obese and had the highest levels of a type of cholesterol known as triglycerides, so that combination "should be a red flag to the doctor that a child is at high risk of heart disease," she said. Their long-term prospects "are not good" unless they can reverse the condition.

The findings suggest the potential for "a major public health problem" down the road, said Dr. Albert Bove of the Temple University School of Medicine, president-elect of the American College of Cardiology, who was not involved in the study.

"If we begin to see people disabled in their 30s and 40s because of heart disease, we could lose a significant fraction of the workforce," Bove said.

But there is some hope.

"If we can identify the condition early and start modifying triglycerides, we can probably prevent progression and perhaps even promote regression," said Dr. John P. Kennedy, director of prevention cardiology at Marina del Rey Hospital.

Maugh is a Times staff writer.

Aspartame addiction, weight gain

Diet Drinks - Aspartame Addiction And Weight Gain

From Dr. Betty Martini,D.Hum
7-5-8

It's not the caffeine, its the aspartame. It has free methyl alcohol which is classified as a narcotic. It causes chronic methanol poisoning which affects the dopamine system of the brain and causes the addiction. Here is Dr. H. J. Roberts report on the addiction published in Townsend Letter for Doctors:
http://www.dorway.com/tldaddic.html

Aspartame (NutraSweet/Equal/Spoonful/Canderel/E951/Benevia) is an addictive excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug that interacts with virtually all drugs and vaccines. Here are the references:

Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, www.sunsentpress.com by H. J. Roberts, M.D. , 1000 page medical text on this plague.

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D., www.russellblaylockmd.com

Aspartame Documentary on how its poisoned the world: Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World, www.soundandfury.tv

Dying for a Diet Coke:
http://www.rense.com/general78/dying.htm

Aspartame Toxicity Center,
www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
Aspartame Detox Program: What To Do If You Have Used Aspartame: www.wnho.net/wtdaspartame.htm
Aspartame Information List,
www.mpwhi.com scroll down to banners

These athletes using aspartame are an accident about to happen: (or anyone for that matter )
http://www.mpwhi.com/george_carlin_and_diet_coke.htm

Here's how aspartame makes you gain weight:

ASPARTAME MAKES YOU FATTER!

Position Statement from Dr. Sandra Cabot
Mission Possible Australia
www.liverdoctor.com

I have been a medical doctor for over 25 years and have clinical and research interests in the liver and metabolism. I have authored several best selling health books including the "Liver Cleansing Diet", "The Body Shaping Diet", "Don't Let Your Hormones Ruin Your Life", "Women's Health", "Menopause and Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy" and I lecture internationally on these subjects. I have been consulted by thousands of patients with weight problems, hormonal imbalances, fatty liver, sluggish metabolism and chronic ill health. I have been an advocate and practitioner of nutritional methods of healing for 30 years. I regularly appear on national television and broadcast on many radio stations to educate people about the importance of a healthy liver in achieving good health and weight control!

In the interests of public health I am making a position statement concerning the use of the artificial sweetener called aspartame and sold most commonly under the names of NutraSweet and Equal. One must ask, "why do millions of people ingest a toxic chemical like aspartame everyday"? To me it appears ridiculous and I believe that it is because people have been brainwashed into thinking aspartame will keep their weight down and is good for health. It also shows me that we have lost touch with our own natural senses and instincts.

After having been consulted by thousands of overweight people suffering with problems concerning the liver and/or metabolism I can assure you that aspartame will not help you in any way, indeed it will help you to gain unwanted weight. This has been my experience, and there are logical reasons to explain the fattening and bloating effects of aspartame. When you ingest the toxic chemical aspartame it is absorbed from the intestines and passes immediately to the LIVER where it is taken inside the liver via the liver filter. The liver then breaks down or metabolizes aspartame to its toxic components - phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol. This process requires a lot of energy from the liver which means there will be less energy remaining in the liver cells. This means the liver cells will have less energy for fat burning and metabolism, which will result in fat storing. Excess fat may build up inside the liver cells causing "fatty liver" and when this starts to occur it is extremely difficult to lose weight. In my vast experience any time that you overload the liver you will increase the tendency to gain weight easily.

Aspartame also causes weight gain by other mechanisms ---Causes unstable blood sugar levels, which increases the appetite and causes cravings for sweets/sugar. Thus it is particularly toxic for those with diabetes or epilepsy. Causes fluid retention giving the body a puffy and bloated appearance. This makes people look fatter than they are and increases cellulite.

To discover more about the liver look up my web site - http:// www.liverdoctor.com , and to learn more about natural sugars that are better for the liver and weight, read my books "The Liver Cleansing Diet" and "Boost Your Energy". To order see your book store, or call Ten Speed Press or call 1-888-75-Liver

Posted: 22 July 2006


COMMENTS BY DR. BETTY MARTINI:

Also, with regard to obesity and aspartame, the Trocho Study in Barcelona in l998 showed that the formaldehyde converted from the free methyl alcohol accumulates in the cells and damages DNA with most toxicity in the liver but substantial toxicity in the adipose tissue or fat cells. Further a recent epidemiological study by Sharon Fowler at the University of Texas in 2005 linked diet drinks with obesity.

In the Congressional Record, Senate, S - 5511, May 7, l985, and part of the protest of the National Soft Drink Assn, now American Beverage, is this Statement:

"Aspartame has been demonstrated to inhibit the carbohydrate-induced synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin (Wurtman affidavit). Serotonin blunts the sensation of craving carbohydrates and this is part of the body's feedback system that helps limit consumption of carbohydrate to appropriate levels. Its inhibition by aspartame could lead to the anomalous result of a diet product causing increased consumption of carbohydrates."

So as far as product liability is concerned you have companies marketing an addictive excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug to the population as a sugarfree diet product knowing full well this is causing obesity. They also know that aspartame is addictive and that the methanol component is classified as a narcotic. Aspartame liberates free methyl alcohol causing chronic methanol poisoning. This affects the dopamine system of the brain causing the addiction.

Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum
Founder, Mission Possible International
9270 River Club Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097
770-242-2599
http://www.mpwhi.com
http://www.wnho.net
http://www.dorway.com

Aspartame Toxicity Center:
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

________________________________

Newsweek

Sponsored By Attack of the Diet Cokes
It's the one addiction people will admit to. But will Diet Coke­now 25 years old­be the same if it comes with vitamins?

By Jerry Adler
Newsweek Web Exclusive

For most of the last century vice was defined by critic Alexander Woollcott's remark that everything he liked was "illegal, immoral or fattening." That, though, was before the invention of Diet Coke. "It's my one vice," says Amy Stensrud, a 46-year-old Seattle mother of two, who buys a 32-ounce container of Diet Coke at a 7-Eleven every morning, right after the gym. She has in effect defined vice upward as something "inconsistent with my values," which was never Woollcott's problem with bathtub gin.

But now her only sin is in danger of being transformed into a virtue, as Coke rolls out a new version of Diet Coke with added vitamins and minerals. Blue-capped bottles of Diet Coke Plus will begin showing up in stores this week, empty of calories but containing 10 to 15 percent of the daily requirement of niacin, zinc, magnesium and vitamins B6 and B12. It isn't meant to replace Diet Coke, now the third best-selling soft drink in America, after Coke Classic and Pepsi; it's just a part of Coke's plan to conquer the world by making so many kinds of soda that stores won't have room for anything else. Competition is especially fierce now in the $70 billion soft-drink market. For the first time in recent history, the amount of soda sold in the United States­more than 16 billion gallons­fell in 2005, and again in 2006. Diet Coke Plus, says John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, stands at the convergence of two powerful trends: the rise of diet drinks (30 percent of the soda market, up from 25 percent in 2000) and the move toward "functional" products such as sports drinks. According to Coke spokesman Scott Williamson, Diet Coke Plus will be advertised with slogans that merely imply it's good for you ("Your best friend just got friendlier!") without making any health claims. To do otherwise, he said, "would reinforce the false notion that soft drinks are unhealthy to begin with."

Diet Coke Plus grew out of what Williamson calls Coke's "ongoing dialogue" with its customers. The same process gave rise to the dozen or so permutations of Coke on the market, including Diet Coke in 1982, followed by Diet Cherry Coke and Diet Coke Cherry (the same thing), and Coca-Cola Zero, a no-cal drink for men who are put off by the feminine connotations of "diet." Diet Coke Plus tastes something like Diet Coke, but sweeter, because it contains both aspartame and a sweetener called acesulfame potassium. Its choice of added nutrients seems somewhat arbitrary and doesn't include the one substance that might arguably be useful, calcium. "What's the point of adding vitamins to a soft drink?" wonders nutritionist Marion Nestle of NYU. "You can take a multivitamin pill. You can even take it with a Diet Coke."

You might need to, if you're a Diet Coke fanatic like Victoria Beckham, the former Posh Spice, who drinks almost nothing else and claims to hate the taste of water. Diet Coke is the one addiction that public figures willingly own up to. It's the only beverage in the back of producer Harvey Weinstein's limo, and makes up one half the diet of Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden. The other half consists of peanuts. A 12-ounce can of Diet Coke, which may contain from a third to half the amount of caffeine in eight ounces of coffee, is the breakfast drink of choice for many college students. "I like that fake sugar taste," says Stanford sophomore Margot Markman, who usually has the first of four daily 16-ounce cups from her sorority's fountain at 8:15. It is one of the few things you can buy at a gas station that's also an object of connoisseurship. Kristen Scaletta, a senior at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., who recently cut back from about a gallon of Diet Coke a day to three quarts, drinks it only from cans, preferably at room temperature­a taste she formed as a child when she had to sneak it past her parents to drink in her bedroom. Other people insist on the flavor of Diet Coke from liter bottles, or McDonald's.

Taste aside, what makes Diet Coke so addictive? Caffeine produces physical dependence, as anyone who has suffered through the headaches of coffee withdrawal can testify. But addiction specialists pooh-pooh the idea that people can be "addicted" to soda, in the sense that it interferes with normal life. The other obvious point about it is that it has no calories. Not everyone who drinks it is trying to lose weight, but presumably none of them cares to subject her body to the 1,120 calories in eight cans a day of regular Coke. The role of diet sodas in weight loss is a contentious area of research. "Studies suggest that diet drinks can bump calories out of the diet short term," says Dr. David Katz, a public-health specialist at Yale, "but that people compensate over time by eating more sugar." An unpublished seven-year study by Sharon Fowler of the University of Texas found that the more diet sodas people drank, the more likely they were to be overweight­although that doesn't prove cause and effect. Fitness guru Richard Simmons estimates that 85 percent of the people who come to him to lose weight drink diet soda habitually.

People do worry about the health effects of diet soft drinks. There is some research to suggest that all colas, not diet ones in particular, may contribute to bone loss in women, but all the evidence isn't in yet. A new study found that the acid in sodas erodes tooth enamel (although full-sugar versions, and citrus flavors, are worse). As for artificial sweeteners, a study of the literature by Valerie Duffy of the University of Connecticut suggests they're safe. "They've all been through extensive testing," she says, "for acute toxicity, chronic toxicity, carcinogenic potential, effects on fertility, lactation, fetal development" and about six other things. To reach the FDA's "acceptable daily intake" of aspartame­which itself has a wide margin of safety­"you'd have to drink 18 cans of Diet Coke every day of your life," says Hud Englehart, a spokesman for aspartame's manufacturer, NutraSweet. (The actual figure, Duffy points out, varies with the person's weight.) "It's pretty hard to drink that much."

Mr. Englehart, meet Rich Underkofler, a 47-year-old from Euclid, Ohio. "I drink this stuff like crazy," Underkofler says. "I don't even go to restaurants that don't serve Diet Coke." Checking his refrigerator one night last week, he found two 12-packs. That would last him, he figured, a little more than a day.

With Matthew Philips, Anne Underwood, Karen Springen and Joan Raymond
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/34923