Month: April 2015
Pomegranates fight Aging and More
The bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds of the pomegranate (Punica Granatum) have a long history of use as a medicine, particularly in the Middle East, India, and China. The Chinese and South Africans use it to treat inflammation, rheumatism, irregular uterine bleeding and hemorrhaging, and abdominal pain.
In Unani medicine (a traditional practice of medicine in south-Asian countries and the Middle East), pomegranate is prescribed as a food supplement to treat diabetes. Due to its potent antimicrobial properties, pomegranate has even been used to treat intestinal worms.
Now, research is revealing the extract’s promising antioxidant and anti-cancer potential.
Say “No” to Aging with Antioxidants
Without enough antioxidants, your body can’t fight off free radical damage, and becomes vulnerable to aging and disease. Pomegranate delivers a powerhouse helping of antioxidants when consumed internally as well as applied topically. Pomegranate’s antioxidant activity is fueled by ellagitannin compounds (punicalagins and punicalins being the standouts). It’s also packed with vitamin C—40% of the recommended daily value, in fact! These antioxidants, along with gallic acid and catechin, help accelerate wound healing, as well as repair sun-damaged, aging skin.
Experts have discovered that pomegranate increases the longevity of fibroblasts (cells responsible for collagen and elastin production). Collagen and elastin work together to give strength and support to your skin. A Medical College of Virginia study showed that the oil from pomegranate seed extract helps boost collagen production, thereby thickening both the outer and inner layers of the skin.
Other studies suggest that pomegranate seed extract may demonstrate a prohibitive influence on some forms of skin cancer. Snacking on pomegranate seeds is one way to benefit, but if you’re interested in the skin-saving benefits, seek out pomegranate seed extract oil in stand-alone form, or as an added ingredient in your skin care products.
Show No Mercy to Cancer Cells
An anti-inflammatory compound in pomegranate and pomegranate seed extract called punicic acid has been shown not only to reduce the inflammation that causes joint pain and arthritis, but also to fight cancer. A 2002 study published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment showed that pomegranate seed extract suppressed the growth of estrogen-dependent cancer cells in culture. It also inhibited the ability of cancer cells to cross barriers and spread, and even increased apoptosis (cancer cell self-destruction).
A 2010 study in the International Journal of Oncology confirmed pomegranate’s influence on cancer cells, showing that cancer cell cultures treated with punicic acid experienced apoptosis at rates 91% higher than untreated cancer cells. Research has shown that pomegranate seed extract effects prostate cancer in the same manner. Pomegranate seed extract, along with pomegranate flower extract and pomegranate juice, has also shown promise in the treatment of colon cancer and leukemia.
Prevent Cancer doing Cardio
Adding cardio to your life offers so much more than a trimmer waistline and a healthier heart. According to recent results from German scientists, cardio is a very important step you can take to prevent cancer, diabetes and many other diseases.
Top 4 Cancer-Fighting Tips
- Keep your body mass index below 30
- Get 30 minutes of cardio exercise daily
- Eat a diet high in produce, grains and water
- Do not smoke
The German study reevaluated almost 25,000 subjects after eight years and found that those who made these four tips part of their daily life decreased their risk of disease by 78% overall and reduced their risk of cancer by 36%!
How Cardio Can Help Prevent Cancer and Other Diseases
The International Liver Congress presented research that discovered cardio drastically reduced your risk of liver cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common 
cancers, claiming almost 700,000 lives per year. Patients at high-risk of developing HCC may be able to learn how to prevent cancer by adding regular exercise to their lifestyle.
Mice were given a high-fat diet and divided into separate groups. Some were made to exercise 5 days a week for one hour and the others were sedentary. 100% of the sedentary mice developed tumors while 71% of the exercising mice developed tumors. The tumors in the sedentary mice were also larger.
Duke University Medical Center discovered that women who have more cardio fitness when they are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer have a higher rate of survival compared to women with lower levels of fitness. Median survival for healthy women was more than double that of the less fit women in the study.
“Fitness level may be an important biomarker of survival among cancer patients but the beautiful thing about fitness is that we can improve it with exercise training,” explained Lee Jones, PhD. The 
university plans to continue testing to more specifically discover the link between cardio-pulmonary fitness and cancer survival rates.
Cancer and the Obesity Epidemic
Simple changes to your exercise regimen are proven to prevent disease, but the majority of Americans are not following the top four cancer-fighting tips. Obesity is defined by the World Health Organization as having a body mass index (BMI) higher than 30.
Obesity in the United States is the highest in the world – as are the health problems that accompany it.
Obesity increases your risk of developing cancer, heart disease, diabetes and many other diseases and is considered a world-wide epidemic.
New York University professor of nutrition, Marion Nestle, PhD, explained, “We live in an environment that promotes overeating and sedentary behavior. People cannot make healthy choices in an unhealthy environment. The environment needs to improve in order to make it easier to do what we all know we need to do.”
Our bodies become addicted to the salt, fat and sugar added to the majority of our foods – and the food industry counts on those addictions for their bottom line.
It’s up to all of us to take control of our health.
Cardio improves your mood, boosts energy, helps you sleep better and increases libido – all while helping to prevent cancer and other serious diseases.
So take time for yourself, get moving, and learn how to prevent cancer before it starts.
Beet Juice and its Benefits
Beet Juice and Endurance
Andrew Jones, at the University of Exeter shared some interesting findings in 2011 regarding beet juice and endurance. His group performed a study of eight male cyclists, who consumed approximately two cups of beet juice, which is naturally high in nitrate. A control group consumed the same amount of currant cordial juice, which has very low levels of nitrate.
After a variety of low-intensity and high-intensity 
cycling tests, cyclists in the beet juice drinking group were able to cycle an average of 16 minutes longer. Findings also found these men had lower resting blood pressure. But, why is that?
Ultimately, the nitrate in beet juice is the cause of this improvement. The flow of nitrates help your mitochondria produce ATP, the fuel and energy needed for your muscles during exercise. This translates to increased oxygen uptake extending time-to-exhaustion, which allows endurance athletes to push longer and harder.
Beet Juice and Mouthwash
Now, this is where it gets even trickier. According to Active.com, “While it’s not totally clear how it works, the authors suspect that when dietary nitrate turns into nitric oxide in the body, it reduces the amount of oxygen required to perform exercise.” However, new studies by same group at Exeter have found that mouthwash may inhibit the transformation of dietary nitrate into nitric oxide.
Dietary nitrate is turned into nitric oxide through bacteria in the salivary gland, via secretion to the saliva. Because mouthwash is meant to remove oral bacteria, the most important step in this process is blocked. Without this first step, your body won’t benefit from the beet juice’s high nitrate concentration.
Beet Juice and Your Workout
While the data is very interesting, it is only the first step in learning more about the benefits of beet juice and how mouthwash can affect that. So, to see the benefits of beet juice on your performance, you can take necessary precautions until further studies are done.
In a similar study, released in the journal Hypertension, the effects of beet juice were seen
almost immediately, within an hour, and were strongest after two or three hours. With this in mind, you can avoid using mouthwash before a big race, allowing the nitrate process to happen.
At the end of the day, these findings are very new and have yet to be tested against other opposing studies. However, natural beet juice is beneficial for your body in a number of other ways, such as promoting blood flow and regulation blood sugar, so seeing whether this improves your personal endurance will be beneficial regardless. While you shouldn’t count on beating your PR from beet juice alone, why not give it a shot?
Guggal – An Ancient Natural Treatment for Arthritis
If you are among the 70 million people that suffer from one of the 100 forms of arthritis, then an ancient, natural arthritis treatment from the Commiphora Mukul tree could be the answer you’ve been searching for.
Living with arthritis makes it difficult to do the things you want and need to do – even keeping you from activities you’ve done all your life. Arthritis decreases your quality of life as you battle with daily pain that can range from mild discomfort to unbearable.
Regular strength exercises and weight loss are crucial to living comfortably and alleviating some of the painful effects of arthritis. In addition, you need treatment that penetrates deeply into your affected joints and tissues – that treats the cause, not just the symptoms.
Guggul’s Active Chemicals Help Fight Arthritis Inflammation
Ayurveda is known as the science of long life, a Hindu system of traditional medicine native to India. The first written records of Ayurveda date back to 600 BC and reference more than 2,000 plants for medicinal use – the majority of which are still used today!
Guggul, a sticky gum-like resin from the Mukul tree, has been used in ayurvedic medicine for millennia.
What makes Guggul so unique are its healing properties, which have been shown to reduce the pain and inflammation caused by arthritis. Guggul’s multiple active chemical compounds include gugulipid and guggulsterone, 2 powerful antioxidants that fight inflammation and stimulate your immune system’s white blood cells.
The link between inflammation and chronic diseases, such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes and neurological illness, has been studied extensively for almost 30 years. It is a scientific fact that inflammation is the root cause of arthritis!
Scientists have identified “Nuclear Factor-kappaB” (NF-kappaB) as the primary gene that determines inflammatory reactions in the body. Guggul naturally neutralizes the NF-kappaB gene to prevent, delay and treat inflammation before it gets a chance to cause disease.
There is no cure for arthritis but guggul may alleviate the worst pain-inducing symptoms so you can get your life back!
Southern California University of Health Sciences researchers found that patients with knee arthritis saw measurable improvement after one month of using guggul to reduce pain, swelling and stiffness.
How You Can Use Guggul as a Natural Arthritis Treatment
You can try this home remedy for fast-acting relief. Add ¼ teaspoon of guggul tincture (available in health food stores) to ½ teaspoon of water and drink 30 minutes before every meal, three times per day.
Some patients have seen positive results in as little as three days! Mississippi Baptist Health notes that the guggul found in most health food stores contains consistent amounts of guggulsterones and recommends a daily dose of 100mg. This is intended as a guideline and you should work with your doctor to determine the right dose for you.
Occasional side effects are headache and nausea. If you are currently taking prescribed medications, have liver or kidney disease, or are pregnant or nursing, you should consult your physician before using guggul as an arthritis solution.
In addition to being a natural arthritis treatment, guggul has proven effective in treating:
- Skin conditions including acne
- High cholesterol
- Neurological conditions
- Urinary tract infections
- High blood pressure
- Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
- Osteoporosis
- Gout
- And even stimulates weight loss!
If you suffer from arthritis, don’t learn to live with the pain. Stop the inflammation and swelling of your joints naturally with guggul.
HealthyDad 