Sunday, December 23, 2012

LabelWatch.com's article on HFCS


What it is:
Sweetener: Soft drinks, other processed foods.

What we know:
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is produced from cornstarch that has been enzymatically treated and then is subjected to several other processing steps to form a highly processed, unnatural liquid sweetener, the most common of which (HFCS-55) is chemically similar to regular table sugar. Since its introduction, HFCS has replaced sugar in numerous processed foods because it's cheaper and easier to blend than sugar.
In 2006, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) threatened to file a lawsuit against Cadbury Schweppes for labeling 7Up as "All Natural" or "100% Natural", despite containing HFCS. While the FDA has no definition of "natural", CSPI claims that HFCS is not a 'natural' ingredient due to the high level of processing and the use of at least one genetically modified (GMO) enzyme required to produce it. In 2007, Cadbury Schweppes agreed to stop calling 7Up "All Natural.'

The main difference between sucrose and HFCS comes from the difference in the chemical make-up between them. In HFCS, the fructose and glucose molecules are 'unbound.' By contrast, the fructose and glucose in sucrose (sugar) are joined together to form a single molecule called a disaccharide.

A 2007 study by Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D. from Rutgers University showed sodas sweetened with HFCS had astonishingly high levels of reactive carbonyls. These undesirable and highly reactive compounds associated with "unbound" fructose and glucose molecules, are believed to cause tissue damage. Reactive carbonyls have been found to be elevated in the blood of individuals with diabetes and have been linked to the complications of that disease. By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar. It is important to note, that the 'bound' glucose and fructose molecules in sugar also become 'unbound' in highly acidic solutions like soda. More research needs to be conducted into the relationship between 'unbound' fructose and glucose and the resulting reactive carbonyls in products.

In addition, over consumption of caloric sweeteners have also been linked to adverse health effects, such as obesity and diabetes. There appears to be a correlation between the rise of these diseases in the U.S. and the increasing consumption of caloric sweeteners, most notably HFCS. However, there is no evidence that the obesity and diabetes epidemic is a direct result of the increased consumption of HFCS, as it is believed other sweeteners with equal caloric value would be used if HFCS were unavailable.

It's best to avoid this highly processed, unnatural sugar and reach for minimally-processed foods, rich in whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins.s

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Exercises to do

20 overhand pullups
40 pushups
25 dips
12 leg raises
2 handstand pushups
5 muscle-ups
10 over-bar raises
1 back-hand-grip muscle-up
3 second close-grip leg hold
3 second superman (back lever)

Friday, June 22, 2012

Honey Health and Infant Problems

Honey and Infant Botulism
My daughter is now 7 months old. I have been adding locally produced honey to my daughter's food to help with her allergies. In my opinion, this has decreased her allergy like symptoms. My wife and I have had great success decreasing our allergies with this practice. I was told that honey can hurt an infant. Is this true?
Mark Torrans
Pineville, Louisiana 








Mark, your care for your daughter comes through clearly in your question. Taking the initiative with preventive measures to insure her health and comfort is a very loving act. Getting information regarding the safety and efficacy of these preventive measures is very wise indeed, and may save your daughter's life.

Like you, I have heard claims that wild honey might reduce allergy symptoms. In fact, today in a local supermarket I saw a jar labeled "100% Natural Raw Honey, Unfiltered Unblended." This product went on to promise great health benefits. 

And indeed, careful scientific study has recognized great medicinal value in honey. Honey has significant, known antibiotic properties (Journal of Pharmacology, Nov 1996). Honey is also a traditional remedy for upset stomach. It has now been proven to prevent the growth of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach -- the organism responsible for many ulcers and much abdominal discomfort (J R Soc Med, Jan 1994). Honey also reduces the gastritis caused by drinking too much alcohol (Scandinavian Journal of Gastoenterology, Mar 1991). 

Honey has been proven to decrease the cancer-producing effects of many carcinogens, and to be effective in eradicating yeast (Cytologic Genetics, Nov-Dec 1996). Topical honey is known to be useful in treating gangrene, preventing both death and amputation (Surgery, Feb 1993). Burns heal faster when treated with honey than when treated with OpSite burn dressings (British Journal of Plastic Surgery, Jun 1993). There is also less pain, less scarring, and fewer contractures when burns are treated with honey rather than with Silvadene dressings (British Journal of Surgery, Apr 1991). In Russia, honey was even proven to effectively preserve vision when cataracts begin to form in the elderly (Vestn Oftalmol, Nov-Dec 1990). Honey is an amazing substance -- but ...

As it turns out, NOT giving your daughter honey while she is an infant is an important preventive health measure. It may save her life.

The concern is with infant botulism.

Botulinum spores are found widely in soil, dust, and honey. Adults who swallow botulinum spores are almost never affected. When infants swallow the spores, however, the spores can germinate in their immature gastrointestinal tracts and begin producing botulinum toxin. This has occurred even when the honey was only used to sweeten a pacifier (European Journal of Epidemiology, Nov 1993).

Botulinum toxin is the most poisonous natural substance known to man. The lethal dose is only 1/10,000,000 mg per kg of body weight -- an amount that would be invisible to the naked eye. This tiny amount in the blood stream can cause death within minutes through paralysis of the muscles used in breathing. 

Infant botulism has been found on every continent except Africa. In the United States it is most common in the states of California, Utah, and Pennsylvania. While infant botulism can occur from taking in soil or dust (especially vacuum cleaner-bag dust), eating honey is the number one preventable cause. Corn syrups are not sterilized and may also be a source of contamination (The AAP Red Book, 2000). 

Infant botulism can occur any time in the first year of life, but like SIDS it is most common in the first six months. In fact it has been suggested as the cause of death in up to 10% of SIDS cases (Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics; Saunders 1992).

Thankfully, in most instances of infant botulism, the amount of toxin is so incredibly minuscule that the case remains mild. For this reason it is often misdiagnosed.

The first symptom of infant botulism is constipation (which is also a common benign finding in many infants). This can appear 3 to 30 days following ingesting spore-containing honey (The AAP Red Book, 2000). Typically, the parents then observe increasing listlessness, decreased appetite, and weakened cry over the next several days. Nursing mothers often report new engorgement. Sometimes this is the full extent of the disease. If the disease progresses, however, the child moves less and less and might begin to drool from the mouth. Gagging and sucking reflexes diminish. Loss of previous head control is also an important sign. Complete respiratory arrest can occur either suddenly or gradually.

If an otherwise healthy baby develops constipation, followed by weakness and difficulty in sucking, crying, or breathing, then infant botulism should be considered the most likely diagnosis until proven otherwise. 

When infant botulism is diagnosed, the average Intensive Care Unit stay for the baby is about one month, typically including mechanical ventilation and continuous tube feedings. This is followed by another 2 weeks on the hospital ward, with a total hospital cost often exceeding $100,000 (Pediatrics; Feb 1991). Thankfully if the botulism is correctly diagnosed and the baby receives appropriate supportive care, almost all will recover fully and completely. The fatality rate for babies who have been hospitalized with botulism is less than 1%. Recently, an antitoxin for infant botulism has been developed and shown to reduce hospital days, mechanical ventilation, and tube feedings (The AAP Red Book, 2000).

The single most effective way to prevent infant botulism is for infants to avoid honey. Breast feeding also appears to lessen the severity of botulism cases.

Despite other health benefits, honey is an unsafe food for any infant. HONEY SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN TO CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN 12 MONTHS.

Breast feeding, though, is a great way to prevent or decrease allergy symptoms. Breast feeding and minimizing your daughter's being exposed to potential allergens (such as cigarette smoke, cat hair, house dust, etc.) are the best ways to serve your goals of reducing her allergies and her allergy symptoms. These measures will benefit your daughter now, and the benefit will last for years to come.

Monday, June 4, 2012

On Cancer

paul michaels a patient of Dr. stanislaw burzynski
had a tumor the size of a tennis ball when 4 yrs old.  Surgery didn't work.  Radiation was prescribed.  They went to Stanislaw.
Stanislaw's clinic (1987) houston texas.  Post doctoral work at balor un
pioneer anti neoplastots.  Non-toxic peptides and amino acid derivitives that act like molecular switches.  Turn on tumor suppressant genes, and turns off onco genes responsible for cancer growth.
Burzynski was then targeted by the FDA, possibly because his treatment worked too well and threatened their pharmaceutical industry.  They wanted to put him away for 300 years.

See any literature by Stanislaw
See "A world without cancer"

BEWARE, REVIEW OF A DOCUMENTARY OF STANISLAW
This is just one more in a long series of polemical faux-documentaries promoting the commercial interests of people who have failed to carry scientific opinion. It should be viewed alongside other nonsense like Zeitgeist and What The Bleep - it is wholly uncritical, subscribes wholeheartedly to the idea of a global campaign to suppress miracle cures, and does not even try to be in any way balanced.

There are several reasons why people think Burzynski is a quack, none of them to do with any external agency. He has not published his so-called miracle cure for scientific peer-review (meaning that only he can profit from it); he has not published the results of his many "trials", he charges tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for the trials when such trials are normally free to the patient; his ethical review board failed to perform any ethical review; he charges many times the going rate for standard drugs and insists that those drugs be supplied only by his in-house pharmacy; he uses thuggish tactics against critics. None of these are under anyone's control but his own.

So, if you want to watch a lengthy whining advert for a man making a lot of money from desperate people, this will do you nicely. If you'd rather do something to support curing cancer then you need to send the money to one of the cancer charities because they, unlike Burzynski, share the results of the work so everyone can benefit. Oh, and they publish so their claims can be objectively challenged. Oh, and they don't send the rottweilers after teenagers who criticise them on Twitter.