The Health Plus Letter
October 7, 2008 Vol. 6, No. 25
By Larry Trivieri, Jr. – founder & publisher
http://www.1healthyworld.com
Table Of Contents
New This Issue
Quote of the Day
Fast Fact
False Hope and False Hopelessness by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber
Donate Blood: The Life You Save May Be Your Own
The Secret Cellulite Solution
Recommendations
Medical Freedom
Contact Information
New This Issue
Welcome to another issue of The Health Plus Letter. This week, you will find the fifth in a series of articles about cancer by researcher and brain cancer survivor Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, author of an excellent new book called Anticancer: A New Way of Life. This week, Dr. Servan-Schreiber discusses the importance of being able to distinguish between false hope and false hopelessness when it comes to dealing with cancer.
You’ll also learn why donating blood can literally save your life. And for those of you who worry about it, I’m also sharing a simple step you can do at home to eliminate cellulite
As always, please spread the word about The Health Plus Letter by passing it along to your friends and inviting them to subscribe. Thanks!
Quote Of The Day
“It takes a long time to become young.”
-- Pablo Picasso
Fast Fact
Cancer cells consume sugar (glucose) at a rate that is 10 to 15 times higher than that of normal, healthy cells. In other words, sugar is cancer cells’ fuel.
Unabashed Plug
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False Hope and False Hopelessness by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber
We should be careful to avoid false hopes when talking about cancer. But not telling patients what the scientific literature says they can do to help themselves to prevent cancer or treat it better leaves them with false hopelessness!
One of the main concerns of any physician is to not impart false hope to a patient. This is because a genuine, honest, relationship with a patient is the cornerstone of treatment. How can we convince someone who doesn’t feel so ill at the moment to endure the torments of chemotherapy if they don’t have complete trust in us?
For this reason, many physicians are concerned about touting the benefits of life-style changes to their patients when it comes to the prevention or treatment of cancer. Indeed, the benefits of an anticancer diet, of mind-body practices or even of physical exercise have not received the same amount of evidenced-based support from large clinical trials than, say, chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
As a physician myself, I understand and share that concern. However, I’m also concerned about the consequences of not telling people about the scientific evidence showing that they can help themselves to prevent or fight an existing cancer. Though they cannot replace conventional treatments, life style changes act on many of the core mechanisms of cancer progression and can greatly contribute to better outcomes. If we don’t tell our patients this, we leave them with a false hopelessness.
As a physician with cancer, I’ve discovered that we can all create an anticancer biology for ourselves through the choices we make in our lives. I’m in better health and happier than before I was ever ill. What I’ve learned in my own journey of 16 years with cancer is that the best way to go on living is not so much to “fight the disease.” To the contrary, it’s to nourish life at all levels of my being: through my meals three times a day, through my walks in nature, through the meaning and purpose I find in my actions, through the protection of our environment, and through the flow of love in my relationships. Science told me that this slows down cancer, but, perhaps more importantly, it brings to my life, every day, a new vibrancy.
About the Author
David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PHD is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at theUniversity of Pittsburgh, and a cancer survivor for 16 years. His book, Anticancer – A New Way of Life, is an international bestseller and I highly recommend it.
Unabashed Plug
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Donate Blood: The Life You Save May Be Your Own
Here’s one of the most important steps you can take to dramatically reduce your risk of heart attack and other types of heart disease: Donate blood!
That’s the advice that can be drawn by two noteworthy studies published in 1998. Yet, today - ten years later - most doctors still fail to tell their patients about the studies’ findings.
The two studies I am referring to were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology and Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, respectively. Both of these publications are prestigious medical journals, yet the studies’ findings continue to be almost entirely ignored. Here’s what the studies found:
The first study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, involved 2,862 men between the ages of 42 and 60. In conducting their research, the study authors took into consideration and adjusted for the men’s ages and all other predictive risk factors for heart disease. Each of the men was followed over an average period of nine years. At the end of the study it was conclusively shown that the men who donated blood on a regular basis reduced their risk of sudden heart attack (also known as acute mycocardial infarction) by a whopping 88 percent!
The second study, published in Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, explained why regular blood donation reduces heart attack risk. This second study involved 12 men and 18 women, each of whom donated one unit of blood every four days for a total of four donation sessions. The study showed that people who regularly donate blood reduce their blood viscosity by as much as 32 percent.
Blood Viscosity And Why It Can Be Bad For Your Heart
Blood viscosity is simply another name for blood thickness. The above studies, as well as other research, have definitively shown that the thicker a person’s blood is, the more likely it is that he or she is at risk for a heart attack or some other type of heart disease.
The reason for this becomes obvious if you consider what happens when you turn over a bottle of ketchup. If the ketchup is thick, it only comes out after you put pressure on the ketchup bottle, such as shaking or squeezing it. But if the ketchup is thin, it comes out easily, without the need for pressure to make it flow.
Your blood acts in much the same way. If your blood is thin, it flows easily through your body’s arteries. Therefore, little pressure needs to be applied by the pumping of your heart to keep your blood flowing. But when your blood becomes too thick, its flow becomes sluggish. This, in turn, means that your heart needs to pump harder to create more pressure to keep your blood flowing.
And the increased effort by your heart is not the only problem!
As your blood thickens, its increased thickness, as well as the increased pressure needed to keep it flowing, results in greater levels of friction as it moves through your arteries. This friction causes more problems because sandpaper-like effects on the inner lining of the arteries (known as the endothelium). Continued friction caused by the pressure needed to make thick blood flow erodes the endothelium. To counteract this erosion, your arteries will form calluses on the affected areas of the endothelium, in much the same way that your skin forms calluses to protect itself from repeated abrasion.
Calluses formed along the endothelium cause arteries to narrow. This makes it even more difficult for blood to flow properly, forcing the heart to work even harder and apply even more pressure. The end result is a vicious cycle of thick blood, increased pressure, erosion of the endothelium, formation of calluses, and further narrowing of the arteries.
As if that is not bad enough, this vicious cycle increases your risk of heart attack because it also causes the arteries to become inflamed. Chronic inflammation is one of the most serious risk factors for heart disease, as well as many other disease conditions.
The reason inflammation occurs as a result of the vicious cycle described above is because inflammation is the mechanism your body uses to help repair damage to itself. In this case, the damage is to areas of the arterial lining. But since the damage is ongoing, due to the nature of the cycle I described above, inflammation becomes chronic, setting up a host of other problems. These include the migration of toxic debris, known as plaque, into the damaged areas of the endothelium, causing them to thicken, thereby further narrowing the arteries and restricting blood flow.
As this toxic plaque continues to buildup, there is an increased risk that some of it can become dislodged from the arterial lining. There is also a risk of even greater erosion of the endothelium. Should either of these events occur they, can cause dangerous blood clotting, which in turn can trigger a heart attack or stroke.
All because of blood that was too thick to flow easily and naturally to begin with!
The Heart-Protecting Benefits of Blood Donation
By donating blood on a regular basis, you can prevent your blood from becoming too thick. That’s because when you donate blood, your blood that remains in your body goes through a process known as hemodilution, which simply means that your blood becomes diluted or thinner. Interestingly, this same process also occurs when women menstruate, which may explain why pre-menopausal women have traditionally had lower rates of heart disease than men in their same age group. Some health experts, such as Dr. Garry Gordon, a leading integrative physician, speculate that the blood-healthy benefits of menstruation may also play a role in the fact that women also tend to live longer than men do.
There is also another important benefit that occurs when blood is donated – the formation of new red blood cells. (The fancy name for this process is known as erythropoiesis.) New red blood cells are important for a number of reasons. First, compared to older red blood cells, they are far less rigid (30 percent less rigid than older red blood cells). In addition, new red blood cells are far less likely to clump together (a process known as aggregation). In fact, research has shown that new red blood cells aggregate 80 percent less frequently than older red blood cells do.
These two reasons mean that the more new red blood cells there are in your blood, the better able your blood will be to circulate easily. This, in turn, means that your blood will be far less likely to damage the lining of your arteries and that you are at a much lower risk of developing dangerous plaque buildup and plaque rupture.
Conclusion
As the above makes clear, by donating blood you will not only be helping others, but also yourself. The key point to remember, however, is that you need to donate blood on a regular basis to gain the benefits I’ve described. Occasional donations of blood will not provide the same degree of benefits.
To find out how and where you can donate blood in your area, contact the local chapter of the Red Cross.
Sources:
J. Solonen, et al. Donation of blood is associated with reduced risk of myocardial infarction. American Journal of Epidemiology, 148 (1998) 445-451.
X. Cliville, et al. Hemorheological, coagulative and fibrinolytic changes during autologous blood donation. Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, 18 (1998) 265-272.
A.V. Muravyov, et al. The microrheological behavior of young and old red blood cells in athletes. Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, 26 (2002) 183-188.
Unabashed Plug
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The Secret Cellulite Solution
Cellulite It’s the curse of many women, as well as an increasingly growing number of men. If fact, it’s become so commonplace, that many people now think cellulite is a natural consequence of aging.
But it’s not.
Yet, despite what so many believe, there is something you can do about it. And the answer is waiting for you, right in your kitchen!
What Is Cellulite?
Simply put, cellulite is a buildup of fat between muscle and connective tissue. This fat buildup is caused by proteins that clump together and accumulate between the cells of the body. As this process continues, the end result is loose, dimpled skin, primarily in the areas of the buttocks and thighs. (Cellulite can also occur on the arms, stomach, and knees, as well as other areas of the body.)
Since the bodies of women generally have a higher overall fat content than men, traditionally women have been more prone to developing cellulite than men have. In recent years, however, an increasing number of men are also developing cellulite, for the most part due to the increasingly sedentary nature of our modern lifestyle and the increasing amounts of fatty foods in today’s modern diet.
Another factor is the fact that an increasing number of both men and women around the world are overweight or obese. But excessive weight gain is by no means a primary cause of cellulite since many men and women who are not overweight also have it.
Forget About Cellulite Creams
Given how common cellulite is, many cosmetic companies sell creams that they claim help to diminish cellulite and firm up buttocks and thighs. Such creams sell well, despite their expensive costs. But there is only one problem with them. They don’t work!
This fact was proven by research conducted by an independent group of scientist at the prestigious John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. The researchers tested a variety of the most common creams and other so-called cellulite-reducing protects. Based on their evaluation, the researchers concluded that not a single product worked as advertised. In short, they were a complete waste of money. Despite their findings, millions of women in the U.S. continue to spend millions of dollars on these expensive products hope to get rid of unsightly cellulite.
So What’s A Poor Girl (and Guy) To Do?
To deal with cellulite effectively you need to address its underlying causes: an increased ratio of body fat to lean muscle mass, and congestion of the lymphatic system.
Reducing your body’s overall percentage of fat requires a dedicated program of exercise along with proper diet. The best type of exercise program is one that combines stretching, aerobics, and weight resistance training. All three types of exercises are important, especially weight resistance training, which can help you to quickly start to reduce the ratio of fat to lean muscle tissue in your body due to the increase in lean muscle mass and reduction of fatty tissue that weight training results in. In addition, research shows that regular weight training (2 or three times each week) also helps to boost metabolism, levels. This, in turn, makes it easier for your body to more easily and efficiently burn calories that would to otherwise get stored as fat.
Note: Before beginning any type of exercise program, always consult with your doctor.
A healthy diet is one that includes plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with lean meat, poultry and wild caught fish, as well as a limited amount of complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains legumes. Fatty foods should make up no more than 20 percent of your daily food intake, and should only include healthy, unsaturated fats. (Saturated animal fats are also permissible to a lesser extent.) Avoid all processed and “junk” foods, and also avoid eating protein foods in the evening, as this can cause an increased buildup of fibroid proteins in the lymphatic system.
In addition, be sure to drink plenty of pure, unfiltered water throughout the day, as water is essential for flushing out toxins from your body, including your lymphatic system. Avoid unhealthy beverages, such as soft drinks, commercial fruit and vegetable juices (which are high in sugar and/or sodium, as well as other additives), and alcohol.
By following these recommendations consistently, over time you will start to see improvements not only in the amount of cellulite you have on your body, but also in your overall health.
But what can you do to speed up the process of cellulite reduction?
Get Your Lymph Flowing
As mentioned above, cellulite is also due to congestion in the body’s lymphatic system. The main component of the lymphatic system is lymph. The lymphatic system is often overlooked when it comes to maintaining good health but it shouldn't be. That's because the lymphatic system acts as your body's filtration system. In this capacity, it targets toxins and invading germs, encapsulating them within the lymph so that they do not spread further into the body. As a result, your lymphatic system is closely related to your body's immune system.
A good example of the lymphatic system in action is the swollen glands along the neck that often occur when a person develops a sore throat or cold. This swelling is actually due to your body's lymphatic system targeting and encapsulating the germs that cause such illnesses before they can do further damage.
When the lymphatic system is operating efficiently, it filters out the encapsulated toxins and germs via the urine. But when the lymphatic system becomes congested, this process becomes impaired, making it increasingly difficult for your body to effectively deal with these harmful invaders, and placing an increasing strain on the immune system. In addition, congested lymph flow can lead to cellulite over time.
Fortunately, there are a number of easy steps you can take to help maintain healthy lymphatic function. In addition to drinking plenty of water each day to help to keep lymph flowing, one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to avoid and reverse lymph congestion is to spend ten or twenty minutes bouncing on a mini-trampoline, also known as a rebounder. Rebounding exercise has been proven to be one of the most effective ways of improving lymph function and can be a lot of fun compared to other types of exercise.
Another excellent way to keep lymph flowing – and therefore also reduce cellulite – is massage, something you can do on your own, or with the help of your spouse or partner. And that’s where your kitchen comes in!
Banish Cellulite With Vegetable Oil
Congested lymph flow is due in large part to impaired circulation in the body. Cellulite forms in the areas of the body is which circulation is most impaired. Research has for many years confirmed that one of the most effective ways to improve circulation is massage. Therefore, it makes sense that massaging areas of the body affected by cellulite should also be helpful for cellulite reduction, and that’s exactly what health and beauty experts are discovering. In fact, daily massaging areas of your body affected by cellulite may be best thing you can do to banish unsightly bumps and dimples!
While massage alone can be helpful, its benefits for reducing cellulite can be dramatically improved by the use of simple vegetable oil, which you most likely have in your kitchen pantry right now.
Here’s how you can make use of this easy yet powerful solution. Apply vegetable oil (any type will work – olive, safflower, sunflower, etc.) to your thighs and buttocks and then massage each area each night before you got to bed for at least ten minutes. Then do the same thing to your calves. When you are done, wash off the oil from your body, or take a soothing bath or relaxing shower.
That’s all there is to it. By using vegetable oil to daily massage the areas of your body affected by cellulite, you will quickly improve the circulation in those areas, and also enhance lymph flow. And before you know it, you will start noticing that those annoying cellulite bumps and dimples are being rubbed away, leaving you with smooth, healthier skin.
Recommendations
Websites and Links
http://www.fitesteem.com - This is the website of Chesna Closs, personal trainer & fitness counselor, whom I’m happy to say is also one of my readers. If you want to know more about fitness and exercise, this is the site to visit!
http://www.directlabs.com - This site offers a variety of blood tests without the need for a doctor’s “prescription.” And the prices are very inexpensive, making it very useful for people without health insurance.
Medical Freedom
Please contact and support the following organizations dedicated to protecting our health freedoms.
Citizens for Health - http://www.citizens.org
Alliance for Natural Health – http://www.alliance-natural-health.org (The leading organization fighting to preserve health f/r/e/edom in England and the EU.)
Institute for Health Freedom – http://www.ForHealthF/r/e/edom.org
International Advocates for Health Freedom (IAHF) – http://www.iahf.com
And to learn how corrupt and extensive Big Pharma’s monopoly is, visit http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/online/research/index.html the website for the Campaign Against Fraudulent Medical Research. In particular, read their in-depth report The Pharmaceutical Drug Racket that you will find there.
That’s all for this week.
Health and Blessings!
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
Contact Information: Due to the inordinate amount of spam my email account receives, I no longer use it to receive emails. To contact me, please visit www.1healthyworld.com/contactus
Disclaimer: The Health Plus Letter is a weekly eZine published by Larry Trivieri, Jr. and Library of Health, LLC (dba www.1healthyworld.com) 3 Greenwood Court, Utica, NY 13501. It is made available without charge for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical care. If you are experiencing a health problem, seek prompt medical attention.
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Legal Notice: The information in this eZine may be freely and widely disseminated so long as full attribution is made as follows: The Health Plus Letter, October 7, 2008, Vol. 6, No. 25. Copyright © 2008 by Larry Trivieri, Jr. All rights reserved.
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