In recent years, we have heard more and more about how our diet affect our health , especially in relation to the production of cancers. Research has shown that our diet contains an enormous variety of natural mutagens and carcinogens. It is also apparent that we are ingesting vastly greater qualities of these substances than was previously suspected. Perhaps this natural chemical product should be primary concern rather than the mutagenicity of industrial chemicals, food additives and pollutants in our environment. For example, in 1989 the United States had a big publicity generated scare concerning the plant growth regulator Alar, which is used to delay ripening of apples so that they do not drop prematurely. Alar was said to be carcinogenic, but when put in perspective with chemicals in our daily diets , it does not to be so bad. For instance, the hydrazines in a helping of mushrooms are 60 times more carcinogenic than the Alar consumed in a glass of apple juice or 20 times greater than a daily peanut butter sandwich, which frequently contains aflatoxin B. Our diets contain literally millions of natural chemicals; intact it is not practical to test them all for carcinogenicity.

Animal tests and the and the Ames test have been used to evaluate cooked foods for their potential for inducing cancers; and it has been found that browed sugars or breads contains a variety of mutagens. In addition, caffeine and its close relative theobromine found in coffee, tea, cocoa, and some soft drinks may increase the risk of tumors by inhibiting DNA repair enzymes. Plants synthesize many carcinogenic or teratogenic chemicals as delense mechanism to ward off the animals that want to consume them. Examples of plants plant carcinogens include psoralen and its derivatives, which are widespread in plants and have been used as sunscreen in France; solanine and chaconine are teratogens and are found in greened potatoes. Other food that contains natural cicargens includes banana, basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, horseradish, mustard turnips, and black pepper. In addition, red wines are believed to be responsible for the high incidence of stomach cancers among the French people, although red wine also seems to decrease the incidence of coronary heart disease. It seems that nothing can be consumed that does not contain mutagen!

Another big problem with American diet is the consumption of excess quantities of fats. The average American consumes 40 of her his calories in the form of fat. Comparisons of cancer death rates in different national populations have provided important clues to the nutrational causes of cancer. Very different types of cancers appear in the United States than appear in Japan. In United States, colon, breast, and prostate cancer are most prevalent, whereas stomach cancers are in excess in Japan. When the amount of dietary fat intake is plotted against the number of death by breast cancer, the results are striking; the more fat in the diet, the more higher the rate of breast cancer. How might fat intake cause cancer? It may be caused by rancid fat because it represents a sizable percentage of the fat are very prone to oxidation, which produces a variety of carcinogenic compounds. Another likely explanation is that may carcinogens are soluble in fats and accumulate in the fat of the animals we eat.

There are now even more reasons for chocolate lovers to rejoice! As more amazing research news comes in about chocolate, the substance is moving from a bad-for-you candy to an important health food. Those of us who had always continued to indulge in occasional chocolate treats can stop feeling guilty and now easily justify our cravings.

You may have already heard that chocolate contains beneficial flavonoids and antioxidents. Flavonoids are naturally-occurring compounds found in plant foods that are full of recognized health benefits. There are more than 4,000 flavonoid compounds, which are a subgroup of a large class called polyphenols. Phenols are believed to help reduce the risk of heart disease by helping prevent atherosclerosis. The flavanols in chocolate appear to help the body use nitric oxide, which is crucial for healthy blood flow and blood pressure, which means that chocolate might help reduce hypertension as well.

Red wine is know for its high phenol content, but an average bar of dark chocolate contains more phenols than 8 ounces of red wine. Scientists at Cornell University and Seoul National University examined the cancer-fighting antioxidant content of hot cocoa, red wine, and tea, and found that cocoa had nearly double the antioxidants of red wine and four to five times more than tea.

Holland’s National Institute of Public Health and Environment found that dark chocolate contains 53.5 mg of catechins per 100 grams. Catechins are the powerful antioxidants that fight against cancer and help prevent heart disease. By contrast, a cup of black tea contains only about 14 mg of catechins and green tea has about 30 mg of catechins.

A study at University of California Davis found that participants who ate chocolate showed a reduction in platelet activity. This means that chocolate has an anti-clotting, blood-thinning effect that can be compared to aspirin.

A Harvard University study of 8,000, with an average age of 65, revealed that those who consumed chocolate lived almost a year longer than those who did not. Those who ate one to three candy bars per month had a 36 percent lower risk of death compared to the people who ate no candy, while those who ate three or more candy bars per week had a 16 percent lower risk.

A study of older men in The Netherlands, known for its chocolate, showed that those who ate the most chocolate, an equivalent of one-third of a chocolate bar every day, had lower blood pressure and a 50 percent lower risk of death. The researchers also noted the men eating the most cocoa products were not heavier or bigger eaters than the men who ate less cocoa.

And it’s not just dark chocolate that is the only healthy type of chocolate. Most studies talk about the benefits of dark chocolate, but some of the most recent news about chocolate includes good news for milk chocolate lovers, who have been left out in the past.

The Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia did a study that shows that milk chocolate seems to boost brainpower. The groups in the test consumed, on different occasions, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, carob and nothing. Then they were tested for cognitive performance including memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem solving.

According to Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, “Composite scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher for milk chocolate than the other conditions.” The study also found that consumption of milk and dark chocolate was associated with improved impulse control and reaction time. It seems that by consuming chocolate you get stimulating effects from substances found in chocolate, such as theobromine and phenylethylamine, which then lead to increased mental performance.

Chocolate really does make you feel good, too. It is known to stimulate the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasurable sensation similar to the “runner’s high” a jogger feels after running several miles. Chocolate also contains a neurotransmitter, serotonin that acts as an anti-depressant. Studies in England show that even the aroma of chocolate gives a bout of euphoria and will help lift the spirits.

And now people are looking at chocolate for skin care. According to Marlies Spinale, director of Tru Spa, “Like many other antioxidants, cocoa polyphenols are thought to offer the skin protection from free-radical damage caused by sun, pollution, stress, alcohol consumption and other factors. I believe that we will hear more about the benefits of chocolate in skin care.”

Some people have been avoiding chocolate because one of the main ingredients of chocolate is cocoa butter. It was thought that it was an unhealthy fat, but actually cocoa butter is not unhealthy. It is made up of the beneficial fatty acids– oleic acid a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat also found in olive oil, stearic and palmitic acids. Stearic and palmitic acids are healthy forms of saturated fat. Plus chocolate contains vitamins A, B1, C, D, and E, as well as potassium, sodium, and iron.

So go ahead and indulge in a little chocolate, in moderation of course. I would recommend that you try to find organic chocolate, and stick with darker chocolate because it has more chocolate flavonoids and less sugar. Sugar weakens the immune system; so don’t consume sugar if you are ill. And a little bit of milk chocolate is alright when you need an occasional milk chocolate brainpower boost, such as before a test. All you students take note!

Chocolate as a health food– can life get any better?

By Dianne Ronnow, 2006 Mohave Publishing.

If you need a little extra help losing weight, I have good news for you. I found an excellent safe diet aid that really helped me lose weight, burn fat, and get my metabolism going!

In today’s very accelerated paced world we do not consume a appropriate diet all of the time. If you lead a active life and do not get decent vitamins for your body to operate decently then you should be correcting with natural vitamin supplements.

Herbs or botanicals that have not yet been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration are marketed as diet nutritional supplements if they claim to improve health, shape the body, improve immunity, improve vision, improve mental acuity, boost energy, or help prevent diseases.

Naturally, the most visible benefit to adopting multi vitamin supplements is convenience. It is far quicker for a person to acquire one dosage of a multi vitamin supplement that incorporates each of the needed vitamins compared to adopting each one one by one. This is especially the case for children as it can be more laborious for them to acquire a large number of vitamin supplements but one dosage of a multi vitamin supplement is far more easygoing.

Our bodies need adequate nutrition in order to operate properly. Our bodies need adequate necessary vitamins to habitually make it through the day and with our daily food ingestion not supplying each of the essential nutrients the demand for a vitamin supplement has never been bigger.

The ideal time to take supplements is with your meals. During this time, your body can absorb the nutrients better, as your digestive system will be stimulated with food. If you are using time released supplements, you should take them with food to ensure that they move through your body at the right pace and release the proper amount of nutrients and vitamins your body needs at the right time.

If you do not have any deficiency for a particular nutrient, your body will usually absorb only about 10 percent to 15 percent of the nutrients from vitamin and nutritional supplements. The remaining 85 percent is excreted in your urine. This means that for every 10.00 you spend on vitamin and nutritional supplements, 8.50 of it can be going down the toilet.

To make the decision smoother there are now a many of multi vitamin supplements made for particular people. For instance, there are multi vitamin supplements that are planned for children. These multi vitamin supplements carries the particular nutrients that children demand for them to grow and develop decently. Pregnant women have singular nutrient demands to guarantee that their baby gets the necessary nutrients and there are multi vitamin supplements prepared for pregnant women.

It is significant to consider the contents of any multi vitamin supplement prior ingesting too many. Many vitamins can be dangerous if too much is absorbed and this can occur more easily with multi vitamin supplements as a lot of the content may be neglected. The labeling of the actual percentage of the suggested daily allowance for each vitamin in a multi vitamin supplement should be clearly labeled and must be evaluated before a person acquires them. Always seek professional medical advice before acquiring any multi vitamin supplement if there is any doubt as to the benefits of the contents.

Did you know that the food you eat could be prematurely ageing you? Science has made some amazing discoveries in the last decade in nutrition. We really should be taking note of what we put in our mouth because more than ever, “we are what we eat”. Do you know the impact of what you are eating? Probably not. It’s time to find out because over-indulgence in certain types of food cause the body to prematurely age.

Would you like some more free radicals with your lunch…? There is frequent mention these days about ‘free radicals’ and how they are constantly attacking the body, causing potentially serious damage.

A free radical is the name for a molecule that has an unpaired electron. They are a normal by-product of metabolism and without them you would die.

To put the record straight, it’s the over-production of free radicals that causes damage to the body. We are advised by nutritional experts to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.

This is because they are rich in antioxidant phytonutrients…substances that neutralise free radicals and so help protect the body.

One of the essential tasks of free radicals is in producing energy from the food you eat. Every time you eat, free radical activity is intense. The more food you eat, the more free radicals are formed, and the more antioxidants your body needs to neutralise them. Big meals are big trouble!

Effective Antioxidants include vitamins A, C, E; minerals such as selenium, zinc, and herbs such as aloe vera and grapeseed extract.

The Reality of Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are root vegetables, pasta, rice, bread, grains, fruit, pastries, cakes, biscuits, crisps, sweets etc. They are easy to prepare, filling, tasty and cheap. Most meals are dominated by carbohydrates, as most of us ‘full up’ on them. When you eat carbohydrates you’re eating a form of sugar.

Carbohydrates are converted by the body into glucose, which is either used immediately for energy, or stored in fat cells. Carbohydrates make up an excessive proportion of the diet, add together a lack of exercise and excess sugar and the inevitable result is excess weight.

By reducing your overall carbohydrate intake and reducing the size of your meals, you reduce your body’s exposure to free radical activity, and, the amount of excess food that meals, you reduce your body’s exposure to free radical activity, and, the amount of excess food that gets stored as unwanted fat. A double bonus!

Big meals are too much stress

Food is in abundance – look around the supermarket shelves at the food mountain! Fill your trolley, take it home and fill your kitchen cupboards – fill your plate and fill your stomach till you can barely move. How many times a week do you overeat? How many free radicals are attacking your body and accelerating the aging process? You could choose to eat less.

Think about your meals over the last week.

Better still, keep a food diary for the next week, record each meal by drawing a plate divided up showing how much protein, carbohydrate, fat, vegetables and fruit you eat at each mealsnack. After a week you’ll be able to see for yourself how much sugar you are eating.

In our modern world, technology is not the only thing people are crazy about; they are also obsessed with their image. Presently, the criteria for judging beauty are a tall frame and a lanky stature.

Unfortunately, this found an ally in the media, who religiously enforces the rule for people to stay thin. You simply have to conform to this rule to be considered beautiful.

The result of this state of affair is the countless weight loss supplements that crowd the shelves of most stores. Everyone wants to be thin, and with the various diet plans at our disposal, there is really no reason why we can’t be.

Of all the stores that stock these special medications, one stands out. It is called GNC, and it is known as the epitome of vitamins, muscle builders, and weight loss supplements.

This is because whatever product you are searching for to help you build muscle or one to aid you in dropping some pounds, you will surely find it at GNC.

However, this is not the only source of getting slimming products, there is another option- a far broader one in terms of resource, and it is known as the internet.

The internet is cluttered with a wide spectrum of weight loss supplements and vitamins. You will not only get several methods about starting a new diet and fitness regime, you will also find countless information to help you get started correctly.

But the decision of settling for a particular brand of weight loss supplements is not an easy one to make, not with the dozens of advertisement we see on television every day.

When confronted with such a situation, your first thought should be your objective. You should ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish.

Are you simply searching for quality weight loss supplements to shed off some extra pounds?
Or are you also trying to firm up your figure?

At this junction, it will be a smart move to consult with a specialist who can help you out with professional tips on how to get started.

It is important to purchase the correct weight loss supplements. Most of the so called “miracle pills” can have adverse side effects. Some offer lame cures that simply pull all of the water off your body, creating an illusion that you’ve lost weight. This is not a healthy way to do it.

The right way to burn off real fat and get into good shape is with a balanced diet and exercise, combined with weight loss supplements.

So jump online today and sort through the plethora of weight loss supplements. You want to lose weight, then you need to ensure you are doing it the healthy way.

Recently I wrote an article entitled “Terms, Terms, Terms, An Inside look to buying supplements” which can be found on the Gurus and Guests section of my private forum. The article covered many of the misleading marketing terms buyers have to deal with in an attempt to make informed decisions on the supplements they spend their hard earned money on. Some of the more potentially misleading commonly used marketing terms I covered were

“Clinically proven”
“Patented”
“Doctor recommended”
“All natural”
“Scientifically formulated”
“Research proven”
“Used for thousands of years”

Readers interested in understanding why the above terms can be so misleading, can read my write-up on each of those terms.

In a nut shell, I went onto cover each of these common marketing terms that are used to sell supplements to unwitting consumers and explained each in detail as to what I view as their common misuse within the market place.

However, one term I didn’t cover, was “proprietary blend? which in many cases is the most potentially misleading term of them all, though not a term always seen in ads per se, but at the side of the bottle.

Thus, why I felt it was a separate topic to be covered at a later date as it does not fit under the classic definition of a commonly used marketing term found in ads. I also decided to cover this term in a separate article as it requires much more space dedicated to it then the other terms needed for reasons that will be apparent shortly.

Proprietary blends are not inherently a negative for the consumer, though they are inherently confusing for the buyer in most cases.

A supplement that lists a “proprietary blend” on the bottle can be there for one of two reasons

a to prevent the competition from knowing exactly what ratios and amounts of each ingredient present in the formula to prevent the competition from copying their formula exactly commonly referred to as a “knock off” or

b to hide the fact that the formula contains very little of the active ingredients listed on the bottle in an attempt to fool consumers.

Sadly, the latter use is far more common then the former. They see a long list of seemingly impressive ingredients listed in the “proprietary blend” none of which there is amounts that will have any effects. This is commonly referred to as “label decoration” by industry insiders. The former use of the term is a legitimate way for a company of a quality formula from having the competition copy or “knock off” their formula and the latter use of the term is to scam people.

So how does the consumer tell the difference?

They can’t, or at least they can’t without some research and knowledge, which the scam artists know few people have the time and energy to dedicate in finding the answers. Although there are a few tips the consumer can use to decide if a product with a “proprietary blend” is worth trying, no one, not even me, can figure out exactly how much of each ingredient is in the blend or in what ratio of each is contained within the formula, hence why the honest and not-so-honest companies employ “proprietary blends” so often.

Thus, we have something of a conundrum here and conflict between a company making a quality formula attempting to protect that formula from other companies vs. the company simply looking to baffle buyers with BS.

There are at least some basic tips or food for thought here regarding this problem. A formula that contains say 10 ingredients in a “proprietary blend” is by no means defacto superior then one with three ingredients in it. It’s the dose that matters. Clearly, it’s better to have higher amounts of ingredients that will have some effects vs. a long list of ingredients in doses too low to have any effects.

Sometimes it helps to look at both — what’s in the blend and how much of the blend actually exists. As an example, if say the blend is 300mg total and contains ten ingredients, that’s only 30mg per ingredient, assuming and you know what they say about assuming! that each is found in equal amounts. Clearly, for most compounds out there, 30mg wont do jack sh&.

On the other hand, if say the blend is 3000mg 3 grams and contains three or four ingredients, there is at least a better chance that the formula contains enough of each and remember, we can’t tell how much of each is in there as that information is “proprietary” to have some effects you are looking for such as an increase in strength, or a decrease in bodyfat, etc.

Unfortunately, the above examples are so vague as to be close to worthless as it’s easy enough to formulate a 3000mg blend where all the ingredients are worthless to begin with or a 300mg blend that contains compounds that only require small doses to have an effect and or can be toxic at higher doses.

For example, the mineral zinc tends to be no more then 30mg in most formulas and no more is needed nor recommended. Much of this comes down to the consumer knowing what the various ingredients are and how they work to decide if they are even worth using in the first place then deciding if the said blend appears to at least contain a dose that would have the desired effects, which just brings us back to my prior comment most people have neither the time or inclination to research all that info just to decide if they want to use a product and thus the many “proprietary blends” on the market that are no more than a long list of under-dosed ingredients.

Wish I could be of more help giving specific advice to readers of this here article as to what makes a good blend and what constitutes a poorly made blend, but the above advice is the best I can do under the circumstances. Although a “proprietary blend” is not by default a negative to the consumer, it is by all means the poster child for the well-known Latin term Caveat emptor which translates into English as “let the buyer beware”.