What the Science Says About Intermittent Fasting

By Dr. Mercola

Is it a good idea to “starve” yourself just a little bit each day, or a couple of days a week? Mounting evidence indicates that yes ,intermittent fasting (IF) could have a very beneficial impact on your health and longevity.

I believe it’s one of the most powerful interventions out there if you’re struggling with your weight and related health issues. One of the primary reasons for this is because it helps shift your body from burning sugar/carbs to burning fat as its primary fuel.

As discussed in the featured article,1 intermittent fasting is not about binge eating followed by starvation, or any other extreme form of dieting. Rather what we’re talking about here involves timing your meals to allow for regular periods of fasting.

I prefer daily intermittent fasting, but you could also fast a couple of days a week if you prefer, or every other day. There are many different variations.

To be effective, in the case of daily intermittent fasting, the length of your fast must be at least 16 hours. This means eating only between the hours of 11am until 7pm, as an example. Essentially, this equates to simply skipping breakfast, and making lunch your first meal of the day instead.

You can restrict it even further — down to six, four, or even two hours if you want, but you can still reap many of these rewards by limiting your eating to an eight-hour window each day. 

This is because it takes about six to eight hours for your body to metabolize your glycogen stores; after that you start to shift to burning fat. However, if you are replenishing your glycogen by eating every eight hours (or sooner), you make it far more difficult for your body to use your fat stores as fuel.

Intermittent Fasting — More a Lifestyle Than a Diet

I have been experimenting with different types of scheduled eating for the past two years and currently restrict my eating to a 6- to 7-hour window each day. While you’re not required to restrict the amount of food you eat when on this type of daily scheduled eating plan, I would caution against versions of intermittent fasting that gives you free reign to eat all the junk food you want when not fasting, as this seems awfully counterproductive.

Also, according to research published in 2010,2 intermittent fasting with compensatory overeating did not improve survival rates nor delay prostate tumor growth in mice. Essentially, by gorging on non-fasting days, the health benefits of fasting can easily be lost. If so, then what’s the point?

I view intermittent fasting as a lifestyle, not a diet, and that includes making healthy food choices whenever you do eat. Also, proper nutrition becomes even more important when fasting, so you really want to address your food choices beforeyou try fasting.

This includes minimizing carbs and replacing them with healthful fats, like coconut oil, olive oil, olives, butter, eggs, avocados, and nuts. It typically takes several weeks to shift to fat burning mode, but once you do, your cravings for unhealthy foods and carbs will automatically disappear. This is because you’re now actually able to burn your stored fat and don’t have to rely on new fast-burning carbs for fuel. Unfortunately, despite mounting evidence, many health practitioners are still reluctant to prescribe fasting to their patients. According to Brad Pilon, author of Eat Stop Eat:3

“Health care practitioners across the board are so afraid to recommend eating less because of the stigma involved in that recommendation, but we are more than happy to recommend that someone start going to the gym. If all I said was you need to get to the gym and start eating healthier, no one would have a problem with it. When the message is not only should you eat less, you could probably go without eating for 24 hours once or twice a week, suddenly it’s heresy.”

The Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Aside from removing your cravings for sugar and snack foods and turning you into an efficient fat-burning machine, thereby making it far easier to maintain a healthy body weight, modern science has confirmed there are many other good reasons to fast intermittently. For example, research presented at the 2011 annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans4 showed that fasting triggered a 1,300 percent rise of human growth hormone (HGH) in women, and an astounding 2,000 percent in men.

HGH, human growth hormone, commonly referred to as "the fitness hormone," plays an important role in maintaining health, fitness and longevity, including promotion of muscle growth, and boosting fat loss by revving up your metabolism. The fact that it helps build muscle while simultaneously promoting fat loss explains why HGH helps you lose weight without sacrificing muscle mass, and why even athletes can benefit from the practice (as long as they don't overtrain and are careful about their nutrition). The only other thing that can compete in terms of dramatically boosting HGH levels is high-intensity interval training. Other health benefits of intermittent fasting include:

Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity, which is key for optimal health	Improving biomarkers of disease
Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as "the hunger hormone"	Reducing inflammation and lessening free radical damage
Lowering triglyceride levels	Preserving memory functioning and learning

Intermittent Fasting Is as Good or Better Than Continuous Calorie Restriction

According to Dr. Stephen Freedland, associate professor of urology and pathology at the Duke University Medical Center, “undernutrition without malnutrition” is the only experimental approach that consistently improves survival in animals with cancer, as well as extends lifespan overall by as much as 30 percent.5 Interestingly enough, intermittent fasting appears to provide nearly identical health benefits without being as difficult to implement and maintain. It’s easier for most people to simply restrict their eating to a narrow window of time each day, opposed to dramatically decreasing their overall daily calorie intake.

Mark Mattson, senior investigator for the National Institute on Aging, which is part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), has researched the health benefits of intermittent fasting, as well as the benefits of calorie restriction. According to Mattson,6 there are several theories to explain why fasting works:

"The one that we've studied a lot, and designed experiments to test, is the hypothesis that during the fasting period, cells are under a mild stress, and they respond to the stress adaptively by enhancing their ability to cope with stress and, maybe, to resist disease... There is considerable similarity between how cells respond to the stress of exercise and how cells respond to intermittent fasting.”

In one of his studies,7 overweight adults with moderate asthma lost eight percent of their body weight by cutting their calorie intake by 80 percent on alternate days for eight weeks. Markers of oxidative stress and inflammation also decreased, and asthma-related symptoms improved, along with several quality-of-life indicators.

More recently, Mattson and colleagues compared the effectiveness of intermittent fasting against continuous calorie restriction for weight loss, insulin sensitivity and other metabolic disease risk markers. The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2011,8 found that intermittent fasting was as effective as continuous calorie restriction for improving all of these issues, and slightly better for reducing insulin resistance. According to the authors:

“Both groups experienced comparable reductions in leptin, free androgen index, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and increases in sex hormone binding globulin, IGF binding proteins 1 and 2. Reductions in fasting insulin and insulin resistance were modest in both groups, but greater with IER [intermittent fasting] than with CER [continuous energy restriction].”

How Intermittent Fasting Benefits Your Brain

Your brain can also benefit from intermittent fasting. As reported in the featured article:

“Mattson has also researched the protective benefits of fasting to neurons. If you don't eat for 10–16 hours, your body will go to its fat stores for energy, and fatty acids called ketones will be released into the bloodstream. This has been shown to protect memory and learning functionality, says Mattson, as well as slow disease processes in the brain.”

Besides releasing ketones as a byproduct of burning fat, intermittent fasting also affects brain function by boosting production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Mattson’s research suggests that fasting every other day (restricting your meal on fasting days to about 600 calories), tends to boost BDNF by anywhere from 50 to 400 percent,9 depending on the brain region. BDNF activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health. This protein also protects your brain cells from changes associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

BDNF also expresses itself in the neuro-muscular system where it protects neuro-motors from degradation. (The neuromotor is the most critical element in your muscle. Without the neuromotor, your muscle is like an engine without ignition. Neuro-motor degradation is part of the process that explains age-related muscle atrophy.) So BDNF is actively involved in both your musclesand your brain, and this cross-connection, if you will, appears to be a major part of the explanation for why a physical workout can have such a beneficial impact on your brain tissue — and why the combination of intemittent fasting with high intensity exercise appears to be a particularly potent combination.

Give Intermittent Fasting a Try

If you’re ready to give intermittent fasting a try, consider skipping breakfast, make sure you stop eating and drinking anything but water three hours before you go to sleep, and restrict your eating to an 8-hour (or less) time frame every day. In the 6-8 hours that you do eat, have healthy protein, minimize your carbs like pasta, bread, and potatoes and exchange them for healthful fats like butter, eggs, avocado, coconut oil, olive oil and nuts — essentially the very fats the media and “experts” tell you to avoid.

This will help shift you from carb burning to fat burning mode. Once your body has made this shift, it is nothing short of magical as your cravings for sweets, and food in general, rapidly normalizes and your desire for sweets and junk food radically decreases if not disappears entirely.

Remember it takes a few weeks, and you have to do it gradually, but once you succeed and switch to fat burning mode, you'll be easily able to fast for 18 hours and not feel hungry. The “hunger” most people feel is actually cravings for sugar, and these will disappear, as if by magic, once you successfully shift over to burning fat instead.

Another phenomenal side effect/benefit that occurs is that you will radically improve the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Supporting healthy gut bacteria, which actually outnumber your cells 10 to one, is one of the most important things you can do to improve your immune system so you won’t get sick, or get coughs, colds and flus. You will sleep better, have more energy, have increased mental clarity and concentrate better. Essentially every aspect of your health will improve as your gut flora becomes balanced.

Based on my own phenomenal experience with intermittent fasting, I believe it’s one of the most powerful ways to shift your body into fat burning mode and improve a wide variety of biomarkers for disease. The effects can be further magnified by exercising while in a fasted state. For more information on that, please see my previous article High-Intensity Interval Training and Intermittent Fasting - A Winning Combo.

Clearly, it’s another powerful tool in your box to help you and your family take control of your health, and an excellent way to take your fitness to the next level.

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/06/28/intermittent-fasting-health-benefits.aspx

Health benefits of cinnamon (dalchini)

Cinnamon or dalchini is a staple addition to curries, pulav and biryani, but did you ever think that that tiny little bark could protect you from a host of illnesses right from cancer to cough and cold? Well, it sure can. Here are the top ten health benefits of cinnamon:

Helps keep diabetes under check: According to a study published in the Diabetes Care Journal (1), cinnamon was a highly effective remedy against diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes. The study stated that the spice has the ability to improve one’s glucose levels and lipid levels by activating his/her insulin receptors. It also reduces the total serum glucose, triglycerides and the total cholesterol of a person since it stimulates the enzyme systems that regulate one’s carbohydrate metabolism. Cinnamon also has amazing vasodialatory properties that help beat the risk of cardiovascular disease – a common condition seen in diabetics. (Read: Home remedies for diabetes)

Tip: Cinnamon tea is one of the most beneficial methods to beat diabetes. To make the tea, boil cinnamon in water for 15 minutes. The water will turn brown in colour, strain the liquid and drink. To add flavor you could add a few leaves of tulsi while boiling and add a spoon of honey for sweetness. Keep sipping on this tea throughout the day.

Can help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s:  A study conducted at the Tel Aviv University (2) found that the extract of cinnamon, when administered on a daily basis to patients with Alzheimer’s improved their longevity and bettered the locomotor defects they experience once afflicted with the disease. Cinnamon extract also known as CEppt, inhibits tau aggregation (tau is a type of protein that aggregates around that part of the nerves that is responsible for transmitting impulses of the brain) and filament formation (a process that is thought to be due to the accumulation of tau protein) which in turn protects the brain from the onset of Alzheimer’s and can also help in slowing down the progression of the disease. (Read: Alzheimer's disease - it's more common than you think)

Tip: To help protect you from disease, have a teaspoon of freshly ground cinnamon with a little bit of honey. Have this every day on an empty stomach. If you find this mixture too pungent, try having it as tea.

Helps protect you from cancer: In a study done by the USDA (United States Agricultural Department), it was found that cinnamon extract was a potent weapon against leukaemia and lymphomas. The study found that the extract worked by blocking the path of certain components that were important for the regeneration of the cell, inhabited the further multiplication of cancerous cells, and slowly reduced their spread. It also found that the higher the amount of extract the better the results. Remarkably, the extract only inhibited the growth of unhealthy cells and left the healthy cells untouched unlike conventional therapies like chemotherapy, etc. (Read: Can herbal remedies beat cancer?)

Tip: Add cinnamon to your daily diet either by sprinkling it on your food or with honey.

Relieves arthritic pain: Cinnamon is packed with a compound known as cinnamomum, which has very strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that make it a great home remedy for arthritic pain. Its natural heating mechanism provides added relief to aching joints. 

Tip: Grind cinnamon into a fine paste with water and apply on the aching joints. You can place a soft muslin cloth on the paste to keep the paste wet for longer.

Helps in digestion: Cinnamon is packed with mineral manganese, fibre, essential oils and calcium. The calcium and fibre combine with bile salts and help in their transport outside the body. The essential oils, help regulate the action of gastric juices on food, improves digestion, assimilation and its anti inflammatory properties helps reduce the inflammation caused due to indigestion, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and ulcers. Moreover the fibre content helps to relieve constipation and diarrhoea. (Read:10 Home remedies for constipation)

Tip: To relieve a stomach upset have cinnamon tea infused with mint leaves about two to three times a day.

Helps with weight loss: Cinnamon has great digestive properties, it helps with weight loss by regulating the breakdown of carbohydrates and the production and use of insulin by the body. It also helps improve the digestion and assimilation of food within the body, helping one lose weight. (Read: Herbs for weightloss)

Tip: Drink cinnamon tea with a teaspoon of honey every day, half an hour before breakfast. Alternatively you could add cinnamon powder to your meal by sprinkling it on your salad, coffee or other foods.

Helps beat acne: Cinnamon is a common spice and flavouring agent but the essential oil it contains also has strong anti-microbial properties. The water activity of honey is very low and this means that it does not contain a lot of moisture which can promote the growth of microorganisms. Considering that pimples often arise from an infection within the pores of the skin, combining cinnamon with honey is an effective remedy. (Read:Herbal remedies to get rid of pimples)

Tip: Crush a little cinnamon, and add a bit of honey to make it into a paste. Now apply it on the pimple and leave for a few minutes. You can leave it on overnight also for added benefit. Wash off the paste with warm water and watch that pimple vanish.  

Helps cure a cold and cough: Known for its antibiotic and body warming properties, cinnamon is a formidable remedy against a cold and cough. It not only helps to relieve the congestion commonly experienced with a cold, it is also great for a sore throat when combined with ginger, tulsi and honey.

Tip: Boil a small crushed piece of ginger, a few leaves of tulsi  leaves, crushed black pepper in two cups of water. Cover the vessel with a lid and let the mixture boil at a low heat. When the solution has simmered for about ten minutes, strain the liquid, add a teaspoon of honey and drink. It should be warm. This solution will not only soothe an irritated throat, it will also clear up the blocked nasal passage and sinuses.

Beats heart disease and atherosclerosis: Packed with fibre and calcium, cinnamon is great for the heart. Since the fibre and calcium and help transport bile salts outside the body, the body produces more bile salts for other bodily functions by breaking down cholesterol. This directly translates to lower cholesterol levels which protect the heart from blockages and the arteries from atherosclerosis.

Tip: Have a teaspoon of cinnamon powder everyday on an empty stomach. You can add honey or drink it with warm water.

Fights tooth decay: Cinnamon oil is known for its antibacterial properties. It is essentially good for the teeth and gums. Cinnamon not only beats tooth decay but also helps prevent gingivitis and bad breath.

Tip: If you are suffering from bad breath, gargle with cinnamon infused water (cinnamon boiled in water). For toothache and gingivitis, chew on a small piece of cinnamon, to get some relief.

Finally, do what you may with it, but adding just that exact amount of cinnamon is the best thing you can do for your body.

It is important to remember that these are only home remedies for ailments. Please be sure to visit your doctor if you have a serious ailment or the symptoms persist.

http://health.india.com/diseases-conditions/health-benefits-of-cinnamon-dalchini/

What are the health benefits of cinnamon?

Cinnamon is a spice that comes from the branches of wild trees that belong to the genus "Cinnamomum" - native to the Caribbean, South America, and Southeast Asia.

There are two main types of cinnamon:

• Cinnamomum verum (Ceylon cinnamon), most commonly used in the Western world.
• Cinnamomum aromaticum (Cassia cinnamon or Chinese cinnamon), which originates from southern China, is typically less expensive than Ceylon cinnamon.

Cinnamon has been consumed since 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt, where it was very highly prized (almost considered to be a panacea). In medieval times doctors used cinnamon to treat conditions such as coughing, arthritis and sore throats.

Modern research indicates that this spice may have some very beneficial properties.

This Medical News today information article on cinnamon includes information on its potential health benefits, provides a nutritional profile of the spice, as well as details on some risks associated with its consumption.

Health benefits of cinnamon

According to the U.S. national Library of Medicine, Cinnamon is used to help treat muscle spasms, vomiting,diarrhea, infections, the common cold, loss of appetite, and erectile dysfuntion (ED).

Cinnamon may lower blood sugar in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, according to Diabetes UK.¹However high quality research supporting the claim remains scarce.

Fungal infections - according to the National Institute of Health², cinnamaldehyde - a chemical found in Cassia cinnamon - can help fight against bacterial and fungal infections.

Cinnamon sticks or quills.

Diabetes - cinnamon may help improve glucose and lipids levels³ in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in Diabetics Care.

The study authors concluded that consuming up to 6 grams of cinnamon per day "reduces serum glucose, triglyceride, LDL Cholesterol, and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes." and that "the inclusion of cinnamon in the diet of people with type 2 diabetes will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases."

In addition, a certain cinnamon extract can reduce fasting blood sugar levels in patients , researchers reported in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Alzheimer's disease - Tel Aviv University researchers discovered that cinnamon may help prevent Alzheimer's. According to Prof. Michael Ovadia, of the Department of Zoology at Tel Aviv University, an extract found in cinnamon bark, called CEppt, contains properties that can inhibit the development of the disease.

HIV - a study of Indian medicinal plants revealed that may potentially be effective against HIV⁴. According to the study authors, "the most effective extracts against HIV-1 and HIV-2 are respectivelyCinnamomum cassia (bark) and Cardiospermum helicacabum (shoot + fruit)."

Multiple Sclerosis - cinnamon may help stop the destructive process of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a neurological scientist at Rush University Medical Center. Cinnamon could help eliminate the need to take some expensive and unpleasant drugs.

Lower the negative effects of high fat meals - Penn State researchers revealed that diets rich in cinnamon can help reduce the body's negative responses to eating high-fat meals. 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266069.php

MSM Health Benefits May Be Related to Its Sulfur Content

By Dr. Mercola

The clinical use of sulfur as an adjunct in our diet is becoming progressively more recognized as an important tool for optimizing health.

Certainly, diet is the primary tool for reducing your risk for chronic degenerative diseases. But the practical question becomes, how do you obtain the needed sulfur from food grown in depleted soils?

The nutrient MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is a naturally occurring sulfur compound found in all vertebrates, including humans. MSM is already well-known for its joint health benefits, but it may be important for a whole host of other reasons as well.

Rod Benjamin is the director of technical development for Bergstrom Nutrition, the largest producer of the highest quality MSM that is produced by distillation purification.

MSM is a metabolite of DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide, an organosulfur compound), but DMSO is approved for use in veterinary medicine only, not in humans.

Are the Health Benefits of MSM Related to Sulfur?

I first became aware of DMSO decades ago, when I saw a 60-Minutes episode in which they revealed its therapeutic impact on race horses. It supported their soft tissues, helped with muscle soreness and soft-tissue injury. It also benefitted the horses’ lung function.

Dr. Stanley W. Jacob pioneered the use of DMSO and later MSM. Originally, he began looking at DMSO because it freezes at about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and Dr. Jacob had been deeply involved in looking at cryogenic preservation of tissues and organs for transplantation. As a result of being investigated for its cryogenic uses, DMSO ended up being one of the most researched drugs on the market today.

“DMSO is classified as a drug within the United States. You can buy it at a lot of veterinary supply stores and things like that, but it’s not to be used for humans,” Mr. Benjamin says.

MSM, which is a metabolite of DMSO, and approved for use in humans, primarily impacts your health by reducing inflammation. It’s widely used as a supplement for arthritic conditions. Like DMSO, MSM also appears to improve cell wall permeability, so it can be used to help deliver other active ingredients. Perhaps most important, MSM helps protect against oxidative damage.

Within the last two years, at least four human clinical trials have been conducted on MSM and its ability to help with exercise recovery, and muscle injuries like delayed onset muscle stiffness or soreness (DOMS) and large muscle injuries like that from a heart attack—all of which is related to oxidative stress and subsequent cellular damage.

“In one of the studies, they were looking at the VAS pain scores. That’s muscle soreness due to exercise. There was a significant reduction in the MSM-treated group versus placebo. That’s directly tied to the muscle soreness,” Mr. Benjamin says.

The Importance of Sulfur

Furthermore, according to Mr. Benjamin:

“Dr. Stanley Jacob said DMSO – and MSM together with that – in his opinion is much more of a therapeutic principle. It’s similar to exercise or proper nutrition. Instead of that singular focus that is so prevalent within the drug or pharmas per se, it’s much more of a therapeutic principle, which is overall body wellness [opposed to treating a specific symptom or ailment].”

This suggests that MSM may be providing some kind of missing link, and that link appears to be related to sulfur MSM is 34 percent sulfur by weight, but as Mr. Benjamin discusses below, it is more than just a simple sulfur donor. It affects sulfur metabolism in the human body, although it’s still not entirely clear how.

Sulfur is just now becoming more widely appreciated as a really critical nutrient, without which many other things don’t work properly, and most people are probably not getting enough sulfur from their diet anymore. For example, sulfur plays a critical role in detoxification, and also in inflammatory conditions. For detoxification, sulfur is part of one of the most important antioxidants that your body produces: glutathione. Without sulfur, glutathione cannot work.

The plethora of research that was done on DMSO and its therapeutic properties begs the question: How many of those therapeutic properties are due to the DMSO? Or are they due to its metabolite, MSM, once it’s been converted in vivo or within the body? (Approximately 15 percent of any DMSO dosage, on average, converts to MSM in the human body.) The answer to that question is still unknown. Sulfur is found in over 150 different compounds within the human body. There are sulfur components in virtually every type of cell, so it’s extremely important.

“Now, as far as MSM’s role within the body, it’s very complicated. And I will say that it’s not a hundred percent understood,” Mr. Benjamin says. “I’ve been working with this compound for 16 years to try and answer that question. We understand a part of the mechanism of action, but not all of it.

...In 1986, Richmond did a study, and it showed that it was taken up into serum proteins. That sulfur was actually incorporated in the serum proteins.

We also have done [something] like the pharmacokinetic study, which showed that radiolabeled sulfur was taken up into hair, skin, and nails. Keratin is a very high sulfur-containing compound, which is a building block for your nails and your hair. But it also showed up in almost all tissues, spleen, and liver. It went all over.

It’s complicated. We did a study where we said, 'Okay, let’s give it to healthy human volunteers.' We did actually three different dosages – one gram, two grams, and three grams. We measured urinary sulfur output by measuring sulfate, thinking that sulfate will be a waste sulfur product that would show up excreted in the urine. We did the different doses to see if it was in a dose-dependent manner that we’d be able to correlate back and, say, 'Yes, MSM is giving output of sulfur.

We found that they were indeed dose-related, but the interesting thing was it was inversely related. The more MSM you took, the less sulfate was excreted in your urine. What that says is it’s much more complicated than just a strict sulfur donor. It is a compartmentalization of sulfur and sulfur metabolism within the body. That suggests that MSM is actually allowing better metabolism, better incorporation of the sulfur throughout the body. It’s not just a simple sulfur donor...'”

MSM Improves Your Body’s Ability to Make its Own Antioxidants

As I mentioned earlier, sulfur plays an important role in the production of glutathione—one of the most important antioxidants that your body produces. Glutathione also serves important functions for detoxification. Without sulfur, glutathione cannot work. So, while not an antioxidant by itself, part of MSM’s action is to improve your body’s ability to make its own antioxidants.

It also provides support for all sorts of structural proteins, where sulfur is an important component. According to Dr. Benjamin:

“[G]lutathione has two different states within your body. There’s reduced glutathione and oxidized glutathione. The ratio of those two signifies the overall oxidative status or the ability of your blood plasma to address oxidative stress. MSM improves that overall ratio. In other words, you have much more reduced glutathione that’s able to deal with these free radicals. That’s, I think, kind of the key of how MSM really – and DMSO also does the same thing – by controlling that oxidative stress or protecting from the oxidative damage can have these therapeutic [benefits].”

Sulfur-Rich Foods

Ideally, you’d be best off getting your sulfur needs filled from the foods you eat. However, this can be a bit of a challenge these days. There’s been a transition away from many traditional foods that have been the big sources of sulfur, like collagen or keratin, which we just don’t eat much nowadays.

You can perhaps get enough if you cook down bones from organically raised animals into bone broth and drink the broth regularly (or use for soups and stews). The connective tissues are sulfur-rich, and when you slow-cook the bones, you dissolve these nutrients out of the bone and into the water. According to Mr. Benjamin:

“MSM is in almost all raw foods. It’s in leafy green vegetables. Interestingly enough, there’s MSM in beer and coffee. Actually, it’s been identified as one of the main flavoring constituent in port wines... raw milk has the highest naturally occurring content of MSM.”

One caveat is cooking and pasteurization. While MSM is stable to extremes of pH and temperature, it volatilizes and turns to gas very easily. It’s also very water soluble. So when cooked at high temperatures, it simply wafts off in the steam. That’s why it’s easily removed during cooking and processing. Pasteurization cuts the MSM content by approximately 50 percent. So, in order to ensure you’re getting the most MSM from any food, it must be either raw or as minimally processed as possible.

Toxicity and Dosage Recommendations

Toxicity studies have shown that MSM is extremely safe and can be taken at very, very high doses. Even if you have a very rich diet full of raw vegetables and MSM-rich foods, you can still supplement and not hit that toxicity level. Clinical research studies have found that the effective amounts range from about 1.5 grams to 6 grams, although at higher doses, potential side effects include:

• Intestinal discomfort
• Swelling of the ankles
• Mild skin rashes

These are likely detoxifying effects that can typically be mitigated or minimized by cutting back on the initial dosage, and slowly working your way up. In that case, you might want to start out with half a gram (500 milligrams) for a couple of weeks and then slowly increase until you get up to the desired dose.

MSM is approved for use in fortified food and beverage and gram quantities may be consumed when consuming raw diet and approved MSM fortified foods. The amount from the fortified foods that have been approved would be between 1.9 to 3.8 grams per day. For comparison, intake of MSM from natural sources such as fruits and vegetables would be in the milligram per day range of about 2.3 to 5.6 mg/day.

How to Select a High–Quality MSM Supplement

As with most other supplements and food, quality is a major issue when it comes to selecting an MSM supplement. Fortunately, with MSM it’s fairly easy to determine. There are two methods of purification of MSM:

1. Distillation
2. Crystallization

For MSM, distillation is by far superior. But crystallization is less expensive, and a lot less energy-intensive. According to Mr. Benjamin, only two companies that produce MSM use distillation. Mr. Benjamin explains why you should consider a product that has been purified using distillation.

“A lot of the problems with [crystallization] is you’re essentially crystallizing it out of a parent solvent or liquid. If there are any impurities, which could be salts of heavy metals, you could have aromatic hydrocarbons in that… It’s actually the parent solvent. It’s usually water. It is dependent upon water quality. ”

Is MSM for You?

As you know, I am very cautious about recommending supplements, as I believe you’re best off getting your nutrients from healthful, whole organic foods. But, I’m also realistic, and I understand a perfect diet is hard to come by these days, so some supplements I believe can be quite beneficial. MSM would fall into this category. It would make sense that, if you’re suffering from a decrease in normal dietary sulfur, supplementing with something that’s relatively safe and inexpensive would make a lot of sense.

As I’ve said, sulfur is an emerging stealth player in nutrition and for a variety of mechanisms, including the detox and anti-inflammatory pathways. Remember, if you don’t have enough sulfur in your diet, you’re not going to be able to naturally produce glutathione, which is absolutely essential for removing heavy metals and many of the toxins you’re exposed to. People who might want to consider using some supplemental sulfur sources such as MSM include those who have:

• Chronic inflammatory conditions
• Aches and pains / sore muscles and achy joints
• Premature aging symptoms
• Toxicity

 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/03/03/msm-benefits.aspx

15 Best Foods For Kids With ADHD

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), 8.4 percent of children aged 3-17 years in the US suffer from ADHD. Managing this condition can be difficult enough on its own but trying to cope with a child who has it can seem almost impossible.

To help control some of the symptoms of ADHD, many parents and doctors have turned to nutrition. What you feed your child on a daily basis can have a huge impact on the severity and frequency of his/her symptoms.

Before we get to the list of foods your child should (and should not) eat, we need to stress this: Every child is different and will react to certain foods differently. Some children have allergic reactions to certain types of food (dairy etc.) which can trigger ADHD symptoms. It’s always best to talk to your doctor before making any significant changes to their diet.

That being said, there are certain types of foods that have been known to either help or hurt children suffering from ADHD. Foods that contain artificial sweeteners, foods that contain high amounts of sugar, saturated fat or caffeine and processed foods like deli meat have been linked to triggering ADHD symptoms in children. On the other hand, foods high in Vitamin B, protein, calcium and trace minerals have the opposite effect on children and can actually reduce symptoms on a regular basis.

Below you will find the 15 Best foods to feed children with ADHD (check out the link at the end of the article for 15 worst foods for managing ADHD):

1. Apples

Apples are a great source of complex carbohydrates. Doctors have recommended that children with ADHD increase their intake of complex carbohydrates. Eating these types of foods right before bed has also been known to help children sleep better. An apple a day will keep your ADHD symptoms at bay.

2. Cheese

Cheese is a great source of protein and protein is essential is controlling ADHD symptoms. Unless your child has an allergy to milk/dairy, eating a few slices of cheese each day.

3. Pears

Much like apples, pears are a good source of complex carbohydrates. If your child doesn’t like apples (or you’re just looking to add more variety to their diet), pears are a great alternative. Similar to apples and other complex carbs, eating pears at night can help aid sleep.

4. Tuna

Omega 3 fatty acids have been known to significantly decrease ADHD symptoms in many children. Tuna is a phenomenal source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Using tuna to make things like wraps, sandwiches and pasta salads for kids’ lunches is a great way to try and help control their symptoms.

5. Eggs

Eggs are also a great source of protein. Protein is essential in maintaining a balanced diet and controlling symptoms in children with ADHD. Much like cheese, eggs will improve concentration and increase the time ADHD medications work. Eggs (especially hard boiled since you can make them ahead of time and have them on hand) are a great breakfast option for parent.

6. Nuts

Similar to tuna, nuts are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Walnuts and Brazil nuts have been shown to have the most impact when managing ADHD symptoms but other types like almonds are a great alternative as well.

7. Spinach

Spinach is one of the most effective vegetables when it comes to controlling ADHD symptoms in children. Doctors often recommend leafy green vegetables and spinach is most definitely at the top of that list. There are many ways to add spinach to your diet. If your child refuses to eat it, blend it up alongside berries and other fruits in a smoothie and they’ll never even know they’re eating it.

8. Oranges

Eating oranges – and drinking 100 percent pure orange juice – are both great ways to add more complex carbohydrates to your child’s diet. These foods are known to help aid with sleep (falling asleep can be very difficult for kids with ADHD) and are a great source of Vitamin C as well. Having a glass of orange juice with your breakfast – or eating an orange for an after school snack will go a long way in helping to control ADHD symptoms.

9. Kiwi

Kids love kiwis! Much like oranges, apples and pears, kiwis are an incredible source of complex carbohydrates. This fruit is not only delicious and fun to eat but it’s a great alternative for parents looking to add more variety to their children’s diets. Eating apples and pears everyday can get boring. Adding in some kiwi will put a smile on your kids’ faces and will ensure they’re eating well too!

10. Salmon

Eating salmon at least once a week will help alleviate some of the symptoms your child might be experiencing from ADHD. Salmon is one of the best sources of Omega-3 fatty acids and is one of the healthiest fish you can eat. If you’re looking to mix things up a little, cut up salmon fillets and make a healthy spinach salad for dinner. It will be refreshing and healthy and will help eliminate ADHD symptoms for your child.

11. Whole Grain Cereals

Cereal can be a very healthy breakfast option for kids suffering from ADHD but there are a few key things to remember. First, you’ll always want to choose multi-grain options. Instead of normal Cheerios, choose multigrain. Secondly, you’ll want to avoid cereals with artificial colors and artificial sweeteners. What does that mean? It simply means opt for kinds like Corn Flakes and Fiber 1 instead of Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms.

12. White Fish

White fish is a great way to incorporate more Omega-3 fatty acids into you and your child’s diet. If you’re eating too much salmon (or simply looking for an alternative or addition to salmon) white fish is a great option. Serving white fish with a side garden salad will make for a delicious meal and will help keep your child’s ADHD symptoms at bay.

13. Beans

Beans, much like cheese and eggs, are a great source of protein. We can’t stress enough how important it is for children with ADHD to maintain a protein-healthy diet, so a handful of beans each day will go a long way in controlling their symptoms.

 

14. Grapefruit

Looking for interesting ways to add some more complex carbohydrates to your child’s diet? Apples, pears and oranges are a great source but if you’re looking to change things up a little, grapefruit is another great alternative. Having a grapefruit with your morning breakfast (or a glass of grapefruit juice) will give your kid the nutrients he/she needs to go to school feeling great.

15. Chicken (BEST)

Chicken boasts countless health benefits but the biggest nutritional factor when it comes to chicken is the amount of protein. Most kids love chicken and there are countless ways to incorporate it into your weekly meal planning. From chicken salads and chicken pizza to soups and stuffed chicken, there are an endless number of options that your kids will love. Adding protein to your child’s meals will improve their concentration and will increase the time their ADHD medication works.

http://www.activebeat.com/diet-nutrition/15-best-foods-for-children-with-adhd/14/

Organic sulfur crystals are a miracle food that provides amazing health benefits

(NaturalNews) In order to achieve and maintain truly vibrant health, the cells in your body need plenty of oxygen. But most of the foods people eat lack the basic nutritional elements that not only provide this oxygen, but that facilitate its movement throughout the body and amongst the cells. This is where sulfur comes in. Sulfur is a nutrient compound found in all living organisms that is absolutely vital for proper health, but most of us fail to get enough of it, even when trying to eat healthy.

Prior to the days of petro-chemical fertilizers, farmers applied animal manure to crops, which enriched soil naturally with high levels of sulfur. But today, the industrialized farming methods employed by the large agri-giants that grow most of our food have virtually eliminated necessary sulfur from not only the soil, but from food itself. And what little sulfur is left in food gets eliminated through processing, refrigeration, dehydration and cooking.

Some NaturalNews readers are probably already familiar with methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), the chemical name for sulfur, and some may already take this supplement, but did you know that many powdered supplement versions of MSM have lost most of their potency due to processing? When sulfur crystals are converted into powdered form, as most are, they lose about 85 percent of their effectiveness. And they become even less effective when synthetic anti-caking agents are added.

Hesh Goldstein, nutritionist and moderator of the radio show "Health Talk Hawaii", has introduced a potent, crystallized form of organic sulfur crystals that far surpasses most other MSM products on the market. Goldstein's crystals are made from the lignans of pine trees, which according to Goldstein, is the most effective form. These organic sulfur crystals are highly at preventing, and treating, a whole host of diseases and illnesses.

Some of the many benefits of organic sulfur crystals include:

-Increasing enzyme production within bodily glands and improving resistance to illness

-Increasing flexibility in muscle tissue

-Increasing blood circulation

-Reducing muscle inflammation and promoting muscle healing

-Promoting the healthy growth of hair and fingernails

-Discouraging the growth of cancer cells through oxygenation

-Reversing osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease

-Promoting healthy skin production and reducing wrinkles

-Regulating insulin production

-Improving colon function and eliminating colonic parasites

Twelve years ago, researchers began the Cellular Matrix Study, the purpose of which is to evaluate the effects of sulfur on cell regeneration. Patrick McGean, director of the study, had successfully used organic sulfur crystals to cure his son's terminal germ cell testicular cancer.

Since it started, the study has found that people from around the world have experienced similar incredible results from taking organic sulfur crystals. Diabetics have significantly lowered or even eliminated the need for taking insulin, people with high blood pressure no longer need medication, and people with osteoporosis have reversed their bone loss.

http://www.naturalnews.com/029263_sulfur_joint_health.html

10 Health Benefits of Cranberries

Cranberries are small, red berries, and mainly grow in the cooler regions of the world such as Canada, the United States and Europe. They have a tart taste to them, but they are loaded with antioxidants and many essential nutrients. There are many Health Benefitsof cranberries, and you can make them a part of your daily diet by eating the whole berry, drinking the juice, or taking a supplement. Here are ten health benefits of cranberries.

Treats Urinary Tract Infections

Cranberry juice can help block urinary tract infections. It contains proanthocyanidins, which help to prevent E. coli bacteria from sticking to the walls of the uterus and bladder. One glass of juice a day is all you need to prevent and heal urinary tract infections.

Fights Cancers

Laboratory studies have shown that cranberry extracts can prevent breast cancer cells from multiplying. Other studies showed that cranberries helped to inhibit the development of cancerous cells in lab animals. Other cancers that may be prevented by using cranberries are colon, prostate and lung.

Fights Heart Disease

Cranberries are very good for the heart in several different ways. They help to lower the bad cholesterol levels which can clog the arterial walls. They also help to prevent plaque from forming on the arterial walls, which can lead to atherosclerosis, (the hardening of the arteries). As a result, your chances of a stroke are reduced, and if you have suffered from a stroke, cranberries can help you to recover from it.

Helps Kidney and Bladder Problems

Cranberries contain citric acid and other nutrients that can prevent kidney stones, and other kidney and bladder problems.

Prevents Dental Problems

Consuming cranberries on a regular basis can help you to avoid dental problems such as gingivitis, um disease, cavities and plaque build-up.

Promotes Weight Loss

Cranberries are high in antioxidants, which help to flush out your system. This in turn improves your metabolism and digestive system so that you can begin to lose weight quicker.

Anti-Aging Properties 

The antioxidants contained in cranberries will help your body to get rid of all the free radicals which contribute to the aging process. They will not only help your skin to look young, but your internal organs will also be able to function longer without problems.

Improves Mental Health

Cranberries can also help to lift your moods by relieving stress, anxiety and depression. Studies show that they are good for the brain and can help to improve your memory.

Strengthens the Immune System

The antioxidants work hard to flush out the harmful toxins which suppress the immune system. Once these are removed, your immune system will be strong so that you can ward off just about any sickness or disease.

Relieves Skin Conditions

Skin conditions such as acne, dermatitis, psoriasis and eczema can all be healed with the use of cranberries.

For optimum health benefits consume fresh cranberries and make your own juice at home with a juicer, or opt for unsweetened, 100 percent pure cranberry juice.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/10-health-benefits-of-cranberries/