Posts Tagged ‘heart attacks’

Learn More About Indole 3 Carbinol

July 30th, 2007

“Eat your brussel sprouts!”

Mom really did have a great reason for forcing us to eat those horrible vegetables but I bet she didn’t even know the full benefits.

It turns out that cruciferous vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and cabbage contain Indole 3 Carbinol (I3C). I3C is the reason our moms were so strongly encouraging us to eat up.

Since being discovered, Indole 3 Carbinol has been used in many studies that suggest several health benefits, especially for women. Oral ingestion of Indole 3 Carbinol has been shown to alter the metabolism of estrogen in a beneficial manner. As we know from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) studies, excess estrogen in the body can be damaging. It’s fairly common knowledge that HRT can increase the risks of most gynecological cancers including endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer as well as increasing the risks of heart attacks and stroke. HRT can also induce PMS type symptoms including bloating, breast tenderness, moodiness and irritability and water retention.

So, if all these things can occur because of an increase in estrogen, maybe we should understand a little better what it is that is causing this to happen. Here is a little Biology 101.

Both male and female bodies have estrogen receptors. These receptors are like electrical outlets. The purpose of estrogen receptors is to receive estrogen and allow the body to process the estrogen. Just like there are many different things that you could plug into an electrical outlet, there are several different types of estrogen that can plug into estrogen receptors. In the case of electrical outlets, various things will pull different amounts of power such as the difference between a night light and a computer. Obviously, the computer will draw much more power than the night light, but the least amount of power will be drawn from one of those little plastic safety plugs.

Back to the estrogen receptors. Different forms of estrogen; phytoestrogen, estriol, estrone, estradiol and xenoestrogens, have different effects when plugged into those estrogen receptors. The weaker the estrogen, the less estrogenic effects they will have on the body. The stronger the estrogen, the more negative effects they will have on health. But just as any house has a limited number of electrical outlets, the body has a limited number of estrogen receptors.

Ideally we want to plug as many estrogen receptors as possible with weak estrogens, primarily phytoestrogens which come from plant sources. HRT and hormonal birth control methods all use the strongest natural estrogen, estradiol. Indole 3 Carbinol mimics the weakest forms of estrogen. Therefore, the more Indole 3 Carbinol that is absorbed by the body and used to plug the estrogen receptors, less receptors will be available to the stronger estrogens.

Studies indicate that Indole 3 Carbinol is more beneficial than Tamoxifen for the prevention of breast cancer1. This may be due to I3C’s ability to mimic very weak estrogen in the body.

Studies have also indicated that Indole 3 Carbinol was beneficial to mice suffering from Lupus and other autoimmune disorders2.

Other studies indicate that Indole 3 Carbinol may be beneficial for the following concerns.

* Ovarian cancer * Prostate cancer * Colon cancer * Human Papilloma Virus (HVP) * Cervical dysplasia3

In addition, because of the ability Indole 3 Carbinol seems to have on estrogen, case studies are now showing it may be beneficial for: * Hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms * Breast tenderness, cramping and other menstrual symptoms * Helping to relieve muscle soreness do to exercise or overexertion.

With so much contributing to the numerous benefits of Indole 3 Carbinol, it may be time to start listening to mom and eat those veggies!

1. “Prevention and treatment of cancer with indole-3-carbinol”, Alternative Medicine Review, Dec, 2001 by Matthew S. Brignall

2. “Indole-3-carbinol in women with SLE: effect on estrogen metabolism and disease activity”, Lupus, Volume 10, Number 11, November 2001, pp. 779-783(5)

3. “Placebo-controlled trial of indole-3-carbinol in the treatment of CIN”, Gynecol Oncol. 2000 Aug;78(2):123-9

About the author:

Nicole Bandes is a Certified Herb Specialist that has been helping others to regain their health and vitality since 1999. Nicole uses and recommends Nature’s Sunshine Products Indole 3 Carbinol for her family and friends. Read more articles by Nicole at http://www.naturallyherbs.com.

Written By: Nicole Bandes

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Low Carb is High Dumb

July 10th, 2007

Low carbohydrate diets are now the craze in the U.S.A. Fast food stores even offer hamburgers in lettuce rather than in buns (still with the fats of meat and sauces). Breads and pastries modified for lower carbohydrates are now making fortunes for suppliers. “Low carb salads”, still drenched with high fat dressings, are offered for “dieting.”

So what?

This is a costly, stupid, perhaps health threatening fad.

When I was growing up, I did not understand that biblical quotation of “Man does not live by bread alone”, attributed to Moses (old testament, torah) and Jesus (new testament). Well, I understood that the message was meant to be “People have spiritual as well as physical needs.” But I had no idea how people could live very long on bread. At that time, I was used to spongy white bread with no character.

Somewhere along the way, I learned about whole grain breads, and how peasants through the centuries had lived mostly on dark breads that Marie Antoinnette would have rejected, with occasional fortifications of cheese, eggs, sometimes meat. Peasants tended to eat vegetables, but knights and nobles often dismissed such as “farmers’ fare”, preferring lots of meat, alcoholic beverages, pastries. Few people lived long in those days, so statistical studies of life span versus diet were not performed. (Statistics were not well known.)

So I read up on bread recipes, found a few health gurus who argued for blends of whole grain wheat, cornmeal, rye, and soy flour. A fairly recent development is triticale, a long sought hybrid of wheat and rye. Why these blends? It turns out that grains and legumes can provide all the balanced protein that we need, without meat. Verrrry interesting!
Also, such blends contain valuable dietary fiber.

The prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread”, is now explained. Properly made, bread really can be “the staff of life.”

I have learned to love Asian foods that make heavy use of soy beans, such as tempeh and tofu with noodles and stir fry vegetables. I usually am turned off by soy based foods that pretend to be something else, such as soy burgers, soy cutlets, soy cheeses. In fact, the fake foods not only can taste far from real, but those which contain Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HP) inflame my tongue and cause me anxiety, just as foods with a lot of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).

Side observation: a chunk of land producing balanced protein from grains and legumes can support about 20 times as many people as the same land producing four legged meats. Oh, and the people getting most of their proteins and calories from plant sources are far less likely to have heart attacks, strokes, cancers, et cetera, than the big meat eaters.

I have written elsewhere that selecting sensible foods means one never has to count calories. I’ll go further and say that most carbohydrate restrictions are dumb.

Here are the only carbohydrate restrictions I recommend.
all refined sugars
(cane, beet, high fructose corn syrup, sorghum molasses, maple syrup, etc.)
beer in large quantities
anything made from white flour, even if “enriched”

If you have a craving for sweets that you just can’t break (which I don’t belive), learn how fruits and nuts together can taste very sweet. Also, the unsaturated fat in the nuts (or edible seeds, such as sunflower) will satisfy hunger with no risk to the arteries. My favorite is raisins and almonds, perhaps with some fresh red delicious apple slices.

Pasta, preferably made from whole grains, is healthful, if not served with lots of cheese, oil, sauces which contain oil, sugar, cheese. Noodles with little meat is a main menu item in the Orient.

Oh, about carbohydrates in potatoes: they are harmless if you don’t add butter, margarine, fat from frying, sour cream for topping, and other insults to a great food. People in parts of Central and South America eat little more than potatoes of traditional breeds.

** Diet with FACTS, not MYTHS. **

About the Author

Dr. Donald A. Miller is author of “Easy Health Diet” http://easyhealthdiet.com/diet.htm, “Easy Exercise All Ages” http://easyhealthdiet.com/eeaa.htm, and numerous free articles on health http://easyhealthdiet.com/articles/.
Seven of ten deaths are caused by preventable diseases.

Written By: Dr. Donald A. Miller

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Can A Low Carb Diet Help You Avoid Trans Fats?

September 29th, 2006

Unless youve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that trans fats are thought to contribute to heart disease, weight gain, and other health problems. These transformed fatty acids are commonly referred to as Trans Fatty Acids or TFAs and are present in most of the packaged foods found in the grocery store and your pantry!

Trans fats are produced by hydrogenation – the process of heating an oil and passing hydrogen through it. This process turns liquid oils into solid (margarine, Crisco) and extends the shelf life of most processed foods. The high temperatures used to heat the oils also destroy the essential fatty acids and transforms them into trans fats (short for transformed fatty acid). These fats compete with essential fatty acids for absorption in the body and are thought to contribute to coronary heart disease by raising LDL cholesterol levels (bad cholesterol), while lowering the HDL levels( good cholesterol). They also increase platelet aggregation, which in turn increases the chance of blood clotting, strokes and heart attacks. And if that isn’t bad enough, they also create free radicals that have been linked to cancer.

If you are on a low carb diet, chances are that you don’t eat very many processed or fried foods so you wont be consuming much food with trans fats. If you are sticking to mostly low fat meats and vegetables youre probably in pretty good shape as far as trans fats ingestion goes. Margarine is high in trans fats, but there are several brands out there that have no trans fats so if you are eating a lot of margarine, you may want to look into the brand you are buying. Mos of the foods high in trans fatty acids like chips, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, candy, soups, breads, margarine, cheese spreads, and cookies are no-nos on a low carb eating plan so cutting them out of your diet has the added health benefit of reducing your intake of these fats.

How do you know if a food has them? Well, the food industry doesn’t make it easy, they rarely put their content on the labels so you will need to figure it out by reading the ingredients. When buying packaged foods beware of the word hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated in the list of ingredients. These foods will contain trans fatty acids. If you are leading a low carb lifestyle you probably won’t be buying these foods anyway so not to worry!

About the Author

Lee Dobbins is webmaster of http://www.lowcarb-resource.com where you can find more information on low carb living.

Written By: Lee Dobbins

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