Month: August 2006

“Flavanol-rich cocoa could offer powerful cardiovascular benefits for the nearly 78 million baby boomers in the United States today, suggests a new study published in the August issue of the Journal of Hypertension. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that drinking a standardized flavanol-rich cocoa beverage improved several measures of blood vessel function, especially among older study participants. Flavanols are the natural compounds in cocoa that are increasingly being linked to promising circulatory benefits – including improved blood flow and a reduced tendency to form damaging clots.”

Flavanol-rich cocoa improves blood vessel function in aging baby boomer study participants

So, if you love chocolate, you now have an excellent “excuse” to continue to consume it (in moderation, of course!)

“Fatty acids commonly found in dairy products have successfully treated diabetes in mice, according to a researcher at Penn State. The compounds, known as conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), have also shown promising results in human trials, signaling a new way of potentially treating the disease without synthetic drugs.”

Compound In Dairy Products Targets Diabetes

Once again, modern synthetic drugs, rife with side effects, have been shown to be AS EFFECTIVE as a natural treatment which is readily available… taking CLA supplementation! Not only does CLA aid in preventing cancer, according to research, it now appears to aid in diabetes treatment!

“Early human trials indicate that when administered for longer than 8 weeks, CLA improves the body’s misregulation of insulin and lowers the level of glucose in the blood in patients with adult onset, or Type-2 diabetes, the most common form of this disease… ‘And compared to the synthetic drugs used to treated this disease, CLA does not cause weight gain and may in fact decrease overall body fat,’ says Vanden Heuvel, who has been granted a patent on the new method of treating diabetes with CLA.”

How you can patent a treatment with a natural food is beyond me… but, these are the days we live in!

“A British man who received radioactive iodine treatments for an overactive thyroid was recently detained at the Orlando airport and strip-searched after he set off an airport alarm. After the 46-year-old man was extensively questioned by security guards, he remembered the medical treatments he’d received six weeks before, and was released after providing medical documentation.”

Patients set off airport bomb detectors after radioactive iodine therapy

Hyperthyroidism, as a result of Grave’s Disease, is usaully treated by Allopathic Medicine by killing the entire thyroid by using a huge dose of radiation. Killing an organ is a terrible way to treat a disease! And now, the treatment will also get you hassled in airports! There are, of course, natural alternatives to this destructive treatment:

For instance, you could use the herb, Bugleweed (Lycopus). Bugleweed has a has long been used for treating thyroid conditions, and modern research studies supports their use as well. The herb inhibits iodine metabolism and reduces the amount of hormone that is produced by thyroid cells. Leaf extracts of bugleweed is more active than root extracts. An oral preparation can be prepared as a tincture (alcohol extract) rather than a tea. In one study using laboratory animals, bugleweed tincture resulted in a significant decrease in thyroid hormone levels. (Please remember, however, that if you have been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, you should work with your healthcare provider to treat your condition.) Bugleweed is widely used in Europe as an herbal treatment for early-stage Graves’ disease, often in combination with lemon balm.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis,) is often recommended along with bugleweed for treating Graves’ disease. Studies show that lemon balm causes a decrease in blood and pituitary levels of TSH after a single injection, reducing thyroid hormone production.

Taking natural sources of iodine, including Kelp (Laminaria) can also be a tremendous aid in thyroid therapy. The herbal pharmacologist Daniel Mowrey, Ph.D., author of The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine and Herbal Tonic Therapies, notes that in the traditional Japanese diet, which consists of a great deal of kelp, thyroid disease is practically unknown. However, among Japanese who have become Westernized and eat little or no kelp, thyroid disease is statistically on the rise.