American heroes stand up to the TSA

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/981.html

3 Lies Big Food Wants You to Believe

Lie #1: Industrial Food is Cheap
The retail prices may be low, but they fail to include impacts on human health, the environment, and other shared public assets.
You will ultimately foot a much bigger bill, paying your part of hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, medical expenses, insurance premiums, declining property values, and mounting cleanup costs.
Lie #2: Industrial Food is Efficient
Industrial food animal producers rely on heavily subsidized agriculture, large infusions of capital, and lax enforcement of regulations. High productivity and domination of market share should not be confused with efficiency. When you measure total cost per unit of production, or even net profit per animal, you find that confinement operations come with hidden costs.
Lie #3: Industrial Food is Healthy
Industrial animal food production heightens the risk of the spread of food-borne illnesses.  And it is no coincidence that rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity are at an all-time high. What's more, respiratory diseases and outbreaks of illnesses are increasingly common among CAFO and slaughterhouse workers -- and spill over into neighboring communities.
According to AlterNet:

"Food production that is safe for the environment, humane to animals, and sound for workers and communities gives us the best chance for a food system that is safe and healthy for eaters and producers alike."

Sources:

  AlterNet October 21, 2010

Whey Protein May Lower High Blood Pressure In Less Than A Minute!

A study just published in the International Dairy Journal suggests whey protein beverages are effective at reducing blood pressure in people at risk for hypertension.
According to researchers:

“We found that whey protein beverages lowered BP only in individuals with previously high BP, but not in those with normal blood pressure …
These findings suggest that whey protein beverages had a normalizing effect on elevated BP and did not cause hypotension. This is important since hypotension can be a health concern in certain population groups,  such as young women and the elderly.”

The beneficial effects of whey protein may be related to its influence on nitric oxide production, which plays a role in blood pressure regulation.

Sources:

  NUTRAingredients.com September 6, 2010

  International Dairy Journal November 2010, Volume 20, Pages 753-760

Whey Protein is Beneficial for Your Heart and Blood Pressure

This latest study revealed that whey protein has a normalizing effect on blood pressure levels, reducing levels significantly in those at risk of hypertension. This may be due to whey’s impact on nitric oxide production, as nitric oxide helps your vessels maintain their elasticity and its suppression leads to increases in blood pressure.
This benefit extends not only to those with, or at risk of, high blood pressure; it’s important to maintain healthy blood pressure levels too.
One recent study found, for instance, that supplementation with the whey-derived peptide NOP-47 had a positive impact on vascular function in healthy people. Blood flow in the arm improved by 2.7 percent per minute following whey protein supplementation, but did not change for those in the control group who took a placebo.
So in choosing a protein powder as a meal replacement, protein source or exercise recovery drink, you’ll support healthy blood pressure levels just by choosing whey.

What Else Can Whey do for You?

There are numerous reasons to choose whey over other protein powders, even beyond its influence on your blood pressure. For instance, whey protein may:

• Help your pancreas-produced insulin work more effectively, which helps maintain your blood sugar level after a meal
• Promote healthy insulin secretion
• Help to promote your optimal intake of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals needed for your overall wellness
• Support your immune system, as it contains immunoglobulins
• Help you preserve lean body tissue (particularly during exercise) as it delivers bioavailable amino acids and cysteine

Whey proteins are complex in and of themselves and each can provide you with even more distinct benefits, such as:

• Beta-Lactoglobulin -- may help your body better react to foods
• Alpha-Lactalbumin -- supports your immune system and may improve morning alertness
• Glycomacropeptide -- provides support against occasional digestive discomfort and stress
• Lactoferrin -- helps regulate your intestinal iron absorption and promotes healthy cell growth
• Immunoglobulins -- promotes your immune system and helps support your body's natural detoxification processes
• Bovine Serum Albumin -- provides a source of essential amino acids
• Lactoperoxidase --provides protective benefits for your system
• Natural Growth Factors in Whey -- aids your system in cell rejuvenation, muscle recovery after exercise, and energy function

Whey protein can also help optimize your production of glutathione, which is considered by many to be your body’s most powerful antioxidant.
Glutathione has the unique ability of maximizing the activity of all other antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, and the fresh veggies and fruits you eat. It also removes toxins from your cells and protects you from the damaging effects of radiation, chemicals, and environmental pollutants.
The optimal food source for maximizing your glutathione production is high-quality grass-fed whey protein.

The Secret Diet for Great Physical Health (Even in Old Age)

Hispanics in the U.S., live on average over two years longer than whites, and over seven years longer than blacks.

A recent government report contains the strongest evidence yet of what some call the "Hispanic paradox" -- remarkable longevity in a population with many poor and undereducated members. One theory holds that

Hispanics who immigrate to the U.S. tend to be among the healthiest from their countries.
According to the Chicago Tribune:

"A Hispanic born in 2006 could expect to live about 80 years and seven months, the government estimates. Life expectancy for a white is about 78, and for a black, just shy of 73 years."

Sources:

  Chicago Tribune October 13, 2010

Want to Live Longer? Eat Natural Foods!

The concept of "native diets" being superior to the processed diets of the modern, Western world goes back nearly 100 years.
Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist and dental researcher around 1900 who went on an investigation that spanned the globe to determine why native populations, who ate traditional foods, exhibited perfect physical health well into old age.

What he discovered, and wrote about in depth in his classic book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, was that as populations adopted industrially processed foods, veering away from natural fare, their health started to decline.
Modern food processing  actually began in the early part of 1800, when vacuum bottling was invented, followed by tinning and canning technology in 1810. Back then, lead-containing cans wrought health problems on those who consumed it.
In 1862, pasteurization was discovered, and with it came the destruction of one of Earth's most nutritious food groups – raw dairy. The major shift toward a diet consisting of more processed food occurred in the 1920's, right around the time Dr. Price published his book.
Price's research took him to remote tribal communities -- Swiss, Eskimos, Polynesians, Africans, New Zealanders, and more -- and what he discovered made him one of the foremost authorities on the role of foods in their natural form, and the development of degenerative illnesses as a result of processed foods. (For more information about Price and details of his research, please see this link.)
Clearly, the Western diet has deteriorated significantly since then. More denaturing and harmful food processing methods have followed, and we're seeing the ramifications of this unnatural food culture in our skyrocketing disease statistics.

The Healthy Ingredients of Native Diets

What makes Dr. Price's work so incredible is that even though it was written in 1930, it is still equally valid today. That is one of the signs of a health truth: it lasts for many years. If it was true in 1930 it should still hold true when 2020 rolls around.
Dr. Price noticed some similarities between the native diets that allowed the people to thrive.

Among them:

• The foods were natural, unprocessed, and organic (and contained no sugar except for the occasional bit of honey or maple syrup).
• The people ate foods that grew in their native environment. In other words, they ate locally grown, seasonal foods.
• Many of the cultures ate unpasteurized dairy products, and all of them ate fermented foods.
• The people ate a significant portion of their food raw.
• All of the cultures ate animal products, including animal fat and, often, full-fat butter and organ meats.

When he analyzed his findings, he found that the native diets contained ten times the amount of fat-soluble vitamins, and at least four times the amount of calcium, other minerals, and water-soluble vitamins as that of Western diets at that time.
Their diets were also rich in enzymes because they ate fermented and raw foods (enzymes help you to digest cooked foods), and their intake of omega-3 fats was at least ten times higher than in today's diet.

How to Survive in a Diseased Health Paradigm

Even though we live lives that are far different from those of our ancestors, you can still benefit from their traditional diets by using them as dependable roadmaps to good health.
By implementing the native dietary patterns listed above, you too can improve or maintain optimal health. However, modern life has also removed us from many other natural, health-promoting lifestyle patterns that need to be addressed.
Here is a summary of the most important and most effective dietary and lifestyle measures I know of:

• Determine your nutritional type, and eat accordingly. This will tell you which foods are ideal for your unique biochemistry. This will also help you optimize your insulin and leptin levels, which are paramount for good health. Additionally, eating the right foods for your chemical makeup will help you maintain a healthy weight
• Eat at least one-third of your food raw
• Avoid processed foods and all artificial flavorings, colorings, and artificial sweeteners. Instead, seek out locally grown foods that are in-season
• Enjoy fermented foods like kefir and cultured veggies
• Make sure you eat enough healthy fats, including those from animal sources like omega-3 fat, and reduce your intake of omega-6 from vegetable oils
• Drink plenty of pure, clean water
• Manage your stress levels
• Exercise regularly. For optimal health benefits and longevity, make sure you incorporate high-intensity, sprint-type exercises, such as Peak 8
• Optimize your vitamin D levels, ideally through appropriate exposure to sunshine. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a vast array of diseases, and has been shown to increase your risk of death from any cause by 150 percent!
• Limit your exposure to toxins
• Get plenty of good sleep

Following these guidelines is a powerful way to avoid premature aging and disease of all kinds, so that you can far exceed the U.S. national average life expectancy, regardless of your financial- and educational status, or your racial heritage.

Red Wine Reduces Lung Cancer Risks

Although some studies suggest drinking red wine may help protect against lung cancer, other studies claim excess amounts of wine may cause cancer. Further, those researchers against red wine consumption believe there is no solid evidence proving red wine helps fight cancer.
There is strong evidence that supports drinking large amounts of alcohol on a regular basis might actually increase the risk of cancers such as:

• Mouth
• Larynx
• Pharynx
• Esophagus
• Breast

In a study involving 132 people with lung cancer and 187 hospital patients without the disease, researchers attempted to discover if there was a link between red wine and the reduction of lung cancer.

Researchers found that each group drank similar amounts of wine each day (three and a half glasses). The results revealed that just over a third of the lung cancer patients drank red wine compared to over half of the other patients. Researchers also concluded that while beer, spirits and rose wine did not affect the development of cancer, there did appear to be a connection between white wine and increased lung cancer risks.

Thus, the beneficial effects of red wine may boil down to tannins (a cell-protecting antioxidant) and resveratrol (which has been shown to smother the development and growth of tumors).

Based on their findings, researchers felt that it was more important to investigate the beneficial components of wine rather than promoting the consumption of it.

BBC News October 27, 2004

Is This Why You Can't Lose Weight?

Scientists have discovered why overweight people find it so hard to lose weight; the difference in the number of fat cells between lean and obese people is established during childhood. Although overweight people replenish their fat cells at the same rate as thin ones, they have around twice as many fat cells total.

This means that the number of fat cells in a person remains the same, even after a successful diet.

Until now, it was not clear that adults could make new fat cells. Many believed that fat mass was increased solely by incorporating more fats into already existing fat cells. In fact, people constantly produce new fat cells.

Fat cells are replaced at the same rate that they die, about 10 percent every year. Obesity is determined by a combination of the number of fat cells and their size; they can grow or shrink as fat from food is deposited in them.

Sources:

  Nature May 8, 2008; 453(7192):169 (Free Full Text Article)

  Nature Genetics May 4, 2008 [Epub ahead of print] (Free Full Text Article)

  The Telegraph May 4, 2008

 

Can Praying Help Your Heart?

The rhythmic chanting used when saying the rosary prayer or performing a yoga mantra seems to have a calming effect on the heart.

The rosary might be viewed as a health practice as well as a religious practice.

To investigate, the researchers measured the breathing rates of 23 adults while they either prayed the rosary in the original Latin or recited a yoga mantra. The rosary is a repetition 50 times of the Ave Maria, or the Hail Mary prayer, with the whole 50 repeated three times.
For comparison, the researchers also measured the study participants' respiration during free talking, and during spontaneous and controlled slow breathing exercises.

When the participants breathed spontaneously, their respiratory rate was about 14 breaths per minute, which slowed down to almost 8 breaths per minute when they engaged in regular conversation. During recitation of the Ave Maria or the yoga mantra, however, their respiratory rate was about 6 breaths per minute.
 
A slow respiration rate of 6 breaths per minute has generally favorable effects on cardiovascular and respiratory function.

Furthermore, breathing rate was irregularly reduced during free talking, but was significantly more regular during recitation of the Ave Maria and the yoga mantra, similar to during the 6 minutes of controlled respiration. This indicates "that these methods could stabilize the respiratory rate as effectively as precisely timed control.
 
What's more, recitation of both the Ave Maria and the yoga mantra similarly synchronized all the heart rhythms.

The similar effects produced by the two seemingly different cultural practices may not be merely coincidental. In fact the two practices may have similar origins.

It is known that the rosary is related to the Christian religion, but it was actually introduced by the crusaders who learnt a similar technique from the Arabs who in turn learned it from the Indian and Tibetan masters of yoga.

So it may be that recitation of Mantras, which originally was conceived as a health practice, and the Rosary, which is essentially a religious practice in Europe, could have the same background.
 
British Medical Journal December 22/29th 2001;323:1446-1449