The highly prescribed class of heartburn medications called proton pump inhibitors (common name brands: Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid) are making headlines again.
New research is showing that they can significantly increase your risk for chronic kidney disease.
This is very troubling news, especially when there are much safer solutions and strategies than these dangerous medications.
To find out more about the dangers of proton pump inhibitors and natural solutions for heartburn,
check out my previous blog
The FDA approved human trials to see if the diabetes drug metformin can increase the life span of humans.
Metformin was able to increase the life span in round worms and mice. The worms aged slower and they did not develop wrinkles. The mice increased their life span by an average of 8 years.
Sounds remarkable right?
The problem that I have with these kind of studies and headlines is that they are meant to
sell drugs. The pharmaceutical industry and the FDA want us to believe that pharmaceutical drugs are the only way we can become healthy.
Drugs can not make us healthy because by definition they are poisons.
The longer you remain on a Pharmaceutical Drug the more likely you are to have nutritional deficiencies, health issues, and a decreased life span.
The diabetes drug Metformin works by poisoning the liver so that it reduces the amount of glucose that is produced and released by it. It also poisons the small intestine so that it can reduces the amount of glucose that can be up-taken by it.
Some side effects: Diarrhea (53% !!) , stomach discomfort, fast or shallow breathing, fevers, chills, lower back or side pain, muscle pain, cramps, painful urination, difficult urination, sleepiness. behavior change similar to being drunk, loss of strength, anxiety, slurred speech.
I bet if a long term study was conducted you would see increased health problems and a decreased life span with the drug.
I have a better idea how you might be able to increase your life span and it does not require a pharmaceutical drug.
EAT LESS SUGAR & REFINED CARBOHYDRATES !!
The reason researchers saw an increased life span with metformin is because it controls blood sugar and minimizes the amount of insulin needed by the body. YOU DON'T NEED A DRUG TO DO THIS!! You can do it yourself by eating less sugar & refined carbohydrates.
Insulin is a growth hormone. It is an aging hormone, so it would make sense
that by eating less sugar and refined carbs your body would release less insulin which would have an anti-aging effect on the body (not to mention the cardiovascular, brain, renal, and liver benefits)
In addition to controlling your intake of insulin spiking foods (sugar/refined carbs) using nutrients that help the body process sugar is helpful. B vitamins, chromium, magnesium, and zinc are all very helpful.
Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting are other strategies that I would recommend looking into.
A new study published in the Journal Cancer Research reinforces past research that sugar increases the risk of cancer. In this study fructose was the sugar specifically identified to cause lung metastasis and breast tumors.
Here is my take on sugar and cancer.
Cancer cells are cells that have been deprived of oxygen and nutrients for a long time and thus can not produce energy or detoxify themselves. This results in cells that are sitting in a toxic cesspool.
These factors make cancer cells steal and scavenge all the sugar and nutrients that they can get from the body.
Sugar is fast burning fuel. It has the ability to make cells grow at a fast rate. Cancer cells are cells that are growing out of control and a high sugar diet is one of the factors that influences their growth.
I recommend limiting your intake of refined carbohydrates (rice, potatoes, pasta, grains, bread), and staying close to zero tolerance for table sugar, fruit juices, sodas, and processed foods.
I also recommend limiting your fruit intake to 2 servings of fruits per day, while increasing your vegetable intake substantially.
A new study published in the European Journal Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed
that delaying the Dtap vaccine resulted in a lower incidence of eczema and eczema medications.
This finding does not surprise me, in fact vaccines
have the ability to cause inflammatory issues in every system and organ in the body.
This study will not be covered by your "trusted" news programs or shown to your doctor by
their medical associations or pharmaceutical reps.
The Alzheimer's Association claims that the disease is the only top-10 cause of death in America that can’t be prevented, cured, or slowed down.
I would like to give Hillary and the Alzheimer's Association some clues as to where they should look.
Here is the first big clue:
LOW CHOLESTEROL AND STATIN DRUGS !!
The first thing I want to point out is that Alzheimer's disease really boomed after the 1950's. This was when the main stream medical system started telling people to reduce their intake of cholesterol. Alzheimer's Disease further escalated after the advent of Cholesterol Lowering medications. In fact even the FDA forced pharmaceutical companies to include a black box warning on their cholesterol lowering medications cautioning that they may cause memory issues.
When ever a client tells me one of their parents or grandparents have some form of memory impairment, my first question is always "Are they on cholesterol lowering medications?" The answer is almost always yes. I cant even count how many of my clients have told me this. In the nursing home that I work in I see similar situations. When ever I see Alzheimer's disease or some other form of Dementia, I look at their list of medications and over 90% of the time they are on Statin Drugs.
Why do Statin drugs do this? The answer is quite simple. Your brain has a lot of cholesterol in it.
When you reduce your intake of cholesterol or force your body to stop producing it your brain (as well as many other vital processes) will suffer.
To learn more about cholesterol (and why I eat lots of it) click here
Clue # 2:
Blood Sugar
There is strong evidence showing a connection between high blood sugar and Alzheimer's disease that researcher's are now calling it type 3 diabetes.
Sugar is dangerous when it is constantly rising in the blood. It is sticky and highly reactive stuff.
(in fact it is explosive !!) When too much sugar is circulating in your blood it burns. The real problem arises when these burned sugar particles react with protein and they caramelize (called glycation),
causing what scientists call advanced glycation products.
The blood sugar link to Alzheimer's disease is undeniable. study 1, study 2, study 3
Clue # 3
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a fat protecting nutrient. Since the brain is largely made up of fat, it would be logical
to confer that oxidized fats in the brain could be mended with Vitamin E which is a powerful antioxidant.
Eating less food may help slow down the progression of Alzheimer's Disease.
In one study intermittent fasting helped slow down the progression of the disease in rats.
Those that had severe vitamin D deficiency tripled the risk for dementia !!
There are plenty of safe, natural, and non-medical strategies that you can try for Alzheimer's disease utilizing nutrition and nutritional supplementation. (I have many more nutrients, foods, and strategies that are highly beneficial to someone with Alzheimer's, but will stop here) I have a feeling Hillary Clinton is going to try to hand over our tax money to pharmaceutical companies that don't have our best interest at heart, will produce substandard results, and will most likely not "cure" the disease.
Intermittent fasting and caloric restriction ameliorate age-related behavioral deficits in the triple-transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17306982
Researchers at the University of British Columbia conducted a study that showed how full spectrum light is effective for major depression. Not only did this study show that full spectrum light was effective, but it out performed the SSRI Drug Prozac !!
What was even more humorous was that the placebo was more effective than Prozac (laughing hard)
I recommend full spectrum light during the winter and fall months to anyone who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), depression, anxiety, or a weakened immune system.
In the summer time spend as much time in the sun as you can (without sun screen !!)
Just make sure you do not burn your skin.
