Antioxidants and Vitamins: The Truth Behind the Headlines

By Mike Adams

If you've been reading the mainstream media recently, you might have come to the conclusion that vitamins are the most dangerous things you could possibly consume. Headlines declare antioxidants to be useless, vitamin C to be dangerous and vitamin E to be deadly! Nutrition, it seems, is suddenly under attack.

But what's really behind these scare tactics? Is there any real science behind the headlines?

To answer this question, consider the most recent example: a large antioxidant study (vitamins E and C) in women. A nine-year study followed more than 8,000 women to determine the effects of antioxidants in preventing heart disease. The study found a significant reduction in stroke (31 percent) and heart attacks (22 percent) among those women who actually took the vitamins. But if you consider all the women who originally signed up for the study -- including those thousands who never took the vitamins -- it turns out the results show nothing substantial.

Of course you're not going to see positive results in women who didn't take the vitamins. Nor would you see results from anything else (a drug, an herb, etc.) if the women didn't actually take that substance. And yet the mass media stories about the study all declare antioxidants to be useless because they are considering the measured results of all the women, including those who didn't take the antioxidants. It's like taking a hundred cars that ran out of gas, filling up 40 of them with gasoline, then declaring that gasoline doesn't make cars run because 60 of them are still on empty.

It sounds absurd, I know, but it's only the beginning of this story. Time after time, medical researchers and the mainstream media seem to go out of their way to distort scientific studies and misinform readers about the usefulness of vitamins and dietary supplements.

Another study publicized last year declared that vitamin E was deadly and would kill you with heart attacks and strokes. This particular meta-data analysis was based on synthetic vitamin E (a completely unnatural chemical made from petroleum derivatives), not the vitamin E that appears in nature. Furthermore, many of the study subjects were elderly patients already suffering from heart disease, putting them at high risk for heart attacks from day one. When these patients started to die during the study, researchers declared, "The vitamin E killed them!"

Researchers also went to great lengths to cherry-pick studies that showed negative results for vitamin E, tossing out all the studies that showed positive results. This kind of subjective inclusion of clinical trials in a meta analysis is a classic sign of scientific fraud.

I know what you're thinking: Researchers are smarter than that. They wouldn't be so foolish as to count the results of people who didn't take the vitamins or give supplements to the near-dead and blame their deaths on the supplements. But you might be assuming these researchers are operating with ethics in the first place -- and experience tells us they're not.

Many receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants offered to them by drug companies. Their primary research (and revenue source) involves studying the effects of pharmaceuticals. Researchers who don't consistently "discover" positive effects for pharmaceuticals are eventually blackballed from the industry and find themselves jobless and unemployable. There's a tremendous amount of pressure applied to researchers to make sure they uncover findings that support the financial interests of the drug companies. Eighty percent of all clinical trials funded by drug companies produce results that are favorable to the financial interests of those companies.

Similarly, there is also a lot of pressure to find something wrong with dietary supplements, herbs and nutrition -- precisely because such substances compete with pharmaceuticals. The more consumers take nutritional supplements, the less they need pharmaceuticals because nutrition actually prevents disease. So one of the key ways to ensure a strong future market for pharmaceuticals is to discredit nutritional supplements and make people believe they're somehow dangerous.

This is all quite laughable, given that prescription drugs are now the 4th leading cause of death in America. FDA-approved pharmaceuticals are killing at least 100,000 Americans a year right now. Dr. David Graham, a senior FDA drug safety researcher, reported that just one diabetes drug recently scrutinized for its health effects has likely killed more than 80,000 Americans! That's more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam War, and this is from but one drug.

Almost nothing is killing Americans faster than prescription drugs, not terrorists, not war, not chemicals in the food, car accidents or drunk driving. Pharmaceuticals are so universally dangerous to the health and safety of Americans that if they were herbs, they would have been outlawed years ago.

And yet vitamins have killed no one. No one ever died from taking natural vitamin E, eating superfoods or ingesting vitamin-rich berries. In fact, nutritional supplements and superfoods greatly enhance human health, protect you from disease and greatly reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, depression, diabetes, obesity and many other common diseases.

It is a curious sign of the times that the mainstream media, which receives billions of dollars in advertising from drug companies, now finds itself in the business of misinforming Americans, trying to convince them that day is night, up is down, nutrition is dangerous, war is peace, ignorance is strength and freedom is tyranny. It's right out George Orwell's classic, 1984.

So don't be suckered by the headlines. Be a skeptical thinker, and consider who's funding these skewed studies that somehow keep inventing dangers associated with herbs or dietary supplements.

[Ed. Note: Mike Adams, the Health Ranger -- a leading authority on healthy living -- is on a mission: to explore, uncover and share the truth about harmful foods and beverages, prescription drugs, medical practices and the dishonest marketing practices that drive these industries.]
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Healthy Healing:
The Healthy Antidote to Antibiotic Side Effects

By Dr. Ray Sahelian

When I was a resident working in hospitals I routinely saw patients suffer from diarrhea after being placed on antibiotics. These drugs, while useful, also caused so much misery. Yet there's a simple remedy for this, one recently confirmed by an important new study. You can counteract the harmful digestive effects of antibiotics with their counterparts, probiotics.

Some background: An antibiotic kills the bad bacteria causing an infection, but it often also kills the good bacteria in your gut and other places in your body. By killing the good bacteria in the gut, harmful germs can get a foothold and cause diarrhea.

British researchers wanted to find out whether a probiotic drink containing lactobacillus could help reduce the incidence of diarrhea associated with antibiotic use. Older hospital patients taking antibiotics drank 100 grams of a probiotic preparation twice a day during a course of antibiotics and for one week after the course finished. The placebo group received a sterile milkshake.

The results showed that 12 percent of the probiotic group developed diarrhea, compared with 34 percent in the placebo group. The researchers conclude, "Consumption of a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and S thermophilus can reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. This has the potential to decrease morbidity, healthcare costs and mortality if used routinely in patients aged over 50."

I hope doctors and hospitals begin to add a probiotic supplement or drink to the regimen of patients placed on antibiotics. In the meantime, if you are prescribed antibiotics, you can find probiotic formulations at your local health food store.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, M.D., is a practicing physician and best-selling author. He is a leading authority on natural supplements and nutrition. For the latest research on organic ways to improve your health and well-being, click here.]
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Alternative Eating:
The Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

By Dr. Jonny Bowden

From 1977 to 2001, the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages containing fructose increased 135 percent. In 2006 five different publications came out showing that adolescents, college students and adults under 50 were consuming as much as 20 percent of their calories from sugar-sweetened beverages -- and that doesn't include the sugar calories from cakes and desserts. Most of this sugar comes from fructose and "fructose on steroids," also known as high-fructose corn syrup.

These sugars are everywhere. We consume them in insanely high amounts, and the health costs are just beginning to be recognized. New research points to some of the possible consequences.

In one study, overweight and obese adults were instructed to eat their usual diet along with sugar-sweetened beverages. One group was asked to consume 25 percent of the day's calorie requirement as a specially made beverage sweetened with glucose (a simpler form of sugar). The other group was given an identical beverage sweetened with fructose. Both groups were allowed to eat as little or as much of their usual diet as they wanted, but were required to drink the sugar beverages.

Not surprisingly, all subjects gained weight. But the fructose-consuming subjects gained intra-abdominal fat, whereas the glucose subjects did not.

Why does this matter? Because intra-abdominal fat -- the kind that makes you more of an apple than a pear -- is the most dangerous kind of fat to carry around. It puts you at greater risk for diabetes, heart disease and a constellation of symptoms called Metabolic Syndrome, which itself is an almost certain path to either heart disease or diabetes. The fructose-consuming subjects also had increases in fasting insulin and in fasting glucose, both of which are associated with a greater risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Triglycerides have long been recognized as an independent risk factor for heart disease. In this study, researchers measured triglycerides after eating. In the fructose group, postprandial triglycerides more than doubled. In addition, the overweight men and women assigned to drink the fructose-sweetened beverages developed a more atherogenic lipid profile in just two weeks, meaning they may have been on their way to atherosclerosis.

The message is clear. Read food labels carefully. Cut fructose and its steroidal cousin from your diet.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology. Dr. Bowden is also a life coach, motivational speaker, former personal trainer and author of the award-winning book, Living the Low Carb Life. For more information, click here.]
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Mind/Body/Soul:
How to Make Sense of Your Emotions

By Dr. Douglas Ramm

As a practicing clinical psychologist I am often astounded by how little insight people have into their emotions. For many, emotions are inexplicable and somewhat mysterious aspects of human nature. Some believe their emotions should be ignored. Others assume that by following their feelings they will find happiness, contentment and satisfaction with life.

In fact, neither way of handling feelings is truly effective in an attempt to find and hold onto emotional well-being. What enhances our potential for achieving emotional well-being is the ability to make sense of the emotions we experience in daily life.

The first step in making sense of your emotions is realizing that all emotions are a matter of how we are situated with respect to those things, people and events we believe to be essential to our overall emotional well-being. Take fear, for example. Walking down the street you suddenly hear a bus bearing down on you at high rate speed. You instantaneously become frightened because this thing coming at you threatens your safety, an essential aspect of your emotional well-being.

The second step in making sense of emotions consists of realizing that we find love and joy when we are in direct contact with who or what we consider essential. Like fear, anxiety surfaces when there is a threat to what we believe is essential to our emotional well-being. But unlike fear, where the threat is clear and present, with anxiety the threat is vague and not yet here.

We become depressed when we lose something or someone we consider essential. We become angry when someone unfairly does something that results in a threat to or loss of something or someone we believe to be essential. Envy occurs when we encounter someone who has something or someone we believe would enhance our emotional well-being. We become jealous when we worry someone may take away something or someone we consider essential.

Next time you feel love or joy or the next time you become frightened, anxious, depressed, angry, envious or jealous, take a look at how that emotion relates to how you are situated with respect to a thing, person, or event that seems to be essential to your emotional-well being. As this connection becomes clearer, you will be better able to make use of your emotions in your efforts at becoming happier and more satisfied with life.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Douglas Ramm is a psychologist, philosopher, author and leading researcher in the field of emotional well being, contentment and life satisfaction. He has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows where he shares insights for enhancing quality of life. Discover how to enhance yours here.]
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Weight Loss:
Are You Eating to Kill Anger?

By Dr. Matthew Anderson

Most overweight people eat to overcome, diffuse or "kill" certain uncomfortable feelings. We live in stressful times and high stress generates uncomfortable feelings. But very few of us have been taught effective skills to manage those feelings. So we handle them the best way we can -- we eat.

But eating to kill feelings causes its own set of problems: fat, of course, but also additional painful feelings. Then we have to eat even more. We get caught in a self-perpetuating cycle.

What do we do about it? The effective answer is to become aware of and manage your feelings. Today, I want to focus on anger.

Everybody feels angry at some time. People who say they don't are deluding themselves. Anger is a natural and necessary human emotion. When anger is handled properly, it can be useful and healthy. When anger is chronically suppressed, it can contribute to depression, weight gain and other health problems.

Many of us are scared of our anger. Well-meaning but uninformed family members, religious groups and school systems have taught us that anger is bad, unnecessary, unfeminine, dangerous and destructive. No wonder we eat to kill anger.

So what can you do to stop?

1. Admit that you get angry.

2. Buy some books that help you understand anger.

3. Make a list of everything that angers you.

4. Make a second list of productive, positive ways to deal with the items on your "angry list."

5. Make a list of the people in your life you need to communicate your anger to. Get a third person to help the conversation stay on track and remain productive. Then, go and talk it out.

Your ability to manage your anger will increase even if you do only one of these suggestions. Start with the easiest, safest one and work from there.

[Ed. Note: Dr Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor (35 years) and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships.]
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Recipes & Nutrition:
Almond-Encrusted Halibut

By Kelley Lunsford

Eco-friendly halibut takes on a deliciously creative crunch from almonds. And it's a nutritional powerhouse too -- providing an excellent source of eight nutrients (plus a good source of seven more) essential to your wellness.

Serves: 4

Time to Table: 25 minutes

Healing Nutrient Spotlight

. Omega 3
. Excellent source of protein, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, niacin, riboflavin, magnesium, potassium, selenium
. Good source of fiber, calcium, folate, iron, thiamin, copper, zinc

Ingredients
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup slivered organic almonds
1/4 cup organic wheat germ
1 large organic egg
1 cup low-fat milk
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
24 ounces Pacific halibut (4-6 ounce fillets)
1/2 tsp sea sal
t1 whole organic lemon, cut into wedges

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 F. In shallow dish, whisk together egg and milk. Stir together wheat germ, almonds and parsley in a separate dish. Sprinkle halibut with sea salt and pepper. Dip fish in egg mixture, then in almond mixture. Place fish in glass baking dish and bake 5 minutes per 1 inch of thickness. Serve with lemon wedges.

Nutritional Information
314 calories, 13 g total fat, 1.6 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 6.2 g monounsaturated fat, 3.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 107 mg cholesterol, 402 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 4 g Fiber, 1 g sugars, 42 g protein

[Ed. Note: Kelley Lunsford is the Founder & CEO of Healing Gourmet, a multimedia company that educates on how foods promote health and protect against disease. She is also the creator of Healing Gourmet's Personalized Nutrition Software and Editor-in-Chief of the Healing Gourmet book series published by McGraw-Hill, including Eat to Fight Cancer, Eat to Beat Diabetes, Eat to Lower Cholesterol and Eat to Boost Fertility. For more information, click here.]
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs [Issue 09-14-07] which offers alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com