A Juicy Way to Protect Your Liver

By Kelley Herring

Holiday indulgences silently take their toll on our health. We may not feel it at the time (or even the next morning), but alcohol can make us more prone to the ravages of aging and chronic disease.

Fortunately, simple additions to your diet can protect your liver.

The journal Carcinogenesis published a recent study evaluating the protective effects of grapefruit juice against aflatoxin. This toxin - produced by mold - can severely damage the liver. In the study, researchers gave lab animals grapefruit juice five days before exposing them to aflatoxin. The animals had 65 percent less DNA liver damage than those not given the juice. What's more, the juice group reduced total DNA damage by 74 percent compared with the no-juice group.

You're not likely to ingest aflatoxin in alcohol, but research has clearly shown that alcohol itself can damage the liver. And the study in Carcinogenesis shows just how strong the protective effects of grapefruit juice can be.

So, make grapefruit your juice of choice. It ranks a low 48 on the glycemic index. It's an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin C. And it can help protect your liver from degenerative damage.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet and the author of the new e-book, Guilt-Free Desserts: 20 All-Natural, Fail-Proof, Low-Glycemic Desserts Just in Time for the Holidays, which shows just how easy it can be to make delicious, healthy desserts in 30 minutes or less.]

It's Fun to Know: The Turkey as America's National Symbol?

You might be surprised, even slightly alarmed, to learn that the bald eagle and the turkey were both in the running to become America's national symbol. Benjamin Franklin was the most vocal proponent of the turkey. Franklin believed the eagle was lazy and immoral, a horrible symbol for the young nation. The turkey, he thought, although vain and silly, was courageous, attacking intruders into its territory without hesitation.

(Source: Infoplease)

Word to the Wise: Masticate

To "masticate" (MAS-tih-kate) is to chew. The word is derived from the Greek for "to gnash the teeth."

Example (as used by Bruce Handy in a New York Times review of Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America by Jonathan Gould): "There is no aspect of [the Beatles'] music and lives, however trivial or arcane, that hasn't been ritually masticated in print, online, or in conversation."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2204, 11-20-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

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