The process by which normal cells become cancer cells has to do with genetic damage,
that is, the genes that we have inherited become damaged.

Our body is build-up of approximately 75 trillion cells and there  are many different
types of cells of every part of our body. They continually replicate themselves.
Each cell has a set of genetic instructions in its center, called the DNA, which controls
cell growth, development and replication.

The DNA is the vital component that gets damaged, the chemical blueprint in genes,
in the form of oxidation and the main cause of this is reactive oxygen ( technically
referred to as reactive oxygen species ) , or the more common name: free radicals.

When DNA is damaged by free radicals, it can replicate a damaged cell.
When this cell replicates itself, it can become cancer.

Cancer is fundamentally an oxidative process and many types of cancers depend on the
conversion of particular molecules in the cells or carcinogenic chemicals to reactive
oxidized forms. The oxidation is largely caused by free radicals.

Oxidation in our body is the main cause of many forms of cancer, heart disease,
atheroclerosis, adult onset of diabetes, cataracts, lung – and liver disorders and
degenerative diseases of the brain.

Every day, the DNA in each cell in our body faces about 10,000 attacks from cell-
damaging forces known as free radicals, which are unstable oxygen molecules
that have lost an electron.
Ironically, both chemotherapy and radiotherapy that are used to treat cancer
cause more oxidation.

In healthy living cells, reactive oxygen species are formed continuously during
the process of respiration in the cells.

Although the body is well equipped to repair genetic (DNA) damage, the repair processes
are usually less than 100 % efficient. Despite even extensive repair, oxidized DNA is
usually abundant in human tissues. Significantly, damaged DNA is particularly abundant
in tumors. The damage rate may be  up to 10 modifications in each cell every day,
so it is apparent that damage accumulates with age.

The CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition believes that this increase in genetic damage
with age is due to the cumulative effects of free radical damage and dietary and
environmental chemicals that damage genes.

Our bodies have to face daily an over production of free radicals, caused by our polluted
environment, stressful lifestyles and mal nutrition. Free radicals are naturally produced as
your body turns fuel to energy, you can get them also from stress, smoking and radiation
from the sun.

These volatile molecules cruise around your body, trying to stabilize themselves by stealing electrons from other molecules. When they succeed, they create still more free radicals, causing a sort of snowballing procession of damage.
Free radicals don’t just occasionally pop up here and there. Up to 5% of the oxygen that each cell uses is converted into free radicals.

Ionising radiation is a potent generator of reactive oxygen species, while tobacco smoke has been found to increase the DNA damage by 35-50%. Other well-known causes include:
many polluting chemicals, including the hydrocarbons from petroleum, many pesticides, the chlorine in town water supplies; iron in access of the body’s needs: amines and nutrates.

It is a surprise to see iron, as being one of the essential nutrients, on the ‘bad list’, yet
the effects of excess iron are so significant, that the increased incidence of testicular cancer this century has been attributed to the increasing iron content of the Western diet.

Can our body defend itself against oxidative damage by excessive free radicals?
The answer is: yes! Our body is equipped with very powerful defenses against free radicals and this is largely through antioxidants, which are consumed in the diet or made within our body, and enzymes.

Balance is the key. If there are not enough antioxidants available to neutrolize the free radicals, oxidative stress develops.

The key antioxidants in the diet are the carotenoids, vitamin A ( which we consume or make from carotenoids), vitamin C, vitamin E and the trace minerals selenium and zinc.
The prominent enzymes that destroy free radicals are called: superoxide dismutase, glutathione (particular melatonin) and a host of other natural compounds, such as
those occuring in grape seeds and skins (OPC’s) and in the herb Ginkgo biloba.

Vitamin E has been extensively researched and there is strong evidence that it is beneficial
at much higher intakes than the current RDA (Recommended Daily Allowances) of
15 IU ( International Units). Vitamin E is especially required to protect unsaturated fats against oxidation.
The least amount found to inhibit oxidation is 40 IU per day, with 60 IU/day the minimum to enhance immune response. The Optimal level is 450 IU/day. Up to 800 IU has been found to be beneficial.
The researchers suggest an intake of 135 – 150 IU/day.

To obtain this amount from food, we would need to consume daily almost a kilogram
of almonds, or 150 grams of soya oil, or 55 grams of wheatgerm oil, each of which would be not only unpractical, but even a harmful quantity of food.

That’s why it make sense to supplement our diet with high quality nutritional supplements
(multiminerals and antioxidants) to ensure that the optimal levels are being met.

   Edition #90

Exercise and Weight Loss: The Science of Preserving Muscle Mass

People who work out to lose weight should keep in mind that any calories they consume right before or during a workout will be burned off first.   read more….

Scientists solve puzzle of converting gaseous carbon dioxide to fuel

Saving the planet from climate change with a grain of sand

Date:

August 25, 2016

Source:

University of Toronto

Summary:

Every year, humans advance climate change and global warming by injecting about 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Scientists believe they’ve found a way to convert all these emissions into energy-rich fuel in a carbon-neutral cycle that uses a very abundant natural resource: silicon. Readily available in sand, it’s the seventh most-abundant element in the universe and the second most-abundant element in the earth’s crust.   continue reading....

6 Eating Tips to Improve Your Workout

You’ve been sticking to your exercise program and working out every week. Have you ever experienced those days when your endurance isn’t what it has been on previous days? Feel like you can’t give it your all in your workout? It may be what you are or are not eating. Here are some eating tips…Read More »

How to Use Resistance Bands for Strength Training

Would you like to increase your metabolism so that your body will burn more calories throughout the day? Or maybe you are more interested in increasing the lean tissue on your body so that you can work harder, play longer, and have a decreased chance of a life-related injury. Strength training offers just that. But…Read More »

Jamie Oliver’s Recipe of the Day – Beetroot nicoise salad       click here!!

 

   Edition #79

   Edition #78

Rosemary: Benefits for brain health, pain, cancer, inflammation, and more

June 19, 2016

Millions of people around the world suffer from high blood pressure.
It is the most common cardiovascular disease.

The dimension of this illness is mainly due to the fact that the cause
of high blood pressure was hardly understood.
Traditional medicine must admit that the cause of high blood pressure
is unknown in 90% of cases. The often medical diagnoses state:
“essential hypertension”, or in other words: “cause unknown”, as a result
that conventional medicine in most cases restrict to “fighting against
the symptoms”. With various medicines they try to lower the blood pressure,
but the underlying cause remains untouched.

Modern cellular nutrition means a breakthrough for our knowledge about
the cause, and the prevention with therapy to match for high blood pressure.
The main cause is an acute vitamin deficiency and lack of other essential
nutritional matter in millions of cells in the artery  walls.

This lead to tension and thickening of the artery wall and can finally
increase blood pressure. A lower tension leads to enlarged arteries,
which result in a lower blood pressure.

In healthy people the normal tension on the artery walls can be obtained
by an optimal production of release factors in the cells of the artery walls.

People with high blood pressure are lacking in these release factors.
Vitamin supplementation and other vital nutritional matter will therefore
help to avoid high blood pressure or bring back an existent high blood
pressure to a normal level.

The natural amino acid orginine, vitamin C and other nutritional matter
are of vital importance, as they help to restore the shortage of these
release factors in the artery walls.

Scientific and clinical research have proved that magnesium helps to lower
the blood pressure.

It is recommended for patients with high blood pressure to start as soon as
possible with vitamins and other nutritional supplements and to inform
their G.P. about this.

Use these natural cell factors in any case besides the prescribed medicines.
Of cause you may only reduce or alter the intake of medicines after
consulting your doctor.

It is better to avoid than to cure. A combination of vitamins, which support
in a natural way the permanent correction of a health problem like high
blood pressure, will also for you be the best choice in this case when it
comes to prevent this serious health problem.

How Stress effect your appetite and what you can do about it.

When you feel stressed it’s a common experience to want to eat a pint of ice cream and equally common to not want to eat anything at all. The stress response is complicated involving many systems of your body. How you react to that response varies from person to person. Does stress make you want.  read more….

Review of the Top 5 Free Online Longevity Calculators and Tests
A Review of the Websites Claim to Tell You How  Long You Will Live

There are a lot of life expectancy and longevity calculators out there. So I decided to do a systematic test to find the best. I found a willing friend and had him use a few of the top longevity calculators available. Throughout the process, we made note of his projected life expectancy according to the calculator, the experience of the test itself, and what recommendations were given, if any.   continue reading…..

Beans

Michael Greger M.D. · Last Updated on August 1, 2016

Beans are rich in phytonutriessnts and antioxidants and  an excellent addition to a varied, economical, healthy diet. All four of the major dietary food-scoring systems promote beans as a part of a healthy diet, one of only four foods these guidelines agree on. The newest dietary guidelines for Americans also promote whole plant food consumption, including a high legume intake.  continue  reading….

How Eating Less May Prolong Life
Three new studies show that restricting calories, even in non-obese people:
• reduces inflammation (Aging, July 2016)
• helps to prevent cancers (Cancer Research, July 14, 2016)
• increases autophagy (PLoS Genetics, July 14, 2016)continue reading….

Jamie Oliver’s Recipe of the Day  –  Brazilian Chicken Bucket –   click here!

Stress is all around us, and food provides a welcome, if momentary break.
Unfortunately, the foods we often turn to in times of stress, like coffee and sweets,
have a way of making us feel even more frazzled later on.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Research has shown that eating more of some foods
and less of others can cause stress hormones in the body to decline.

Making slight changes in your diet will produce physical changes  in the brain that
can make the world’s problems just a little bit easier to handle.

Researchers have found that food high in carbohydrates produce changes in the brain
that can take the edge of stress.

During emotionally trying times, our brain uses up its supply of serotonin, a chemical
that imparts feelings of well-being.  When serotonin levels fall, negative feelings
tend to rise.

Eating foods that are high in carbohydrates, like pasta, bagels or baked potatoes,
can quickly rise low serotonin levels, making you feel less stresses and more relaxed.
As serotonin levels rise, appetite usually decreases, which means that you are
less likely to eat your way through hard times.

Research  found that foods high in vitamin B6, such as bananas, potatoes and prunes,
can relieve irritability and stress, making you feel just a little bit better.
In one study, Dr. Tecce and his colleagues at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston lowered vitamin B6 levels
in a group of volunteers. The people became increasingly irritable and tense.

Vitamin B6 improves mood by raising levels of dopamine, a chemical in the brain
that is related to feeling good. When you don’t get enough vitamin B6 in your diet,
dopamine levels fall, and you can experience negative feelings.
In addition, people who don’t get enough vitamin B6, may produce to little serotonin,
which make them feel even worse.

The Question whether nutrition or stress is the most important factor in health has long been in dispute. However, both are most important, so it doesn’t matter.

Some people get away with poor diet if they are easy going, while others may survive the effects of stress through good diet. Others, who are not so fortunate in either case will suffer. If poor diet and stress are a dominant factor in their live, this will undoubtedly be a recipe for disaster.

On the other hand, if we get the diet right and be able to cope with stress, we are certain to thrive. If the other two key factors: regular exercise and minimizing exposure to chemicals are covered, we have the formula for excellent health.

Men and women who have never married die at younger ages than their married equivalents, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Single men between 25 and 64 years of age were approximately three times more likely to die than married men in the same age group, while single women in the 25 to 64 age group were approximately two-and-a-half times more likely to die than their married counterparts.
The higher rates of death were due to cancer, heart and other artery diseases, respiratory
and digestive system diseases, car accidents, suicide and drugs.

Similarly, a recent seven -year Swedish study found that middle-aged men who have recently endured high levels of emotional stress and have no-one to turn to for emotional support are three times as likely to die within several years as those who have ample supporting relationships.

So being single is a health hazard! Quips aside, there is considerable evidence to confirm this conclusion.

A Swedish study of 1,000 men, followed up from 50 to 70 years of age, found that one of the most important factors protecting them from disease and death, even after allowing for lifestyle factors like saturated fat  r smoking, is the number outside of people that live under one roof! The more people you live with, the safer you are.
That’s why the family network is so important.

The second important factor is the amount of social contact that people have outside the home.In other words, the number of people in our lives is likely to be of major significance in our well being and survival.

Dr Dean Ornish of the University of California, made the observation of people with heart disease that, “underneath their differences they felt a sense of isolation from parts of themselves and their own feelings, isolation from other people and isolation from a higher force, whatever that meant to them.”]

Dr Robert Buist in ‘The Cholesterol Myth’, adds: “Ornish’s support groups quickly focussed on the concept that anything that promotes intimacy and communication is healing, while isolation, alienation and loneliness are probably among the great predictors of heart disease.”

If we are not fortunate enough to be part of a big family, we can keep regular contact with friends and relatives. Or in the absence of those, we can join a social group or sporting club.

And when we look at the bright side of employment, instead of whingeing and moaning about having to go to work as we sometimes do, we can appreciate the fact that the emotional support of being part of a team may be second only  to the family in satisfying
a major need that keeps us alive and well.

In conclusion we can say that the most harmful kind of stress for most people is that associated with social isolation, alienation and loneliness.

So let us never take our relationships for granted. Friendships require nurturing, and the effort required will bring us abundant rewards.