Researchers around the world are analyzing a wide variety of substances in berries that
show promise when it comes to preventing serious problems like cataracts and cancer.

More than 9,000 phytochemicals have been identified in plant foods, with many more
to be named, scientists say. These are chemicals in the plants that have a variety of
beneficial health effects , and berries can be powerful sources of phytochemicals.

One of these phyto chemicals is a compound called ellagic acid, which is believed to
help prevent free radical damage of the cells, that can lead to cancer.
All berries contain some ellagic acid, with raspberries and strawberries ranking among
the top providers.

In fact berries, and the ellagic acid they contain, may help fight cancer on several fronts,
according to Gary Stoner, PhD, professor and cancer researcher at Ohio State University
in Columbus, who has worked on a number of studies involving blackberries.
Ellagic acid is a powerful antioxidant that can reduce damage caused by free radicals,
harmful oxygen molecules that can literally punch holes in healthy cells and kick off
the cancerous process. “It also detoxifies carcinogens,” says Dr. Stoner.

But ellagic acid is just one of a host of cancer fighters in berries. They also contain
lp flavonoids, tannins, phenolic acid, and lignans, which may help to keep you cancer free
through a variety of mechanisms, including their antioxidant power.

Cornell University study found that extracts from eight different types of strawberries
significantly inhibited liver-cancer-cell growth in a lab study.
And a lab study at the University of Georgia found that phenolic compounds extracted
from blueberries could inhibit colon cancer cells to multiply and also trigger these
renegade cells to die. Cancer cells can develop into tumors when they multiply too fast
and stubbornly refuse to die.- and even a little pressure to keep theses cells in line can
reduce the change that a cancer will progress. Thus, their findings “suggest that blueberry
intake may reduce colon cancer risk.”

Berries are also high in vitamin C content, which is also a powerful antioxidant.
When you get a lot of vitamin C in your diet, it may help to reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, and infections. Vitamin C seems to be in particular important to prevent cataracts, which are thought to be caused by oxidation of the protein that forms the lenses of the eyes.

All berries contain large amounts of vitamin C. A half-cup of strawberries, for example,
contains 42 milligrams, which is 70 percent of the Daily Value for this vitamin.
A half-cup of blackberries has 15 milligrams, or 25 percent of the Daily Value.

One nice thing about berries is that they’re a sweet solution to the unpleasant problem of
constipation, as berries contain large amounts of insoluble fiber, which is incredible
absorbent. It draws a lot of water into the intestine, which makes stools heavier, as a result, they travel through the intestine faster. This means that you’re less likely to become constipated.

The fiber in berries is also helpful in preventing bile acid ( a chemical that your body use for digestion), from being transformed into a more dangerous, potentially cancer causing form.
A half-cup of blackberries has more than three grams of fiber, while a half-cup of raspberries has 4 grams.

Cranberries play a significant role in preventing urinary tract infections (UTIs), which may
effects as many as half of women in the United States before they get to 30.
One study following 150 women found that drinking a combination of cranberry-lingonberry juice daily reduced the risk of infections by 20 percent.

Experts aren’t sure how cranberry juice works to prevent UTIs, but it appears to keep bacteria from gaining a foothold on the surface off the urinary tract . Drinking at least two 8-ounce glasses of pure, unsweetened cranberry juice daily should help protect you from infections.

A warning for people who are taking warfarin – an anti clotting drug, also known as Coumadin – which can interact with granberry juice and could lead to bleeding or excessively thin blood.
The medical literature contains several reports about possible interactions between warfarin and granberry.

Your brain is particularly vulnerable to free-radical damage as you get older, according to research. It’s natural antioxidant system is not sufficient to protect your brain from free-radical damage. Oxidative stress probably plays a role in some of the cognitive (a fancy word for thinking) declines that occur with aging, researchers say.
However, antioxidant polyphenols,like the ones found in blueberries, cranberries and straw- berries, may help preserve brain function. .

Fresh berries are highly perishable and need special handling to maintain peak freshness.
When storing berries at home, don’t crowd them together, which will cause them to deteriorate rapidly. It’s best to store them, unwashed and uncovered, in a large bowl in the refrigerator.

K

Toxemia comes in different levels of intensity, ranging from minor to major. The first thing people like to know is how toxic they are. Unfortunately that is not easy to determine. It is quite possible to be in a ‘polluted’ state without being aware that there is anything wrong. Iridology will probably give us the most reliable indication (analysis of the iris of the eye),when conducted by a skilled practitioner. However, there are certain signs that a person can look for to get an idea. Some of the most obvious ones that could be present are: Constantly feeling unwell, of color, a bit ‘crook’ Always tired, as though your batteries were flat. The extreme case is chronic fatigue syndrome. Repeated minor ailments, like colds and headaches. You appear to ‘pick up’ infections easily. It’s an effort to drag yourself out of bed in the morning and you need coffee to get going. The breath is off and it’s not due to problems with teeth. There is body odor that returns soon after showering. The tongue is coated, especially first thing in the morning. Wound healing is poor; the smallest cuts become inflamed and remain so for days. There are persistent aches and pains that are not due to physical injury or muscle or joint strain. There is degenerative disease. Colds and flu are our safety valve. If the toxins in our system would continue to build up, it would be life threatening at the end. But our well designed and incredibly complex human body will be able to cope with adversity and does not allow this to happen. Instead, when its tolerance limit is reached, our body opens up an emergency channel of elimination to siphon off some of the toxemia. Usually, toxins are sent to mucous membranes in the nose, which are conveniently located close to the exterior. The mucous membranes become highly irritated, inflamed, swollen and painful,and mucus is secreted abundantly to literally wash wastes out of the body. This process is normally called the common cold, or influenza, when more severe. The same process can take place in other parts of the body under different names. If it occurs in the voice box, it is called laryngitis; in the bronchial tubes, bronchitis; in the lungs,pneumonia ;in the stomach, gastritis; in the small intestine, enteritis; and in the bowel, colitis. These are all different names for the same basic process: an emergency elimination via mucous membranes. If the elimination is via the skin, where mucous membranes are not involved, the condition will be called dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis and so on. After the elimination has finished, the body is able to function at a higher level with more energy, that means; more normally. The person feels better than before, as if they have had an inner spring clean – and that’s what happened indeed. The symptoms of acute disease are simply the external visible signs of tissue cleansing and self-healing at work restoring the status quo.

Although this may not be every bodies favorite vegetable, it’s cancer fighting abilities are very impressive.
Scientists around the world are using high-tech methods to learn which compounds contained within this vegetable might be helpful in fighting cancer. And they’re finding plenty of them.

Broccoli’s impressive power as a cancer fighter is due in part to its multiple attack. It contains at least two different compounds: Indole-3-carbinol ( or I3C for short) and sulphoraphane – that help sweep up cancer-causing substances before they have a change to do harm.

The compound I3C which is also found in cabbage and Brussels sprouts, seems to be able to prevent or interrupt cancer in several ways. The hormone estrogen causes cells in the breasts to multiply and grow. This is a natural and normal process in women. However, if mutated cells that could become cancerous develop in the breasts, estrogen causes these to multiply too. That’s bad.
To cause breast cells to perform certain activities, estrogen must first attach to “receptors” on the cells.
Kind of like a key fitting into a lock. The I3C appears to act on these receptors, perhaps by keeping estrogen from attaching to them, or changing the way they work. Thus, it bans estrogen to have its tumor-encouraging role on the cells.

Another role I3C plays is: it may shift the balance of different types of estrogen in the body, so that you have less of a type that does promote breast cancer growth, and more of a type that doesn’t.
I3C may also trigger cancerous cells to die, a process called apoptosis, and may raise your levels of enzymes that protect you from cancer-causing substances.

Beyond its powerful effects on breast cancer, I3C has proved to inhibit the growth of prostate and cervical cancer cells. In addition, numerous studies have shown that a diet high in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, may reduce the risk of colon cancer.

While I3C is doing his job as a cancer fighter, another compound in broccoli called sulforaphane, offers protection in another way, by boosting the production of cancer-blocking enzymes.
In a pioneering study, led by professor Thomas Kensler, head of the department of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, exposed 145 laboratory animals to a powerful cancer-causing agent. Twenty-five of the animals had not received any special treatment, while the rest were fed high dose of sulforaphane. After 50 days, 68% of the unprotected animals had breast tumors, compared with only 26% of those given the sulforaphane.

Other studies have found that sulforaphane may help protect against cancer of the prostate, colon and pancreas. More recent research has also found clues that sulforaphane may have other cancer fighting properties in addition to boosting your anti-cancer enzymes.
It may help inhibit germs that contribute to cancer, such as the H.pylori bacteria that raise the risk of stomach cancer. It may also interfere with cancer cells’ growth cycle and nay help encourage the cells to die.

It is no wonder that scientists put broccoli on their list of nutritional superstars.
“We know that those people who eat lots of crusiferous vegetables, including broccoli,
are protected from many forms of cancer,” says Jon Michnovicz, MD, PhD, president of the
Foundation for Preventive Oncology in New York City.

Beta-Carotene
As much recent studies have concentrated on less known compounds like sulforaphane,
broccoli is also loaded with more commonly known, but still powerful compounds like
beta-carotene. This nutrient, which the body converts to vitamin A, is an antioxidant.
That means, it helps prevent disease by sweeping up harmful, cell-damaging oxygen molecules who naturally accumulate in the body. High levels of beta-carotene have been linked to lower rates of heart attack, certain cancers and cataracts.

Broccoli is an excellent source of beta-carotene, by providing about 0.7 milligram in a half-cup cooked serving. This provides 7 to 12% of the recommended daily amount.

King of the Crucifers
Broccoli isn’t called the king of the crucifers for nothing. Besides beta-carotene, sulforaphane, and I3C, broccoli also contains a variety of other nutrients, each of which can help fight off a host of conditions, from heart disease to osteoporosis.

For example, only a half-cup of chopped, cooked broccoli contains 85% of the Daily Value
for vitamin C. This antioxidant vitamin has been proven in research to help boost immunity and fight diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Broccoli also ranks highly for women’s health, particularly for women who don’t get enough dairy food. It’s one of the best vegetable sources of calcium, contained in 72 milligrams per cooked cup. About a quarter of the amount in an 8-ounce glass of fat-free milk. Calcium is well-documented as the most important nutrient women need to keep
osteoporosis at bay.

Broccoli is also rich in folate, a nutrient which is essential for normal tissue growth and that
studies show may protect against cancer, heart disease and birth defects.
Women, especially those who take birth control pills, are often low in this vital nutrient.
A cup of chopped, cooked broccoli contains 84 micrograms, or almost one-quarter of the DV for folate.

Finally,here is some expert advice: if you like to keep your digestive system running smoothly, make broccoli your food of choice. A half-cup provides 2 grams of fiber, which is a proven protector against constipation, hemorrhoids, colon cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart- disease, and obesity.

Experts aren’t yet sure how much broccoli you need to maximize its healing potential.
Dr. Kensler advises eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, while
reaching for this crunchy crucifer whenever you can.

Some helpful advice for preparing broccoli.
Gentle cooking will release some of its protective compounds, but over-heating will destroy others. Carotenoids, like beta-carotene are preserved by heat, but the indoles, like I3C, don’t withstand a lot of heat. Light steaming is a great way to cook broccoli and microwaving is okay too.

To help ensure even cooking, it’s best to cut broccoli into little spears.
First, cut off and discard the thick, woody part of the stalk, generally from the bottom up to where the broccoli florets begin to branch. Then cut any large florets and stems in half lengthwise. If you find that the stems are still too tough for eating, either trim them farther up from the bottom or peel them with a vegetable peeler before cooking.

Buy it purple.
You sometimes see broccoli in the supermarket having a dark green, almost purple color.
Then it contains most beta-carotene. If it looks yellow, on the other hand, don’t buy it .
That means that it’s old and it’s nutritional value is gone down the drain.

Prefer the sprouts.
Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that 3-day-old broccoli sprouts can contain up to 100 times the protective compounds than in the mature vegetable.
These can provide a great alternative if you don’t care for the taste of mature broccoli.
And you can get the same cancer-fighting benefits by eating a smaller amount of sprouts than regular broccoli. Broccoli sprouts look like white strings with little green heads.
They’re perfect for salads and sandwiches, but they are quickly spoiled in the refrigerator.
So only buy so much as you can eat in the next couple of days.
You’ll likely find them in plastic containers in the produce section of your supermarket.

The money spent by the Americans to stay healthier, for the prevention and treatment of diseases came to nearly $2 trillion in 2004.

But they could have saved a lot of that money if they took a (slow) boat to China and copied the diet people in China and Japan are following.

The result should be a much lower  heart disease and cancer than the Americans are experiencing  these days.

The diet also includes beans, seeds,nuts, fish, eggs and poultry. A few sweets and occasionally some meat.

It is easy to include foods found  Asian diet into our own meal plans, without having to explore  unfamiliar dishes.
There is not a lot of meat in the  Asian diet, which is the most important ingredient in the American diet In China, for example, people eat an average of 4 pounds of  meat per year. In Japan a bit more: 23 pounds of beef and  year.

The average American, in contrast,  than 60 pounds of beef plus chicken, pork and other kind   of meats.

Benefits of Soy
Apart from  of meat there is another ingredient that makes the Asian diet so healthy.
It’s the use of soy products. They eat about 3 to 4ounces a day of tempeh, tofu, defatted soy flour, and more.

There are several reasons why soy foods are so healthful. They are rich in a group of natural compounds,called phyto estrogens, which the body converts into hormone like substances that act

like a weak form of estrogen.  These Faux estrogens block the body’s estrogen receptors, lowering the amount of estrogen in the body. This may help lowering the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women, particularly if they have been eating soy foods since an
early age, but studies are inconclusive.

Later in life, the phytoestrogens in soy may ease menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, but not 

 vaginal dryness by replacing the estrogen lost during this time. In fact, Asian women seldom experience hot flashes. Asian women are also less likely than American women to have heart disease, which may be due to the low-fat,high-fiber nature of soy, not the phytoestrogens.

Natural Goodness

The National Cancer Institute tells us to eat five or more fruits and vegetables each day.
And nutritionists suggest to get the Daily Value of 25 grams of fiber instead of the 11 to 12 grams  most of us get each day.

The Asian diet, which is rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, and other fiber rich foods, is on the cutting edge and sets an enviable standard. In China, for example, people get 33 grams of fiber every day.

That’s serious heart protection, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.

In a 6 year study of almost 41,000 men, they found that those who increased their daily fiber intake by just 10 grams, were able to decrease their risk of heart disease by almost 30%.

Each day, the average Okinawan eats seven servings of vegetables, two to four servings of fruits,  and seven servings of grains.

These fruits and vegetables are also rich sources of vitamin C, carotenoids (including beta-carotene), and other antioxidant compounds that help protect the body from disease.

People who eat a lot of plant-based foods tend to have lower rates of chronic diseases, like heart disease and cancer.

A Cup of Healthy Tea
After you had a meal in a Chinese restaurant, order a pot of tea. At home, make some tea after you had your meal. Asians drink a lot of tea, which explains their robust good health.

Tea contains potent antioxidants called phenols, which protect the body from disease.
In a study involving 552 men, researchers in the Netherlands found that those who drank about 5 cups

of black tea a day had about one-third the risk of stroke of those drinking fewer than 2 ½ cup.
Green tea, the kind that is favorite in Eastern countries, has even more antioxidants than black tea.

A study on green tea conducted at the University of Minesota found that those who drank the most green tea had a 22% lower risk of breast cancer. Several studies from Japan and China have shown

an association between greater green tea consumption and lower risk of stomach cancer.
And laboratory studies have found evidence that suggests that green tea can help lower the risk of prostate cancer.

In the world of antioxidants, the phenols in tea are “absolute equisite,” says Gary Stoner, PhD, Professor and cancer researcher at Ohio State University in Columbus.

Fishy Business
On the islands of Japan and Okinawa, people eat a lot of fish. Numerous studies show that eating
even small amounts of fish as little as 3 ounces per  week, provide powerful protection.
“Fish contains fats that thin the blood and help prevent heart disease”, says Dr. McDougall.

According to the Journal of  American Medical Association, the omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish,

you from cognitive decline in your later years. Another way fish can help protect your heart  a good source of protein without the saturated fat tha tyou’d get from red meat.

Don’t Overeat
The Okinawans use  the phrase: “hara hachi bu”, which means only eating until you are80% full.
Using this principle helps you avoid overeating and taking in unnecessary calories at a meal.

Omega-3s also reduce your risk of heart disease, may lower your risk of stroke, and may help protect 

like salmon, mackerel and sardines, can help lower your blood pressure and heart rate.

It’s also a useful tool for keeping yourself at a normal weight and avoiding the added risk for cancer  and heart disease that obesity can cause.

Good health is the normal state of the human body, and this should continue om birth until death under normal conditions.

When given the right conditions, the human body is a very efficient self healing mechanism. The body’s ability to heal depends directly on it’s level of vitality. The higher the vitality, the faster and more powerful the healing.

Improving lifestyle increases vitality and elimination of toxins, which may bring about symptoms. These are but temporary and are often wrongly interpreted as a sign that the lifestyle changes are doing more harm than good. We are often getting worse before we get better.

Infectious disease is not a change attack on the body by some foreign organism. Generally speaking, it is part of the body’s defense processes at work.

The primary, underlying cause of most acute and degenerative diseases is toxaemia as a result of our modern lifestyle. And repeatedly suppressing minor ailments by drugs of the body’s efforts to cleanse itself from toxaemia for many years with a lifestyle for which the human body was not designed.

The decrease in vitality as we grow older is compounded by the accumulating toxaemia. There comes a time when our bodies no longer have sufficient vitality cleanse themselves with a cold, the flu or similar minor ailments.
The build-up of toxins escalates and eventually results in damage to organs or other tissues. This is degenerative disease.

Depending on diet, stress, other aspects of lifestyle and inherited weaknesses, the degeneration may manifest itself as arthritis, osteoporoses, gallstones, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, nerve damage or a host of other problems. By some mechanism that is now gradually coming to be understood, the degeneration may ultimately result in cancer.

When we understand toxaemia, it is perfectly clear why rheumatism and arthritis in their various forms are the most widespread degenerative diseases in Australia, affecting one person in every six.

Fortunately, the same healing principles that apply to acute disease, also apply to degenerative diseases. If the cause is removed and vitality subsequently

restored, the body will attempt to heal itself. Generally speaking, provided there is no total destruction of tissue, it will do so.

The time required for full recovery may be a matter of weeks, months or even years. Fortunately, the initial improvement is often immediate, which encourages the person to persevere. As a rule of thumb, it takes approximately one month for each year of age to restore a HIGH level of health. However, the return to good health may be greatly accelerated by the use of USANA Health Sciences’ Nutritional Supplements.

Old age is not synonymous with disease. Disease is more common in older people only because of the accumulated effects of our modern lifestyle. For the the most part we have it in our own hands to maintain high level of physical and mental well being to a ripe old age,if we choose what’s right for us.