1st Edition

An avocado a day may help keep bad cholesterol at bay
Individuals on a moderate-fat diet who ate an avocado every day had lower bad cholesterol than those on a similar diet without an avocado a day or on a lower-fat diet, researchers report.
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Focus on Poverty
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   More Health & Nutrition from Nutrobalance.

* The Truth about Gluton
* Vitamin D Deficiency
* The #1 Worst Food that Ages you Fast!

Wheat based foods (yes, even “whole wheat”)

Before I tell you why wheat can actually speed up the aging process in your body, let’s clarify some simple biochemistry in your body…

This deals with “glycation” in your body, and substances called Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs).  These nasty little compounds called AGEs speed up the aging process in your body including damage over time to your organs, your joints, and of course, wrinkled skin.

So with that said, what is one of the biggest factors that increase production of AGEs inside your body?  This may surprise you, but high blood sugar levels over time dramatically increase age-accelerating AGEs in your body.  This is why type 2 diabetics many times appear that they have not aged well and look older than their real age.  But this age-increasing effect is not just limited to diabetics.

So, let’s get back to how “whole wheat” relates to this…

Here is a little-known fact that’s often covered up by the massive marketing campaigns by giant food companies that want you to believe that “whole wheat” is healthy for you… but the fact is that wheat contains a very unusual type of carbohydrate (not found in other foods) called Amylopectin-A, which has been found in some tests to spike your blood sugar HIGHER than even pure table sugar.

In fact, amylopectin-A (from wheat) raises your blood sugar MORE than almost any other carbohydrate source on earth based on blood sugar response testing that’s documented in studies.

This means that wheat-based foods such as breads, bagels, cereals, muffins, and other baked goods often cause MUCH higher blood sugar levels than most other carbohydrate sources.

Are We Getting Enough Vitamin D In Our Day?
As we all know, too much sun can cause skin cancer and we in Australia and also in
New Zealand already have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world.

But the sun is also the main source of vitamin D and a significant part of our population
is deficient in this vital nutrient.

UNIQUE VITAMIN D
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin (which means it can be stored in the body) and
it is unique because unlike most vitamins which we get from foods and drinks,
most of our vitamin D is produced when a fatty substance in our skin reacts
with the sun rays.
The body then convert this into vitamin D and stores it for when we need it.
Circa 90% of our vitamin D is produced in this way and circa 10% comes from our food.

Are we getting enough?
It is important to get enough vitamin D for several reasons.

Healthy Bones
Vitamin D is essential for bone health because it helps to absorb calcium and other
minerals we need to build strong bones and teeth.
Over time, low vitamin D levels can lead to conditions like rickets in children and
osteomalacia (soft bones) in adults. Low levels in the adult years also increases the risk
of osteoporosis, a condition that’s characterized by porous bones which in turn
increases the risk of fractures and falls.

Healthy immune system
Low blood levels of vitamin D have been linked with a wide range of health problems
including polycystic ovary disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle weakness, memory loss and some cancers.

Skin health
Although it is well known that too much sun exposure can cause skin cancer, vitamin D
and related compounds in our skin may actually protect against damage from UV radiation, according to a current research by Professor Rebecca Mason from the University of Sydney.
This is because vitamin D compounds in skin reduce DNA damage after UV exposure.

Low Levels in Australia
Low vitamin D levels are a proven problem, even in the sun-drenched southern hemisphere.
Generally there are few symptoms of deficiency except general aches, pain and tiredness.
When the deficiency is severe, extreme symptoms like bone deformities and intense
pain can be observed.

A large Australian Study (AusDiab) indicated that 40% of females and 27% of males have low levels of vitamin D in summer-autumn and these figures increase to 58% of females and 35% of men in winter-spring time.

Reasons for deficiency
Professor Mason explains: we use a target value for vitamin D based on a concentration of
vitamin D where most bone and muscle function are close to normal.
This is a little higher than the figure we used to use.

There are other reasons as well. There are more people in higher risk groups like older people (who are not going out in the sun much and may not be able to make vitamin D
quite so effectively. More people with naturally dark skin, as melanin absorbs the UVB
that converts a compound in the skin to vitamin D and/or who cover up with closing.
More obese people (vitamin D gets into fat, but doesn’t get out again until you break down
the fat). More people working indoors and entertain themselves indoors (Computers,
video games,etc.)

People with osteoporosis and babies of mothers who are low in vitamin D, especially
if they are being breast-fed, also fall into the high risk group for vitamin D deficiency.

The USA recently increased the recommended daily intake of vitamin D in order to reach
optimum blood levels of the vitamin. Our last NHMRC recommendations were made
about a decade ago and are currently being reviewed and it looks like the daily levels
are set to rise.

According to Professor Mason,’Most people agree that the minimum acceptable level
is 50 nmol/L’. At this level, bone and muscle function is close to normal and also the
handling of calcium by the body.

‘This is also the minimum level recommended by the AusNZ Bone and Mineral Society,
the Endocrine Society of Australia and USA, and the Institute of Medicine of USA.
Some groups recommend even higher levels, with some, though not conclusive evidence’.

Combination of safe sun and food.
As we know, our major source of vitamin D is the sun. We can also get it from food,
like oily fish (salmon, sardines) abd cod liver oil, eggs, butter and meat.

A combination of safe sun and vitamin D containing foods is wise.
The energetic UVB-rays that make vitamin D are there for most of the day in summer,
but only around noon in winter, particularly in southern parts of Australia.

When we expose the skin of our arms and hands during the peak UV periods, which is between 10 am and 3 pm in summer for 6 – 10 minutes should be enough for our body
to produce the required vitamin D. In winter we need to extend this for seven minutes
in Cairns to 40 minutes in Hobart and it has to be at noon.

Vitamin D Supplements.
Vitamin D supplements are suitable for people who are advised not to go outside,
people with sun-sensitive skin and those who are immune suppressed,
says Professor Mason.
People with naturally very dark skin may need three to six times this amount, so it may
not be possible to maintain vitamin D levels and supplementation may be needed.

Commenting on USANA’s Vitamin D supplement, Professor Mason said:
“Vitamin D3 supplements as cholecalciferol provide the same form of vitamin D
as we make in the skin and supplements are a reasonable way to improve vitamin D
status if more sun exposure is not practical.
For those with a higher degree of deficiency, more than 1000 IU per day might be required.

The connection between good nutrition and long term health is beyond dispute and backed by a wealth of scientific evidence.What we eat and how we eat  effects our health on the long term.

Our diet fails in supplying the essential nutrients we need for optimum  health. We have put good nutrition on the back burner and as a result our diet  fails to provide even the minimum levels of nutrients that we need for long  term health.

Only 9% of people consume the five daily servings of fresh fruit and vegetables recommended by the National Cancer Institute, that is required each day for optimal health. We are not even getting the minimum of RDA levels of vitamins, minerals and  anti-oxidants. The RDA levels were designed in the early 1920’s and 1930’s as minimum requirements of TEN essential nutrients to protect against acute deficiency diseases,like Scurvy (deficiency of vit.C), Rickets (deficiency of vit.D) and Pellagra(deficiency of niacin).The RDA’s did a good job to eliminate Scurvy and Rickets, but consuming the RDA’s will not even come close to helping prevent a degenerative disease and our EPIDEMIC health stats prove that.

Healthy living means:keeping a balanced healthy diet (five fresh fruits and vegetables daily),avoiding smoking,excessive use of alcohol and toxic chemicals,supplementing our diet with high quality nutritionals:
multiminerals,antioxidants and fiber and taking exercise at least 3 times per week for 30 minutes.

The glycemic index (GI) is a scale from 1 to 100 that measures how quickly carbohydrate foods are broken down into glucose. The original purpose for the glycemic index was to help diabetics keep their blood sugar under control. The glycemic index has recently attracted a lot of attention in the bodybuilding, fitness and weight loss world and has even become the central theme in numerous best-selling diet books as a method to choose the foods that are best for losing weight.

According to advocates of the glycemic index system, foods that are high on the GI scale such as rice cakes, carrots, potatoes, watermelon or grape juice are “unfavorable” and should be avoided because high GI foods are absorbed quickly, raise blood sugar rapidly and are therefore more likely to convert to fat or cause health problems.

Our modern lifestyle is characterized by degenerative diseases,like stroke,cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis etc.
96% of the US population dies of a degenerative disease,over 65% of American adults are overweight or obese (20%-25% of children).

Most people simply accept the onset of arthritis, heart disease and diabetes as inevitable results of the aging process — the truth is, these conditions are largely preventable.
The cause of all this is the build-up of free-radicals,which are caused by smoking,stress,lack of exercise,bad nutrition,pollution in air & water,radiation from he sun and soil depletion. To combat these free radicals our body needs a large intake of antioxidants. If there are not enough antioxidants available to neutralize the free radicals, “oxidative stress” will occur. It’s a process by which the oxygen our body use, cause the body to rust like metal does. It’s the cause of all degenerative diseases and even the aging process.

We can get antioxidants out of fruits,vegetables and nuts. However, it is unpractical and almost impossible to get the required amount of antioxidants out of our diet alone. The nutritional value of our fruits and vegetables has enormously declined in the past 50 years,caused by soil depletion.

Until the 1940’s,farmers used to practice crop rotation and returned  essential nutrients back into the soil by mulching,manuring and churning.
Because of growing population and industrialization it was no longer possible  to grow crops that way. So the farmer use large farms and make use of artificial fertilizers. But crops can’t make their natural insect repellents with artificial fertilizers,so the farmer has to use chemical pesticides, which are sprayed on the crop and fruits and when we consume those fruits and veges,those chemical pesticides accumulates in our body and causes diseases.

Most of us today are suffering from certain dangerous diet deficiencies,    which cannot be remedied until the depleted soils from which our food    come,are brought into proper mineral balance.The alarming fact is that fruits  and vegetables now being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contain enough of certain minerals, are starving us, no matter how much we eat.In other words, we cannot get the necessary nutrients out of our food.

So in order to get a sufficient amount of antioxidants we have to supplement our diet with high quality nutritional supplements.
It has been scientifically proven that there are substantial health benefits in taking nutritional supplements. Additionally, hundreds of scientific studies have proved that nutritional supplements can significantly reduce the risk of degenerative diseases and the American Medical Association (AMA) now encourages all adults to supplement daily with a multiple vitamin.

Based on a landmark review of 38 years of scientific evidence by Harvard researchers, Dr. Robert Fletcher and Dr. Kathleen Fairfield, from the conservative Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has rewritten its policy guidelines regarding the use of vitamin supplements.

In a striking departure from its previous anti-vitamin rhetoric, JAMA (June 19,2002)now recommends that given our nutrient-poor modern diet, supplementation each day with a multiple vitamin is a prudent preventive measure against chronic disease.
The JAMA declaration also highlights a growing concern among nutrition experts that the current recommended intakes for vitamins and minerals are too low.

Dr. Robert Fletcher, co-author of the groundbreaking JAMA studies, states: “All of us grew up believing that if we ate a reasonable diet, that would take care of our vitamin needs. But the new evidence, much of it in the last couple of years, is that vitamins also prevent the usual diseases we deal with everyday – heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and birth defects”.

While science and technology have increased our lifespan dramatically over the past few centuries, they have failed to secure for us the holy grain of long-term health. Using the words of Dr Myron Wentz, founder of USANA Health Sciences: “We are living too short and dying too long”.

Background on Dr Ray Strand
Ray D. Strand, M.D. is quickly becoming one of the world’s leading authorities in Nutritional Medicine. Dr. Strand is an international speaker and consultant on health and preventive medicine, as well as the author of many books and several websites on health and nutrition.

A graduate of the University of Colorado Medical School, Dr. Strand has been in private family practice for over 30 years.
His books and websites are the culmination of many years of dedication to the emerging field of Nutritional Medicine.

Why Dr. Strand recommend USANA Products.
“I personally believe USANA Health Sciences has developed and produced the most complete and balanced nutritional products on the market today. In fact, all the clinical case study results documented in my new book, ‘What Your Doctor doesn’t know about Nutritional Medicine may be killing you’, were achieved by using products developed and  manufactured  by USANA”.

“Based on Dr. Myron Wentz’s knowledge of human cell culture technology,USANA has developed the most impressive science-based products available. USANA strictly follows pharmaceutical-grade Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)”.
“This means they not only purchase pharmaceutical-grade raw products, but also manufacture the products according to tough pharmaceutical-quality guidelines.
In addition, USANA Health Sciences follows United States Pharmacopeia (USP) guidelines for potency,uniformity and dissolution of the tablet”.

“In a nutshell, USANA manufactures their products to  the strict standards of over-the-counter drugs, even though not required to do so-assuring all of their customers and associates that what is on the label is actually in the tablet. I am also duly impressed (as the physician should be) that USANA is one of the only nutritional supplements listed in the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR)”.

“USANA’s ‘ Essentials’ are complete and balanced and provide the cellular nutrition that I strongly recommend in my books.
This improves compliance and makes taking these advanced levels of nutritional supplements easier”.

It is crucial to protect your health with high- quality supplements, which are complete and balanced,if you want to be assured of getting any significant results.
Look at nutritional supplements as your health insurance. Once you have lost it,it is very difficult to regain your health, no matter how much money you are willing and be able to spend.

Supplements provide a convenient and effective means of achieving good nutrition every day for a lifetime. Chronic degenerative diseases are not diseases of old age. Heart disease starts at childhood. It appears prudent for all children and adults to take vitamin supplements.

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