Sunday, September 30, 2012

Aspartame: Safety Approved in 90 Nations, but Damages the Brain

 

By Dr. Mercola
More than 90 countries have given the artificial sweetener aspartame the green light to be used in thousands of food and beverage products.1
Two hundred times sweeter than sugar, aspartame allows food manufacturers to produce sweet foods they can market as “low calorie,” “diet,” or sugar-free,” appealing to hundreds of millions of consumers looking to cut sugar from their diets.
No doubt about it, the less sugar you include in your diet, the better. But replacing sugar with aspartame is not the solution, and in fact is likely to be even worse for your health.
Despite assurances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other public health agencies that aspartame is safe, the research says otherwise…

So What the Heck is Aspartame Made Of?

Virtually all of the marketing material emphasizes the fact that aspartame is natural and made of two amino acids, the building blocks of protein. But, like many deceptions, this is only partially true. While there are two amino acids that comprise 90% of aspartame, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, they are held together in a methyl ester bond that comprises 10% of the molecule.
The methanol is released from the aspartame within hours of consumption after hydrolysis of the methyl group of the dipeptide by chymotrypsin in the small intestine. Once this methyl ester bond is broken it liberates free methyl alcohol or methanol, which is commonly called wood alcohol. The problem with methanol is that it passes into your blood-brain barrier and is converted into formaldehyde, which causes the damage. You may recognize formaldehyde as embalming fluid.
Interestingly, methanol is only toxic in humans. All other animals are able to detoxify it before it causes damage.
Methanol is a toxin that destroys the myelin tissue in your body, which is the insulating material around your nerves that allows nerve signals to travel properly. Once injured, one can have what are called demyelinating symptoms that are commonly seen in diseases like MS and also migraines that can include bizarre and inconsistent visual field disruptions.
My sister that helped me start my practice in 1985 is actually one of the people that develops these symptoms when exposed to aspartame. In the late ‘80s I helped to diagnose her with this sensitivity and she has avoided it for over 25 years.

Why is Methanol So Toxic?

Methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde in your body. Many experts believe formic acid is the problem but the real problem is the formaldehyde, which is a deadly neurotoxin and carcinogen. An EPA assessment of methanol states that methanol "is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic."2
They recommend a limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day. But according to Woodrow Monte, Ph.D, R.D., director of the Food Science and Nutrition Laboratory at Arizona State University:3
“When diet sodas and soft drinks, sweetened with aspartame, are used to replace fluid loss during exercise and physical exertion in hot climates, the intake of methanol can exceed 250 mg/day or 32 times the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended limit of consumption for this cumulative toxin.”
Further, he states that due to the lack of a couple of key enzymes, humans are many times more sensitive to the toxic effects of methanol than animals. Therefore, tests of aspartame or methanol on animals do not accurately reflect the danger for humans.
“There are no human or mammalian studies to evaluate the possible mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic effects of chronic administration of methyl alcohol,” he said.
Symptoms from methanol poisoning are many, and include headaches, ear buzzing, dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the extremities, behavioral disturbances, and neuritis. The most well known problems from methanol poisoning are vision problems including misty vision, progressive contraction of visual fields, blurring of vision, obscuration of vision, retinal damage, and blindness. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen that causes retinal damage, interferes with DNA replication and may cause birth defects. The researchers in the featured study then reasoned that the aspartame-induced methanol exposure was likely possible for oxidative stress in the brain.

New Study Shows Aspartame Damages Your Brain

A newly published study with rats investigated the chronic effect of aspartame on oxidative stress in the brain. Researchers found that there was a significant increase in lipid peroxidation levels, superoxide dismutase activity, GPx levels and CAT activity, showing that chronic exposure of aspartame resulted in detectable methanol in the blood, which may be responsible for the generation of oxidative stress and damage in the brain.4
So the study found that aspartame exposure did result in “detectable levels” of methanol in the blood. Methanol is gradually released in the small intestine when the methyl group of aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin.

Are Artificial Sweeteners Stressing Out Your Brain?

Oxidative stress can be defined as the state in which damaging free radicals outnumber your antioxidant defenses. Oxidative stress tends to lead to accelerated tissue and organ damage.
Case in point, earlier this year another study investigated the effect of long-term intake of aspartame on the antioxidant defense status in the rat brain and also found it leads to oxidative stress.5 Male rats that were given a high dose of the artificial sweetener exhibited a lowered concentration of reduced glutathione (the active, antioxidant form of glutathione), and reduced glutathione reductase activity, a sign of increased oxidative stress-induced damage in the body.
Glutathione deficiency has also been linked to age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's. Examination also revealed mild vascular congestion – an obstruction of the normal flow of blood within the brain – in these rats. Researchers concluded:
"The results of this experiment indicate that long-term consumption of aspartame leads to an imbalance in the antioxidant/pro-oxidant status in the brain, mainly through the mechanism involving the glutathione-dependent system."
Adding to the problem, one of the amino acids in aspartame, aspartic acid is capable of crossing your blood-brain barrier. There it attacks your brain cells, creating a form of cellular overstimulation called excitotoxicity, which can lead to cell death.
Your blood-brain barrier, which normally protects your brain from excess aspartate, as well as toxins, is not able to adequately protect you against the effects of aspartame consumption because it:
  • Is not fully developed during childhood
  • Does not fully protect all areas of the brain
  • Is damaged by numerous chronic and acute conditions
  • Allows seepage of excess aspartate into the brain even when intact
That excess aspartate slowly begins to destroy neurons, and the large majority (75 percent or more) of neural cells in a particular area of the brain are killed before any clinical symptoms of a chronic illness are noticed. Then, when they do occur, they may or may not be associated with aspartame consumption, even though examples of chronic illnesses that are made worse by long-term exposure to excitatory amino acid damage include:
Multiple sclerosis (MS) ALS Memory loss
Hormonal problems Hearing loss Epilepsy
Alzheimer's disease and dementia Parkinson's disease Hypoglycemia
AIDS Brain lesions Neuroendocrine disorders

Why Was Aspartame Ever Approved?

If it causes brain damage, why is aspartame allowed in our food and drinks? The truth of the matter is the FDA rejected aspartame not once but multiple times. The scientific data just did not support it as a safe product. But the FDA is a federal agency subject to the political winds, and the people in charge of the agency have repeatedly and notoriously been accused of many conflicts of interest, both economically and ethically.
In 1975, the FDA came to the conclusion that aspartame should not be allowed on the market. They requested that further studies be conducted. The FDA's next move was to set up a public board of inquiry composed of outside experts to investigate the safety of aspartame, and in 1980 that board unanimously rejected aspartame's request for approval. Another internal FDA panel convened in 1980 also rejected aspartame for approval.
So it was three strikes against aspartame at this point, four strikes if you count the Bressler Report. This report was compiled in 1977 after FDA scientists looked into the field studies conducted on aspartame. The Bressler Report uncovered fraud and manipulation of data so serious that the FDA forwarded their files to the Chicago U.S. Attorney's office for prosecution.
Basically the results of the scientific data were fairly clear up until 1980: Aspartame was a dangerous, brain-tumor-causing man-made poison and the company trying to get it into the food supply was recommended for prosecution by the FDA. You would think that would be the end of aspartame, right?
Not by a long shot.
For more details on the story of how aspartame made it through the FDA approval process despite warning signs of potential health hazards and alleged scientific fraud, please watch the 60-Minutes report below, as Mike Wallace does a nice job of summarizing an otherwise very long story.

Did You Know Aspartame May Make You Fat?

If you’re one of the people who suffers from headaches/migraines, vision problems, fatigue, anxiety attacks, abdominal pains or other symptoms when you consume aspartame, deciding to eliminate it from your diet was probably an easy choice.
For the rest of you, doing so based on the possibility that it could “one day” cause symptoms of brain damage is much more abstract, and probably much less likely to make you take action today.
That’s why I want to share with you one of the major deceptions surrounding artificial sweeteners like aspartame, which is that they will help you lose weight by avoiding sugar.
This is a MYTH. Research has shown that artificial sweeteners can:
  • Stimulate your appetite
  • Increase carbohydrate cravings
  • Stimulate fat storage and weight gain. In fact, diet sodas, which are well-known sources of artificial sweeteners, may actually double your risk of obesity!6
So much for being a dieter's best friend... The point is, if you’re having a hard time giving up aspartame based on its potential to damage your brain, maybe the fact that it could make you pack on the pounds in the very near future will motivate you toward positive change.

My Favorite Tool for Addressing Artificial Sweetener Addictions

Artificial sweeteners tend to trigger enhanced activity within your brain's pleasure centers, yet at the same time provide less actual satisfaction. This separation of the taste of sweetness from caloric content means that when you consume artificial sweeteners, your brain actually craves more of it because your body receives no satisfaction on a cellular level by the sugar imposter. This can actually contribute to not only overeating and weight gain, but also an addiction to artificial sweeteners.
In order to break free, be sure you address the emotional component to your food cravings using a tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). More than any traditional or alternative method I have used or researched, EFT works to overcome food cravings and helps you reach dietary success. If diet soda is the culprit for you, be sure to check out Turbo Tapping, which is an extremely effective and simple tool to get rid of your soda addiction in a short amount of time.
If you're determined to sweeten your foods and beverages, I urge you to consider using stevia extract – a safe and natural sweet herb, which is my personal sweetener of choice. Lo Han is another herbal sweetener that doesn’t have the aftertaste of stevia that many object to.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Detoxification and Nutritional Needs


18  
The human body is constantly exposed to a wide array of toxins from our surroundings and from those produced within the body. Also known as xenobiotics, toxins created externally can vary from food-borne pollutants like pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers to environmental toxins such as secondhand cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and prescription medications. Even in the absence of harmful toxins from external sources, the human body is tasked with enormous biochemical and physiological challenges from the constant creation of internal metabolic waste products.
Unfortunately, the combined burden that our environment, diet, lifestyle and metabolic processes place upon our bodies each day can overwhelm the detoxification capacity of many individuals, leading to a wide range of dysfunctions. While the human body has developed complex enzymatic mechanisms to detoxify these substances, there are, however, individual genotypic variations in detoxifying capacity that lead to decreased detoxification efficiency and efficacy and subsequently increased risk of developing certain diseases.
Toxic risks 
Even in individuals with normal or even optimally performing detoxification pathways, exposure to exogenous toxins such as heavy metals, pesticides, industrial compounds and pollutants is associated with increased risk for several types of cancers, Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivities and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Most of the toxins that enter our bodies are lipid-soluble compounds. In order for these toxins to be safely and efficiently removed from the body, they need to be transformed into water-soluble compounds and eliminated via urine. This critical function occurs in the liver through a two-step, enzymatic process involving the phase I and II detoxification pathways. When either or both of these pathways are not functioning optimally, fat-soluble toxins pass through the liver unmetabolized and are deposited in various tissues. Over time, accumulation of these highly damaging toxins can result in numerous symptoms and as mentioned above can increase the risk of developing severe diseases.
Two-step processdetox pathways
The first phase of the detoxification process, simply called phase I, is the primary responsibility of the cytochrome P450 family of enzymes. During Phase I, cytochrome P450 enzymes initiate reactions which help polarize the lipid-soluble molecule, the first step in making a lipid soluble compound a fully water-soluble one. The reactions involved are primarily oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, hydration and dehalogenation.
Nutritionally, the entire vitamin B family is required as co-factors in order to facilitate these reactions. Also sulfurous compounds found in the cruciferous family of vegetables like glucosinolates can help up-regulate specific enzymes in the P450 family which greatly aid in the detoxification and metabolism of hormones, in particular estrogen.
Ideally, the metabolites from phase I reactions would then be properly shuttled to the phase II pathways, transformed into fully water-soluble compounds and then excreted. Again, however, any imbalance between the two pathways can result in a build-up of phase I metabolites. Research indicates that there is tremendous amounts of variability of phase I functioning even among healthy individuals.
Support through nutrition
A sluggish phase II can stall the detoxification process by inhibiting the completion of the phase I intermediate metabolism. These phase I intermediates can actually be more toxic and damaging than the original toxin/molecule. Part of insuring the best possible execution of the phase II portion of the detoxification process is to supplement those constituents that are involved in reactions during phase II. Important nutrients that support and feed these reactions include the methylators such as SAMe, folate and choline, amino acids such as glutamine, glycine and taurine for amino acid conjugation, and sulfurous compounds like MSM, N- acetyl cysteine and taurine for sulfation reactions.
Additionally, several phase II reactions including methylation, sulfonation, glucuronidation, and glutathione conjugation require the energy molecule ATP at some time during the reactions process. These ATP-mediated reactions are magnesium dependent.
The perils of fasting
Finally, fasting for some people has become a popular form of detoxification. But because of the nutritional demands that are inherent in the metabolic processes that make up detoxification physiology, for many, fasting, which would be lacking in supplying many of the important fundamental and crucial co-factors and nutrients necessary for appropriate detoxification, may not be an ideal method of detoxification. Also, those with hypoglycemia would find fasting as an alternative to a formal nutrient and co-factor-driven detoxification challenging, to say the least.
In conclusion, it may be that the optimization of both phase I and phase II detoxifications pathways is key to a successful and less stressful detoxification process, thus helping to reduce or eliminate the chances of unfortunate side effects, which can only be achieved by ensuring proper nutritional support.
by Michael Fuhrman D.C.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Pre-Exhaust Your Muscles to Awaken New Growth



Flip-flopping single- and multijoint moves in your workout can smoke your muscle via a technique originated by Robert Kennedy called pre-exhaust training.


As a bodybuilder, you train to exhaustion, so what have you read about pre-exhaust training? If a beginning bodybuilder asked you, could you confidently define it? If not, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Even some of the most experienced bodybuilders tilt their heads and pause, searching for a way to describe one of the best techniques for mass we’ve ever encountered that’s still somewhat confusing in concept.

PLAN TO FAIL

The simplest way to describe pre-exhaust training is that it’s a method using isolation (also called single-joint) exercises to target a particular muscle group before moving to compound (multijoint) movements for the same muscle. The objective of the technique is to get the target muscle as fatigued as possible before subjecting it to multijoint exercises. Take the chest for example. Before hitting your bench presses, a pre-exhaust exercise would be the flat-bench dumbbell flye (or even the cable crossover or pec-deck machine). During the flye only the pectorals are involved in performing the movement. When the chest is fatigued, you move to the bench press, where the pecs gain assistance from the shoulders and triceps. During a typical bench press the chest gets help from the delts and tri’s, but that assistance limits the amount of fatigue it can achieve. Since the triceps and delts are much weaker than the chest, the bench press always ends because the triceps or delts fatigue, not because of the exhaustion of the chest-muscle fibers.
For that reason the pre-exhaust method is used to break down the target musculature before adding in the help of other assisting muscle groups. In the bench press example the triceps are delts are fresh so they won’t be subject to such quick fatigue as are the already-worked pectoral fibers, which further compound the exhaustion of the pecs. The ultimate goal is that once the triceps and delts are fatigued, so too is the chest. All three bodyparts involved in the exercise are completely worn out and used up. That’s the basic premise of pre-exhaust.

DOUBTERS DEBUNKED

In a normal bodybuilding workout you do the isolation movements at the end of your training session after the multijoint exercises; however, reversing the scheme to target the muscle fibers in this way is a phenomenon only the pre-exhaust method can duplicate. In the normal routine, with the isolation exercises coming last, you can’t know for sure if the target muscle is completely fatigued simply by using the isolation movement as your litmus test. The pre-exhaust method is a surefire way to know the job is done because you’ll have completely failed and fatigued at both the compound and isolation exercises after removing the assistance muscles from the equation.
Probably one of the main reasons guys shy away from pre-exhaust is that it obviously limits the amount of weight you can lift on the compound exercises because you’re not doing them first when your energy level is highest. That can be a tough mental hurdle to surmount, but from a physical standpoint you’ll probably break down the muscle better with the pre-exhaust method than ever before, despite the fact that you’re using less weight on the subsequent compound exercises. Because you’re going lighter on the multijoint movements, you’re actually extending the life of your elbow, shoulder, hip and knee joints. To a young bodybuilder that might not sound like much of a benefit, but if you’ve been in the sport for a while, you understand exactly how important it is.
Angles come into play during pre-exhaust training as they do in regular training. To pre-exhaust your chest before doing heavy incline bench presses, you wouldn’t use the decline flye as your pre-exhaust exercise. You’d use an incline flye. You want to mimic, within reason, the angle for both exercises simply because you’re recruiting the same fibers, not different ones. For chest exercises pre-exhaust is relatively easy, but it’s not so easy on other bodyparts such as back. In the end the main characteristic is fatigue of the target muscle, with exercise angles being secondary in importance. For a listing of good exercise pairings to take advantage of such angles, see “Angle Pairings for Optimal Pre-Exhaustion.”

PERFECTING PRE-EXHAUST

Here’s a brief tip sheet to get you started on using pre-exhaust, an advanced technique that can help deliver serious muscle growth.
  • Try the pre-exhaust method for each bodypart for about four weeks before going back to your standard routine.
  • Your rest periods between the isolation exercise and the compound movement are normal. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets. This is not a superset in which you want to rest as little as possible.
  • Though you’re starting with the isolation exercise, you’ll still want to do a few warm-up sets. When you get to your working weight, you’ll be able to go slightly heavier than usual because you haven’t done any presses yet to fatigue the muscle. Choose a weight with which you can do about 10 reps to failure. This set also serves as a warm-up for the compound exercise to follow. You may need only 1-2 warm-up sets to get ready for your working weight. Remember, the weight you’re able to lift when following a pre-exhaust movement will be substantially less.
  • In your pre-exhaust routine do 3-4 sets of the isolation exercise (excluding warm-ups) with the same number of sets for the compound movement that follows. After you’ve performed the pre-exhaust method, you can complete your routine in straight-set fashion on your favorite exercises for that muscle group. Many pre-exhaust devotees actually repeat the method with other exercises and angles throughout the routine, but be careful not to overtrain.

ANGLE PAIRINGS FOR OPTIMAL PRE-EXHAUSTION

  • First Exercise  Second Exercise
  • Bodypart Isolation Movement Compound Movement
  • Legs  Leg Extension  Squat
  • Lying Leg Curl Leg Press
  • Back  Decline Pullover Close-Grip Pulldown
  • Shoulders Cable Lateral Raise Overhead Press
  • Triceps  Pressdown  Bench Dip
  • Chest  Cable Crossover Decline Bench Press
  • Biceps* Dumbbell Curl Chin-up (underhand grip)
*The biceps is generally not thought to have a compound exercise, although the chin-up is as close to being a multijoint movement for the biceps as possible.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Add 30 Minutes of Exercise a Day and Add Years to your Life

 

  • Written by  Jeff Behar, MS, MBA

Adding 30 minutes of daily physical activity could add years to your life and save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs over a lifetime, according to Jeff Behar, MS, MBA, a personal trainer and popular health and wellness author based in Los Angeles, California.

Regular daily exercise is a very most important step toward a healthier lifestyle, Behar added. Regular exercise is one of the top lifestyle changes you can make to improve your appearance, improve your health and reduce your risk to several preventable diseases and conditions.

“People don’t realize you can get many significant benefit from regular physical activity even if you do not need to lose weight,” says Behar. The benefits of daily physical activity include a reduced risk for cardiovascular  disease (heart disease), stroke, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol levels, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, obstructive sleep apnea, osteoporosis, osteopenia, and other bone and joint conditions.

Regular physical activity boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol while decreasing triglycerides. Exercise can also help improves your mood by stimulating various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. Regular exercise can reduce stress and stress related diseases.  Regular physical activity can help prevent depression. Regular physical activity can also help you lose weight, change your body composition, boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem!
Behar, is the president of MyBesthealthPortal.com, and MuscleMagFitness.com; two very popular health, fitness and anti aging information sites. Behar, a former natural competitive bodybuilder, renown health and fitness author and a sought after personal trainer to the stars offers several tips for how to increase daily physical activity:

Set a goal of 30 – 45 minutes a day, five days a week of physical activity. It doesn’t need to be all at once. Studies show that 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there still provides health benefits, as long as the exercise is done at moderate intensity.
Find exercise activities that you enjoy doing. You are more likely to exercise if it is a physical activity that you enjoy doing.
Join a local gym or health club. The key here is local. Local to your home or work so you can spend more time exercising and less time commuting. If the health club is close and convenient you are more likely to exercise more frequently.
Take advantage of your lunch time. Another way to increase your daily activity is to exercise at lunchtime. Keep a pair of walking shoes at your desk, and take a brisk walk during your lunch break.
Start walking. For most people, the easiest and most efficient way to incorporate regular exercise into their daily routine is to start walking.  Behar suggest, parking your car further away from your office, or the store. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or finding a  lunchtime walking buddy. While dedicated workouts are great, physical activity you accumulate throughout the day still can improve your health, and help you burn calories, too.
Wear a pedometer. Recent studies have shown that people wearing pedometers increase their activity level by 25 percent.
Walk your dog. If you have a dog, walking the dog is another way to increase daily physical activity.
Ride a bike with friends. Riding a bike is a great way to get some exercise, reduce stress, and by scheduling the physical activity with a friend, or family member you are makinga  commitment. makinga  commitment or appointment to exercise increases the liklihood that you will exercise.
Play with your kids. Chasing around or playing with children is a great way to not bond with your children, but it is also a great way of adding daily physical activity into your routine.
Make an appointment. Block off times for physical activity, and make sure your friends and family are aware of your commitment. Scheduling time to exercise with a friend, family member, co-worker or even a personal trainer is a good way of making daily exercise a priority in your life.

The 8 Moves You Must Do If You Need Mass


Whether you’re a gym veteran or a new recruit, here are the eight most critical mass-building exercises to pack on muscle.

By Jimmy Peña MS, CSCS

Members of the Special Forces, specifically Delta Company, are often dropped behind enemy lines and required to live off the land, remaining invisible for weeks and months at a time. They’re trained to adapt to their surroundings, using whatever they can get their hands on to survive, simply because they arrived with virtually nothing.
As a bodybuilder, with your own daily battles, you’re not as ill-equipped. You drop into the gym and have a myriad of choices at your disposal. But what if you didn’t? What if you had to choose one exercise per bodypart to hold yourself together, which ones would you pick?
This month, we’ve made such a selection for you. Each exercise can be argued as the single best exercise for mass for that bodypart. Sure, we could’ve chosen any number of moves for various reasons, but after you comb through our field assessments, we’re confident you’ll join us in our salute of the best of the best.

Before We Drop You In

As a rule of thumb, the best mass builders are multijoint (compound) in nature, meaning you work more muscle groups through more working joints, enabling you to lift more weight. For that reason, the majority of our selections are compound exercises, with the only exception being the exercises we’ve chosen for arms.
Whenever you tackle these eight moves for mass, in general, keep your sets between 3–4 and your rep count in the 8–12 range. However, we’ve also suggested some intensity techniques that work hand-in-hand with these basic mass builders, and we encourage you to try them all on for serious size. Finally, place these exercises early in your routines, when you’re the most fresh and able to move the most weight.
You’re ready. Make us (and yourself) proud. Accept these orders like the band of brothers have done before you in gyms across the country. Lift and live big.

Chest

Flat-Bench Dumbbell Press

8MovesMass_Chest
Training with dumbbells, like in the flat-bench dumbbell press, has many advantages, the first being the ability to force each side of the body to handle the weight on its own. If too much time is spent on barbell moves or machines, you miss out on the benefits dumbbells provide such as stabilizer activity. By adding the dumbbell bench press into the mix of exercises, your standard bench press, not to mention the size of your pecs, will improve by leaps and bounds.

Inside the Lift

While the flat-bench dumbbell press allows for stabilizers and balance, it’s possible to relax during the move, and many bodybuilders make that mistake. At the top of the range of motion, most guys bring the dumbbells together, allowing the dumbbells to touch (which actually takes tension off the muscle). But more times than not, they’re not using that moment to squeeze the chest. To keep tension in the pecs at the top, at least for the first few reps, try to press the dumbbells straight up to the ceiling, as if you had a barbell in your hands. You don’t lose any of the attributes the dumbbells provide, but you add constant tension. As you fatigue, you can begin bringing them together over the face to squeeze the pecs as well as to recover.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

At first glance, you automatically assume either drop sets or forced reps would be your go-to tactic, and with good reason, since moving from one set of dumbbells to the next or getting someone to push you past failure seems easy enough. But there is another less popular intensity booster called rest-pause that’s more practical, in which you take brief rest periods during a set of a given exercise to squeeze out more reps. We recommend you use a weight you can lift for 4-6 reps but do just 2–3 reps, rest just 20 seconds, then try for another 2–3 reps with the same weight. Rest again briefly, then try for another mini-set. The reason rest-pause is our method of choice is simple: You don’t need to swap dumbbells and you can do it alone.
After each set, you simply sit up and count seconds, then lie back down and continue the reps. The only stipulation is that you can’t drop the dumbbells to the floor from the lying position, which many bodybuilders do. We recommend actually transferring the dumbbells to your quads and rocking forward to a seated position each time; doing so will not only save your shoulders from possible injury, but you’re also already in the proper position to begin the next set.

QUADS

Front Squat

While most bodybuilders would say the traditional squat is king for the entire thigh and glutes (and we wouldn’t argue), our focus with the front squat is its ability to heavily favor the quads. With the bar held in front of the body, your center of gravity changes, and the focus shifts to the front part of your legs. In the traditional move, your hips travel further back, allowing you to engage your hamstrings and glutes to a greater extent. By no means are we implying that the hams and glutes aren’t involved during the front squat, but it’s a good example of a compound exercise that allows a shift of emphasis depending on bar placement.

Inside the Lift

If you’re new to the front squat, get ready to reduce the weight … by a lot. First of all, because you can’t kick the butt back as you typically would during a standard squat, in particular the variety in which the bar is low on your back, your lower back strength will be heavily tested. For that reason, even if your lower back is super strong, we recommend you get a feel for the bar on the front of the body before trying to load up the poundage. And because the front quads are taking the brunt of the load, your knee stability will also be exposed, so be certain to warm-up well.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

Hands down, the best technique for the front squat is to use partial reps, in which you train in only a portion of the range of motion. And since partials are done in a power rack or Smith machine, you’re safe to hit this move without a spotter. While you can apply partials in a number of ways, begin by setting the safety bars at a point that allows you to get your quads parallel to the floor or to the bottom of the rep. When you fail at that range of motion, begin raising the safety bars so that you’re working through a shorter distance. As you raise the safety bars on each set, you can increase the weight. You’ll quickly notice that the more shallow you squat the more weight you’re able to lift. Over time, your starting weight will increase dramatically. You can also reverse the order, starting your sets at the top (and setting the safeties high), working your way down to the full range of motion.

BACK

Bent-Over Barbell Row

The bent-over row is arguably the best barbell move for the back, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone to dispute that. However, during your bent-over moves, it’s important to keep your knees bent, your chest big, your head neutral and your upper body fixed in the bent-over position. If you raise your torso up and down on each rep (and nearly every bodybuilder does it to some degree), you’ll not only lose tension in the target muscles (namely the upper lats, rhomboids and middle traps) but you’ll also risk injury to your lower back. You want your torso to be just above parallel to the floor throughout the exercise.

Inside the Lift

There are a few key points you want to keep in mind when doing rows. First of all, invest in straps. You’ve heard us say it before, but if you’re trying a heavy set of bent-over rows without straps, you’re letting the best chance of adding mass slip right through your fingers (pun intended). Remember, there’s no shame in using straps. Your hands can’t hold a candle to what your back can endure, so chew up your pride and do it right.
One way to make the bent-over row work in your routine is to use the end of the bench as a means to fix your grip and provide an easy way to end the set. Simply pull the loaded bar off the rack and place it a few inches from the end of the bench. Once you have your grip, you can get close to the bar and stand up with it, take a small step back and begin your set. A small step forward with the bar at the end of the set and you can safely dismount out of the move, placing it back on the bench.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

The bent-over row is one of those rare moves in which forced reps and negatives are impossible, since you need a partner for those. However, drop sets are still in play. Basically, after completing your reps in a heavy set, quickly strip an equal amount of weight from each side of the bar (about 20-25% of the total weight) and continue repping until you fail, then strip off more weight to complete even more reps. With this technique, don’t use clips on the ends of the bar to secure the weights since they can lengthen the time between drops.

BICEPS

Standing Barbell Curl

The barbell curl is awesome for adding mass because of the amount of weight you can apply to the small biceps. But when guys hear that, they think that’s a license to be absurd with what they throw on the ends. It doesn’t take a ton of weight to spark growth in the biceps, so the best thing to do is to use a heavy enough weight that enables you to use good form throughout the natural range of motion. Be sure to fix your elbows to the sides of your body. Don’t let them travel forward because as you raise the bar up, you’ll automatically call the front delts into play. As a rule of thumb, at the top of the motion, you don’t have to be looking at the bar, but rather the bar will likely be at the top of your chest.

Inside the Lift

Way too neglected is the advantage a change in grip width provides. From week to week or even during the same routine, alternate from a wide, to narrow and then standard grip. Here’s why: Taking a wide grip on the barbell for curls hits the short, inner head of the biceps more directly by reducing the amount of stress on the long, outer head while increasing the tension on the short. Taking a close grip on the other hand places a greater emphasis on the long, outer head (or peak, the highest point you see on the biceps during a back-double biceps pose).

Best Technique to Add Intensity

If you’ve never tried barbell curls 21s style, you’re long overdue. With 21s, you train each half of the curl (bottom half, top half) through seven reps, then finish the set with seven full-range reps. You can even reverse the order, hitting the full range of motion and then the half reps. However, always do the upper half of the range prior to the lower, simply because we typically fail on the lower portion of the repetition, leaving the strongest phase with gas in the tank, so to speak. If you fail in the start of the move before you’ve failed in the upper half, your biceps won’t experience everything the exercise or the technique provides. And it probably means you’re going too heavy.

GLUTES/HAMS

Romanian Deadlift

Not to be confused with the stiff-legged deadlift, the romanian deadlift is the king for the upper hamstrings where they tie into the glutes (you target the lower hamstrings better with various leg-curl moves). Basically, during the romanian-style deadlift, you keep your knees bent and your back as straight as possible. The bar is also very close to the legs throughout and combined with the body mechanics, causes the upper hamstrings and glutes to share the majority of the focus. It’s when you straighten your legs, slightly round your back and allow the bar to travel a few inches away from the legs that the emphasis is shifted to the lower back and away from the hamstrings, which is the stiff-legged version.

Inside the Lift

Like we said on the bent-over row, you’re very strong on this move, so it would be a shame for your hams and glutes to suffer because you don’t have pulling straps. Get the hint? Also, there’s a way to self-spot on this move. Head back to the bench-press station, take the bar off the rack and straddle the bench press while holding the bar. While the bench might somewhat limit the range of motion (although you don’t need to be touching your toes during this exercise) the bench can serve as a slight spot at the bottom if you allow just the slightest bounce. Besides, increasing the range of motion by trying to touch the bar to the floor is a recipe for disaster since many individuals round their backs.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

Our vote for best intensity technique during the romanian is rest-pause because you can load the bar, hit your reps and rest the bar on the bench and never remove your hands from the bar. In fact, in between mini-sets, you can actually sit on the bench and rest your entire body as you watch the clock.

SHOULDERS

Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press

The most obvious benefit of dumbbells is that they allow a wide range of motion. With the overhead press, since both hands can move in any direction, you can move your arms out to your sides a bit to hit more of the middle delts. As opposed to the barbell version of the move, your head gets in the way during the descent of the bar, forcing you to either lean back or use the behind-the-neck version. However, not everyone can go behind the head with the bar, but with the dumbbells, your elbows are in line with your ears allowing maximal emphasis on all three heads. In addition, dumbbells let you lift your arms higher at the top of the exercise as you bring the weights together at the top. This takes the deltoids through a longer range of motion while also bringing into play the traps, which enhance the shoulders as well.

Inside the Lift

Probably the biggest limiting factor to this exercise is actually getting “into” the start position. Our shoulders are pretty strong and we can lift a lot of weight, often more weight than we can seem to get into a start position with. So if you feel like you can move more weight but don’t have anyone to hand you the dumbbells, practice kicking one knee up toward your chest (with the weight sitting atop the knee) to get the dumbbells in place one at a time. If that still doesn’t work, practice the single-arm version of the move, working each arm separately. That’ll help strengthen your core and stabilizers, helping you prepare for the standard overhead dumbbell press when situations and circumstances are optimal.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

Because you’re right there in front of the rack, you might as well run it. Running the rack is basically a giant drop set, in which you do as many reps as you can at a certain weight (say, a weight you can do for 10 and only 10 reps, your 10RM) then upon failure, rack that set of dumbbells and move to the next lightest pair. Grab those and do as many as you can. You continue running down the rack for as many sets as you can. Then after a 3–5-minute rest, if you’re still able to lift your arms, you can reverse direction.

TRAPS

Dumbbell Shrug

Even though the traps are composed of an upper, middle and lower region, because our emphasis is on overall mass, the upper portion gets the nod. The upper traps, which make up the most mass of the overall muscle, primarily lift and rotate the shoulder blades, as when shrugging the shoulders during the dumbbell shrug. The standard dumbbell shrug is unique in that you take a neutral grip on the dumbbell as they lie flush against the body. This is important as it’s the most comfortable position for the shoulder girdle.

Inside the Lift

Ten bucks says you can guess what we’re recommending … yes sir … use straps! Enough said. Also, because you’re allowed so much free range of motion with the dumbbells, you can get versatile. If you don’t have any pre-existing shoulder problems, you can simulate the arm position of the standard barbell move by moving the dumbbells in front of the body. You can even try the behind-the-back version, although your glutes slightly obstruct the range of motion. And finally, you can also try these one arm at a time. The one-arm version will allow you to focus on each side individually while also stressing the transverse abdominis and other core muscles to a greater extent, which will make you stronger and more capable of packing on more muscle.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

Because the shrug is such a short range of motion, one of the best ways to intensify each rep isn’t necessarily through a technique, per se, but rather through timed holds of the peak contraction. Basically, holding the peak-contracted position for 5–10 seconds on each rep will highly recruit the upper traps. You’ll still get the negative rep effect after each hold, but you stop the set when you can no longer hold the top of the shrug for at least three seconds. Rest 2–3 minutes and repeat that sequence.

TRICEPS

Seated Overhead Dumbbell Extension

When it comes to packing mass on to the back of your arms, few exercises can compete with the overhead extension. The bulky, meaty part of the arm (also called the long head) is highly recruited during those moves where your arms are angled toward the ceiling. And this popular isolation move will cause havoc to your triceps in no time. For best results, try keeping your elbows pointed forward. This will not only help you target the muscle, but it’s safer on the elbow and shoulder joints.

Inside the Lift

While you’re most certainly able to do this exercise using one arm at a time and with your opposite arm spotting yourself, the two-hand version is your best bet for mass. The tough part can sometimes be getting the dumbbell into place, especially if you’re working alone. With both hands on the handle of the dumbbell, use one leg to kick the weight up to one shoulder. From there, place your hands cupping the inner portion of the dumbbell and move it into position. At the end of the set, simply rotate it back to that shoulder and down to the knee.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

Because the exercise can get tricky when you’re approaching failure, the best choice for an intensity technique is one that requires a partner. Forced reps tops the list of tactics to help you pack on size. Have a training partner assist you with reps at the end of a set to help you work past the first point of failure. Your training partner should help lift the weight with only the force necessary for you to keep moving and get past the sticking point. He can also get the weight into and out of position as you start and end each set.

OVERALL MASS

Deadlift

While it’s arguably the best exercise on our list for mass, it’s probably the least used. Seen more as a move for strength athletes, the deadlift is unfortunately overlooked by bodybuilders who are looking to pack on serious size. Calling into play the arms, shoulders, back and legs, the deadlift recruits more muscle groups than any other move, save maybe the squat.

Inside the Lift

Let’s break the deadlift down. First of all, you start from a dead stop, which means you don’t have any built-up elastic energy from the negative rep prior to pressing through the positive (concentric) portion of the contraction. For perspective, imagine beginning each squat of 405 from the stalled, down position. And notice we said “press” not pull? See, your arms are straight throughout the move (which is key), and the exercise is initiated by pressing through the floor with your legs. So in effect, it’s as much a leg press as it is an upper body pull.
One very important aspect of the deadlift is that you need to drag the bar up the legs. In fact, you should try to keep the bar in constant contact with your legs right from the start. That’s why the most successful deadlifters use baby powder on their legs (that’s not chalk) so the bar glides smoothly up and down the legs. At the top of the lift, you can squeeze your legs, glutes and back hard as you lean back slightly. The reverse motion is identical to the positive portion.

Best Technique to Add Intensity

The deadlift is so tough, with so many things to consider and master, we feel no need to add intensity techniques to it. Those who try the deadlift for the first time will feel like they’ve combined every intensity tactic into one exercise at the same time.

7 Canned Protein Sources to Stock Up On

7-Canned-Protein-Sources-to-Stock-Up-On
Don’t overlook the canned meat aisle as a way to load up on muscle-sculpting protein at budget-friendly prices. Here are seven worth trying.
*All proteins are measured per 3-ounce serving.

Crab (17g)

Often cast aside for tuna or salmon, crab contains a payload of zinc, which is necessary for maintaining levels of testosterone, the most important anabolic our bodies produce. It’s also low in calories yet loaded with muscle-building protein, making it a great food for dieters.

Light Tuna (22g)

It boasts a stellar 22-to-1 protein-to-fat ratio in a 3-ounce serving. Plus, it costs less than the solid white stuff and contains lower levels of harmful mercury. When buying canned tuna, opt for the kind packed in water rather than oil to save a bucketful of calories.

Chicken (21g)

Don’t be chicken to eat canned chicken. It’s basically just chopped white chicken meat, making it a lean protein source — about 21 grams per serving. It’s also high in selenium, an antioxidant that can help protect against exercise-induced cellular muscle damage.

Salmon (18g)

Much cheaper than fresh cuts at the fishmonger, canned salmon is a leading source of omega-3 fatty acids. On top of being a champion for heart health, research suggests omega-3s may help shed bodyfat. All fish are naturally low in sodium, so to keep your salt intake down consider buying “no salt added” versions of canned salmon and others.

Sardines (21g)

Not only are they a seafood choice that gets high-water marks for sustainability, but sardines are also crazy nutritious. They harbor impressive amounts of protein, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D — the last of which may improve your performance in the gym by elevating your testosterone level. Choose sardines packed in spring water, olive oil or tomato sauce.

Turkey (21g)

Not just for the cats, canned white turkey meat is a protein powerhouse that contains plenty of leucine, an essential amino acid particularly effective at instigating muscle growth. This canned bird also has more niacin than other protein in a tin. Niacin has been shown to heighten vasodilation, or widening of blood vessels.

Anchovies (24g)

These tiny, silvery fish hailing from the Mediterranean are brimming with protein, omega-3 fats, selenium and niacin. As they’re so small, they don’t accumulate toxins from the sea like bigger species such as albacore tuna. To reduce their saltiness, soak anchovies in water for 30 minutes; then drain and pat dry.

High or Low Reps for Cutting



Bodybuilders have been arguing for ages about the importance of doing
high or low reps when you are busy cutting your fat down. After years
of debate and clinical study it seems that the true answer is going
to be specific to your genes and your structure.

We all have a different ratio of red muscle (slow twitch) fibers and

white (fast twitch) muscle fibers and when reducing your fat this
could make a big difference. We also have a genetic metabolism speed
that we are born with. This is something that will also make a big
difference to your ability to start cutting up and how to train.

The truth is that when "cutting" it is more to do with what you eat

than your specific weight training routine that you use. However
there are bodybuilders that swear by doing high reps when starting
to cut up for a competition, but there is no rule.

In fact one would find professional bodybuilders that will swear

to increased intensity when cutting up and also slowing down on the
amount of reps. These types of bodybuilders will more than likely
have a naturally fast metabolism along with a large percentage of
fast twitch muscle fibers.

Any exercise that takes longer than 40 seconds to complete is going

to be using red (slow twitch) muscle fibers. This is because it has
used up the muscle glycogen that is stored in the muscle and then
relies on the oxygenated blood to supply the extra nutrients to
complete the movement.

One can say that anything less than 8 reps will be using only the

muscle glycogen that is stored in the muscle to execute the movement.
But anything over 8 or 10 reps will then need aerobically driven
muscles fibers to complete the movement.

This is extremely non-specific as it will change from person to

person but generally this will be the case. This means that when a
bodybuilder trains they usually are including both types of muscle
fibers. This is a good thing as it means that all the fibers in
that muscle group will be stimulated.

I suggest making use of all rep ranges (low, medium and high) for

building maximum muscle mass and definition.

Try this your next workout:


For each exercise (after your warm up) do 1 heavy set of 6 reps,

then a moderate set of 12 reps then finish with a light set of
25 reps.

Frozen Shoulder Syndrome

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Broccoli helps fight Cancer and Hypertension

Mounting scientific studies have demonstrated that broccoli is one of nature's most valuable health-promoting foods. Science has proven time after time that Mother Nature is the best physician, and food is the best medicine.
A recent study, published in the American Journal of Hypertension,1 adds to the mounting scientific evidence about broccoli's noteworthy health benefits. A compound in broccoli, glucosinolate, produces a metabolite called sulforaphane that can significantly improve your blood pressure and kidney function, according to this latest animal study.
Sulforaphane is an organic sulfur compound found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, horseradish and arugula – but it's highest in broccoli sprouts.
Sulforaphane has been shown to have antidiabetic and antimicrobial properties, and also kills cancer stem cells, which slows tumor growth. Researchers believe eliminating cancer stem cells is key to controlling cancer.
This is something current chemotherapies cannot do, but food can! This latest research confirms broccoli's benefits go beyond cancer prevention.
In this 2012 study, hypertensive rats with impaired kidney function were given sulforaphane. The natural compound improved the rats' kidney function and lowered their blood pressure by normalizing a process called DNA methylation.

The Food You Eat Actually Changes Your DNA

What is DNA methylation?
Without getting too far adrift in biochemistry, DNA methylation2 is the process by which a methyl group (one carbon atom attached to three hydrogen atoms) is added to part of a DNA molecule. DNA methylation is a crucial part of normal cell function, allowing cells to "remember who they are and where they have been" and is important in regulating gene expression. DNA methylation also suppresses the genes for things you DON'T want, such as viral and other disease-related genes. Abnormal DNA methylation plays a crucial role in the development of nearly all types of cancer.
Broccoli sprouts have also been shown to inhibit Helicobacter pylori (the bacteria thought to cause gastric ulcers), protect your heart, and may offer protection against UV radiation damage to your skin when applied topically.3 The sulforaphane from broccoli plays a role in activating more than 200 different genes. And you don't have to consume a truckload of broccoli to reap its benefits.
In fact, a 2008 study published in PLoS One4 found that just four servings of broccoli per week could protect men from prostate cancer. One serving of broccoli is about two spears, so that's only 10 broccoli spears per week.
Researchers believe hypertension (and kidney dysfunction) may result from a disturbance in DNA methylation, and it may just be that sulforaphane improves blood pressure and kidney function by ameliorating this problem. So, any food that mediates DNA methylation is very helpful toward keeping you healthy – and broccoli is one of the BEST! But if you hate broccoli, don't fret. Broccoli sprouts aren't your ONLY salvation if you suffer from hypertension or kidney trouble.

Hypertension is a Stroke's Best Friend

You are generally diagnosed with pre-hypertension if your blood pressure is between 120/80 and 140/80, and anything above 140/80 is generally diagnosed as hypertension ("high blood pressure"). Hypertension is dangerous because it typically shows no warning signs or symptoms, and in its complete silence, can cause a stroke. Drugs advertised to "treat" hypertension will not change or in any way address the underlying cause of your hypertension. That's the bad news.
The good news is that more than 85 percent of those who have hypertension can normalize their blood pressure with some basic lifestyle modifications.

The REAL Cause of Most Hypertension May Surprise You

High blood pressure is typically related to your body developing resistance to insulin. As your insulin level rises, your blood pressure rises. Most physicians – even cardiologists – do not understand the crucial connection between blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and insulin.
Dr. Richard Johnson, author of the book The Fat Switch, masterfully ties together the connection between hypertension, kidney disease, obesity and diabetes in his previous book, The Sugar Fix, which is one of the best books written on this issue. Dr. Johnson is the Chief of the Kidney Disease and Hypertension Division at the University of Colorado, and I would encourage you to listen to his interview.
According to Dr. Johnson, there is one major factor linking ALL of the health problems listed above: high dietary fructose. While sugar (sucrose) is a major source of fructose, it may not be quite as bad as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
Americans on the whole are fructose addicts. HFCS is added to sodas, fruit juices, and nearly all processed foods lining supermarket shelves. HFCS in soda is a major source of calories in the typical American diet, so it's no wonder diabetes has risen to epidemic proportions. In fact, the use of high fructose corn syrup in the U.S. diet increased a staggering 10,673 percent between 1970 and 2005, according to a major USDA report.5 That statistic is no major surprise considering that, in addition to soda and sweetened beverages, processed foods account for more than 90 percent of the money Americans spend on their meals.
Unlike glucose, which is burned by fuel in every cell in your body, fructose, if not immediately consumed as fuel, is metabolized into fat by your liver, which can set the ball rolling toward insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. I highly recommend getting a fasting insulin level test, which must be ordered by your doctor. The level you want to strive for is about 2 to 3. If it's above 5, then you have a problem and you definitely need to get your insulin level down as you are at risk for cardiovascular problems.

The Fructose-Insulin Connection

What is the link between fructose and blood pressure? Fructose in your diet raises your blood pressure in three key ways:
  1. When your liver breaks down fructose, uric acid is produced as a byproduct. Uric acid also drives up your blood pressure by inhibiting nitric oxide in your blood vessels. Nitric oxide helps your blood vessels maintain their elasticity. When you consume large amounts of fructose, increasing uric acid levels drive up your blood pressure. If your uric acid levels are chronically elevated, you have an increased risk for hypertension, kidney disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Large amounts of fructose also place a great strain on your liver, which is responsible for most of the metabolic burden.
  2. As metabolic physician and nutrition expert Dr. Ron Rosedale has explained, insulin stores magnesium. If your insulin receptors are blunted and your cells grow resistant to insulin, you can't store magnesium, so it passes out of your body through urination. Magnesium relaxes muscles; so, when your magnesium level is low, your blood vessels will constrict rather than relax, which further raises your blood pressure.
  3. Insulin causes your body to retain sodium, which in turn causes fluid retention. Fluid retention results in elevated blood pressure and can ultimately lead to congestive heart failure.
If your blood pressure is elevated and you consume a lot of sugar – especially in the form of fructose (such as high fructose corn syrup) – lowering your blood pressure might be as simple as cutting all forms of sugar and grains out of your diet. Normalizing your blood glucose levels will normalize your insulin and bring those blood pressures down into a healthy range. I strongly advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day, or as low as 15 grams if you have high blood pressure, are overweight, or diabetic.
The fructose in whole fruits is generally healthy, unless you consume large amounts, and/or in the form of fruit juices or dried fruits. Still, if you have any of the health issues just mentioned and you're consuming large amounts of fruit, you would be wise to restrict your fruit intake to under 15 grams of fructose per day as well until your condition has normalized.

Tips for Achieving a Healthy Blood Pressure without Drugs

Besides drastically reducing or eliminating fructose consumption, there are some basic lifestyle modifications that will help optimize your blood pressure, improve your liver and kidney function, and reduce your overall risk for disease. Make sure you address each of the following:
  • Use exercise as a drug. Physical activity is by far one of the most potent "drug" there is, especially for increasing insulin sensitivity and normalizing blood glucose and blood pressure levels. We have developed a comprehensive fitness program that includes high intensity interval burst-type activity, stretching, and resistance training, which are all important components of a complete fitness program.
  • Follow a good nutrition plan that's right for your body. It should be rich in fresh, organic vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, raw organic dairy, eggs from pastured hens, grass-fed meats, healthy fats such as coconut oil and animal-based omega-3, and plenty of fresh pure water.
  • Optimize your vitamin D levels. Sunlight, and the vitamin D it causes your body to produce, has a normalizing effect on your blood pressure. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
  • The best source for vitamin D is direct sun exposure. But for many of us, this just isn't practical during the winter. The next best option to sunlight is the use of a safe indoor tanning device. If neither natural nor artificial sunlight is an option, then using oral vitamin D3 supplements is your best bet. If you wish to take an oral vitamin D3 supplement, follow my dose recommendations, which are based on the latest scientific research. The only way to know your optimal dose is to get your blood tested. Ideally, you'll want to maintain a vitamin D level of 50-70 ng/ml year-round.
    For an in-depth explanation of everything you need to know about vitamin D, please listen to my FREE one-hour vitamin D lecture.
  • Manage your stress. Stress puts the "tension" into hypertension! The long-term activation of your stress-response system can disrupt nearly all of your body's processes, and elevated blood pressure is one of many negative effects. Finding a way to deal with life's everyday stressors is a necessity for good health. My preferred tool is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
  • Get plenty of deep, restorative sleep each night.

WARNING to Those Taking Blood Pressure Medications

I rarely recommend the use of drugs, but in some cases it may be appropriate to keep taking them as a temporary measure until you are healthy enough to wean yourself off. If you have serious hypertension, this is one of those cases.
If you are on medication for high blood pressure, please do not discontinue it without consulting your healthcare provider. Stroke risk is a serious concern. As you gradually make the necessary lifestyle changes, your need for medication will lessen, and eventually you'll probably be able to discontinue the drug altogether. It takes determination and commitment, but it IS possible – I've seen it many times! So keep taking your medications as prescribed, working with your healthcare provider, and keep eating your broccoli.

What's the Secret Key to Eliminating Hypertension?

Humans are genetically programmed to seek energy-dense foods, which served us well for thousands of years, when food was scarce. However this is maladaptive in today's environment of readily available, cheap, high-calorie but nutritionally bankrupt foods.
The standard American diet has tripped our "fat switch," as Dr. Johnson discusses in his new book, which results not only in unwanted pounds but also in related health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disease. Once you understand how fructose-rich foods activate your body's "fat switch," you can finally say goodbye to many of your most nagging health problems.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Does Organic Food Really Improve your Health?

Is the organic food industry pulling a fast one on consumers? What many consumers do not know is the alarming rate of deception and fraud in the organic food industry.
The organic label has become widely popular in the last several years, because organic food providers know they can charge a premium for organic food. Unfortunately, thanks to FDA and USDA there's still plenty of legal wiggle-room for companies selling organic food to mislead you about the food you are buying, that is labeled as "organic."
Whereas organic foods were once truly raised naturally, on small farms with great integrity, today big business in search of wider profits has stepped in and tainted many of the principles upon which the organic label was founded. There's no doubt about it—organic food is Big Business. According to the Organic Trade Association, U.S. sales of organic food and beverages have grown from $1 billion in 1990 to $24.8 billion in 2009. 
How Consumers Can be Misled Regarding Organic Food Labeling
A "certified organic" product may not be 100% organic but may actually have a mix of organic and conventional ingredients.
In fact, under the law, you could manufacture "organic beer" with completely conventional hops, label it "USDA Certified Organic," and charge a premium price for it -- organic-food_womanhops are allowed to be non-organic under USDA Certified Organic products.
As Farm Wars puts it: "It's like putting gasoline in a glass of pure water and charging a premium for that water because it only contains 30 percent of the contaminant. 30 percent contamination is probably better than 100 percent, but would you want to drink it? The whole glass of water is poisoned due to the gasoline, yet the companies selling this product would like you to believe that because it contains pure water it is good." 
The Most Obvious Organic Food Rip-Offs
Some of the most obvious organic food rip-offs include organic milk and snacks.
  • Organic Snacks. And organic junk foods like cookies, crackers, ice cream, pizzas and potato chips are still some of the worst foods you can eat, regardless of whether or not the some of the ingredients in these “organic snacks” are organic. “Organic Snacks” can still contain harmful fats, and sugars which can raise your insulin levels and contribute to insulin resistance, obesity, and all of the other associated health problems.
  • Organic Milk. While organic milk may not have added antibiotics and hormones, organic milk is not raw milk, and thus not truly “organic”. Organic milk is  pasteurized, and therefore still associated with all of the same health problems as regular pasteurized milk, such as a reduction of useful bacteria and beneficial enzymes, destroying part of the vitamin C contained in raw milk, encouraging growth of harmful bacteria, and making the major part of the calcium contained in raw milk insoluble. Pasteurization also destroys 20 percent of the iodine present in raw milk, causes constipation and generally takes from the milk its most vital qualities.
Food companies are clearly cashing in by deceiving consumers into believing that you can eat cookies, crackers, ice cream, pizzas and potato chips without feeling guilty because they're "organic." The real crime here is the organic label means absolutely nothing here in terms of health, and can actual cause health issues.

Organic Food Labels Should be Clear

Organic food labeling should be clear. Companies should not be allowed to market their products as "made with organic ingredients," or "certified organic," if the entire product is not 100% organic. The label "Made with Organic Ingredients" can contain anywhere between 70 to 95 percent organic ingredients, while products labeled "Certified Organic" must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients.
When organic food or organic ingredients are mixed with non-organic ingredients, the food is no longer organic, and the FDA and USDA should not allow such mislabeling.

There are Many Different Organic Labels to be Aware of

It's important to realize that there are several different organic labels out there, but only one relates directly to foods: the USDA Organic seal. The USDA organic seal is your best assurance of organic quality. Growers and manufacturers of organic products bearing the USDA seal have to meet the strictest standards of any of the currently available organic labels.
  • Products labeled "100 % Organic" must contain only organically produced ingredients
  • Products labeled "Certified Organic" must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients
  • Products labeled with "Made with Organic Ingredients" can contain anywhere between 70 to 95 percent organic ingredients
The problem with the "Certified Organic" and "Made with Organic Ingredients" labels is obvious. Anywhere from five to 30 percent of the ingredients may be conventionally-grown, so you're still exposed to pesticide residues and other questionable ingredients. The "Made with Organic Ingredients" is clearly the most misused and misleading, as it allows for plenty of conventionally-produced ingredients. 

How to Get your Money's Worth with Organic Foods

In order to ensure you're actually getting your money's worth, you need to make sure the food you buy bears the "100% USDA Organic" label.  A "100% Organic" product cannot be irradiated, and cannot contain preservatives or flavor enhancing chemicals, nor traces of heavy metals or other contaminants in excess of tolerances set by the FDA. Products that are “Certified Organic" or "Made with Organic Ingredients" can contain 5-30% of potentially harmful ingredients, and can be grown with synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers.
So, in terms of organic food, there's really only one label that can provide you with any real measure of quality, and that's the "100% USDA Organic" label.

How to Find Healthy Food—100 Percent Organic or Not

  • Frequent farmer's markets and food co-ops where you can find fresh locally-grown foods that are in season.
  • Plant a food garden. By growing your own fruits, vegetables and herbs you can ensure that they are organic.
  • If you must shop in a supermarket, look for locally grown items, which are likely to be fresher than other foods, and have less need to have additional harmful ingredients added.
Bottom Line on How to Eat Organically
Always read the packaged food labels and don't just take the organic label at face value. Remember that the only label guaranteeing the food to be truly organic is the "100% USDA Organic" label.
Sources:
Farm Wars January 6, 2011
Dr. Mercola

Cancer Care and Exercise

By Dr. Mercola
Mounting evidence shows that exercise can not only help cancer patients get well but also help keep their cancer from recurring. Yet, few oncologists tell their patients to engage in exercise beyond their simple daily, normal activities.
And many cancer patients are reluctant to exercise, or even discuss it with their oncologist.
A recent study1 by the Mayo Clinic investigated exercise habits among cancer patients and their clinicians' roles in providing related counseling, and found that:
"Participants overwhelmingly cited usual daily activities as their source of 'exercise.' Symptoms, particularly treatment-related, discouraged participation, with fear of harm being a significant concern only among younger women. Exercise was recognized as important for physical and mental well-being, but seldom as a means to mitigate symptoms.
...Although respondents preferred to receive guidance from their oncologist, none reported receiving more than general encouragement to 'stay active.' A lack of direction was typically accepted as a sanction of their current activity levels. Participants appeared less receptive to guidance from ancillary health professionals."

An Important Conversation You'd Be Wise to Have With Your Oncologist

Fear that exercise might be harmful appears to be largely unfounded, though it's certainly understandable. It can be difficult to be enthusiastic about exercise if you struggle with nausea, fatigue, and other detrimental side effects from the treatment. However, it may be helpful to focus on the benefits you can reap from exercise. For example, research has shown that exercising during and after cancer treatment can:
  • Reduce your risk of dying from cancer
  • Reduce your risk of cancer recurrence
  • Boost energy and minimize the side effects of conventional cancer treatment (see additional listing below)
The fact that most oncologists overlook this vital aspect of their patients' care is highly unfortunate, especially considering how most patients defer to their recommendations. However, it's not unexpected. Conventional doctors are trained to prescribe drugs, not exercise.
Ideally, they'd prescribe exercise in the same manner drugs are prescribed – in specific "doses" and intervals. To do this properly, oncologists would be wise to develop relationships with personal trainers, and prescribe training sessions for their patients. If you have cancer, I would highly recommend discussing exercise with your oncologist, and/or work with a trained fitness professional who can help you devise a safe and effective regimen.

Exercise Needs to Be Part of Standard Cancer Care

A recent report issued by the British organization Macmillan Cancer Support2 argues that exercise really should be part of standard cancer care. It recommends that all patients getting cancer treatment should be told to engage in moderate-intensity exercise for two and a half hours every week, stating that the advice to rest and take it easy after treatment is an outdated view.
The organization offers loads of helpful information about the benefits of exercise for cancer patients on their website, and also has a number of videos on the subject, available on their YouTube channel.3

Professor Robert Thomas discusses the benefits of physical activity after cancer treatment.
 
According to Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support:4
"Cancer patients would be shocked if they knew just how much of a benefit physical activity could have on their recovery and long term health, in some cases reducing their chances of having to go through the grueling ordeal of treatment all over again..."
Indeed, the reduction in risk for recurrence is quite impressive. Previous research has shown that breast and colon cancer patients who exercise regularly have half the recurrence rate than non-exercisers.5 Macmillan Cancer Support also notes that exercise can help you to mitigate some of the common side effects of conventional cancer treatment, including:
Reduce fatigue and improve your energy levels Manage stress, anxiety, low mood or depression Improve bone health
Improve heart health (some chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy can cause heart problems later in life) Build muscle strength, relieve pain and improve range of movement Maintain a healthy weight
Sleep better Improve your appetite Prevent constipation

How Exercise Can Improve Cancer Outcome

This topic is near and dear to my heart, as I went to medical school in large part because I wanted to use exercise as a therapeutic tool to help people get healthier. I strongly believe that without fitness, it is virtually impossible to achieve optimal health. Lack of exercise can also severely hamper your recuperative efforts once disease has set in.
A 2005 study6 by researchers at Harvard Medical School found that breast cancer patients who exercise moderately for three to five hours a week cut their odds of dying from cancer by about half, compared to sedentary patients. In fact, any amount of weekly exercise increased a patient's odds of surviving breast cancer. This benefit remained constant regardless of whether women were diagnosed early on or after their cancer had spread.
Similarly, researchers investigating the impact of physical activity on cancer recurrence and survival in patients with stage III colon cancer found those who were more active cut their risk of recurrence in half.7
One of the primary reasons exercise works to lower your cancer risk is because it drives your insulin levels down, and controlling your insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks. It's also been suggested that apoptosis (programmed cell death) is triggered by exercise, causing cancer cells to die. This theory was demonstrated in two studies published in 2006. In one, mice who used running wheels developed fewer and smaller skin tumors.8 The second study found that exercise reduced the number and size of intestinal polyps.9
The studies also found that the number of tumors decreased along with body fat, which may be an additional factor. This is because exercise helps lower your estrogen levels, which explains why exercise appears to be particularly potent against breast cancer.
If you're male, be aware that athletes have lower levels of circulating testosterone than non-athletes, and similar to the association between estrogen levels and breast cancer in women, testosterone is known to influence the development of prostate cancer in men. Strength training may be of particular benefit. In one 2009 study10, men who regularly worked out with weights and had the highest muscle strength were between 30 percent and 40 percent less likely to lose their life to a deadly tumor.
Other research has shown:
  • Exercising moderately for six hours a week may reduce colorectal cancer mortality11
  • Three hours per week of moderate-intensity physical activity may lower risk of prostate cancer mortality by about 30 percent12, and lower the rate of disease progression by 57 percent13
Of course, exercise also improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood, whose job it is to neutralize pathogens throughout your body. The better these cells circulate, the more efficient your immune system is at locating and defending against viruses and diseases, including cancer, trying to attack your body.

Exercise Tips for Cancer Patients

I would strongly recommend you read up on my Peak Fitness program, which includes high-intensity exercises that can reduce your exercise time while actually improving your benefits.
Now, if you have cancer or any other chronic disease, you will of course need to tailor your exercise routine to your individual circumstances, taking into account your fitness level and current health. Often, you will be able to take part in a regular exercise program – one that involves a variety of exercises like strength training, core-building, stretching, aerobic and anaerobic – with very little changes necessary. However, at times you may find you need to exercise at a lower intensity, or for shorter durations.
Always listen to your body and if you feel you need a break, take time to rest. But even exercising for just a few minutes a day is better than not exercising at all, and you'll likely find that your stamina increases and you're able to complete more challenging workouts with each passing day. In the event you are suffering from a very weakened immune system, you may want to exercise at home instead of visiting a public gym. But remember that exercise will ultimately help to boost your immune system, so it's very important to continue with your program, even if you suffer from chronic illness or cancer.

Intense Workouts May Also Be Safe for Heart Patients

Another group of people often discouraged from exercise are those suffering with heart problems, but even here the mindset is starting to change. In an about-face in the way patients recovering from heart attacks or heart surgery are typically treated, a new study14 suggests high-intensity workouts may in fact be a safe choice. The study followed 4,800 Norwegian heart patients who did aerobics. Only three cardiac arrests occurred in over 170,000 hours of intensive exercise in these patients.
According to Reuters:15
"The number was too small to say for sure that high impact workouts are just as safe as moderate ones, but they show the overall risk of exercise bringing on cardiac arrest is fairly low, according to the authors. There is plenty of evidence that the harder people work out, the more benefit they gain in cardiovascular function, said Oeivind Rognmo, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim and lead author of the study..."
The participants completed both moderate- and high-intensity workouts, spending a combined total of 129,456 hours working out at moderate intensity and 46,364 hours at high intensity. Moderate intensity workouts included an hour of walking, or other exercises resulting in exertion at 60-70 percent of maximum heart rate. The high-intensity workouts consisted of four-minute-intervals (cycling, running, or cross country skiing), pushing their heart rate up to 85-95 percent of maximum, followed by four-minute-long rest periods.
During the more than 129,000 combined hours of moderate exercise, one person died from cardiac arrest. And during over 46,000 combined hours of high-intensity workouts, two suffered cardiac arrest during or within an hour of exercise, but both survived. According to the lead author:16
"We found that both types of intensities were associated with low event rates... I think (high-intensity training) should be considered for patients with coronary heart disease."

Remember to Listen to Your Body

One of the key principles I teach and believe in is to listen to your body. This applies no matter what your current state of health is. If your body will not allow you to exercise, either due to pain or worsening of your underlying condition, then you have no practical option but to honor your body's signals and exercise less.
Even though your body desperately needs the exercise to improve, you will only get worse if you violate your current limitations. So you may have to start with as little as just minutes a day. That's okay. As your body gradually improves so will your tolerance to exercise, and you'd be wise to do as much as your body will allow in order to achieve a high level of health.

Additional Strategies to Help Prevent Cancer

While exercise is an important facet of cancer prevention and treatment, it's certainly not the only one. I believe the vast majority of all cancers could be prevented by strictly applying the healthy lifestyle recommendations below:
  • Avoid sugar, especially fructose. All forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer. Fructose, however, is clearly one of the most harmful and should be avoided as much as possible.
  • Optimize your vitamin D. Vitamin D influences virtually every cell in your body and is one of nature's most potent cancer fighters. Vitamin D is actually able to enter cancer cells and trigger apoptosis (cell death). If you have cancer, your vitamin D level should be between 70 and 100 ng/ml. Vitamin D works synergistically with every cancer treatment I'm aware of, with no adverse effects. I suggest you try watching my one-hour free lecture on vitamin D to learn more.
  • Avoid charring your meats. Charcoal or flame broiled meat is linked with increased breast cancer risk. Acrylamide – a carcinogen created when starchy foods are baked, roasted or fried – has been found to increase cancer risk as well.
  • Avoid unfermented soy products. Unfermented soy is high in plant estrogens, or phytoestrogens, also known as isoflavones. In some studies, soy appears to work in concert with human estrogen to increase breast cell proliferation, which increases the chances for mutations and cancerous cells.
  • Improve your insulin receptor sensitivity. The best way to do this is by avoiding sugar and grains and making sure you are exercising, especially with Peak Fitness.
  • Maintain a healthy body weight. This will come naturally when you begin eating right for your nutritional type and exercising. It's important to lose excess body fat because fat produces estrogen.
  • Drink a quart of organic green vegetable juice daily. Please review my juicing instructions for more detailed information.
  • Get plenty of high quality animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. Omega-3 deficiency is a common underlying factor for cancer.
  • Curcumin. This is the active ingredient in turmeric and in high concentrations can be very useful adjunct in the treatment of cancer. For example, it has demonstrated major therapeutic potential in preventing breast cancer metastasis.17 It's important to know that curcumin is generally not absorbed that well, so I've provided several absorption tips here.
  • Avoid drinking alcohol, or at least limit your alcoholic drinks to one per day.
  • Avoid electromagnetic fields as much as possible. Even electric blankets can increase your cancer risk.
  • Avoid synthetic hormone replacement therapy, especially if you have risk factors for breast cancer. Breast cancer is an estrogen-related cancer, and according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer rates for women dropped in tandem with decreased use of hormone replacement therapy. (There are similar risks for younger women who use oral contraceptives. Birth control pills, which are also comprised of synthetic hormones, have been linked to cervical and breast cancers.)
  • If you are experiencing excessive menopausal symptoms, you may want to consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy instead, which uses hormones that are molecularly identical to the ones your body produces and do not wreak havoc on your system. This is a much safer alternative.
  • Avoid BPA, phthalates and other xenoestrogens. These are estrogen-like compounds that have been linked to increased breast cancer risk
  • Make sure you're not iodine deficient, as there's compelling evidence linking iodine deficiency with certain forms of cancer. Dr. David Brownstein18, author of the book Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can't Live Without It, is a proponent of iodine for breast cancer. It actually has potent anticancer properties and has been shown to cause cell death in breast and thyroid cancer cells.