1. Consume less calories.

There’s only one strategy that has been shown in experimental research to extend life span: calorie restriction. In rodents, fish, fruit flies, worms and monkeys — eating less food makes you live longer. Of course the key to food reduction is making sure what you do eat is loaded with nutrients. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces all sorts of metabolic stresses on the body. A good place to start: try reducing calories by 25 percent a day.

2. Eat Less Sugar.

Sugar depletes the body of important minerals needed for a smoothly functioning metabolism. It depresses the immune system, making your body less able to mount an attack on health-robbing pathogens. High-glycemic diets – high in sugar or high in processed and refined foods like bagels which convert to sugar almost instantly – have now been found to be associated with several types of cancer. High sugar diets raise triglycerides and increase the risk for metabolic syndrome, diabetes and heart disease, all conditions that can potentially shorten your life.

3. Worry Less About Cholesterol.

Cholesterol used to be considered a two-party system, the “good” and the “bad,” but it’s actually far more complex. LDL, so-called “bad” cholesterol, actually has a half dozen varieties — some of which are not dangerous at all. Concentrating on cholesterol alone diverts our attention from the larger picture when it comes to heart disease risk. The ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol (it should be under 5) is a far better predictor of heart disease than overall cholesterol. And basic lifestyle modifications (giving up cigarettes, exercising and lowering your weight) have a far more profound effect on mortality than your cholesterol ever did.

4. Quiet Your Mind.

Stress is a component of nearly every major disease. The stress hormone cortisol ages the brain by literally shrinking the hippocampus, which is essential to memory and thinking. High levels of cortisol also cause you to put on fat around the middle. The only thing that’s been consistently shown to bring down stress is meditation. Taking a few minutes a day to quiet your mind, calm your nervous system, lower your heart rate and oxygenate your brain with deep breathing can pay off in health dividends beyond your wildest dreams.

5. Eat omega 3’s.

The omega-3’s in Krill oil are among the most heart-healthy nutrients on the planet. Eating krill/fish is a big component of nearly every native diet that has been shown to be associated with lower rates of heart disease, the number one killer of Americans. Fish can help lower blood pressure, improve mood and feed your brain, things that are all associated with healthier (and longer) lives. Many health experts recommend at least ½ gram of fish oil a day from fish or supplements. You can meet the World Health Organization and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (WHO-NATO) recommendations by consuming two servings of fatty fish per week. Make sure it’s not rancid!!!

6. Make Connections.

The longest lived and healthiest people are those with connections to something outside themselves. For over two decades, research has shown that people with few social connections are far more likely to have poor mental health, poor physical health and to die prematurely. Social support networks extend life. Taking care of someone or something outside yourself is life-extending and health enriching. People who are connected to their extended families, or to their churches, synagogues or communities, or who spend some time volunteering and helping others rate themselves as happier, more satisfied and more fulfilled.

7. Check Your Levels.

Doctors don’t routinely check homocysteine levels, but they should. According to some experts, the lower your homocysteine, the better off you are. A level of 9umol/L or less is generally considered optimal. Those with dangerously high levels of homocysteine have a 50 percent greater risk of heart attack. And 40 percent of deaths due to stroke are associated with high homocysteine. The good news is it’s a cinch to bring your levels down by supplementing with three B vitamins — folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.

8. Exercise Regularly.

There’s no better anti-aging strategy in the world than daily exercise.
In some studies, it’s been found to be as effective against depression as an anti-depressant. It strengthens bones, keeps muscles toned, improves flexibility, increases circulation, lowers blood pressure and improves blood sugar control. And it keeps oxygen flowing to the brain, heart and lungs. And according to new research, regular exercise can not only increase the ability of the brain to function, but it can actually increase its size. The best anti-aging exercise program incorporates both cardiovascular and weight training to keep your muscles strong, toned and youthful, help control your weight and keep your metabolic rate humming.

9. Lower Inflammation.

When you stub your toe, chemicals in the body rush to the injured area, filling it with fluid and surrounding the injured areas with chemicals that can help fight infection. That’s inflammation — and it’s part of the healing process. Problem is, many of us are walking around in a chronic state of low-grade inflammation. That’s not good. The dark side of inflammation is that it can damage arteries, nerve cells and the immune system. Inflammation is a component of every degenerative disease including Alzheimer’s, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. What to do? Eat fruits, vegetables and fish! The phytochemicals and omegas found there serve as powerful, natural anti-inflammatories, lowering the risk for cancer, heart disease and other diseases of aging.

10. Sensible Sunlight.

Vitamin D is one of the most underrated vitamins in the world. Your body makes it, but only when you’re exposed to sunlight. Vitamin D enhances performance, fights cancer and builds bones. Older adults who don’t get enough are at increased risk for both poor physical performance and for disability. It’s possible — but difficult — to get enough vitamin D from food. We need the sun. For most Caucasians who are living where there is sunlight, exposing 10 percent of your body a couple times a week is enough to get your vitamin D requirement. Darker people or people who live in the northern latitudes need more. Don’t be sun phobic. Sensible sun could extend your life.

–
Brandon Horak-Health Educator, Strategist, Herbalist.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought this research on Cacao a.k.a. Chocolate, this would be a timely bit of information to keep in mind as you are buying those chocolate treat for your sweetie! Here’s to the love of chocolate and to the love of your life!

Cheers! Carrie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Theobroma Cacao a.k.a. Chocolate is one of the most popular foods on the planet! In it’s natural, hexane free, chemical and additive free state, it is an incredibly nutrient dense Superfood.
Who ever heard of 25,200 antioxidants per Tablespoon of chocolate powder!
You’ve never been able to get 25,200 ORAC units of Antioxidant power in a spoonful of ANYTHING.
The raw version contains 367% more antioxidants than the very best cooked version not to mention that Cacao is the most chemically complex food on the planet

Cacao Powder Contains:

• HIGH doses of Magnesium. Cacao is the richest food source of magnesium of any common food. Magnesium is the number one mineral deficiency in our culture!
• Tryptophan. An amino acid that supports better sleep, relaxation, and higher mental functioning
• PEA (Phenylethylamine) supports mood and feelings of well being
• Arginine an aphrodisiac-like amino acid believed by body builders to build muscle and aid in recovery.

The benefits of Cacao are outrageous.
Dr. Gabriel Cousins’ clinical research demonstrates Cacao is safe and healthy and can actually help to improve some blood sugar disorders.

Not to mention that;

“Cacao polyphenols have been scientifically shown to”:

1. Lower blood pressure
2. Lower vascular cell adhesion
3. Increase circulating Nitric Oxide
4.Decrease platelet aggregation
5. Decrease rates of death from cardiac mortality and all mortality in general
6. Improve insulin sensitivity
7. Decrease fasting insulin
8. Increase blood flow to the brain
9. Inhibit plasma lipid oxidation
10. Decrease chronic inflammation in the body and cardio-vascular syThat’s right! In our medical history, doctors used a Cacao (chocolate) extract to save heart attack victims due to it’s high theobromine content.

Cacao Quality
Not all Cacao is the same. The original, best and world renowned Cacao comes from Ecuador. It is named Arriba Nacional-Fino de Aroma. This heirloom variety is known around to be the best in flavor and aroma, as well as the highest amount of bio-available nutrients and minerals.
It is important to source from companies that sun dry their cacao and hand shell the cacao beans.

When I found this out I had to try it! Most of the Cacao on the market is the Hybridized strain of cacao. The CCN51 Variety.
I noticed it didn’t have that “vinegar smell” that other powders did, and that the power of the effect was unmatched.
That means, what ever you combine cacao with, it helps those substances “work better”. Cacao is like the “dump truck” that you load up with all your other foods and drive them into the system.

Check out the percentage of Cacao in the chocolate you purchase and go for the highest percentage of cacao you can find. Gradually work your taste buds to where you actually enjoy the taste of the dark chocolate and you avoid the milk chocolate variety. It is so wonderful to eat super foods you love and they love your body back!

Here’s to Love!

Carrie

New research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed a correlation between vitamin D levels and various stages of breast cancer development.

Vitamin D insufficiency common among breast cancer survivors

Vitamin D influences pathways related to cancer development, but little is currently known about vitamin D status in breast cancer survivors. Recent data taken from the Health, Eating, Activity and Lifestyle (HEAL) study showed a correlation between vitamin D status and breast cancer survivors. Vitamin D concentrations from 790 female breast cancer survivors were obtained and vitamin D insufficiency was found in 597 individuals – or 75% of participants. Average vitamin D concentrations were even lower among African American and Hispanic women.

Controlling for various factors such as body mass index (BMI), race/ethnicity, geography, season, physical activity, diet, and cancer treatments showed that stage of disease independently predicted vitamin D levels.

In this group of breast cancer survivors the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency was abnormally high. Based on these results, health professionals and clinicians should consider monitoring vitamin D status in breast cancer patients in addition to administering appropriate cancer treatments.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 88, No. 1, 133-139, July 2008
   Essentials of
Health Summary

Every year for the past 9 years, Cinco De Mayo has taken on a special meaning for me.
My mother passed away on this day after a 5 month bout with cancer. It seems very fitting that she would pick this day for her transition. She had visited Mexico City many times with her parents who had business partners there. She loved the people and culture and even the food! My mother lived in Mexico City with this family for almost a year when she was in her teens.
It is time to celebrate new birth in the spring time of the year. So Cinco De Mayo reminds me to celebrate my mother’s life and the joy she lived and all the joy she brought others in her very special way. Rather than morn her loss, I always have a plan to be a celebration of her life instead. She always loved a great party! Life is to be lived and celebrated every minute of every day!
I am happy and grateful she was my Mom and happy and grateful for all the things she taught me and all the gifts she gave me through my life and even now!
So Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Scientists Find ‘Master’ Breast Cancer Gene
by Marlowe Hood
Wed Mar  12, 2:13 PM ET

Geneticists have identified a super gene which causes  breast cancer to metastasise, the deadly process by which the disease spreads  to other organs, according to a study released Wednesday.  Described by the  US researchers as a “master regulator,” the SATB1 gene alters the behaviour  of at least 1,000 other genes within tumour cells, said the study, published  in the British journal Nature.  When over-activated it makes cancer cells  proliferate, and when neutralised the gene stops the cells from dividing and  migrating, the study reported.

“SATB1 will be a remarkable target for  cancer therapy,” lead scientist Termumi Kohwi-Shigematsu of the Lawrence  Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, told AFP.  The  findings could not only pave the way to diagnostic tools that show the  likelihood of the disease spreading, she said, but to drugs that could prevent or treat metastasis in breast cancer as well.

Up to now, it was  impossible to predict whether cancer cells in a tumour were destined to  invade neighboring tissue, travel through the blood system and form secondary  tumours elsewhere in the body.  But the SATB1 protein is just such a marker. A  tumour in which it is activated “is destined to metastasise,” said  Kohwi-Shigematsu. Metastasis is the overwhelming cause of death in patients  with solid tumours. Less than 10 percent of women with metastatic breast  cancer survive beyond a decade, and just over a quarter make it past  five years.

SATB1’s normal role in organising other genes — especially  related to T-cells that play a critical role in the immune system — was  already well known, thanks in part to pioneering research by  Kohwi-Shigematsu
in the 1990s. The gene had also been identified in breast  tumours. But the new study is the first to establish that “SATB1 is both necessary and sufficient for breast cancer cells to become  metastatic,”she said.

In experiments on mice, Kohwi-Shigematsu and  colleagues “knocked down”, or deactivated, the SATB1 gene by removing certain  RNAs in the tumour cells upon which the gene depends for  multiplying.
Messenger RNAs are tiny strings of nucleotides — the basic  building blocks of DNA — that ferry the blueprints for constructing  proteins from DNA genes to the cell’s ribosomes, the factories where  proteins
are made.

The results, compared to control mice also infected  with human metastatic breast cancer cells, were dramatic. Between 125 and  160 metastatic nodules formed in each lung of all the control mice. But in  the rodents in which SATB1 was suppressed, the number was between zero and five.  Deliberately over-expressing the gene had the opposite effect,  causing the cancer cells to rapidly reproduce and run amok.

Translating  the study’s findings into an effective treatment for cancer would require  targeting only the tumours in which the SATB1 gene has become overly active. A drug that blocked the gene throughout the body would compromise its critical — and normal — role in activating the immune  system.

Kohwi-Shigematsu is working on a means for delivering an inhibitor via microscopic nanocapsules, and said trials on humans could start within a couple of years. Prognostic tools could be available within a  year. Kohwi-Shigematsu’s research is part of a new wave of cancer  studies focusing on the genetic origins of the disease.

Scientists have  come to realise, she said, that there are gene expression patterns called  prognosis signatures, genetic profiles found across primary tumours that have  metastatic potential.  “And now we have identified the protein master regulator for metastatis,” she said. But the most basic question remains  to be answered, she added. “What turns SATB1 on during the course of breast  cancer progression? We just
don’t know.”

Copyright  © 2008 Agence France Presse.