Grains for Breakfast Help Blood Sugar and Mind

The most important meal of the day just got more important. If you start your day with whole grains, especially barley, you'll help keep your blood sugar in check after every meal throughout the day, claims a Swedish study. Additionally, it'll help your concentration and improve your memory.

The study's author credits this positive effect on whole grains having a low glycemic index (GI), which allows them to break down slowly, and indigestible carbohydrate, such as fiber, which ferment in the large intestine. The lower the GI and higher the indigestible carbohydrate content, the greater the impact on regulating blood sugar. The low GI is credited for helping promote better mental acuity.

Eating whole grains for breakfast will particularly help people who have great variations in blood sugar levels, which puts them at great risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

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Study Confirms Organic Food Really is Healthier

For years the organic food industry has been touting that their version is more nutritious than conventionally produced food, but they didn't have the science to back it. Now a European Union study is confirming it's true.

In fact, the large four-year investigation found that organic fruits and vegetables have about 40 percent more antioxidants compared to non-organic produce. Additionally, it found that milk from organic cattle contains 50 to 80 percent more antioxidants and healthy fatty acids than conventionally produced milk.

This study comes on the heals of another investigation that found that organic tomatoes have 79 to 97 percent more flavonoids, which are antioxidants linked to reducing the rates of cardiovascular disease, some forms of cancer and dementia.

Increasing concern over produce exposed to pesticides and chemical fertilizers as well as dairy and meat pumped with hormones and antibiotics has helped fuel the growing organic market, which is seeing a 20 percent growth each year. The new research gives consumers hungry for untainted food another reason to pay a premium for eating organic.

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Super Veggie May Protect Against Skin Cancer

Fruit extracts from blueberries, cranberries, Goji berries and pomegranates are now common ingredients in skincare products. However, it's only a matter of time when a broccoli extract will be making its topical debut as a powerful weapon against skin cancer.

A study published earlier this week found that when research participants covered their skin with an extract from sprouted broccoli seeds, called sulforaphane, and then were exposed to ultraviolet radiation, the resulting redness and inflammation was reduced by 37 percent. This reduction would subsequently decrease the risk of skin cancer.

Researchers noted that broccoli extract isn't a sunscreen, which stops UV radiation from entering the skin. Instead, the extract works at the cellular level of the skin to boost enzymes that protect against radiation. The protective effect isn't instant like applied sunscreen, but it can last days after the extract has been applied.

While broccoli extract won't give people a free pass for excess sun exposure, it will definitely be an additional safeguard in minimizing UV radiation damage.

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Recipe for Healthy Lips

I'll admit it. I'm one of those woman who won't leave home without makeup on my face. The only time you won't see me wearing lipstick is after a meal when it all disappears. Where does it go? According to Snapple fact #53, the average woman consumes six pounds of lipstick in her lifetime.

More troubling are the recent claims that some brand-name lipsticks contain potentially dangerous levels of lead--linked to numerous health and reproductive problems.

Looking for a sure way to keep the lead out of your lip color? Try making your own lip gloss in the kitchen. The National Honey Board has a delicious recipe for a cranberry-colored, moisture-rich gloss:

Cranberry Lip Gloss Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
10 fresh cranberries
1 teaspoon honey
1 drop vitamin E oil

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for two minutes or until the mixture just begins to boil. (Bowl may also be heated in a pan of water on a stove top). Stir well and gently crush the berries. Cool mixture for five minutes and then strain through a fine sieve to remove all the fruit pieces. Stir again and set aside to cool completely. When cool, transfer into a small portable plastic container or tin. Apply a small amount onto your lips.


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Lose the Shoes for a Healthier Home

Indoor air quality may have an even greater impact on your health than the air you breath outside. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American home is two to five times more polluted than the air outside, and sometimes even more. To make matters worse, Americans spend 90 percent of their time inside.

Fortunately, simply removing your shoes when entering your home can help make it a healthier place to live, says the EPA. This precaution will eliminate tracking in dirt, dust, mold, fertilizers, pesticides and other toxins. Otherwise, exposure to these contaminants can exacerbate allergies, asthma and chemical sensitivities.

It may be impossible to get everyone to comply with the no-shoe rule so keep a heavy-duty welcome mat at the front door. Wiping shoes thoroughly can also cut down on the contaminants brought into the home.

Green Tea Better than Drug for Fighting Diabetes

Diabetics looking for a safer and more natural alternative to the controversial diabetes drug Avandia may be able to find it in a cup of green tea. Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute found that the antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) in green tea helped moderately diabetic mice tolerate sugar and produce insulin. However, the mice with severe diabetes did not benefit as much from EGCG.

While green tea was found to be less potent than Avandia, the study found that it produces similar benefits, but without any side effects. Additionally, researchers examined the mice's pancreases at the end of the study and discovered that the compound EGCG preserved insulin-producing tissue and limited damage that could worsen diabetes.

The findings suggest that green tea extract may also help prevent and treat diabetes in humans.

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The Troubling Rise of Precocious Puberty

The other night over dinner with girlfriends one of them asked me why I give my two-year-old daughter milk and meat free of hormones--usually organic. One of the reasons I mentioned was that it might help prevent the start of early puberty. Suddenly, her mouth dropped open, and she explained that her neighbor recently noticed that her four-year-old daughter was growing pubic hair and developing breasts.

Sadly, this early bloomer is not alone. In fact, five percent of white girls and 15.4% of African-American girls between seven and eight years old are beginning to develop breasts. The onset of precocious puberty is mostly an issue for girls, especially minorities.

Young American girls today are having their childhoods significantly shortened compared to their mothers and grandmothers decades earlier. This disturbing trend has troubling consequences, including raising the risk of mental health problems and self-destructive behavior. It also significantly increases the risk of breast cancer. To better understand this phenomenon and help parents and society better protect our daughters, the Breast Cancer Fund recently commissioned a comprehensive review gathering all the literature available on the subject.

It found that girls who have their first period before the age of 12 increased their risk of breast cancer by 50 percent compared to those who get it at age 16. While the link is not completely understood, it is known that the younger a girl enters puberty the greater her exposure to estrogen, which is associated with breast cancer risk.

"For every year we could delay a girl's first menstrual period, we could prevent thousands of breast cancers," says the report's author Dr. Sandra Steingraber, a biologist and cancer survivor.

The report also cited other possible contributing factors of early puberty, including: obesity; endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in certain plastics, shampoos, body lotions and cleaning products; psychosocial stress, such as family dysfunction; formula feeding; physical inactivity; and too much television.

To help prevent early puberty, Steingraber recommends that parents combat obesity in their children, pregnant woman eliminate exposures to toxic chemicals, and everyone work together to eliminate endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A and phthalates. She also encourages reducing children's exposure to hormonally active residues of pesticide as well as animal hormones and antibiotics.

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Health Expert Claims Cod Liver Oil is #1 Superfood

The best thing Americans can do for their health is to take cod liver oil, says health enthusiast and New York Time's best-selling author Jordan Rubin. Rubin best known for his book, The Maker's Diet,spoke at several health seminars in the suburbs of Detroit, Mich. over the weekend promoting his upcoming book release, Perfect Weight America: Change Your Diet. Change Your Life. Change Your World.

Of all the tips Rubin shared with the hundreds who flocked to hear his message of health and hope--as he called it--taking old fashion cod liver oil was the most important addition everyone should make to their diets. He claims it's one of the best ways to prevent disease and promote better health.

While regular fish oil is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, Rubin says that cod liver oil is better because it also contains vitamin A and D. Recent research is finding that vitamin D is important for preventing certain cancers, osteoporosis and other diseases as well as nourishing skin and hair.

While the greatest source of vitamin D is from the sun, many people are deficient in it because of using sunblock, which inhibits the body from manufacturing this vital nutrient. Additionally, people living in cooler climates or who have cloudy winters tend have little chance of catching the ultraviolet rays.

Not all health experts agree that cod liver oil is necessary year round. Dr. Joseph Mercola of The Optimal Wellness Center near Chicago recommends that people should take regular fish oil for the healthy essential fatty acids in the warmer months and then switch to cod liver oil from fall through late spring. That way they do not get too much of a good thing in vitamin D.

Rubin has his entire family taking cod liver oil. He says his wife safely took it throughout her pregnancy with their son. However, some doctors caution pregnant woman to monitor their overall intake of vitamin A if they are taking cod liver oil.

By ten weeks old, Rubin's son also began taking his dad's favorite health elixir. He doesn't even mind the taste, says Rubin.

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Super Immunity Booster Fights Effects of Physical Stress

An antioxidant found naturally in many fruits and vegetables has proven to reduce illness and mental fatigue in physically stressed people, claims a recent study from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. Quercetin--a flavonoid in apples, red grapes, green tea, onions, broccoli and green leafy vegetables--is the first plant compound proven in a controlled clinical trial to reduce susceptibility to viral illnesses.

The study took 40 cyclists and had them train to the point of exhaustion over the course of five weeks. Half were give a placebo while the rest were given 1,000 milligrams of quercetin a day (the average U.S. citizen consumes 25-50 milligrams a day through diet). While physical stress from extreme exercise weakens the immune system, only five percent of the participants taking quercetin reported any sickness compared to almost half of the cyclists taking the placebo. No adverse side effects were found from taking quercetin.

With such impressive results, researchers are now setting their sights to find out if quercetin can help the average person combat everyday stress.

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Major Study Links Food Additives to Hyperactivity

Researchers at the University of Southampton in Great Britain have confirmed what many parents have already suspected: some food additives can cause significant behavior changes in children.

Specifically, the recent study examined the effects of artificial food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate. Researchers concluded that the additives definitely influenced some of the young participants' behavior, causing notable increase in hyperactivity.

Previous studies have suggested that some children with behavioral disorders may benefit from the removal of food additives. However, this study is the first to provide a clear demonstration that food colorings mixed with sodium benzoate can adversely influence children's behavior.

Psychology professor Jim Stevenson, who led the research, warns parents that simply taking additives out of a child's diet isn't going to prevent all hyperactive disorders. "We know that many other influences are at work, but this at least is one a child can avoid."

Source: University of Southampton

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Rancid Fish Oil More Harmful Than Healthful

If you take fish oil supplements for the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, you better make sure they're fresh or you may be doing your body more harm than good. Fish oil can quickly go rancid, which can cause free radicals in your body.

To avoid taking oxidized fish oil, buy a high-quality oil and check the expiration date on the bottle. Even if the oil has not expired, try tasting the encapsulated oil either by chewing it or simply stick a needle into the gel cap to take a small taste. If it's rancid, you'll know it.

If the oil tastes fresh, then store it in a refrigerator. You should repeat the taste test almost weekly until the bottle is empty to ensure freshness.

Research has found that the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish oil promote cardiovascular health, protect against stoke and heart attack, improve brain function, and help fight certain cancers, inflammation and depression.

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Top 10 Essential Oils for Natural First Aid

Science has begun validating the time-tested value of essential oils to heal our aches and pains. They are an effective, natural first aid remedy when absorbed through the skin.

Below is a list of the top ten essential oils that you can massage on for healing, but make sure to always dilute them in a carrier oil, such as almond or olive. A good formula to use on the average person is two ounces of a carrier oil with 10 to 12 drops of essential oil.

Essential oils for healing:

Cypress- heavy menstruation, sore throat, varicose veins.

German chamomile- bruises, inflammation, pain, sprains, tension.

Eucalyptus- chickenpox, colds, congestion, flu, herpes, inflammation, shingles.

Lavender- acne, bee stings, bruises, headaches, insect bites, rash, sprains, sunburn.

Lemon- detoxification, digestive tonic, lymphatic congestion, sore throat.

Marjoram- insomnia, menstrual cramps, sore muscles.

Rose- digestive and liver tonic, menstrual aid, grief, vascular tonic.

Rosemary- circulation, constipation, fatigue, hangover, headaches, muscle aches.

Spearmint- fatigue, fever, headaches, indigestion, nausea, sinusitis, poison ivy.

Tea Tree- acne, athlete's foot, burns, cold sores, insect bites, warts.

Source: Taste for Life

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Organic Produce Has More Cancer Fighting Power

Cancer prevention is the latest reason to start eating organic. Recent studies suggest that in addition to containing more nutrients, organic produce also offer 30 times more of a cancer-fighting plant compound called salvesterols.

This recently identified class of natural anticancer chemicals becomes activated inside human cancer cells, but is harmless to the rest of the body. Because cancer cells are continually formed in the human body, but usually destroyed before becoming malignant, researchers suggest that salvesterols in the diet may serve as a mechanism for ongoing cancer prevention.

The best natural sources for salvestrols include artichokes, cranberries, grapes, herbs, olives, oranges, strawberries and tangerines.

Salvesterols help plants defend themselves from pathogens, but pesticide use inhibits the production of this compound. Therefore, choose the organic version whenever possible.

Source: HerbClip

Healthy Foods for Beautiful Smiles

Munching on teeth-friendly foods in addition to regular brushing and flossing can help make your smile looks its best. While sugary foods can cause decay, cranberries, carrots and yogurt can actually help prevent it.

Cranberries can also provide a temporary shield over teeth to prevent stains from drinking coffee, cola and wine as well as from eating blueberries and other dark pigmented foods.

Citrus foods such as limes, lemons, and oranges contain vitamin C that is good for gums as well as combating bacteria. Additionally, grapefruit has been found to help reduce bleeding from gingivitis.

Lastly, don't forget to sip on some antioxidant-filled green tea to kill both the bacteria that causes decay and bad breath.

Source: Alternative Medicine