Dangers of soy

The poster bean for the vegetarian movement is under scrutiny these days. It turns those virtuous tofu hotdogs and skinny soya latte are not exactly blessed with an aura of health.

Organic vs. GM

There are two crucial distinctions to be made about soy when considering using it as a food source First, is it organic soy or genetically modified soy?In North America between 75 percent to 89 percent of the soy beans grown are genetically modified (GM) soy. The whole debate over GMO foods is becoming controversial as more scientists report their findings of toxicity and cancer-promoting properties in GM food products on the market.In autumn of 2005, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation held an international symposium featuring scientists whose research had raised concerns about the health dangers of genetically modified foods. There is enough concern that many European countries are looking at a ban and even Africa has started refusing GMO products.

Hard to avoid

You may think you are actively avoiding soy by avoiding tofu and other soy products but GM soy is present in the majority of processed foods, about 60 percent -- usually as filler or oil. So it’s being unknowingly consumed by millions every day. Since neither Canada nor the U.S. requires any safety testing on GM food products, so the consumer is essentially being treated as a guinea pig.

One bad, one good

The second crucial question is whether the soy product is fermented or unfermented. Unfermented soy products, such as soy milk, tofu, soy burgers, soy nuts, soy formula, soy chips and soy ice cream - contain high levels of phytic acid or phytates which block the absorption of essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, and especially zinc in the intestinal tract. Unfermented soy also contains trypsin inhibitors and hemaglutinin that stunt human growth.

Health risks

According to an article in The Guardian , researchers have discovered that consuming unfermented soy may be linked to reduced male fertility, increased cancer risk, damaged brain function, developmental abnormalities in infants, and early onset of puberty. The Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit nutrition research organization, supports these findings with other scientific studies detailing the health dangers of unfermented soy.

Dangers for babies

The most serious problem with soy may be its use in infant formulas. Most of the fears concerning soy formula are around the high level of estrogens. Professor Richard Sharpe, head of the Medical Research Council's human reproductive sciences unit at Edinburgh University, recently completed studies on soya milk and testosterone levels and found a link between the amount of soy consumed and lower hormone levels. "Soya formula milk is a [recent] western invention. There is not the historical evidence to show it is safe," said Dr. Sharpe.

The healthy alternative

Fermented soy products, on the other hand, ARE good for us in moderation. These include miso, tempeh, natto and tamari sauce. The fermentation process removes the phytates, trypsin inhibitors and heaglutinin. Fermented soy foods have long been a staple in Asian diets and are generally beneficial when combined with other foods such as rice, sea foods, fish broth, organ meats and fermented vegetables. The traditional Asian diet contributes to lower levels of cancer, heart disease, and increased bone density.

Moderation is important

While there are benefits to organic fermented soy moderation is recommended. As explained by Dr. Marina Zelenovic, a nutrition consultant, North American soil is full of aluminum, and soybeans has the unique ability (for a plant) to uptake it from the soil and pass it on to the consumer where it is toxic to brain function and the kidneys.

Bach Flower Remedies to the rescue

The essence of flowers can do more just add a decorative touch, according to Dr. Edward Bach.
When we visit a sick friend or relative in the hospital, our first impulse is to bring flowers. At some level, we sense that there's something about fresh flowers that will help the healing process. Bach Flower Remedies are a popular alternative medicine based on the healing powers of flowers.

Pioneer in alternative treatments

Dr. Edward Bach, a British physician, become convinced that some flowers have such healing powers that their "essence" should be ingested by patients. He created Bach Flower Remedies, which have becomeBach began a distinguished career in medicine in 1919, when he was appointed Casualty Medical Officer for the University College Hospital in London, supervising the treatment of hundreds of soldiers wounded in World War I. It was there that he observed the effects of stress and trauma in relationship to the recovery potential of his patients. Surgery and standard medical practice did not hold all the answers to healing, leading him to a great interest in the field of immunology. Over time he began to diagnose and treat patients according to their mental and emotional aspects, not just their external physical symptoms.In 1930, Bach abandoned his lucrative London practice and began to treat patients in the small villages of Wales and England as he wandered the countryside studying native plants. He became convinced that disease of the body is due not primarily to physical causes, but that moods and states of mind can also undermine the health of bodily organs and tissues.

Mind, body and spirit

Nowadays, there is an entire new field of medicine called psychoneuroimmunology that is based on this concept. But Bach's thinking went further. Through experimentation and observation, he came to believe that flowering plants have high vibrations that are able to raise the lowered vibrations of humans. In the book, The Secret Life of Plants (Avon, 1973), Bach is quoted as saying that such flower based herbal remedies "draw down spiritual power, which cleanses mind and body, and heals".Before he died in 1936, Bach had isolated 38 flowering plants that he felt had positive energy to neutralize specific negative emotions. To obtain the flower essences, he picked the best specimens grown in sunlight and steeped them individually in bowls of water under the heat and light of the afternoon sun. The result of this process is the 'mother tincture' which is further diluted with brandy to preserve the essence. Any Bach flower remedy is taken in liquid form as a few drops placed under the tongue.

Thirty-eight emotions

According to the Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine (Stoddard, 1996), each of the 38 remedies counters a specific state of mind by "introducing new information into the emotional and mental fields of the individual". For example the Wild Rose remedy is for someone feeling apathetic and resigned, while the Aspen remedy is for someone feeling apprehension for no known reason. A list of each remedy with the corresponding emotional state is available at the Bach Centre. There are now more than 25,000 practitioners of Bach flower remedies worldwide, serving hundreds of thousands of clients. Virtually no reliable clinical studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of the remedies until recently.

Rescue me now

On July 2, 2007, the Medical News Today reported the results of a study on the effectiveness of a popular Bach Flower preparation called Rescue Remedy. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Miami School of Nursing in conjunction with the Sirkin Creative Living Center. Using a sample of 111 individuals aged 18 to 49, the study was a double-blind clinical trial comparing a standard dose of Rescue Remedy against a placebo of identical appearance. A standard test to evaluate anxiety was administered before and after the dosage. The result was that Rescue Remedy was found to be "an effective over-the-counter stress reliever with a comparable effect to traditional pharmaceutical drugs yet without any of the known adverse side effects, including addiction."Bach Flower Remedies are sold at many health food stores as well as pharmacies.

Lack of time, offputting PE lessons, social pressure ... why women face a fitness crisis

· About 80% do too little exercise, report says

· Girls 'encouraged to be thin rather than fit'

Women's fitness is in crisis in the UK, with fewer than one in five doing enough exercise to be healthy, a report will reveal today, prompting Gordon Brown to call for a cultural change to transform girls' attitudes to sport.
Social pressures which portray sport as unfeminine and encourage girls to be thin rather than fit are an important barrier preventing girls and women from taking part in exercise, according to the study by the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation.
Negative experiences of sport in school and low body confidence also put women off exercise, the research found.

The prime minister, in a recorded address at the report's launch today, will warn of a "critical under-representation of women and girls in sport" at all levels, and will urge "a cultural change that allows girls to see sport and physical activity as aspirational".
"Sport needs to change so that it becomes as much a place for women and girls as it is for men and boys," he will say, telling sports bodies to "work harder to understand women's lives".
A failure to reverse the decline in women's fitness will have serious health implications, ranging from obesity and heart disease to depression and low self-esteem, Brown, a former rugby player and keen sports fan, will tell a conference on women's sport, Raising the Game, at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.

The prime minister will also attack the "critical lack of investment and profile" at the elite end of women's sport, with no professionally paid women in team sport in the UK.
Today's report, It's Time, analysed the latest studies of sports participation, one involving 350,000 people, and commissioned original research to identify the state of women's fitness in Britain.
It found that 80% of women are doing too little exercise to benefit their health. Government guidelines say five 30-minute sessions of moderate activity a week are needed to produce health benefits, with sports bodies charged with achieving three of the five.
While the country as a whole is failing to meet the targets, women do worse than men, particularly in some age groups. Among 16- to 24-year-olds, for example, women are half as active as men, and exercise levels are even worse for low income and minority ethnic women.
The situation is worsening, according to the study. If trends continue, there will be one million fewer women exercising by 2017.

The foundation's chief executive, Sue Tibballs, said: "To put the challenge into perspective, there has been almost no change in the level of women's physical activity in the UK for the past 20 years. The forecasts show that the situation is getting worse, which points to a real crisis in women's sport and fitness."
The foundation argues that the longer-term consequences of the crisis in activity among women and girls will include greater obesity levels, physical and mental health issues and increased crime and social problems over the next 10 years unless urgent action is taken.
It calls for a "national, joined-up strategy" to increase women's participation in sport, involving sport, health and education government departments, as well as business and the media. While time, money and people to be active with all play a part in limiting women's access to sport, "very specific" issues involving the body image and confidence of women and girls must be recognised and addressed, says the study.
Girls and women feel "at best, pretty ambivalent about sport," Tibballs said.
"When you think that the highest profile women in sport are the Wags, is it so surprising that girls have these attitudes? Being active and sporty is not an aspirational place for young women to be."

The report finds that sport is still seen by some as "unfeminine", with thinness often coming above healthiness in female priorities. A quarter of women surveyed for the study agreed with the statement "I hate the way I look when I exercise or play sport" and a third of 18- to 24-year-olds and nearly half of 25- to 34-year-olds feel under greater pressure to be thin than to be healthy.
School PE lessons also appear to have far-reaching negative consequences: 23% of women say PE put them off sport and two in five girls feel self-conscious about their bodies in PE lessons.
The aim should be to encourage women to be healthy rather than thin, Tibballs said. "This is not about body size, but through being active you can have a positive impact on those body image issues that are so crippling to girls' self-esteem.
"Charging around and getting sweaty and hot and feeling good about it is a very liberating thing for women to do in these body-conscious times."
While urging the government to develop a national strategy, the foundation proposes changes including a focus on the baby boomer generation of women - ensuring they keep active as they age - and on current schoolgirls in an effort to ensure they stay active after leaving school.
It also recommends help for women at other life stages, such as new motherhood. Proposals include free daytime membership of gyms and group buggy pushes led by fitness trainers for mothers of small babies.

The report also calls for better understanding of how women participate in sport and exercise, noting that twice as many men play competitive sports as women and almost six in 10 women prefer to exercise than to play sport.

Follow this eat-right plan to fortify your immune system

When cold and flu season comes around, many people head to their medicine cabinets in search of relief. But a trip to the kitchen may be the smarter move.

The nutrients that lend fruits and vegetables their colors serve as antioxidants that promote immune function.

"Nutrition plays an important part in maintaining immune function," explains George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D., associate director of the division of nutrition at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. "Insufficiency in one or more essential nutrients may prevent the immune system from functioning at its peak."
The immune system consists of a finely orchestrated, complex collection of tissues and cells that protect your body from allergens, bacteria, viruses, and other potentially harmful organisms, collectively known as antigens. Skin and the membranes that line entrances to the body -- nasal passages, eyes, and respiratory and digestive tracts -- are the first line of defense, providing a physical barrier against invaders. Internally, specialized white blood cells fight antigens that make it past the skin: T-lymphocytes continuously patrol the body in search of antigens; B-lymphocytes manufacture antibodies, special blood proteins that neutralize or destroy germs; and neutrophils and macrophages scavenge antigens from the blood for delivery to the lymphatic system, which disposes of them. To work smoothly, these cells depend on you keeping your body in top shape.
"There's no question the immune system fundamentally is influenced by overall health -- and a balanced diet is key," says David Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Yale Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Connecticut. "Not only are essential nutrients critical for the production and maintenance of key germ-fighting cells in the immune system, but a balanced diet also has a strong effect on vascular function, and the immune system is dependent on blood flow," Katz says. The bloodstream is the route along which infection-fighting cells travel throughout the body to where they're needed.
Given the complexity of the immune system, there isn't one specific food that will magically make you repel cold germs and flu viruses. Instead, eating a healthful, balanced diet is your best investment in immunity.CookingLight.com: How nutritional remedies can help manage cold symptoms

Fill your plate with fruits and vegetables
The vitamins (especially A and C) and the phytochemicals that lend fruits and vegetables their colors serve as antioxidants that promote immune function, says Charles Stephensen, Ph.D., a research scientist with the usda's Western Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of California, Davis. "These nutrients help ensure that lymphocytes can divide and reproduce properly in response to a virus and that the neutrophils and macrophages that engulf and kill invading bacteria can do their job," Stephensen says.
What to do: Eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. To maximize the variety of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, aim to consume two different colors of vegetables and fruits with each meal, Blackburn suggests. "Cover two-thirds of your plate with vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and beans, and one-third with lean protein," he says.

Choose lean protein sources
The amino acids that are found in protein form the building blocks of all the body's cells -- including the cells that power your immune system. If you don't consume enough protein, you'll manufacture fewer white blood cells to combat antigens. "One of the ways immune cells fight against pathogens is by increasing their numbers," says Simin Nikbin Meydani, Ph.D., associate director of the Jean Mayer Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. "To increase immune cell proliferation, you need protein and amino acids."
What to do: Consume 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per kilogram (kg) of your body weight. That means if you weigh 130 pounds, which equals about 59kg, consume at least 47 grams of protein per day. But remember that quality counts: To avoid saturated fat, choose three- to four-ounce portions of lean protein such as fish, seafood, poultry (without the skin), eggs, lentils, beans, and soy products.

Focus on healthful fats
High-fat diets appear to impair the immune system by decreasing the function of T-lymphocytes.
Reducing fat, on the other hand, can boost immune function by enhancing T-lymphocyte function. However, the type of fat you consume is equally important as the amount. Trans fats (found in margarines and many commercial baked goods) can contribute to chronic low-grade inflammation in the body. "The immune system can become tied up dealing with inflammation -- and the damage to cells and tissues that results -- rather than defending the body," Katz says.
What to do: Limit your total fat intake to 30 percent of daily calories, with five to 10 percent from saturated fats. For the remaining 20 to 25 percent, look for sources of unsaturated fats, such as canola oil, olive oil, nuts, avocados, and seeds. And increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids (from fatty fish like salmon, halibut, and sardines), which help fight inflammation and free your immune system to defend against antigens.

Make time for tea
Green tea is a rich source of a type of antioxidant called a catechin, and preliminary research has found that a specific catechin -- epigallocatechin gallate (egcg) -- may give the beverage antigen-fighting abilities. When researchers at the University of Sherbrooke in Canada added green tea to lab samples of the adenovirus (one of many viruses that causes colds), they discovered that egcg inhibited the virus' ability to replicate. Similarly, researchers in South Korea found that egcg can also stop the influenza virus from replicating. While these studies were conducted in petri dishes instead of human subjects, some researchers believe you can reasonably bank on green tea's benefits -- particularly when it's consumed in place of colas or other sugary beverages with little nutritional benefit. "Green tea catechins can improve lymphocyte responses and seem to have anti-inflammatory effects," Stephensen says.
What to do: Trade at least one cup of coffee each day for green tea. To derive the optimal amounts of catechins from your tea, let the bag steep for at least three minutes in hot water.

Maintain a proper energy balance
Eat enough -- yet not too many or too few -- calories per day. "Considerable evidence shows crash dieting, anorexia, or nutrient deficiencies increase a person's susceptibility to infections, but overconsumption of calories can also have harmful effects on cell production in the immune system," Meydani says. "This could be because overconsumption of calories leads to increased production of compounds called prostaglandins, which have a suppressive effect on T-lymphocyte cell production." Fewer T-cells patrolling the body increases the chances of an antigen taking hold.
What to do: To find the proper number of calories for you, go to http://www.mypyramid.gov/, which makes recommendations based on age, gender, and activity level.

Take the one supplement that works
Although the researchers we spoke with panned most supplements, they all agreed that a multivitamin is well worth taking. If you have even a marginal deficiency of certain nutrients --particularly the B vitamins, A, C, E, selenium, iron, and zinc -- your immune system's function could be impaired. "This can happen without seeing any obvious signs of deficiency -- until you become sick with a virus or bacterial infection," Meydani says.
What to do: Choose a multivitamin specifically formulated for your gender or age. For example, multivitamins made for men and post-menopausal women contain less iron than those made for younger women. And always look for the United States Pharmacopeia seal, says Douglas Heimburger, M.D., a professor of nutrition sciences and medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "It tells you that certain pharmaceutical standards have been met and proven," Heimburger says.

CookingLight.com: How to choose the right multivitamin for you:

Consume friendly bacteria
A yogurt or kefir drink per day might help keep infections at bay. That's because these foods contain probiotics, bacteria that stimulate immunity cells in the gastrointestinal tract. "Normal, healthy bacteria that colonize the GI tract help you resist bad bacteria and detoxify harmful substances," explains Susanna Cunningham-Rundles, Ph.D., a professor of immunology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City. In addition to their protective effect in the GI tract, probiotics also may help stimulate immune-cell production system-wide. In a recent study of 33 women from the University of Vienna, Austria, those who ate ordinary yogurt daily for two weeks raised their T-lymphocyte cell count by nearly 30 percent.
What to do: Look for yogurt or kefir that contains "live active cultures," indicating helpful bacteria.CookingLight.com: Add live cultures to your diet with these tips and recipes

How Exercise Helps
"The immune system's cells don't function normally when a person is overweight or has high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides," says Gabriel Fernandes, Ph.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "Immune cells are not able to recognize bacteria or viruses and destroy them," Fernandes says. Along with diet, exercise is key to shedding extra pounds.
What to do: "Increase your physical activity from 30 minutes a day to 60 to burn more calories," Fernandes says. In a yearlong study of 550 men and women, researchers from the University of South Carolina found those who exercised moderately were 25 percent less likely to develop a cold compared with those who rarely exercised. (The subjects simply walked at a brisk pace.) As with diet, moderation is critical; too much exercise or exercising to the point of exhaustion can boost the body's production of adrenaline and cortisol, two hormones that temporarily suppress immune function.

Magnolia bark takes bite out of bad breath

Adding a pinch of magnolia bark to mints or gum can eliminate bad breath by killing most odor-causing germs, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
Most bad breath occurs when bacteria in the mouth break down proteins, producing foul-smelling sulfur compounds. But many anti-bacterial agents cause nasty side effects like tooth staining, making them impractical for oral care.
Magnolia bark extract -- a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat fever, headache and stress -- has proven effective against germs that cause ulcers, and recent studies have shown it has low toxicity and few side effects.
Scientists at chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr Co wanted to see if it could kill halitosis-causing bacteria, and if it could be used in a gum or mint.
Researchers Minmin Tan and colleagues, reporting in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, tested magnolia bark's germ-killing ability in a Wrigley lab.
They found it highly effective against three types of oral microorganisms, killing 99.9 percent of bad breath bacteria within five minutes.
Tests on nine healthy Wrigley employees who chewed mints and gum containing the bark after lunch produced less dramatic but still potent effects.

The mints killed off more than 61 percent of the germs that cause bad breath within 30 minutes -- comparable to some commercial mouthwashes. Mints without the extract were only 3.6 percent effective.
The gum didn't work as well, reducing oral bacteria by 43 percent within 40 minutes, compared with an 18 percent reduction in gum with no extract.
The extract also helped kill a group of bacteria that causes tooth decay.
"Because bacteria are the major cause of breath odor, products containing effective germ-kill compounds will provide a long-lasting reduction of oral malodor," the researchers wrote.
But don't expect it in stores any time soon.
"It's a long way from scientific research to a commercializable product, and there's a lot of perils and pitfalls along the way," said Wrigley spokesman Chris Perille.

Magnolia could sweeten the breath

Magnolia bark could take the edge off bad breath much more effectively than mints alone, US researchers say.
The extract, already used in the treatment of various disorders, may also be effective against the bacteria which cause tooth decay.
Researchers at the Wrigley Company carried out tests on nine volunteers.
Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they found mints laced with magnolia killed 20 times more bacteria than mints without.
After half an hour, the magnolia mint had killed more than 60% of the bacteria, compared to just 3.6% among those who had consumed a normal mint.

All the volunteers were healthy, and had just eaten lunch.
Bacteria killed included those responsible for bad breath problems such as halitosis, as well as Streptococcus mutans, blamed for tooth decay.
"Bad breath or halitosis is a major social and psychological problem that affects the majority of the general population," the researchers wrote.
"Magnolia bark extract demonstrated a significant anti-bacterial activity against organisms responsible for oral malodour and can be incorporated into mints and chewing gum for improved breath freshening benefits."
Advocates of magnolia have long praised its properties, claiming it can alleviate the symptoms of conditions ranging from rheumatism to asthma.
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation said the results of the study looked "very promising".
"Standard mints and mouthwashes only really mask bad breath temporarily and while chewing gum can be effective due to its ability to increase the flow of saliva, this research might be another step forward in it developing an even greater role in good oral health practice."
But he stressed that brushing teeth twice a day remained as important as ever for good oral health