Playing tennis can lead to stronger bones, greater range of motion, increased cognitive function, and greater longevity than with any other sport.

A tennis player serving during a match on a clay court.

Photograph by wundervisuals, Getty Images

ByDaryl Austin  September 4, 2024

With the U.S. Open again breaking all-time attendance records this year, many people are again marveling at a sport that has been around since the 11th century.

"Tennis demonstrates the power, grace, intellect, wit, balance, speed, joy, sorrow, and sheer determination of human beings," says Brian Hainline, a neurologist, president of the United States Tennis Association, and former chief medical officer of the NCAA.

And though there's no denying that tennis is riveting to watch and a lot of fun to play, engaging in the sport is also good for your mental and physical health.

"Tennis has endured for so long because it can be played at multiple levels—from social doubles to highly competitive singles—and challenges the whole body in many ways including speed, endurance, strength, technical skills, and strategic planning," says Benjamin Levine, director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Unmatched physical advantages

Playing tennis has been shown to supply a host of physical health benefits including reduced obesity and diabetes risk, improved coordination, increased energy levels, and a stronger heart.

The frequent racquet swings also maintain and grow lean muscle mass in one's shoulders and arms; core and stabilizer muscles are improved with constant body rotation and movement; and the sprinting, posture, and prolonged engagement strengthen leg, back, and foot muscles.  

"Unlike many other sports, tennis requires multifaceted use of the musculoskeletal system to play well including with quick starting and stopping, and sudden changes in direction," says James Gladstone, a physician and system chief in the division of sports medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.

The activity also contributes to "stronger, thicker, and healthier bones—especially for those who start at a young age," says Babette Pluim, a physician, sports and exercise medicine consultant, and the chief medical adviser of the Royal Netherlands Lawn Tennis Association.

She explains that this occurs as the repeated movements associated with the activity form new bone tissue and help facilitate the breakdown of old tissue. "The combination of mechanical stress, hormonal responses, increased blood flow, and enhanced nutrient absorption associated with the exercise work together to strengthen bones and improve overall skeletal health," she adds.

Tennis also improves flexibility, balance, and range of motion, "because flexibility is necessary in tennis to reach, to stretch, to pivot, and to de-accelerate after each burst of movement," says Hainline.

The sport reduces one's risk of heart disease as well, in part, because its high-intensity movements followed by short bouts of rest, "mimic prolonged moderate-intensity exercise," says Rami Hashish, a physical therapist and body performance consultant at the National Biomechanics Institute in Los Angeles. "This means it’s great for blood flow and for strengthening the cardiac muscle."

Because of such factors, tennis lowers blood pressure, improves one's resting heart rate, and increases healthy lipid profiles to improve cholesterol levels. These are among the reasons "playing tennis on a regular basis has been shown to lower overall risk of heart disease by up to 56 percent," says Jessica Schwartz, a physical therapist and spokesperson of the American Physical Therapy Association.

It's also a contributing factor in why tennis players live longer than participants in many other sports. Illustrating this, Danish cardiologist Peter Schnohr led the famed 25-year Copenhagen City Heart Study, which examined the connection between various sports and life expectancy.

He says longevity improved more for tennis than for any other sport included in the research: soccer players extended their lives 4.7 years, cyclists 3.7 years, swimmers 3.4 years, and joggers 3.2 years. Incredibly, tennis players extended their lives by 9.7 years, which he attributes to the sport's cardiovascular and musculoskeletal advantages and the social support the game is known for.

"This becomes apparent as social isolation is among the strongest predictors of reduced life expectancy," he explains.

Mental health benefits worth rallying around

Playing tennis is also good for your mental health.

"The sport requires constant strategic planning, quick decision making, and adaptability, which stimulate brain function and challenge cognitive abilities," says Megan Holmes, a kinesiologist and the director of the Physical Activity and Wellness Laboratory at Mississippi State University.

The repeated motions associated with playing "bathe our hippocampus with a protein called the Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor," echoes Schwartz, which helps improve neuroplasticity and prevents cognitive decline related to aging. Hasish says it improves memory function as well.

Research also shows tennis participants experiencing "better eye movement tracking and quicker reaction times than non-active individuals," says Pluim, adding that tennis players also outperform other athletes when it comes to reaction times and temporal processing.

Additional research further shows tennis players experiencing "significantly lower levels of stress, depression, and anxiety compared to non-players," adds Gladstone.  

How to get started

To reap such benefits and get started with the sport, Hasish says it's essential to learn the basics, including equipment needs, rules and conduct, and techniques related to grip, strokes, footwork, and serve returns. These can be best learned, he says, "by taking lessons from a coach or by joining a local tennis club."

He also recommends investing in a high-quality racket suitable for your skill level and getting comfortable tennis shoes that provide adequate support.

"Wearing the right gear can enhance your performance and prevent injuries," he explains.

When playing, Schwartz stresses the importance of listening to your body, staying hydrated, and taking breaks when needed. "Also, don't play on a wet court or during inclement weather—and be sure to build up to the number of days you play per week to avoid injury," she advises.

Leslie Echols, an avid tennis player and an associate professor at Missouri State University, adds that anyone can start playing the sport at any age, regardless of current skill or activity level. "I signed up for my first tennis lesson as a 40th birthday present to myself," she explains. "Doing so was one of the best decisions of my life and I plan to keep playing until the day I die."

SEPTEMBER 8, 2024  

The world is home to a plenty of successful direct selling companies, many of which have stood the test of time. What sets these industry giants apart from the rest? Is it the launch of a groundbreaking product or a unique compensation plan that hadn’t been conceived before?

The path to genuine, economically sustainable success in direct sales is multifaceted and cannot be attributed to a single determinant. In this article, we will look into the six key factors that, when combined effectively, pave the way for success in the direct sales industry.

1. Compensation Plan: The Foundation of Success

While entrepreneurs often regard compensation plans with great importance, it’s essential to recognize that they should not be the initial focal point when embarking on a new venture. A compensation plan, no matter how meticulously crafted, cannot guarantee success if the other pillars we will discuss aren’t firmly established. However, a robust compensation plan does share common characteristics:

Alignment with Company Strategy: It must seamlessly integrate with the overall company strategy.
Rewards for Key Behaviors: It should incentivize and reward the essential behaviors that drive success.
Simplicity: The plan should be easy to comprehend and explain, ensuring clarity for all stakeholders.
Unlimited Income Potential: Direct sellers should have the opportunity to earn unlimited income, motivating their efforts.
Cost Control: It should be designed to be a controlled expense for the company.
Regulatory Compliance: Adherence to regulations is paramount to maintain legitimacy and to ensure viability.

Notably, factors like being “new/unused/unheard of” or boasting the “biggest payout” are not inherent indicators of a compensation plan’s effectiveness.

2. Operations: The Backbone of Long-Term Growth

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Operations encompass a broad spectrum of activities that facilitate independent direct sellers in building and expanding their businesses. This pillar includes product procurement, distribution, information technologies, commissions payouts, and customer services, among others. The efficiency and effectiveness of operations play a pivotal role in a direct sales company’s daily functioning.

A poorly structured operations system can lead to frequent crises, some minor and others catastrophic. To ensure sustained success, meticulous attention must be paid to the operational foundation of the business.

3. Communication: The Lifeline of Direct Selling

Effective communication is the lifeblood of any direct selling venture. It has two primary facets: Field communication and communication with the public.

Field communication involves disseminating information to direct sellers, enabling them to conduct their businesses seamlessly. Moreover, it involves maintaining open channels for direct sellers to voice their concerns and ideas, fostering a sense of involvement and partnership.

Communication with the public serves the dual purpose of building brand awareness and trust among consumers. It also ensures that the company presents itself transparently to regulatory authorities.

4. Compliance: Navigating the Regulatory Landscape

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Thanks to some of the players in the industry, this pillar has never been more important. Regulators around the world are bringing in tighter restrictions every day and consequently, compensation plans and “claims” are being scrutinized heavily. To safeguard the business, it is imperative to ensure that every aspect of the company’s interactions with direct sellers and end-users aligns with the regulations in each market.

Failure in compliance can result in investigations, hefty fines, and even the closure of the business. Such instances also cast a shadow over the entire industry, causing collateral damage to its reputation.

5. Training: Equipping the Field for Success

A well-structured training strategy is essential in the journey towards success. Training serves the dual purpose of providing knowledge and motivation to field members, empowering them to grow their businesses and earnings.

Field training encompasses various aspects, including product knowledge, selling techniques, understanding the compensation plan, leadership skills, and compliance requirements. These should be delivered at various levels, from introductory to advanced, to cater to the diverse needs of the field.

While the primary goal of training is knowledge transfer, an equally important benefit is the boost in motivation it provides. Neglecting this aspect can be detrimental to the morale and performance of direct sellers.

6. Product Portfolio: Meeting Market Demands

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Last but certainly not least, we must not overlook the importance of the product portfolio. A direct sales company should offer a range of products that cater to end-users’ demands and provide ample opportunities for independent direct sellers to generate income. Without a compelling product portfolio, those pillars above will take the business nowhere but to a launch that is doomed to fail.

The road to success in direct sales is obviously a complex one, with success hinging on the harmonious interplay of these key components: A well-designed compensation plan, efficient operations, effective communication, stringent compliance, and comprehensive training, all underpinned by a compelling product portfolio. By embracing these principles, direct sales companies can not only succeed but also thrive in a competitive marketplace, standing the test of time and emerging as industry leaders.

“Many people who get Parkinson’s disease experience GI symptoms like constipation and nausea for years -- even decades -- prior to developing motor symptoms like difficulty walking or tremors,” said corresponding author Trisha S. Pasricha.

By: Lifestyle Desk
New Delhi | September 24, 2024 19:30 IST

This theory differs from the traditional 'brain-first' hypothesis (Source: Freepik)

A recent study has added weight to the hypothesis that Parkinson’s disease may actually originate in the gut, challenging the long-held belief that it begins in the brain.

Researchers have found that people with upper gastrointestinal conditions, such as ulcers and oesophageal damage, are more likely to develop Parkinson’s later in life. “A growing body of evidence suggests that, at least in a subset of individuals, Parkinson’s disease originates in the gut before affecting the central nervous system,” said corresponding author Trisha S. Pasricha, a neurogastroenterologist and director of Clinical Research at the Institute for Gut-Brain Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

She further told The Harvard Gazette, “Many people who get Parkinson’s disease experience GI symptoms like constipation and nausea for years — even decades — prior to developing motor symptoms like difficulty walking or tremors. Our lab has been trying to better illuminate this ‘gut-first’ pathway of Parkinson’s disease because it can open new avenues for early intervention and treatment strategies.”  

This new perspective on Parkinson’s could reshape how we approach early detection and treatment of the disease. Understanding the connection between the gut and brain might lead to more effective strategies for managing symptoms and slowing disease progression. Dr Pranav Honnavara Srinivasan, consultant gastroenterologist at Fortis Hospital Bengaluru, shares his insights on this development.

The ‘gut-first’ hypothesis gains traction

The Harvard study provides compelling evidence for the ‘gut-first’ hypothesis of Parkinson’s disease. Dr Srinivasan explains, “Researchers found that misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins, which are key in Parkinson’s progression, can originate in the gut and travel to the brain via the vagus nerve. This supports the idea that the disease may begin in the gastrointestinal tract, where it can remain dormant before affecting the brain.”

This theory differs from the traditional ‘brain-first’ hypothesis, which suggests that Parkinson’s begins in the brain and eventually impacts other areas like the gut. The ‘gut-first’ theory is gaining support as many Parkinson’s patients report gastrointestinal issues — such as constipation — years before motor symptoms like tremors appear.

The Harvard study provides compelling evidence for the ‘gut-first’ hypothesis of Parkinson’s disease. (Source: Freepik)

Gastrointestinal conditions as early warning signs

Dr Srinivasan highlights the importance of gastrointestinal symptoms in early detection. “Gastrointestinal conditions like chronic constipation, ulcers, and oesophageal damage are now considered early warning signs of Parkinson’s. The Harvard study highlights how these conditions may reflect underlying problems with the enteric nervous system, where misfolded proteins could accumulate before spreading to the brain.”

He adds that patients with chronic gut issues may face an elevated risk of developing Parkinson’s. “Research suggests that symptoms like constipation can appear decades before motor dysfunction, offering a critical early window for diagnosis. Esophageal issues, such as difficulty swallowing or acid reflux, may also be linked to disruptions in the gut-brain communication, potentially serving as early markers of Parkinson’s.”

Changing approaches to diagnosis and prevention

This new understanding of Parkinson’s origins could lead to significant changes in diagnosis and preventive care. Dr Srinivasan suggests, “Doctors could begin screening for gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly in people who are at higher risk, such as those with a family history of Parkinson’s or long-standing digestive issues.”

He further explains, “By identifying and monitoring individuals with chronic constipation or gut inflammation, early interventions might be developed to slow or prevent the disease from progressing to the brain.” This could also lead to changes in preventive care, where promoting gut health through diet, probiotics, and other interventions could become a key strategy for reducing Parkinson’s risk.

Emerging treatments targeting the gut-brain axis

The focus on the gut-brain connection is opening up new avenues for treatment. Dr Srinivasan notes, “Emerging treatments are now focusing on the gut-brain axis as a potential intervention point for Parkinson’s. Probiotics and microbiome-modulating therapies are being explored to restore gut health, which may reduce the misfolding of proteins in the gut and slow the disease’s progression.”

He adds that anti-inflammatory treatments targeting the gut and therapies that modulate the vagus nerve are also being researched. While these treatments are still in experimental stages, early trials show promise.

Dr Srinivasan concludes, “This evolving research from Harvard and other institutions offers new hope for Parkinson’s patients by highlighting the gut’s critical role in the disease’s development. By addressing gastrointestinal symptoms early on, we may be able to significantly alter the course of the disease

The pandemic and debt crises in poorer countries have hit health and education funding at a time when richer nations have curbed aid for Africa, where hunger is most prevalent.

By Agnieszka de Sousa and Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg 22 Sep 2024  04:00

Bill Gates says world leaders must step up the fight against a worsening child nutrition crisis that’s causing trillions of dollars in economic losses — and that gut bacteria investment and more productive cows can help.

The billionaire philanthropist — who has said malnutrition tops his list of problems to solve — warned that more needs to be spent on health issues, especially with an ever-more damaging impact from climate change.

The pandemic and debt crises in poorer countries have hit health and education funding at a time when richer nations have curbed aid for Africa, where hunger is most prevalent. That’s putting nutritious food out of reach for many and threatening decades of improvement in child health, while extreme weather increasingly strains harvests.

As the lack of healthy diets for children hurts their mental and physical capabilities later in life, that threatens grave economic consequences. The World Bank estimates that some $3 trillion in productivity is already lost each year globally due to malnutrition.

“The worst case is that the countries, particularly in Africa, stay in a poverty trap” if malnutrition isn’t solved, Gates said. With so little to spend on the health system and improving diets, “a whole generation of kids grow up where their ability to be educated, their mental capacity, is way below its potential.”

The co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one of the world’s richest men sees helping those countries escape a poverty trap as a “moral and strategic priority.” He said tackling child malnutrition would also make vaccines more effective and diseases like malaria less fatal.

Cheap solutions that are ready to scale can address much of the problem, Gates said. The foundation’s efforts include expanding access to prenatal vitamins for pregnant women, boosting output and the safe handling of milk in Africa. It’s also backing research on the microbiome — the bacteria living in the gut.

Health outlook

The United Nations in July warned the world isn’t on track to reach any of seven global nutrition targets by 2030. The economic costs of undernutrition can even reach 16% of GDP in low-income nations, according to the World Bank.

“Few economists think of the malnutrition rate as a critical economic data point – but they should start,” Gates said in the foundation’s annual Goalkeepers report released Tuesday. “Nutritional deficits quickly translate into financial deficits. Nations can’t grow if their people can’t.”

By mid-century, climate change will lead to an extra 40 million stunted children unless immediate action is taken, according to the report. Another 28 million more children face wasting, where they’re too thin for their height.

Malnutrition is the cause of almost half of young children’s deaths, yet it’s one of the world’s most overlooked development challenges, with less than 1% of public aid devoted to nutrition.

Tackling problems

The Gates Foundation has committed $922 million through 2026 for nutrition. It’s the biggest funder of research into the microbiome, according to Gates, who also wants donors and governments to put money into the Child Nutrition Fund.

The foundation is supporting programs to breed cows that are more resilient to heat and produce more milk. Gates recently visited Nigeria, which has long grappled with food-security challenges. Like in many other places in Africa, animal protein products such as milk and eggs are expensive and hard to get.

“We’re trying to get the cost of milk and eggs to be greatly reduced in these countries,” Gates said. “The cow stuff’s very promising.”

More than half of the world population doesn’t consume enough essential micronutrients like iron, calcium and iodine, a recent study in Lancet Global Health journal showed. Adding them to food is an old technology that’s now being expanded.

For example, Ethiopia is testing adding folic acid to salt that’s already iodized, to help eliminate defects that lead to death and stillbirths. Nigeria is working on adding a range of micronutrients to bouillon seasoning cubes that are found in most kitchens there.

Gates is excited about work on the microbiome, where bacteria in the gut can impact how the body absorbs nutrients and fights diseases. Trials are underway to offer probiotics to infants to help them better absorb nutrients and the next step will be to reduce costs, he said, adding that microbiome advances should also aid the fight against obesity in rich countries.

“In the last 10 years we’ve gained a deep understanding of what goes on,” he said. “It’s clear what we need to do to enable these kids to achieve their potential.”

NUTRACEUTICAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE HEALTH AND WELLNESS INDUSTRY

COIostrum

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Introduction:

It has been suggested that bovine colostrum is an excellent supplement for fitness enthusiast and athletes of all levels. Colostrum is the first secretion from the mammary gland following birth of and infant. It is well documented that colostrum is a complex matrix of highly bioactive compounds, which have been shown to be very beneficial for health and wellness. A number of studies have also demonstrated the impact of bovine colostrum on body composition, exercise performance, upper respiratory tract infections and intestinal function.

The nutritional requirements for athletes are unique. They generally require foods that are easily digested and provide good nutrition. They also require foods that can be converted in to, in most cases, muscle, and or energy for training and performance. The objective of most athletes is to build lean body mass, improve muscular strength, increase endurance and capacity and ultimately reduce recovery time.

It is now well understood that hard exercise can have a detrimental effect on the intestinal tract of athletes. This generally is a result of the body coming under severe stress while training, both from overheating and also from poor eating and digestion. It normally manifests in the athlete becoming much more susceptible to colds, flu's and gastric upsets.

Bovine colostrum has been successful demonstrated in a number of clinical and other studies to be extremely beneficial for the performance athlete. It has also been demonstrated in a significant number of cases to be of benefit to human health and wellness. This document outlines how colostrum can be of benefit to athletes and suggests a range of products which will be beneficial to them.

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COLOSTRUM and the Athlete

1. Exercise and Infection

Athletes typically undertake multiple bouts of prolonged, high intensity exercise during the course of a year. Prolonged exercise is defined as exercise of 90 minutes or more at or above an intensity of 75% V02max. It is suggested that imposed stress of a prolonged period, such as undertaken by athletes, can have an immunosuppressant effect on the body, and that this may leave the athlete vulnerable to infection and illness, particularly those infections associated with the Upper Respiratory Tract (URTI).

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The gastrointestinal and upper respiratory tract has its own protection mechanism against infection. It is related to the mucosal lining of these systems and the production of the immunoglobulin, IgA. The mucosa provides a protective function to the gastrointestinal system which is the largest interface between the external environment and the human organism. It has been estimated to extend over some 300m2.

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Typically infectious substances such as colds and flu pathogens establish themselves in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract mucosal surfaces, hence the importance of immune factors associated with the mucosa, such as secretory IgA (s-IgA). s-IgA has three primary modes of action in the gastrointestinal tract;

1. Inhibition of pathogen attachment to the respiratory and gut epithelium
2. Prevention of penetration of the epithelial cells by attached pathogens
3. Prevention of intracellular replication of pathogens in the event of epithelial penetration

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A number of studies have investigated the relationship between exercise and illness. The studies suggest that increased exercise load is not necessarily associated with illness, and most athletes are necessarily "immune-compromised", the significant factor in the relationship between exercise and illness appears to be excessive exercise and absence of adequate recovery time. It also appears that single bouts of prolonged and intense exercise may cause transient immune suppression or an 'open window' for infection to occur.

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The studies seem to show that athletes who have a history of URTI prior to participating in prolonged high intensity exercise are more likely to experience the symptoms of URTI following the event. Given that URTI is the most common immune related affliction for endurance athletes optimal immune function particularly of the respiratory tract and gut is of significant importance.

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It has been demonstrated that supplementation with bovine colostrum can increase the absolute IgA concentration of the mucosa, as measured in the saliva secretion. While this is

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an area that requires further work it is clear there is a relationship between levels of s-IgA, saliva flow rate, bovine colostrum and URTI. The table below attempts to summarise some of the data from these trials;

^{*Trial was sponsored by Functional Nutraceuticals}

The Crooks work followed the IgA levels of the athletes for the duration of the trial, not at the beginning and end. This work has been graphed below;

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Relative Change of s-IgA Levels in Saliva for Athletes Taking a Colostrum Supplement

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There is clear evidence that athletes suffer from URTI as a group more than the rest of the population. There is now also evidence that athletes who supplement their diet with a bovine colostrum powder will reduce the symptoms and incidence ofURTI' s.

While there has been focus on the reduction of symptoms and incidence of URTI's it is clear that bovine colostrum provides protection for the athlete from a number of illnesses associated with the gastrointestinal tract. These include diahhrea and intestinal permeability. Intestinal permeability is a disorder not readily recognised by the medical fraternity but is a major issue for all athletes who train hard.

Work undertaken at the Sports Institute, WINTEC, demonstrates the increase in intestinal permeability with training. The periods of self induced stress have a significant effect on the health of the epithelial lining of the intestinal tract. It can be demonstrated how intense training for prolonged periods and overheating of the body can relate to this disorder. In a series of trials in both New Zealand and England it has been demonstrated how bovine colostrum reduces or mitigates the effect of intestinal permeability particularly in athletes.

By mitigating the effects of intestinal permeability there follows a reduction in sickness associated with pathogenic bacteria and viruses, which appear to take advantage of the intestinal permeability event to colonise the human body. The table below summarises a number of conditions that bovine colostrum has been shown to have an affect on, with both anecdotal evidence and subsequently clinical evidence.

The evidence clearly supports the fact that bovine colostrum is an ideal natural supplement for athletes to support their overall immune function and reduce the incidence of illness.

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eclostrum TM

2. Body Composition and Exercise Performance

A number of studies have investigated the relationship between bovine colostrum, body composition and exercise performance. As bovine colostrum is a rich source of a number of growth factors, including insulin-like growth factors, transforming growth factors and epidermal growth factors, to name a few. It was initially thought that changes in body composition and performance were due to elevations of these factors in blood serum. Further studies have demonstrated that there appears to be no increase in serum IGF-I levels when supplementing with bovine colostrum.

In one study 22 men and women were selected who had been performing resistance training at least three times per week for a six month period. The participants supplemented bovine colostrum in to their diet against a placebo product containing whey protein powder. While there appeared to be no increase in their ability to increase the weight they were lifting or the number of repetitions they could do there was a noted increase in body composition changes, compared to the whey placebo.

Body composition analysis was carried out using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). A statistically significant increase in lean body mass was found, with an average increase of 1.4kg, and an associated reduction in body fat mass of 0.72kg, during the eight week trial period. The participants taking the whey powder showed a decrease in lean body mass of 0. I Ikg and an increase in average fat mass of I .45kg.

A further explanation for this could be due to the fact that colostrum also contains a compound called glutathione, and its precursors. Glutathione is known to be a strong antioxidant and therefore a scavenger of free radicals, which play an important role in muscle cell damage and inflammation during and after exercise. This is also linked with elevated levels of creatine kinase.

In studies where participants have taken bovine colostrum there has been a significant decrease in the measured creatine kinase levels, in serum, compared to a control group taking a placebo. It is suggested therefore that a decrease in creatine kinase levels with colostrum supplementation allows the muscles to recover from exercise faster, especially after an 8 week supplementation period.

3. Safety of Colostrum

Bovine colostrum is a natural matrix of immune and other bioactive compounds. It is accepted world-wide that bovine colostrum is a completely safe supplement and food for all people, including babies. The International Olympic Committee has accepted that colostrum is safe for athletes and do not consider colostrum to be a prohibited substance.

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When deciding what colostrum to purchase a consumer should be aware of the source of the colostrum and the methods by which the product is harvested, collected and processed. This should also include the health of the animals and their management.

Colostrum for Athletes

Bovine colostrum is a safe, complex matrix of highly bioactive compounds, which have been shown to be very beneficial for health and wellness. Bovine colostrum is a perfect supplement for athletes because it is high in protein and has been shown to have an indirect but positive effect on an athletes performance. The components in colostrum have been largely shown to be of significant benefit to the gastrointestinal epithelial surfaces and the mucosal immune system.

URTI's are a constant source of concern for sports people and athletes. The data provided indicates that the most at risk individuals for URTI are those who train hard for short periods of time (the casual athlete or fitness fanatic) and the high performance athlete. Athletes who have partaken in the trials with colostrum have found significant effects in mitigating the incidence of URTI's when compared to those who have not taken bovine colostrum for the same period.

A key component in the mitigation of URTI's is the production of s-IgA and saliva flow.

The role of s-IgA is primarily to;

1. Inhibition of pathogen attachment to the respiratory and gut epithelium
2. Prevention of penetration of the epithelial cells by attached pathogens
3. Prevention of intracellular replication of pathogens in the event of epithelial penetration

It has been demonstrated that bovine colostrum supplementation promotes the production of saliva and s-IgA. This allows the gastrointestinal tracts immune system to meet its primary objectives, protecting the host from infection and mitigates the URTI symptoms and other pathogenic diseases of the gut, including diahhrea, a common problem with athletes.

It has also been shown that athletes through consistent hard training can damage the intestinal wall causing intestinal permeability. I number of studies have been undertaken which demonstrate how colostrum mitigates the symptoms of intestinal permeability, thus excluding the entry of pathogenic organisms and allergens to the body.

Some trials have been conducted where the effect of colostrum on body composition and performance have been measured. The results of these trials are encouraging in that they have demonstrated that bovine colostrum supplementation appears to increase lean muscle mass and reduce body fat mass. It has also been demonstrated that the supplementation with bovine colostrum appears to reduce creatine kinase levels in blood serum, thus allowing the muscles to recover faster from exercise.

Serum samples taken from athletes have demonstrated no significant increases in factors such as insulin-like growth factors, transforming growth factors and the like. This is important for athletes who are competing at the highest levels where these compounds are routinely measured.

Bovine colostrum supplementation provides sports enthusiasts and high performance athletes with a supplement that has been shown to;

1. Mitigate the effects of URTI
2. Increase the levels of s-IgA in the mucosal surfaces
3. Protect the gut epithelia from the effects of intestinal permeability
4. Assist with the development of lean muscle mass
5. Assist with the reduction of body fat mass
6. Assist with the lowering of creatine kinase levels during and after exercise
7. Provide powerful antioxidants such as Glutathione

Bovine colostrum supplements are essential for all sports people, from the fitness enthusiast to the performance athlete, who are looking for a supplement that will provide them protection and allow them to train harder to achieve greater performance.

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Trevor J Lock, MSc(Tech)Hons

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References

1. Albers, R., Antoine, J. M., Bourdet-Sicard, R., Calder, P. C., Gleeson, Me, Lesourd, B., et al. (2005). Markers to measure Immunomodulation in human nutrition intervention studies. British journal of nutrition, 94, 452-481.

2. Bishop, N. C, Blannin, A. K., Armstrong, E., Rickman, M. , & Gleeson, M. (2000). Carbohydrate and fluid intake affect the saliva flow rate and IgA response to cycling. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 32(12), 2046-2051.

3. Bishop, N. C., Biannin, A. K., Walsh, N. P., Robson, P. J., & Gleeson, M. (1999). Nutritional Aspects ofImmunosuppression in Athletes. Sports Medicine, 28(3), 1 51176.

4. Biannin, A. K., Robson, P. J., Walsh, N. P., Clark, A. M., Glennon, L., & Gleeson, M. (1998). The effect of exercise to exhaustion at different intensities on saliva immunoglobulin A, protein and electrolyte secretion. International Journal ofSports Medicine, 19(8), 547-552.

5. Brandtzaeg, P. (1992). Humoral immune response patterns of human mucosae: induction and relation to bacterial respiratory tract infections. Journal ofInfectious Diseases, 165, S167-S176.

6. Brinkworth, G. D., & Buckley, J. D (2003). Concentrated bovine colostrum protein supplementation reduces the incidence of self-reported symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection in adult males. European Journal ofNutrition, 42(4), 228232.

7. Cebra, J., J. (1999). Influences of microbiota on intestinal immune system development. American journal ofclinical nutrition, 69, 1046S-1051S.

8. Chicharro, J. L., Lucia, A., Perez, M., Vaquero, A. F., & Urena, R. (1998). Saliva composition and exercise. Sports Medicine, 26(1), 17-27.

9. Crooks, C. V., Wall, C. R., Cross, M. L. , & Rutherford-Markwick, K. J. (2006). The effect of bovine colostrum supplementation on salivary IgA in distance runners. International Journal ofSports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 16(1), 47-64.

10. Cummins, R. A., & Hamilton, R. (2004). Tracking Immune Function in Athletes via Salivary IgA Analysis. In S. M. Gradisnik, E. Hohmann & A. L. Bryant (Eds.), SportScience & Sport Medicine Reviews Selected Topics (pp. 141-175). Queensland: Central Queensland University.

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11. Dannapfel, S. (2006) Effect of Bovine Colostrum and Probiotic Supplementation on s-IgA and Symptoms Consistent with URTI Symptoms in Female Runners. A dissertation submitted in partialfulfilment ofthe requirementsfor the degree of Bachelor ofSport and exercise (Honours), Waikato Institute of Technology

12. Fahlman, M. M., & Engels, H. J. (2004). Mucosal lgA and URTI in American college football players: a year longitudinal study. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 37(3), 374-380.

13. Forchielli, M. L., & Walker, W. A. (2005). The role of gut-associated lymphoid tissues and mucosal defense. British journal of Nutrition, 93(1 (S)), 41-48.

14. Gleeson, M. , Nieman, D. C., & Pedersen, B. K. (2004). Exercise, nutrition and immune function. Journal ofsports sciences, 22(1), 115-125.

15. Gleeson, M. (2000a). Mucosal immunity and respiratory illness in elite athletes. Internationaljournal ofsports medicine, 21 (4 Suppl), S33-S43.

16. Gleeson, M. , & Bishop, N. C. (2000). Elite athlete immunology: importance of nutrition. Internationaljournal ofsports medicine 21 (4 Suppl), S44-s50.

17. Gleeson, M., & Pyne, D. B. (2000). Exercise effects on mucosal immunity. Immunology & Cell Biology, 78(5), 536-544.

18. Gleeson, Ms, McDonald, W. A., Pyne, D. B., Cripps, A. W., Francis, J. L, Fricker, P. A., et al. (1999b). Salivary IgA levels and infection risk in elite swimmers.  Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 3 1 (1), 67-73.

19. Hamilton, R., Paton, C. D, & Hopkins, W. (2006). Effect of high-intensity resistance training on performance of competitive distance runners. International Journal ofSports Physiology & Performance, l, 40-49.

20. Kelly, G.S. (2003) Bovine Colostrums: A Review of Clinical Uses. Alternate   Medicine Review, 8 (4) 378-394

21. Libicz, so, Mercier, B., Bigou, N., Le Gallais, D., & Castex, F. (2006). Salivary lgA Response of Triathletes Participating in the French Iron Tour. Internationaljournal ofsports medicine, 27(5), 389-394.

22. MacKinnon, L. T. (2000a). Overtraining effects on immunity and performance in athletes. Immunology & Cell Biology, 78(5), 502-509.

23. Mackinnon, L. T. (2000b). Chronic exercise training effects on immune function. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 32(7 Suppl.), S369-s376.

COIostrum

24. Mackinnon, L. 'T., & Hooper, S. (1994). Mucosal (secretory) immune system responses to exercise of varying intensity and during overtraining. International Journal ofSports Medicine 15, S179-S183.

25. Malm, C (2006). Susceptibility to infections in elite athletes: the S-curve. Scandinavian Journal ofMedicine & Science in Sports, 16(1), 4-6.

26. Malm, C. (2004). Exercise Immunology: The Current State of Man and Mouse. Sports medicine, 34(9), 555-566.

27. Mehra, Re, Marnila, P., & Korhonen, H. (2006). Milk immunoglobulins for health promotion. International Dairy Journal, 16, 1262-1271.

28. Mero, A., Miikkulainen, H., Riski, J., Pakkanen, R., Ralto, J., Takala, T. (1997). Effects of bovine colostrums supplementation on serum IGF-I, IgG, hormone, and saliva IgA during training. Journal ofApplied Physiology, 83 (4), 1144-1150

29. Mero, A., Kakkonen, J., Nykanen, T., Parviainen, T., Jokinen, I. , Takala, T., Tuomo, N., Rasi, S., Leppaluoto, J. (2002) IGF-I, IgA, and IgG responses to bovine colostrums supplementation during training. Journal ofApplied Physiology, 93 (2) 732-739

30. Nakamura, D., Akimoto, T., Suzuki, S., & Kono, I. (2006). Daily changes of salivary secretory immunoglobulin A and appearance of upper respiratory symptoms during physical training. Journal ofsports medicine andphysicalfitness, 46(1), 152-157.

31. Nieman, D. C. (1994). Exercise, upper respiratory tract infection, and the immune system. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 26(2), 128-139.

32. Nieman, D. C, Henson, D. A., Dumke, C. L., Lind, R. H., Shooter, L. R., & Gross, S. J. (2006a). Relationship between salivary IgA secretion and upper respiratory  tract infection following a 160-km race. Journal ofsports medicine and physical fitness , 46(1), 158-162.

33. Phillips, A. C., Carroll, D., Evans, P., Bosch, J. As, Clow, A., Hucklebridge, F., et al. (2006). Stressful life events are associated with low secretion rates of immunoglobulin A in saliva in the middle aged and elderly. Brain, Behavior and Immunity, 20, 191-197.

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34. Prosser C, et al, (2004) Reduction in heat-induced gastrointestinal hyperpermeability in rats by bovine colostrum and goat milk powders, J Appl Physiol. Feb;96(2):650-4.

35. Snowling, N., & Hopkins, W. (2005). Effects of different modes of exercise training on glucose regulation and blood lipids in type 2 diabetics : a meta-analysis. (Abstract). Journal ofscience and medicine in sport, 8(4 Supplement), 112

36. Tripathi, V., & Vashishtha, B. (2006). Bioactive compounds of colostrum and its application. Food reviews international, 22, 225-244.

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Quotes about being unstoppable Quotes about attitude

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Life is a wild card. You never know what new challenge or obstacle is coming next, but you always have two options: take control or fold under pressure. Adopt an unstoppable attitude inspired by these quotes or perish.

It’s not always about what happens to you. Sometimes it’s about how you choose to handle the storms—to keep moving forward with your life when uncertainty is raging around you. The strongest people don’t quit, they simply grab their umbrellas.

So how do you know if you’re killing it in life? If you have a never-give-up attitude, much like these 13 motivating quotes, then you’re well on your way to crushing any obstacles in your path.

You’ve got this.

Quotes about being unstoppable

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

—John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic

 “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

—Michael Jordan

 “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

—Nora Ephron

 “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

—Bruce Lee

 “Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength. Move on.”

—Henry Rollins, The First Five

“You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything, which shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear. Do not give your enemies the satisfaction of thinking that they cause you grief or pain. Be happy, be cheerful, be disdainful, be firm.”

—Victor Hugo, Choses Vues (Things Seen)

“Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.”

—Mae Jemison, M.D

“Of course one can ‘go too far’ and except in directions in which we can go too far there is no interest in going at all; and only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out just how far one can go.”

—T.S. Eliot, Transit of Venus

Quotes about attitude

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”

—Oprah Winfrey

“We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.”

—Marilyn Monroe

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”

—Malala Yousafzai

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

—Steve Jobs, 1997 Apple “Think Different” commercial

“The future belongs to the few of us still willing to get our hands dirty.”

Relationships make the world go ’round. Good, positive, healthy, meaningful, happy relationships provide us with the richest experiences we have. Your loving spouse who shares everything with you, that best friend who connects with you like few others do, the people at work who appreciate you and help you become the best you can be—they bring joy to life.

But relationships can also be the bane of our existence. What causes more pain in this life than a broken relationship, especially when it isn’t just broken but downright ugly?

So it behooves us to do all that we can to keep our relationships zipping right along. If we put our very best into our relationships, we can almost guarantee getting the very best out of them, too.

Characteristics of a healthy, happy relationship

There are three things that, when done over time, begin to create the kinds of relationships that you truly desire, that you have always dreamed of. The key to remembering the three items that can improve any and all of your relationships is the acronym Z.I.P.

1. Happy relationships have ZEST.

Relationships should be fun. Think about it: Don’t healthy relationships start out with a lot of good times? Whether it’s going out to dinner or a ballgame, fun is a major aspect of your relationship. It’s part of the glue that bonds you together.

But as life goes on, the fun starts to fall by the wayside as it increasingly becomes about getting the job done, whatever the job may be.

To restore the relationship, to put a little zip into it, reintroduce the idea of “zest.”

What can you do to get the zest back if you’ve lost it? Think of a specific relationship you have. What were the fun things you did at the beginning of it? Commit to doing those things now—alongside trying some new fun things together—and see if your relationship doesn’t begin to soar again.

2. Cultivate more INTIMACY for a healthy relationship.

That is, taking your relationship to a deeper level.

That doesn’t mean you have to start engaging in group hugs with your workmates or having revelation sessions where the tissues flow freely. Every happy relationship that is mutually satisfying has a level of depth to it that provides meaning. And isn’t meaning what we search for in our relationships?

At the beginning of a relationship, time is spent opening up, telling each other who you are, where you’re from, what your likes and dislikes are. There is a deep sense of satisfaction with the relationship—that’s why it continues. You like who they are and you enjoy them knowing you.

But then something happens. We get to a certain level and the pursuit of depth ends. We stop sharing feelings and joys and dreams and fears. Instead, we settle into routine. The daily grind takes over and we stop knowing one another—we simply exist together.

Now, every time you get together doesn’t have to be deep—sometimes just having plain old fun is good, too. But there is also a need for regular intimate connection. After all, meaningful, happy relationships develop when others love and accept us for who we are at our core.

Think about the relationships you would like to see improvement in. Take some time in the coming weeks and months to really talk and get to a deeper level—to let the other person deeper into your world. You can’t force them to be more intimate and you certainly can’t say, “Let’s get together and have an intimate conversation,” because that would be too contrived. But you can make a decision for yourself that you will let others see more of who you are. Perhaps this will even be the catalyst for them doing the same.

You can guard yourself from intimacy, but then you won’t go much deeper in your relationships and you will feel a longing in your heart for more. Or, you can begin the process of deepening your relationships and see them change for the better.

3. Happy relationships share a PURPOSE.

The most meaningful relationships are those held together by a common purpose and vision for what it can accomplish.

When people have a common purpose, they feel bound together, like they are part of a team. Think about your strongest relationships. Aren’t they centered on at least one common purpose or goal? What about your weaker relationships? Think back and see if you used to have a common purpose that has since fallen by the wayside.

What about the relationships you want to grow? Take some time to begin to cultivate a common purpose. Sit down with that person and tell them that you would like to have some common goals that you pursue together. As you develop these, you will see your relationship strengthen in ways you never imagined.

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New Zealand-based manufacturer and distributor of nutritional and skincare products, New Image™ International, today announced the launch of its operations in the Republic of Korea (Korea).

Headed by Patrick Park, Country Manager of New Image Korea, the company has launched a line of products catering specifically to the Korean market, including several colostrum-based health and nutritional supplements such as Alpha Lipid™ Lifeline™ and a wide range of natural skincare and beauty products. 

“Korea is the third largest direct selling market in the world and we’re thrilled to be able to establish a presence in Seoul and introduce premium New Zealand-made health and beauty products to our Korean consumers,” says New Image CEO Rod Taylor.

“Korea is one of the hardest markets for new nutraceutical businesses to enter due to its rigorous health regulations. We’re excited to be able to break into this highly competitive Korean market to support the health and wellbeing of more people around the world.”

As part of the pre-launch activation in Korea, New Image™ participated in the 2024 New Zealand Food & Beverage Showcase hosted by the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise back in September 2024, which was attended by the Prime Minister of New Zealand Rt Hon Christopher Luxon and Dawn Bennet, Ambassador of New Zealand to the Republic of Korea.

Korea’s Country Manager Patrick Park says Korean consumers are becoming increasingly more health conscious and it’s a large market with lots of potential growth.

“Korea has a population of over 50 million people and there is an increased consumer appetite for premium health supplements and skincare products and a major driver of this demand is the country’s ageing population. 

“Korean consumers want the very best when it comes to health and beauty products and we’re looking forward to showcasing the New Image™ difference with our high-quality, innovative products.”

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Our latest New You Magazine

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In a new study, women who followed diets low in added sugar and high in nutrients had "younger-looking" cells.

Eating too much added sugar, as found in sweet treats such as doughnuts, may accelerate cellular aging. (Image credit: LauriPatterson via Getty Images)

A nutrient-rich diet with few added sugars may slow rates of biological aging in women, new research suggests.

In a new study, published Monday (July 29) in the journal JAMA Network Open, scientists found that middle-aged women who ate more foods packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants had "younger-looking" cells than those who consumed less nutrient-rich diets.

They judged the youthfulness of cells by looking at chemical tags, known as methyl groups, on the surface of DNA molecules. These tags tweak the activity of specific genes without altering the underlying DNA code — a process known as epigenetic modification. The pattern of these methyl groups changes as we age, which is believed to contribute to accelerated cellular aging.

While nutrient-rich diets were tied to slowed aging, added sugars seemed to dampen the effect.

In the study, women who consumed higher amounts of added sugars showed signs of hastened cellular aging compared to others, even if they ate an otherwise healthy diet, the researchers found. "Added sugars" refers to sugars that are added to food during production, such as those in sugar-sweetened drinks and baked goods, as opposed to the naturally occuring sugars found in milk, fruits and vegetables.

The new study is one of the first to demonstrate a link between added sugar consumption and so-called epigenetic aging, the authors said. It is also the first to investigate this association in both Black and white women in midlife, they noted. The participants were 39 years old, on average.

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"We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor," study co-author Elissa Epel, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a statement.

"Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity," she said.

Epel and colleagues analyzed food records cataloged by 342 women over three, non-consecutive days. The team then scored each woman's diet based on how closely it adhered to various established diets. These included the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in plants, whole grains and unsaturated fats and low in red meats, saturated fats and sugars. Another, similar diet, called the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, specifically emphasizes foods and nutrients believed to reduce the risk of chronic disease.

The researchers also devised a new measure of nutrient intake called the "Epigenetic Nutrient Index." This includes nutrients linked to antioxidative and anti-inflammatory processes in the body, as well as to DNA maintenance and repair. For example, it includes vitamins A, C, B12 and E, along with folate and magnesium.

In addition to scoring people's diets, the team assessed how much added sugar the women ate — which ranged between 0.1 and 11 ounces (2.7 and 316 grams) of added sugar a day. The team calculated the participants' epigenetic ages by looking at the DNA methylation of cells within saliva samples.

These data revealed the links between diet and cellular aging, but they only captured a snapshot.

The findings support the idea that eating nutritious foods that are low in added sugars may improve a person's health span, meaning the period of their life in which they are healthy, not just surviving.

However, more research is needed to assess how following these diets might affect epigenetic aging in the long run, the authors wrote in their paper.

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A new study has found that many cocoa products are contaminated with heavy metals—including organic.

Is your favorite dark chocolate bar harboring a hidden health risk? A new study published on July 31 in Frontiers in Nutrition suggests that some popular dark chocolate products may contain concerning levels of heavy metals, particularly lead and cadmium.

The study, conducted by researchers from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and ConsumerLab.com, analyzed 72 dark chocolate and cocoa products sold in the United States from 2014 to 2022. Their findings shed light on a potential health concern that has been bubbling beneath the surface of the chocolate industry for years.

Why Study Heavy Metals in Chocolate?

Dark chocolate, long touted for its potential health benefits due to its high antioxidant content, has faced scrutiny in recent years due to reports of heavy metal contamination. Consumer media outlets and independent testing agencies, including Consumer Reports and As You Sow, have previously highlighted this issue.

Consumer Reports found heavy metals in popular chocolate brands including Hershey’s, Theo, Trader Joe’s, Godiva, Hu, and Equal Exchange, according to their 2022 report. A report by As You Sow also revealed elevated heavy metals in various chocolate products tested between 2014 and 2017. These earlier reports raised concerns about the safety of dark chocolate consumption, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and pregnant women.

Given these concerns, Leigh Frame, director of integrative medicine at George Washington University and co-lead of the study, aimed to explore the significance of this contamination.

“We know chocolate is a plant that is particularly good at absorbing heavy metals from the soil and is grown in areas where there are heavy metals in the soil. So, it seemed like a logical area of concern. Also, often people think of chocolate as a supplement—like I’m getting my daily dose of chocolate because it’s good for me, right?  We were interested to see if people consuming chocolate for health benefits really do get those benefits because there is also potentially heavy metal exposure,” Frame told The Epoch Times in an interview.

Study Design

The researchers analyzed popular cocoa-containing products from 2014 to 2022, including Ghirardelli, Hu, Lily’s, 365 Whole Foods Market, Nestle, Now Real Food, Baker’s, and Good & Gather.

All products were produced in the United States or Europe but sold only in the United States. The products were divided into four cohorts based on the year of purchase: 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2022. All products were tested for lead, cadmium, and arsenic content. Two primary standards were used to assess the levels of contamination:

⦁ The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established interim reference levels (IRLs) with the following allowable intake levels:

⦁ Lead: 2.2 micrograms (mcg) per day for children under 7 years old

⦁ Lead: 8.8 mcg per day for women of childbearing age

While the FDA has established IRLs for lead, it has not set official limits for cadmium or arsenic in food products.

⦁ California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) is a more stringent state-level regulation that established the following maximum allowable dose levels (MADLs):

⦁ Lead: 0.5 mcg per day

⦁ Cadmium: 4.1 mcg per day

⦁ Arsenic: 10 mcg per day

Study Findings

The new study’s findings paint a complex picture of heavy metal contamination in dark chocolate:

⦁ Lead: 43 percent of products tested exceeded Prop 65 limits, but 97.2 percent of the products fell below FDA IRL limits.

⦁ Cadmium: 35 percent of products exceeded Prop 65 limits.

⦁ Arsenic: No products exceeded Prop 65 limits.

For all products tested, mean concentrations of both lead (0.615 micrograms/serving) and cadmium (4.358 mcg per serving) exceeded Prop 65 standards. However, median concentrations of lead (0.375 mcg per day) and cadmium (3.03 mcg per day were below Prop 65 standards, suggesting that a few highly contaminated products may have skewed the overall results. 97.2 percent of all products tested fell below the FDA IRLs for lead.

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Exposure to Heavy Metals Linked to Dementia Risk

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Trade certifications (such as Fairtrade or Non-GMO) did not significantly affect heavy metal levels. Organic-labeled products showed significantly higher concentrations of cadmium and lead. They were 280 percent more likely to exceed Prop 65’s cadmium limit and 14 percent more likely to exceed its lead limit.

“Our hypothesis was that organic products would be lower in heavy metals because they were not going to have fertilizers or pesticides used on them that were contaminated with heavy metals. But it’s exactly the opposite,” Frame said.

Why organic products had higher levels of heavy metals is unclear. Frame questioned if fertilizers and pesticides may not be adding as many heavy metals to food as previously thought.

“Also, someone that is growing an organic product is likely to treat it more carefully and gently. Perhaps the more gentle processing is allowing more residual heavy metals, compared to being extracted through some of the harsher processing methods that other companies are using. But that is purely a hypothesis” Frame added.

Health Concerns: Lead and Cadmium

There is no known safe level of lead in the blood since even low levels can produce toxic effects, according to a 2021 article in Toxics. The central nervous system is particularly vulnerable to lead, potentially resulting in cognitive decline, fine motor control impairment, and attention-related issues in both children and adults, according to the article.

IQ test scores were lower among children exposed to lead, according to a 2022 review in Systematic Reviews. The authors stated that lead exposure “can have irreversible effects on children’s mental performance.”

While less notorious than lead, cadmium exposure can also pose significant health risks. Cadmium exposure is a “cardiovascular risk factor” that may initiate and promote the progression of atherosclerosis, according to a review in Current Atherosclerosis Reports. Cadmium may also increase blood pressure and risk of kidney damage, according to the review. Increase risk of fracture may also increase following cadmium exposure, according to a 2016 review in Medicine.

Frame and her research team question whether the proposed benefits of cocoa outweigh the possible risk of heavy metal exposure. “It’s hard to say whether these benefits are really truly beneficial for the average human,” she said.

According to Frame, while dark chocolate has been associated with improved cardiovascular health, cognitive performance, and reduced chronic inflammation, these potential health benefits have been modest.

For example, a 2021 review in Nutrients concluded that cocoa products improved triglycerides, however, there was no effect on blood pressure, blood glucose, cognitive function, skin, anthropometry, or quality of life regardless of form, dose, or duration when consumed among healthy people.

“As with anything, it has to do with what is the background diet. So, you have someone that has a very low polyphenol, low flavonoid diet, and chocolate is one of their predominant sources. Then in terms of the flavonoids, it may be very beneficial. That’s why coffee is so beneficial for the average American because their diet is very low in polyphenols. And coffee is very rich in polyphenols and so it’s a really important source,” Frame said.

Frame suggests that potential benefits from cocoa may be similar. “If you have someone who already has a rich source of polyphenols in the diet, the contribution of chocolate is going to be pretty minimal. And then that person is exposing themselves to more heavy metals from the chocolate without getting the health benefits.”

Moreover, the potential risks associated with heavy metal exposure have not been fully accounted for in previous studies promoting the health benefits of dark chocolate, according to Frame. She suggests a better approach is to look at the individual and ask if they are meeting their flavonoid levels and then use chocolate to increase those levels.

The Epoch Times reached out to Ghirardelli, Hu, Lily’s, 365 Whole Foods Market, Nestle, Now Real Food, Baker’s, and Good & Gather, but they did not respond by publication time.

Where Are the Heavy Metals Coming From?

Cocoa trees can absorb heavy metals that naturally occur in the soil, as well as heavy metals from environmental contamination. The main sources of heavy metal contamination in the soil are livestock manure, irrigation with wastewater or polluted water, application of sewage sludge, use of metallo-pesticides or herbicides, phosphate-based fertilizers, and atmospheric deposition, according to a 2019 review in Environment International.

“We undervalue the soil as a source of heavy metals, particularly in certain regions. There is a huge variation in regions. But, right now, when you buy a chocolate bar, you have no way of knowing where those beans came from because it’s not labeled,” Frame told The Epoch Times.

The presence of heavy metals in chocolate is partly attributed to post-harvesting contamination as well. For example, after fermentation, the cocoa beans are typically spread out to dry in the sun for several days. During this time, they are exposed to environmental contaminants, including lead-laden dust and dirt, according to Consumer Reports. This lead can come from industrial pollution in nearby areas, residual lead in soil from past use of leaded gasoline, or airborne particles containing lead.

As the beans dry, this lead-containing dust can settle on and adhere to their surface. Unlike cadmium, which is thought to be absorbed into the beans through the plant’s root system, lead contamination may be largely a surface-level issue that occurs after the beans have been harvested, according to Consumer Reports.

Frame and her team are advocating for enhanced surveillance of heavy metal contamination in cocoa products and suggest that better quality control practices during harvesting and manufacturing could help mitigate the problem. “Ideally they would test every batch.”

For consumers, Frame envisions a voluntary labeling system that is simple to understand. “The average person needs a stoplight type label that says, this is a moderate risk chocolate versus this is a high-risk or low-risk product. What I hope would happen is the companies that start putting it on there will see that people are more likely to buy their products, and then maybe other companies will follow suit.”

Implications and Takeaways

For most people, eating a single serving (one ounce) of dark chocolate is unlikely to pose a significant health risk, according to Frame.

“The reason we recommend one ounce is because that quantity is often studied for health benefits and you have to imagine that the heavy metals in one ounce are not reaching a level that’s becoming problematic,” she said.

However, consuming multiple servings could lead to excessive exposure.

“It’s very easy to over-consume chocolate. It’s something that can easily go from one to five or six servings. If people are having one ounce a day, maybe it’s okay. But if they’re having five servings a day and are getting astronomical levels of heavy metals, that’s a concern.”

Another potential concern is combining chocolate consumption with other food sources of heavy metals, such as teas and spices, Frame added.

The Bigger Picture: Cumulative Exposure

Dark chocolate is just one potential source of heavy metal exposure in our diets. According to a 2019 review in Environmental International, a growing body of research has identified concerning levels of heavy metals in various food crops, including:

• Fruits
• Leafy vegetables—green cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, lettuce, kale
• Root vegetables—radish, turnip, carrot
• Wheat
• Rice
• Soybean
• Corn
• Garlic

Heavy metals are also potentially problematic in some marine fish, seafood, herbal medicines, herbal teas, spices, fruit juice, as well as drinking water, particularly in areas with aging infrastructure or natural geological sources of contamination.

“Additional research into cumulative heavy metal exposure from the whole diet is needed. It’s not about excluding any of these foods. There is no zero exposure to heavy metals. You cannot completely exclude them from your diet. What you want to do is make sure your exposure is not too high,” said Frame.

What Can Consumers Do?

This new study serves as a reminder that even seemingly healthy foods can harbor possible hidden dangers. While dark chocolate has been associated with potential health benefits, it faces scrutiny for its heavy metal content. As consumers, we can balance the potential benefits against these risks. According to Frame, chocolate enthusiasts can still savor their favorite treat while reducing heavy metal exposure by considering these strategies:

1. Be aware that “organic” or other certifications do not necessarily mean lower heavy metal content. In fact, organic products may have higher concentrations, according to the study.
2. Enjoy dark chocolate in moderation as part of a balanced diet. Frame’s suggested serving size is no more than one ounce per day.
3. Vary sources of dark chocolate and cocoa products.
4. Alternate between dark and milk chocolate if you can tolerate lactose. While dark chocolate offers more antioxidants and less sugar, it may contain higher levels of heavy metals due to its higher content of cocoa solids (where heavy metals tend to accumulate). White chocolate has no cocoa solids, making it another good option.
5. Locate specific cacao brands that regularly test for heavy metals using third-party laboratories and have shown lower contamination levels. Organizations like Consumer Reports and As You Sow provide test results from common chocolate products. Although these results are snapshots in time, they may help identify which products might be safer choices.
6. Diversify your diet to help minimize the risk of excessive exposure to heavy metals from any single source.
7. Be particularly cautious with cocoa products if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or feeding young children.

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Former Prime Minister John Key has cut the ribbon to a new $50 million upgrade at the NIG Nutritionals milk powder plant in Paerata.

The former prime minister, shareholders and clients, were all given a tour with of the new 'state of the art' facility on Tuesday which will deliver product to four major partners in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. The plant will also deliver in smaller volumes to India, Sri Lanka, Africa, the Middle East and some New Zealand companies.

New Image Group, the parent company of NIG Nutritionals made a push into the dairy goat infant formula industry in 2015 by forming a supply partnership with local farmers.

"The source of our goat milk is from farms only 15 minutes from the plant, meaning full integration with the farm, collection, spray dryer and packaging plant," says Graeme Clegg, founder and chairman of New Image Group.

The New Zealand based company was formed in 1984 and has become New Zealand's biggest natural health product and nutritional’s provider.

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"We started building our Paerata plant in 2013 with a dryer and smaller specialised packaging plant. Then in 2016, we began a full upgrade with a larger dryer and then a large-scale canning and retail pouch facility," Clegg said.

He said the company has respectfully developed a trade relationship with China over the last 10 years, which has placed them as one of the top five imported goat milk formula brands into a country with a population of nearly 1.5 billion.

"NIG Nutritionals was one of the early entrants into China's goat milk infant formula market and it's Baby Steps brand is in the Top Five imported goat milk formula brands in China, accounting for around six per cent of all imported goat milk formula."

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Clegg said an estimated 75 million servings of NIG products are consumed annually just in China alone. Additionally worldwide an estimated 550,000 direct selling customers a day either use a new Image beauty product or nutritional supplement each day.

The plant is also an internationally recognised pioneer of the colostrum industry selling in 15 countries, with a consolidated revenue of more than $300 million in the past financial year.

He says production at the plant Paerata will move into operation 24 hours, day and night and employ another 80 people.

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New Image™ Group, one of the world's the fastest growing direct sales companies, has leapt from number 52 all the way to number 33 on the sector's Global Top 100 list.
It is a remarkable feat for a company started in 1984 by former sheep shearer Graeme Clegg in a country with still less than five million` people.

The New Zealand headquartered health and beauty products manufacturer reported revenues of US$243 million in 2019 to earn 33rd place in the DSN Global 100 Awards recently announced.

Global direct sellers, including the likes of Amway and Avon, have a combined revenue of around US$180 billion, many as major contributors to wellness and beauty markets.

Graeme Clegg says New Image™ now has offices in many parts of the world including Australasia, South Africa, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. The company is continuing its aggressive global expansion plans following constant demand for its products.

"People in New Zealand have no real concept of this retail channel and that some of our international representatives are earning up to $1 million a year from this distribution system," he says. "Traditional retailing is in decline and direct sales is expanding exponentially through better service and value."

Graeme Clegg says he is humbled by the impact New Image™ products have made on the wellness and prosperity of countless thousands of people. "Our state-of-the-art New Zealand manufacturing and packaging plants delivers products of exceptional value and quality, enabling us to securely market our products to the world."

New Image™ has collected many New Zealand export awards. Clegg says 172 patents and trademarks protect New Image's formulas, which include anti-aging and stem cell facilitation. The company's unique Alpha Lipid™ patent differentiates its colostrum from other brands by protecting the fragile bio molecules from adults' savage gastric juices, which can destroy colostrum's natural efficacy. "There is a lot of misinformation spread about colostrum, but research quickly reveals thousands of academic papers showing the beneficial effect of colostrum on human health," Clegg says. "Ours are science-based products supported by clinical trials published in medical journals. Colostrum's unique bio actives restore and reprogram the immune software facilitating optimum function."

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Rod’s impressive career includes 24 years senior management, marketing and sales experience in Direct Selling, his most recent roles being Managing Director for ‘Nutrimetics’ and General Manager for ‘Herbalife Nutrition’ Australia & New Zealand.

Graeme Clegg, Executive Chairman and Founder of New Image™ International says "His CV is impressive in the industry, including recent experience on the board of Direct Selling Australia. He will bring many positives to our business."

Excited to join New Image™ International, Rod commented: "New Image™ has a proud history of changing the lives of so many families around the world with incredible products, backed up by science and research and a competitive compensation plan. As a proud Kiwi, I feel it is a real privilege to join an incredible company that is one of the true pioneers of health products and direct selling around the world- a true New Zealand success story. I see an incredible future for New Image™."

New Image™ International is excited to take their next steps with Rod, helping to build strategy and growth across Asia, Africa and beyond

About New Image™ International

New Image™ International was founded in 1984 by Graeme Clegg who, inspired by the findings of extensive research, created our flagship colostrum-based health products. He is recognised as the pioneer of the colostrum industry.

For more than 36 years New Image™ International has continued to grow, increasing our offering to include nutritional, weight management and skincare products, sold throughout Asia Pacific and Africa by our network of Independent Distributors.

New Image™, one of the worlds the fastest-growing direct sales companies, has leapt from number 52 in 2018 to number 33 on the sector's Global Top 100 list last year. It is a remarkable feat for a company from a country with still less than five million people.

Proudly manufacturing all products in New Zealand, August 2019 saw a huge expansion in production capability with a new $50 million upgrade at the powder plant in Auckland, New Zealand. With sales increasing at a huge rate, due to the demand COVID-19 has created for immune based supplements, the infrastructure is in place to easily meet future demand.

Health – Wellness – Colostrum, From New Zealand to the World

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Online, LEAD magazine, is acknowledged as providing its readers with the latest information and advice regarding diversity and equality in the workplace.

Connecting with people who can help their readers achieve career and business goals, they reached out to our Chairman, Mr Graeme Clegg for his insights.

In this their 3rd magazine, Graeme shares his incredible determination to succeed by following a lesson he learnt early in life, to "never work for someone else". Establishing a successful business, which saw him shear over a million sheep in his 22-year history, Graeme went on to set the world shearing record on the 12th of December 1968.

The penny dropped when his mentor said that it was mental muscle that created wealth NOT physical muscle.

His decision to research the health benefits of colostrum and then go on to develop a global company is an inspiration to us all. This article delves into Graeme’s journey, his decision to sell through the “heart to heart” connection of direct selling and why “high touch” is so valuable in this industry.

Today New Image™ is recognised as a quality label in the nutrition field, with products backed by science. With two specialised state of the art manufacturing plants located in New Zealand, New Image™ continues to dominate the colostrum and nutritional sector. Their coreline product Alpha Lipid™ Lifeline is consumed globally every 4 seconds.

As Graeme himself has said “I have been humbled to have been recognised as the "Colostrum King" or The Father of Colostrum”. Click here to discover, how Graeme Clegg journeyed from sheep shearer to building a global empire.

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December 5th 2020 was our first Eagles Reunion – a fabulous day enjoyed by many, reliving the legacy we all created.

Many of our past presidents joined us including Murray Crawford, John Backhouse, Ann Betts, Morris and Pam Richards.

The day was a real trip down memory lane, Graeme treated all to great videos with many reminiscing and sharing stories of some amazing times.

We were also lucky to be joined by Dr Gill Webster who shared new information around immune-building research and the importance of colostrum supplements, with some great new product development.

Rod Taylor new CEO of New Image International beamed in for Australia to share exciting updates around the future of New image, with Leigh Mace giving us the inside scoop on skincare.

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New Image™ Group, one of the world's fastest-growing direct sales companies, has moved from number 33 to number 32 on the sector's Global Top 100 list.

It is a remarkable feat for a company started in 1984 by former sheep shearer Graeme Clegg in a country with still less than five million people.

Graeme Clegg says New Image™ now has offices in many parts of the world including Australasia, South Africa, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. The company is continuing its aggressive global expansion plans following constant demand for its products.

"People in New Zealand have no real concept of this retail channel and that some of our international representatives are earning up to $1 million a year from this distribution system," he says. "Traditional retailing is in decline and direct sales is expanding exponentially through better service and value." Graeme Clegg says he is humbled by the impact New Image™ products have made on the wellness and prosperity of thousands of people. "Our state-of-the-art New Zealand manufacturing and packaging plants deliver products of exceptional value and quality, enabling us to securely market our products to the world."

New Image™ has collected many New Zealand export awards. Clegg says 172 patents and trademarks protect New Image's formulas, which include anti-aging and stem cell facilitation. The company's unique Alpha Lipid™ patent differentiates its colostrum from other brands by protecting the fragile biomolecules from adults' savage gastric juices, which can destroy colostrum's natural efficacy. "There is a lot of misinformation spread about colostrum, but research quickly reveals thousands of academic papers showing the beneficial effect of colostrum on human health," Clegg says. "Ours are science-based products supported by clinical trials published in medical journals. Colostrum's unique bioactives restore and reprogramme the immune software facilitating optimum function."

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New Image Group has acquired skincare and cosmetics brand Nutrimetics from Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP) for an undisclosed sum.

Nutrimetics is a natural fit with New Image’s portfolio of health and nutrition products says Graeme Clegg, founder and chairman of the privately owned New Image Group.

“Nutrimetics is such an iconic brand with a proud 54-year history that has seen generations of women and men benefit from its incredible skincare and income opportunity. In the future, as part of New Image Group, it will be available to so many more people globally through our independent consultants.”

New Image Group has two subsidiaries – New Image International, which covers the global direct selling retail sales channel, and NIG Nutritionals, which takes care of all manufacturing and packaging in New Zealand for New Image International and its other customers serving domestic and international sales channels.

Rod Taylor, CEO of New Image International, says as Tupperware had decided to divest its beauty business units, he and others formerly associated with Nutrimetics saw it as an opportunity for New Image Group.

“After we had completed extensive due diligence, we were delighted our offer for the whole business was accepted,” Mr Taylor says. “A recent Nutrimetics’ conference on Australia’s Gold Coast confirmed our enthusiasm is well founded.

“We have plans to bring in new business systems to Nutrimetics and to increase the sales and marketing support for our independent consultants and grow revenue. ”

The acquisition includes Nutrimetics Australia, Nutrimetics International New Zealand, Nutrimetics Manufacturing and Nutrimetics France.

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Auckland, 25 May 2023 – Auckland based health and wellness business New Image International has again been recognised as a top performer in global direct selling, as ranked by Direct Selling News.

The DSN Global 100 list has been published annually since 2013 and reports the top direct sellers based on revenue.

New Image International, first featured on the list in 2014 at #87. Since then, its progress up the ladder has been steady and relentless. In 2022, New Image International is at #26, with US$489m revenue - just outside the top quartile - the only New Zealand company to be featured in the Top 100.

Rod Taylor, CEO of New Image International says that making the DSN Top 100 list is a huge achievement.

“To be recognised in the same conversation as massive organisations like Amway and Herbalife is a dream come true and reflects all the hard work from our entire team.

“New Image International has come a long way since our business began in 1984.

“Our chairman and founder Graeme Glegg was a sheep farmer. His ground-breaking ideas about the health benefits of colostrum was the genesis for our company. Now, nearly 40 years later we have a huge product range and are selling in 22 international markets (predominantly Asia, Africa and now Europe), Australia, and New Zealand,” he says. Graeme Clegg is also one of 16 industry leaders who sit on the World Federation of Direct Selling Ethics Committee.

Over the years New Image International has steadily expanded, entering new markets, and developing new products to include nutritional, weight management and skincare products. Its products are sold throughout Asia Pacific, Africa, and Europe by its network of independent distributors. The company has also made a number of strategic investments during that time, including opening its own milk processing facility in South Auckland in 2011, plus a $50m upgrade of the facility in 2019, and purchasing skincare and cosmetics brand Nutrimetics from Tupperware in 2022.

New Image Group has two subsidiaries – New Image International, which covers the global direct selling retail sales channel, and NIG Nutritionals, which takes care of all manufacturing and packaging in New Zealand for New Image International and its other customers serving domestic and international sales channels.

As a special thank you to its Kiwi customers, New Image International is supporting country music band The NZ Highwaymen on their 20-date tour of New Zealand in May and June. The band is comprised of homegrown country music legends Dennis Marsh, Gray Bartlett, Eddie Low, and Brendan Dugan.

Rod Taylor says: “With our strong connections to regional New Zealand, we are delighted to be involved as sponsor.”

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We are proud to announce that our Chairman and Founder Mr Graeme Clegg was announced as a finalist in the 2023 EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

As New Zealand navigates its way through the aftermath of the pandemic and contends with challenges such as inflation and global competition, EY has highlighted that the showcased skills of resilience and strong social conscience demonstrated by these finalists are crucial for the country's progress.

Hosting these awards fills us with great delight and pride. As we collectively forge ahead, these entrepreneurs embody the qualities needed to steer our nation towards a resilient and socially conscious future.

Read the full NZ Herald article here

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New Image International™, a global leader in bovine colostrum health and wellness products, is thrilled to announce the opening of its new office and distribution centre in Athens, Greece, to support the introduction of the New Image™ brand to Greece and to relaunch Nutrimetics. This expansion brings our innovative, high-quality health and beauty solutions to the market of Greece, marking an exciting new chapter for our company.

New Image™ is acknowledged and recognised for its comprehensive range of quality bovine colostrum health and wellness products designed to enhance well-being and help improve quality of life. Our combined portfolio includes advanced dietary supplements, cutting-edge skincare products, and functional foods. Many powered with bovine colostrum, crafted to meet the highest standards of quality and efficacy.

Graeme Clegg, Executive Chairman of New Image™ Group Ltd, who acquired Nutrimetics in 2022, expressed his excitement for this new venture: "We are delighted to bring New Image™ and re-introduce Nutrimetics to Greece, a country with a rich history and a strong commitment to health, wellness, and beauty. Our mission is to empower individuals with the best that nature and science have to offer. We look forward to contributing to the well-being of the Greek community and helping people live healthier, happier lives."

Rod Taylor, CEO of New Image International added: “Our expansion into Greece is a significant milestone for us. We are committed to offering innovative health and beauty solutions that cater to the needs of the people of Greece. Our goal is to support and enhance the health and vitality of this vibrant country. It also marks the beginning of our expansion into Europe."

The new office and distribution centre in Athens will serve as the hub for New Image™ and Nutrimetic’s operations in Greece, ensuring efficient distribution and superior customer service across the country. To celebrate our launch, Graeme Clegg will host a series of events and promotions designed to introduce our brand to the local market and engage directly with our new customers.

New Image™ ’s expansion into Greece underscores our ongoing global growth and our unwavering commitment to making a positive impact on people's lives through innovative health and beauty solutions. We are dedicated to fostering a culture of health and wellness, and this new presence in Greece is a significant step toward realizing that vision.

For more information about New Image™ and our product offerings, please visit our websites at New Image International |New Image International New Zealand or for media enquiries, contact New Image international CEO Rod Taylor.

Mobile: +64 220255877

Email: rod.taylor@newimage.asia

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People who douse their meals in salt may have a shorter life than those who rarely reach for the salt shaker, a large new study suggests.

The study, of more than 500,000 British adults, found that those who always sprinkled salt on their food at the table were 28% more likely to die prematurely than people who rarely added salt to their meals.

On average, salt lovers shaved about two years off of their life expectancy at age 50.

The findings do not prove the salt shaker is a deadly weapon. But they do support going lighter on the condiment, said lead researcher Dr. Lu Qi, of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. "It's a simple behavior people can modify," Qi said. Processed foods and ready-to-go meals are often heavy in sodium, and best limited. But, Qi noted, it can be tricky to avoid the sodium lurking in prepared foods. Resisting the salt shaker on your kitchen table is straightforward. Health experts have long advised limiting sodium in the diet -- largely to help control blood pressure levels. Yet studies have been mixed as to whether that lengthens people's lives. One likely reason is the way that studies measure sodium intake, Qi said. Some have measured sodium in participants' urine samples, which only reflects their recent salt intake. Others have asked people about the foods they've eaten in the past month or so, which is also an imperfect estimate.

In contrast, Qi said, a habit of topping every meal with salt says something about a person's long-term taste preferences. The findings are based on 501,379 adults taking part in the UK Biobank Study. When they were recruited, between 2006 and 2010, they answered questionnaires on their diet and lifestyle habits. Over nine years, more than 18,000 participants died prematurely -- which the researchers defined as before age 75. When they assessed each person's life expectancy, they found that the risk of an untimely death was 28% higher among people who'd said they "always" used salt at the table, versus those who never or rarely did. Of course, there may be many differences between those groups of people. The "never" group is likely to have other healthy habits, for example.

But, Qi said, his team accounted for many such differences, including people's exercise levels, smoking and drinking habits, body weight and health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. And salt habits, themselves, were still linked to the odds of premature death. Among male salt lovers, that amounted to over two years lost from their life expectancy at age 50. Their female counterparts lost 1.5 years of life, on average. The study cannot show why, Qi said. But he thinks the effect of excess salt on blood pressure is the primary reason: People who habitually added salt to their food had an increased risk of dying from stroke or heart disease, specifically. The findings were published July 10 in the European Heart Journal. Whitney Linsenmeyer is an assistant professor of nutrition at Saint Louis University. She said that in her experience, people often reach for the salt shaker out of pure habit. "Oftentimes, it just takes a bit of raised consciousness to break that habit," said Linsenmeyer, who is also a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. A dash of salt is not "forbidden," she said, but it's a good idea to taste your food first, to see if that dash is really needed. Linsenmeyer also pointed to other ways to get a flavor boost. Herbs, spices or a bit of vinegar or lemon juice can do the job. She noted, though, that packaged herb blends often contain salt, so people should either use them lightly or buy a sodium-free product. That said, Linsenmeyer stressed the importance of overall diet -- which means plenty of fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich grains, fish, beans, nuts and "good" unsaturated fats. "Often, it's helpful to focus on what's recommended in abundance, like vegetables and fruit, versus what has to be limited," Linsenmeyer said. In fact, the current study pointed to a protective effect of healthy eating. Among people with the highest intake of vegetables and fruit, added salt showed no negative impact on longevity. "It's tempting to focus on just one nutrient like sodium or saturated fat," Linsenmeyer said. "But the reality is we eat foods, not nutrients."

MedicineNet

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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When it comes to meeting and conquering the negativity in your life, here is a key question: What can you do, starting today, that will make a difference?

What can you do when everything has gone wrong? What can you do when you've run out of money? What can you do when you don't feel well? What can you do when it's all gone sour? What can you do?

Let me give you the broad answer first…

You can do the most remarkable things, no matter what happens. People can do incredible things, unbelievable things, despite the most impossible or disastrous circumstances.

Why can humans do remarkable things? Because they are remarkable. Humans are different than any other creation. When a dog starts with weeds, he winds up with weeds. And the reason is because he's a dog. But that's not true with human beings. Humans can turn weeds into gardens.

If something isn't enough, change it. If something doesn't suit you, change it.

Humans can turn nothing into something, pennies into fortune and disaster into success. And the reason they can do such remarkable things is because they are remarkable. Try reaching down inside of yourself; you'll come up with some more of those remarkable human gifts. They're there, waiting to be discovered and employed.

With those gifts, you can change anything for yourself that you wish to change. And I challenge you to do that because you can change. If you don't like how something is going for you, change it. If something isn't enough, change it. If something doesn't suit you, change it. If something doesn't please you, change it. If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You don't ever have to be the same after today.

If there is one thing to get excited about, it's your ability to make yourself do the necessary things, to get a desired result, to turn the negative into success. And that's remarkable.

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Many startup entrepreneurs are too quick to overlook the direct sales model. After all, isn’t direct sales about in-home parties, pink Cadillacs, and casual hobbyists? This flawed thinking often prevents inventive leaders from gaining traction with their “Big Idea.”

If only entrepreneurs knew the truth and we could save them from misconceptions. The direct sales channel removes traditional barriers to starting a small business while unleashing the most powerful, influential force on the planet—network marketers.

In fact, speed to market is a major reason entrepreneurs choose direct sales in the first place. It may be the reason you are reading this article!

You may choose the direct sales channel for a unique business model as a go-to-market strategy. Or seeking to expand your current business to include a direct sales channel, may be the right fit.

The most powerful marketing tool is a volunteer army of product advocates.

No doubt about it, influencer marketing and affiliate sales are on the rise. Now is the best time to use the direct sales channel to grow your startup.

The Four Benefits of the Direct Sales Business Model

#1 Increase Speed to Market

When you have an incredible, life-changing product, time is of the essence.

There’s no faster way to get your product in people’s hands than through direct-to-consumer sales.

If you’re skeptical, consider the alternative. After working years for public consumption approval, and investing tens of thousands of dollars, the wait continues. You’ll spend another 2-3 years vying for meetings with store owners for desirable shelf space. If you’re lucky, you may even get the chance to spend tens of thousands of dollars more for an end cap placement.

After all of that, when your product starts gathering dust amidst established competitors, you’ll lose your spot. And finally, all your hard work ends up on the“Clearance” table, RIP. The big brands will carry on, investing mega budgets to keep their products front of mind with their target consumers. Startups simply don’t have the time or the money to compete. Direct sales, or network marketing, removes the barrier of speed and risk!

Save yourself the trouble and the heartache of trying to get noticed by the big box stores. Instead get your products where they belong: in the hands of your customer loyalists.

Don’t spend your budget on shelf space. Let your website showcase your products and draw your user experience on your terms by putting your advertising dollar into the pocket of people who have captured your vision.

Instead of hoping for sales, partner with passionate, driven super users. Your ideal customer will be an advocate for new products that impact both their lives, and those within their sphere of influence.

#2 Spotlight your Unique Selling Proposition

Getting your products in the door and on the retail store shelf is only half the battle. Once they’re there, they must sell.

Imagine your customer standing in front of the shelf with your flagship product at eye level. Your packaging is beautifully complete with a compelling tagline. Yet, you’re missing the key piece of the puzzle: social proof.

So, your potential customer does the natural thing and calls over a store employee. “What do you think about this product?” They ask. “Do other customers like it?” Will the employee who has worked there for less than 6 months (on average) know what sets your product apart? Nope.

Are they motivated to promote your product over the other dozen on the shelf? Not likely. Will they have a personal, inspirational story to share about your product? You see where this is going, right? The average retail store employee can’t differentiate between your probiotic and 20 other competitors. The grocery stocker isn’t vested in your protein powder. Selling ANY product outweighs selling your product for the health food store cashier. Through direct sales, you can tell your story in a compelling, strategic way

Your educated network of distributors believes in the story because it is true for them and the people they care about. The facts will tell, the stories will sell. Your customers get a customized experience with a product ambassador who knows and cares about them. Once your product proves itself to be the solution to your customer’s problem, they will buy it again. And again. AND, tell their friends!

#3 Amplify your Advertising Impact

Have you ever found yourself choosing a restaurant based on a recommendation in Yelp? Or decided what to order once you get there? I do it all the time—and I’m rarely disappointed. It doesn’t matter if I know the person who wrote the review in real life. What matters is a human being made the recommendation. We trust word-of-mouth marketing over any other kind of advertising. Social proof is powerful and the statistics back it up. Television and online advertising can be effective. But when people are ready to spend money, they prefer to read reviews to hear from like-minded people.

By choosing a direct sales model, your advertising is authentic, passionate, and powerful. Why invest limited dollars in marketing departments and expensive campaigns that don’t net results? Your advertising budget is cost-effective when it leverages word-of-mouth marketing. Not to mention the massive uptick in retention rates… Bottom line, invest in people who will serve as your customers, salesforce, and be part of your marketing team. They’re driven to be successful at all three. They believe in your product and the lifestyle benefits they experience by using it, loving it, and sharing it!!

#4 Transform lives in a meaningful way

The reason I’ve dedicated my adult career to network marketing is not that it’s all about business development. It’s because it’s all about personal development. I started as a distributor in a direct sales business after having my first baby. The moment I went to hand our tiny infant over to a nanny so I could return to work, I knew I had to change my career.

Network marketing allowed me to build a successful business and raise my family at the same time. Our family’s priorities remained THE priorities. Plus, I saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people like me experience transformation. For some, it was their lifestyle, for others, their social and presentation skills. For others, their humanity.

But across the board most became better people, myself included, as their confidence and self-awareness grew. At the end of the day, direct selling is a personal development program attached to products and compensation.

The Network Marketing Community

I love the way John Maxwell writes in his book, The Power of Five for Network Marketing: “Network Marketing is an environment that embraces good values. When good values are learned and lived, the value of the person increases and their value to others begins to rise.”

Today, as I serve the Jenkon team and clients, I know we’re making an impact on people who want transformation on their terms.

When you choose a direct sales model for your startup, you’re giving people a choice. Your company could be the gateway to getting a free product to enhance their health and well-being. Or paying down debt. It could be a relief from daunting medical bills. Or, a much-needed vacation for the whole family. Sometimes, it’s the hope of stress-free retirement.

As the leader of a Direct Selling company, you are the keeper of people’s hopes and dreams of a better way of life.

You are transforming lives. You are:

- allowing individuals to benefit from products they couldn’t normally afford;

- giving a parent the chance to spend more time with their children;

- providing a way to achieve flexible income diversification and security;

- empowering the next generation with leadership skills to be the change we need in this world; and

- creating a community of people who wake up each day excited to learn, grow and be the best version of themselves.

It’s a ripple effect much broader than financial profitability, a robust bottom line, or double-digit EBITDA. The true reward of a direct sales model?Transforming people’s lives—from the inside out.

Ready to catapult your Direct Sales Start-Up to incredible heights?

To hit the ground running in direct sales, you need technology that provides a firm foundation to grow with you. At Jenkon, we know how challenging it is to build and launch a direct sales company from the ground up. At the speed you can scale, your technology must seamlessly support your growth.

Technology should never hinder the vision of your company.

For over 40 years, we’ve partnered with companies of all sizes to help them scale without limitations. With the introduction of JoT (the Jenkon of Things), you get an affordable, all-in-one, proven technology platform you’ll never outgrow.

Don’t waste time, money, or precious momentum. Launch right the first time with a proven, globally trusted innovator.

Schedule a Discovery Session today! Let’s explore how our robust, streamlined platform can provide the stability and long-term collaboration to build your Enterprise.

Jenkon

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Some vision changes are a normal part of aging, while others may indicate an underlying health condition or the effect of poor lifestyle choices.

Aging affects every part of the body, and the eyes are no exception. Some vision changes are a normal part of aging, whereas others may indicate some underlying health conditions or the effect of poor lifestyle choices, such as smoking.

Eyesight or vision changes may occur with aging due to several reasons such as:

• Reduced lens flexibility

• Reduced tear production or drying of the eyes

• Breakdown of the gel-like fluid or vitreous in the eyes

• Fluid buildup in the eye chambers

• Clouding or opacification of the lens

• Drooping eyelids

• Damage to the cornea or retina

To understand how these changes affect our vision as we age, it is important to understand how we see.

Understanding vision

Light enters through a transparent tissue in front of the eye called the cornea. The shape and thickness of the cornea determine how much the entering light rays will be bent and consequently focus on the light-sensitive tissue (retina) present at the back of the eye.

• Thus, corneal health is crucial to determine how well an image is focused on the eye.

After entering the cornea, the light passes through the tiny circular opening called the pupil, which is seen in the center of the colored part of the eye called the iris.

• The iris controls how much light enters the eye by changing the size of the pupil.

• Thus, in bright light, the pupil appears smaller, whereas, in dim light, it becomes larger.

Light entering the pupil then passes through the lens which is a clear structure that further focuses the light. The thickness of the lens can be changed by the muscles attached to it.

Finally, the light is focused on the retina that converts it to electrical signals that are carried to the brain through the optic nerve.

The inside of the eyeball is divided into three chambers: anterior, posterior, and vitreous.

• The anterior chamber is the part between the cornea and iris.

• The posterior chamber is between the iris and lens.

• The vitreous chamber is the part behind the lens.

Anterior and posterior chambers are filled with a watery fluid called the aqueous humor, whereas the vitreous chamber has a gel-like clear substance called the vitreous humor.

• The clarity and consistency of these humor or fluids help maintain the shape of the eyeball and achieve a proper vision.

• Thus, if any part of the eye gets affected, the final image processed by the brain may get affected, resulting in vision issues.

What are the different age-related vision problems?

Different age-related vision problems include:

Presbyopia:

• Refers to the decline in the focusing ability of the eye due to a reduction in lens elasticity. It may manifest after 40 years of age as difficulty seeing objects held close by or reading newspapers and other fine prints. It may occur sooner in people who already have myopia.

• The person often holds books or other reading material at arm’s length to read properly.

• Presbyopia can be managed by wearing reading glasses or bifocals.

Cataract:

• The opacification or clouding of the lens is called a cataract.

• Opaque regions on the lens result in poor focusing of the light rays, resulting in diminished or blurry vision.

• Vision changes are painless and depend on where on the lens the opacification occurs.

• Cataracts can be easily treated through surgery that involves removing the opacified lens and replacing it with an artificial lens.

Glaucoma:

• A serious condition that occurs due to increased pressure within the eye (intraocular pressure or IOP). Persistently increased IOP can lead to permanent loss of vision due to optic nerve damage.

• Glaucoma may present as severe eye pain, headache, blurring of vision, increased tearing, nausea or vomiting, and seeing halos or colored rings around light sources.

• It can be treated through medications and surgery.

Dry eyes:

• The tear glands secrete lesser tears as one ages.Persistently increased IOP can lead to permanent loss of vision due to optic nerve damage.

• Tear production helps keep the eyes clean and comfortable and aids in proper vision. With reduced tear formation, the eyes feel gritty and tired.

• Reduced tear production may increase the risk of eye inflammation and infections.

• The doctor may prescribe lubricating eye drops or artificial tears to help with this problem.

Glaucoma:

• A serious condition that occurs due to increased pressure within the eye (intraocular pressure or IOP). Persistently increased IOP can lead to permanent loss of vision due to optic nerve damage.

• Glaucoma may present as severe eye pain, headache, blurring of vision, increased tearing, nausea or vomiting, and seeing halos or colored rings around light sources.

• It can be treated through medications and surgery.

Floaters:

• They refer to tiny moving specks or spots in the field of vision, particularly seen in bright light. Persistently increased IOP can lead to permanent loss of vision due to optic nerve damage.

• Occasional floaters are normal, but increased floaters along with flashes of light may indicate a serious underlying condition such as retinal detachment.

• Contact your doctor immediately if you see too many floaters suddenly along with flashes of light.

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD):

• Results due to damage to a part of the retina called the macula.

• It causes loss of central vision with preserved side or peripheral vision.

• ARMD is the leading cause of vision loss in people who are 50 years and older.

• Blurred central vision may cause difficulties recognizing faces or reading a clock.

• Although there is no cure for this condition, treatment can reduce its progression and preserve your vision

MedicineNet

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Does a fountain of youth exist? Since science has yet to hit on a universal cure for aging, many find an antidote to the implacable march of time in a bottle— a bottle of hair dye, that is. Covering up gray hair is a multibillion-dollar business worldwide, a beauty behemoth that promises a temporary reprieve from one of aging’s most obvious signs. But why does hair gray, anyway—and will science one day find a way to reverse it?

The answer most likely is inside our hair follicles, the place where hair pigmentation begins and, for many, fades. The cells that turn our hair gray, melanocytes, are the same ones that produce the pigment melanin responsible for our hair, skin, and eye color. “Their sole function is to produce pigment, and they deposit it into the hair shaft as it’s growing,” explains Melissa Harris, an associate professor of biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As with skin color, hair color is thought to have evolved as part of the body’s protection against the sun’s rays.

The original evolutionary purpose of hair color may be simple, but the science behind your shade is anything but. Hundreds of genes play a role, and hair color is thought to be one of our most visibly inherited traits, with up to 99 percent of hair color being genetically determined.

Fact 1: Gray hair is full of air

Each hair on your head is at some point in a four-part growth cycle: a years-long anagen phase, in which hair cells grow from the follicle; the catagen or transition phase, when growth slows and the hair separates from the follicle; the telogen or resting phase, in which the follicle prepares to release its hair and grow a new one; and the exogen phase, during which dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of hairs are shed per day from the scalp. This regenerative cycle is ongoing, and every follicle is on its own timeline.

Hair pigmentation happens during the critical anagen phase. As the hair cycle begins, stem cells inside the bulb of a hair follicle generate melanocyte cells, which in turn produce pigment. These melanocytes die by the end of the hair cycle, and the follicle produces new melanocytes from stem cells as the growth cycle repeats. But over time, explains Harris, the melanocytes can lose steam, producing less—and eventually no—pigmentation. “They’re no longer doing their job,” she says. “The stem cell population also declines. If those stem cells disappear, you won’t have the melanocytes during that next hair cycle.” As a result, instead of being packed with melanin, the hair shaft is filled with air, and our eyes perceive the semi-transparent shaft as fading, silvery, or white.

Fact 2: Gray hair is caused by more than the ageing process

Since graying occurs at the hair follicle, a hair’s pigment can’t be changed once it has grown from the follicle. But some processes feed a longstanding myth that stress can cause people to turn gray “overnight.” In fact, stress can trigger a condition known as telogen effluvium, essentially an increase of the number of hairs that are no longer actively growing that results in more hair loss than usual. The hairs that remain may appear more obvious, putting existing gray hairs front and center. Age isn’t the only factor that can cause melanocytes to lose their oomph. Genetics play a part in pigment loss, too, and race and ethnicity are associated with the age at which hair grows gray, with white people graying up to a decade before their Black counterparts. Lifestyle matters, as well, Harris notes: “There are some clear environmental factors that can increase your risk for early graying,” she says.

Smoking, UV exposure, certain nutritional deficiencies, exposure to air pollution, and excessive alcohol consumption are all associated with earlier pigmentation loss, as are diseases like neurofibromatosis, an inherited disease that causes tumors to grow throughout the body, and thyroid disease. Others, such as those with vitiligo, a rare form of albinism, or Griscelli syndrome, a genetic disease that affects skin and hair pigmentation, may develop gray hair in infancy or early in life.

Fact 3: It can make you look distinguished or haggard—depending on your gender

Despite its original evolutionary purpose, the significance and frequency of hair color—and humans’ preferences for different-colored coifs—was helped along by our reproductive drives. Though the science is split, males are thought to have developed an evolutionary preference for rarer hair colors, such as blond, and people of both sexes see hair color as an indicator of both health and age.

For better or for worse, gray hair is associated with age—and can profoundly affect the way we see ourselves and others. Though up to 23 percent of people worldwide have at least 50 percent gray hair by the age 50, discrimination is rife against those who don’t cover up their grays. And society’s perception of silvering hair can vary depending on the gender of the person sporting gray locks. Men are widely considered more distinguished and attractive as they age, a phenomenon nicknamed the George Clooney effect after the ever-handsome actor. Women, however, face bias for visible grays, and up to 75 percent dye their hair.

A 2022 study in the Journal of Women Aging found that women experience a conflict between the perceived wisdom and competence of gray hair, their desire to show their authentic selves, and societal expectations to remain youthful and age “successfully”—i.e. grow older without obtaining wrinkles or white hair. When they surveyed women who had abandoned hair dye and attempts to look younger, researchers found that “they instead covered by means of careful attention to hair styling, cosmetics and clothes, in an attempt to reduce any impression of having let themselves go.” As a result, the researchers concluded, the women ended spending as much time, money, and effort looking “competent” and “kempt” as they aged as they once did dyeing their hair.

Fact 4: We may be able to reverse the gray one day

It’s no wonder, then, that many people see their first visible gray hair as an unwelcome milestone. But science may soon be able to reverse the very process that causes hair to fade, says Harris, who has worked extensively with melanocyte-producing stem cells. So far, she’s learned that hair graying may be connected to an immune response and is now working on potential ways to reactivate the stem cells. Harris’ work piggybacks on other research that shows these stem cells can be manipulated in the lab, along with a surprising study showing re-pigmentation in a group of lung cancer patients whose hair regained color after they took an immunotherapy treatment.

The key may be a protein called PD-LI, which suppresses the immune system and is expressed more by dormant melanocyte-producing stem cells than those in the active division stage. “It might actually have some novel roles we haven’t appreciated yet,” Harris muses. “What is this protein doing in stem cells? Could we use it to activate [hair pigmentation]?” For now, the work continues, and it isn’t just cosmetic: Harris thinks the pigmentation process of human hair has lessons to teach science about other ways our bodies age and respond to stress and environmental factors—with much broader implications for overall human health. If we’re lucky, discovering how to reverse graying hair could come with an even greater perk—the ability to stay healthier longer and getting more out of the lifetime that, for most, delivers a few grays along the way.

National Geographic

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Our lives are greatly affected by what we know, since what we know determines the decisions we will make. Just as we are affected by what we know, we are also affected by how we feel.

While philosophy deals essentially with the logical side of life—information and thinking habits—attitude focuses primarily on the emotional issues that affect our existence. What we know determines our philosophy. How we feel about what we know determines our attitude.

Like thoughts, emotions have the capacity to propel us toward future fortune or future disaster. The feelings we carry within us about people, our work, our homes, our finances, and about the world around us collectively form our attitude. With the right attitude human beings can move mountains. With the wrong attitude they can be crushed by the smallest grain of sand.

The right attitude is one of the fundamentals of the good life. That is why we must constantly examine our feelings about our role in the world and about our possibilities for achieving our dreams. To create the brightest future, we must confront our feelings about the years and decades to come, but also our past and our present.

The Past

One of the best ways to approach our feelings about the past is to use it as a school, not as a weapon. We must not beat ourselves up over past mistakes, faults, failures, and losses. The events of the past, good and bad, are all part of the life experience. It is easy to allow the past to overwhelm us. But the good news is that it is also easy to allow the past to instruct us and to increase our value.

Until we have finally accepted the fact that there is nothing we can do to change the past, our feelings of regret and remorse and bitterness will prevent us from designing a better future with the opportunity that is before us today. If we can establish an intelligent approach to the past, we can dramatically change the course of the next year or longer.

The Present

The current moment is where our better future begins. The past gave us a wealth of memories and experiences, and the present gives us a chance to use them wisely. Today brings to each of us 1,440 minutes; 86,400 ticks of the clock. Both the poor and the wealthy have the same 24 hours of opportunity. Time favors no one. Today merely says, “Here I am. What are you going to do with me?”

How well we use each day is largely a function of attitude. With the right attitude we can seize this day and make it a point of new beginning. The greatest opportunity today brings with it is the opportunity to begin the process of change. It can be a new attitude adopted about whom we are, what we want, and what we are going to do. Today can also be exactly like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before…. It is all a question of attitude.

The Future

In their classic, Lessons of History, Will and Ariel Durant wrote: “To endure what is, we must remember what was, and dream of things as they will one day be.” Our attitude about the future depends on our ability to see the future. Each of us has the inherent ability to dream, design, and experience the future through our hopeful imagination. Whatever the mind has the capacity to imagine, it also has the ability to create.

Just as the body instinctively knows how to perform the miracle of health, the mind instinctively knows how to perform the miracle of wealth. But it will not create great rewards for you if it does not believe you deserve them. Which brings us to the beginning of progress—the key point to shifting from your past, into a better attitude of the present, which will bring with it positive rewards for the future.

Your Attitude About Yourself

The exciting thing is that each of us has the mental, spiritual, intellectual and creative power to do all that we could ever dream of doing. Everyone has it! We just need to become more aware of all that we already have and spend more time refining all that we already are, and then put it to work for us.

What stops us from recognizing our inherent gifts and talents is a poor attitude about ourselves. Why are we so quick to see the value in others and yet so reluctant to see it in ourselves? Why are we always ready to applaud someone else’s accomplishment and yet so shy about recognizing our own?

How we see ourselves is a matter of choice.

If there is one area in the knowledge department where we cannot afford to be lacking, it is the knowledge and awareness of our own uniqueness. We do not feel better about ourselves for the simple reason that we do not really know ourselves. For if we truly knew ourselves—our strengths, our abilities, our resources, our depth of feeling, our sense of humor, our unique accomplishments—we would never again doubt our ability to create a better future.

Each of us is unique. There is no one else in the world quite like us. We are the only ones who can do the special things we do. And what we do is special. We may not win great awards or public acclaim for our deeds, but we make the world a better place because of them. We make our families stronger, our offices more efficient and our community more prosperous because we are who we are.

Changing how we feel about ourselves begins with developing a new philosophy about the value of each human being—ourselves included! Most of us are so busy living our lives that we never pause long enough to appreciate all that we do in a given day. We have no appreciation of ourselves simply because we have no awareness of ourselves. Self-knowledge is a critical part of the life puzzle. As we learn more about who we are, we begin to make better choices and decisions for ourselves and about ourselves. And as we have already suggested, as our choices improve, so do our results, and as our results improve, so does our attitude.

Your Attitude Under Control

The process of human change begins within us. We all have tremendous potential. We all desire good results from our efforts. Most of us are willing to work hard and to pay the price that success and happiness demand.

Each of us has the ability to put our unique human potential into action and to acquire a desired result. But the one thing that determines the level of our potential, produces the intensity of our activity, and predicts the quality of the result we receive is our attitude.

No other person on Earth has dominion over our attitude. People can affect our attitude by teaching us poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming us or providing us negative influences, but no one can control our attitude unless we voluntarily surrender that control.

No one else “makes us angry.” We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose, not they. They merely put our attitude to a test. If we select a volatile attitude by becoming hostile, angry, jealous, or suspicious, then we have failed the test. If we condemn ourselves by believing that we are unworthy, then again, we have failed the test.

If we care at all about ourselves and our future, then we must accept full responsibility for our own feelings. We must learn to guard against those feelings that have the capacity to lead our attitude down the wrong path and to strengthen those feelings that can lead us confidently into a better future.

If we want to receive the rewards the future holds in trust for us, then we must exercise the most important choice given to us as members of the human race by maintaining total dominion over our attitude. Your attitude is an asset, a treasure of great value. Protect it. Nurture it. And you will reap the future rewards.

Jim Rohn

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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The following article is all about the sophisticated art of discovering possibilities in times of great trouble; and the way to see the good in bad situations. Life can be a tough ride. It’s harsh, hard and slaps you occasionally in the face.

Sometimes, it seems like a never-ending struggle from one problem to another. And as if this wasn’t enough already, we encounter every once in a while an incident that is so severe, so drastic and shocking that it changes our life forever.

Unfortunately, in most cases, this change is not for the better. There are times in life when a door is proverbially slammed right in front of your face. I’ve experienced one major life-changing event, and of course a couple of minor events that everyone else undergoes as well, like being left, given notice, stolen from, etc.

And certainly, I asked myself whenever I encountered one of these “minor life-changing events” why it was always me who had to endure such an awful thing. That was until I grew older and was confronted with a truly “major life-changing event”. It did not only make me realize how insignificant most of the minor happenings were, but it also elucidated all the things I could no longer do in my life. It made me realize all the doors that had been slammed shut, never to be opened again.

I spend a lot of time in grief about all the doors that were closed and all the opportunities that were missed. It was a tough episode in my life, but time is a great healer, as they say, and so I began to make the best out my situation. And after many, many months I had learned to at least deal with the situation. But it took me a lot of reflection and courage to discover all the doors, windows and opportunities that had presented themselves only as a result of this major life-changing event.

Only when I was brave enough to accept the situation I found myself in, only when I was courageous enough to let go of the bitterness concerning the missed opportunities, I began to discover new paths and even more exciting avenues. I do realize now that – especially this tough and difficult time – paved the way to something new and made me the person I am today. If someone would ask me if I wanted to experience a similar thing again, I would certainly answer no, as it was something you wouldn’t even wish for your worst enemy. But, I wouldn’t want to miss all the amazing opportunities it brought me.

There’s a lesson to be learned in everything that happens to you. And it takes a lot of courage to discover the windows that were opened by such a situation. Remaining in grief and self-pity, or entirely giving up is always the easier alternative. But in reality, some doors and windows can only be opened, when an existing door is closed.

When a door closes, look out for the window that opens!

How to Discover Opportunity in Times of Great Challenge?

In the following, I will show you some of the most important steps toward finding the good in bad situations:

1. 1. Take yourself a break, time will heal!
2. That’s, in my opinion, the single most important aspect in discovering opportunities in times of great trouble. Naturally, you might not see any new window opening when your emotional wounds are still open and the pain is still felt. Your situation might seem hopeless, while the memory is still fresh. Therefore, it’s so important to give yourself a hiatus, before even thinking of looking for a window that has opened. [Of course, this only applies to very severe happenings!]. The reason why I’m stressing this out lies therein that you will not be ready to discover any opportunity if you haven’t allowed yourself some time for yourself to come to terms with what happened.
3. Depending on the severity of what happened, this can take months or even years! But time heals all wounds; it may not restore things, it may not change your life for the better, but it allows you to come to terms with the past.
4. Feel free to bookmark this site, to return to it at a later point in time, if you don’t feel ready to continue, yet.
5. If you allow time to pass, you will notice that many new opportunities have presented themselves, and may have already been integrated into your new life. This often goes unnoticed, at the first moment.
6. 2. Distract yourself
7. Try to get distraction, by focusing on things that do not remind you of what happened. Treat yourself to something good. Also, by keeping yourself engaged in an activity that totally absorbs your mind and soul, you will more likely think about positive things, for a longer period of time.
8. 3. Develop acceptance
9. Secondly, acceptance about what happened is needed before you are ready to discover new possibilities, challenges and unnoticed options. The perfect moment to search and discover the windows that have opened is when you do not feel any more grief about the door that has closed.
10. 4. Have the courage to find new possibilities
11. Does it take courage to discover and accept the windows as what they are? Yes, certainly! I can only relate to my situation, but it took me a lot of courage to discover these new opportunities and just as much courage to see what could be found behind these windows.
12. 5. Avoid comparisons with the door that closed
13. The difficulty for me lied therein that not all of these new opportunities looked worthwhile at all. Especially not when compared to my past lifestyle. And this was a major mistake, which prohibited me from discovering all the new fantastic windows and doors much earlier. I firmly believe that I would have never chosen to discover what could be found in each new opportunity, if I had continued to compare all of them with the doors that had closed. So, it was tremendously helpful for me to clarify that a new chapter in my life had begun, whether I liked it or not.
14. Therefore, it’s so important to let go of the door that closed. In most situations, the windows that opened through a troublous time do not look like new opportunities at all. Many of them seem much more like a step backward, but I realized that most of them turned out to be very profound and enriched my life.
15. 6. Go with the flow and don’t force things
16. I know from my personal experience that most of the new circumstances do not immediately present themselves after a door has been shut close. Also, the attempt to force new doors to open is, in my opinion, counter-productive. Rather than doing that, I would recommend you to simply “go with the flow”, i.e. by doing whatever feels right to you at the moment. A while later you will automatically know if these things have developed into new opportunities or not.
17. 7. Discover the lessons and internalize them
18. Number 7 applies to mildly bad situations, but not to all malign happenings. Many bad situations we encounter in life bring a valuable, mostly hidden, lesson. And in fact, depending on your own insight about life, a lesson can be drawn out of nearly every stroke of faith, (not all though!) By finding the root cause for a bad happening, you have the chance to learn a lesson out of what happened, in order to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

STEVE MUELLER

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a slowly progressive disease of the brain that is characterized by impairment of memory and eventually by disturbances in reasoning, planning, language, and perception. Many scientists believe that Alzheimer's disease results from an increase in the production or accumulation of a specific protein (beta-amyloid protein) in the brain that leads to nerve cell death.

The likelihood of having Alzheimer's disease increases substantially after the age of 70 and may affect 38% of persons over the age of 85. Nonetheless, Alzheimer's disease is not a normal part of aging and is not something that inevitably happens in later life. For example, many people live to over 100 years of age and never develop Alzheimer's disease.

What's the difference between Alzheimer's disease and dementia?

Dementia is a syndrome characterized by:

1. impairment in memory,

2. impairment in another area of thinking such as the ability to organize thoughts and reason, the ability to use language, or the ability to see accurately the visual world (not because of eye disease), and

3. these impairments are severe enough to cause a decline in the patient's usual level of functioning.

Although some kinds of memory loss are normal parts of aging, the changes due to aging are not severe enough to interfere with the level of function. Although many different diseases can cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause for dementia in the United States and in most countries in the world.

What causes Alzheimer's disease?

The cause(s) of Alzheimer's disease is (are) not known. The "amyloid cascade hypothesis" is the most widely discussed and researched hypothesis about the cause of Alzheimer's disease. The strongest data supporting the amyloid cascade hypothesis comes from the study of early-onset inherited (genetic) Alzheimer's disease.

Mutations associated with Alzheimer's disease have been found in about half of the patients with early-onset disease. In all of these patients, the mutation leads to excess production in the brain of a specific form of a small protein fragment called ABeta (Aβ). Many scientists believe that in the majority of sporadic (for example, non-inherited) cases of Alzheimer's disease (these make up the vast majority of all cases of Alzheimer's disease) there is too little removal of this Aβ protein rather than too much production. In any case, much of the research in finding ways to prevent or slow down Alzheimer's disease has focused on ways to decrease the amount of Aβ in the brain.

Who's most at risk for Alzheimer's disease?

Age

The main risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is increased age. As a population ages, the frequency of Alzheimer's disease continues to increase. Fifteen percent of people over 65 years of age and 50% of those over 85 years of age have Alzheimer's disease. Unless new treatments are developed to decrease the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease, the number of individuals with Alzheimer's disease in the United States is expected to be 13.8 million by the year 2050.

Genetics

There are also genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. Most people develop Alzheimer's disease after age 70. However, less than 10% of people develop the disease in the fourth or fifth decade of life (40s or 50s). At least half of these early onset patients have inherited gene mutations associated with their Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, the children of a patient with early onset Alzheimer's disease who has one of these gene mutations has a 50% risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Common forms of certain genes increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, but do not invariably cause Alzheimer's disease. The best-studied "risk" gene is the one that encodes apolipoprotein E (apoE).

· The apoE gene has three different forms (alleles) -- apoE2, apoE3, and apoE4.

· The apoE4 form of the gene has been associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in most (but not all) populations studied.

· The frequency of the apoE4 version of the gene in the general population varies, but is always less than 30% and frequently 8% to 14%.

· People with one copy of the E4 gene usually have about a two- to three-fold increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

· Persons with two copies of the E4 gene (usually around 1% of the population) have about a nine-fold increase in risk.

· Nonetheless, even persons with two copies of the E4 gene don't always get Alzheimer's disease.

· At least one copy of the E4 gene is found in 40% of patients with sporadic or late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

This means that in majority of patients with Alzheimer's disease, no genetic risk factor has yet been found. Most experts do not recommend that adult children of patients with Alzheimer's disease should have genetic testing for the apoE4 gene since there is no treatment for Alzheimer's disease. When medical treatments that prevent or decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease become available, genetic testing may be recommended for adult children of patients with Alzheimer's disease so that they may be treated.

Estrogen

Many, but not all, studies have found that women have a higher risk for Alzheimer's disease than men. It is certainly true that women live longer than men, but age alone does not seem to explain the increased frequency in women. The apparent increased frequency of Alzheimer's disease in women has led to considerable research about the role of estrogen in Alzheimer's disease. Recent studies suggest that estrogen should not be prescribed to post-menopausal women for the purpose of decreasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Nonetheless, the role of estrogen in Alzheimer's disease remains an area of research focus.

Howard Crystal, MD

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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During a migraine, some chemicals in the brain become more active, which send out confusing signals that result in headaches.

Some chemicals in the brain become more active, causing parts of the brain to send out confusing signals that cause migraine symptoms. The precise chemical changes in the brain are unknown; however, something may cause a change in the activity of some brain chemicals, resulting in a migraine attack.

Glutamate:

• Massive quantities of glutamate, a critical neurotransmitter in the brain, could help explain migraine onset.

• An aberrant release of glutamate into the extracellular space (the space between brain cells) can cause spreading depolarizations or tsunami-like waves of activity that spread across the brain, resulting in a migraine. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that acts as a signal between nerve cells.

• However, too much glutamate can excite cells and destroy them.

Dopamine:

• Although the exact cause of migraines is unknown, an imbalance in a brain neurotransmitter is thought to play a role.

• Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that affects movement, emotions, motives, and sensory perceptions, as well as the ability to moderate pain.

• Researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered that dopamine levels in the brain decrease during a migraine attack compared with their baseline level between attacks.

• Additional research is needed to confirm the findings and determine how they may be used to build more effective migraine treatments, according to the researchers.

Serotonin:

• In people with migraine, serotonin (another neurotransmitter) is low between attacks and spikes during the attack.

Migraine is now classified as a neurological disorder and the sixth most disabling disease in the world, according to the Migraine Research Foundation.

What causes migraines?

Although studies have reported that a migraine is a biological disorder of the brain that causes recurring moderate to severe headaches, the exact cause of it remains unknown. There are, however, few studies and theories regarding the various causes of migraine caused by malfunctions in brain functions:

Constriction of the blood vessels:

• When blood vessels in the brain constrict, they can cause pain by direct irritation of the nerve endings or by reducing oxygen supply to nearby tissue leading to a migraine.

• Although some migraines appear to be genetically linked, the underlying cause of migraines remains a mystery.

• According to current research, people with migraine have a more sensitive nervous system than the general population.

Role of the trigeminal nerve:

• Excitation of a nerve responsible for sensation in the face could be one of the causes. The trigeminal nerve is stimulated by various neurotransmitters.

• As a result, the blood vessels that surround the brain expand and inflame.

• These blood vessels are connected to nerve fibers that send pulsations from the blood vessels back into the brain, where you perceive it as pain.

• This system is vulnerable to being activated repeatedly when there is no good reason in people with a migraine.

• Instead of serving as a protective mechanism, it has evolved into a system that interferes with your ability to function normally in your life.

Cortical spreading depression:

• According to one widely accepted theory, migraines are caused by rapid waves of brain cell activity crossing the cortex (the thin outer layer of brain tissue), followed by periods of no activity. This phenomenon is known as cortical spreading depression.

• According to evidence, it causes inflammatory and other processes that stimulate pain receptors on the trigeminal nerves.

• This “neurogenic” inflammation and the release of other factors make the receptors and parts of the brain that receive their signals more sensitive, increasing the likelihood of a migraine.

• According to some researchers, migraines begin lower in the brain, in the brainstem, which controls basic functions such as respiration and pain responses, as well as modulates many others, including incoming sensory information.

• According to the theory, if certain areas of the brainstem aren't working properly or are easily excited, they're capable of triggering cascades of neurological events, such as cortical spreading depression, which account for migraine's various symptoms.

Gray matter (GM) changes:

• Functional imaging studies on people with migraine have revealed changes in several brain GM regions.

• Such GM changes include areas of decreased and increased density, and they are most likely related to pathological substrates associated with this disease.

Brain lesions:

• According to an American Medical Association study, frequent migraines are associated with an increased risk of brain lesions.

• However, more research is needed to determine whether lesions hurt the health and whether they are caused by migraine attacks.

raumatic brain injury:

• It is estimated that between 30 and 90 percent of traumatic brain injuries, such as those sustained in sports, military service, vehicle accidents, falls and domestic abuse, resulting in a post-traumatic headache.

• More than half of people with mild to moderate brain injuries fit the migraine criteria.

• Migraine can impair cognitive function, emotional stability, and social connections.

• Migraine-like symptoms are typical in post-traumatic headaches that do not resolve quickly.

• They are usually more severe and resistant to treatment. Migraine is now one of the top 10 causes of military disability.

The migraine brain does not get used to repeated stimulations:

• If you flash a light in the eyes of someone who does not have a migraine regularly, their brain will ultimately reduce its response.

• For people with migraine, the brain keeps reacting over and over. This lack of adaptability has been observed with light and sound.

• This may cause people with migraine to use more energy being aware of their surroundings. In principle, an overabundance of a stimulus could result in an attack.

MedicineNet

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives. The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life—the the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.

To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing at all. Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to stretch upward and outward to the full measure of our capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment that we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability and desire will permit—to settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in this worthiest of undertakings.

Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! And if our results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of whom and what they have become.

Jim Rohn

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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There was a time earlier on in the pandemic where I would wake up every morning between 3 and 4 o’clock. Sometimes I had to go to the bathroom or I had a genius idea for a new story. Other times it was for seemingly no reason at all.

Waking up in the middle night typically isn’t cause for concern. The average person wakes up several times throughout the night, but often doesn’t notice because they’re able to fall back asleep quickly (and they’re only awake for a few seconds). However, frequent night awakenings could also be a sign of insomnia, which has been found in 40% of older adults. But before you self-diagnose, it could be helpful to take a look at why you’re waking up in the middle of the night.

What causes you to wake up in the middle of the night

As it turns out, there are multiple reasons why we randomly wake up in the middle of the night, including, but not limited to:

Noise: This could be from the sound of traffic outside and birds chirping, or your partner snoring next to you (or, as was often the case for me, a noisy upstairs neighbor). “The brain continues to register and process sounds during sleep, and as such, noise can be a major sleep stealer,” explains Terry Cralle, registered nurse and representative of the Better Sleep Council.

Alcohol: A glass of wine with dinner may not seem like a bad idea, but as alcohol metabolizes in your system, it can disrupt your sleep, which can lead to tossing and turning and frequent awakenings. “Alcohol consumption is known to reduce the time spent in REM [rapid eye movement] sleep and is also considered a diuretic, which may lead to middle-of-the-night bathroom trips,” says Cralle.

Dinnertime: Eating too close to bedtime can also lead to waking up in the middle of the night due to heartburn and acid reflux.

Stress: If earlier-than-usual awakenings are not your norm, you may consider what’s going on during waking hours and if stress from life or work may be impacting your sleep.

Aging: As we get older, our quality of sleep tends to diminish as our sleep cycle changes and medication can impact your sleep schedule as well.

How to fall asleep quickly after waking up in the middle of the night

If you have a few more hours before your alarm is scheduled to go off, you can still salvage some of your sleep. Here’s how:

Resist the temptation to watch the clock

Checking the time (or notifications) can actually cause you to stay awake longer. “The light is disruptive and you may easily wind up checking content and before you know it, you have easily lost an hour (or more) of sleep,” says Cralle.

Avoid bright light

If you need to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, try to avoid bright lighting as much as possible. However, if you find yourself making several trips throughout the night, you should consult your healthcare provider.

Try to relax (but don’t force yourself to fall asleep)

Anyone who has ever found themselves staring at their ceiling in the middle of the night knows purposely trying to fall asleep can often lead to the opposite happening. Instead of forcing sleep, experts recommend trying relaxation techniques instead, such as deep breathing, meditation or progressive muscle relaxation, which involves tensing and then releasing each muscle in your body.

Leave the room

If all fails after 20 minutes, get up and go to another room to read or listen to soft music. Whatever you do, just make sure it’s in another room. “Doing this will lead your brain and body to associate your bed with wakefulness instead of with sleep,” Johns Hopkins sleep expert Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D. said in a blog post.

“It can be difficult leaving a warm, comfortable bed after waking up in the middle of the night. But think of this step as an investment in better sleep—if not tonight then tomorrow night and in the future.” Once you’re sufficiently sleepy, you can return to your bedroom.

Tips to prevent waking up in the middle of the night

While occasional 3 a.m. awakenings may be unavoidable, there are science-backed ways to ensure you set yourself up for success before bedtime. For adults under 65, it’s recommended you get seven to nine hours of sleep per night with the goal of going to sleep within two to three hours after sunset.

It’s essential to go to sleep before midnight, Dr. Allison Brager, a neurobiologist with expertise in sleep and circadian rhythms, previously told Fortune, as this “optimizes time spent in restorative non-REM sleep.” Other tips for getting a good night’s rest include:

• Keep a regular bedtime and wake time

• Get light exposure, ideally sunlight, during the morning

• Avoid large doses of caffeine throughout the day, but especially after 2 p.m.

• Avoid large meals, alcohol and exercise close to bedtime

• Avoid bright light exposure in the evening

• Keep your bedroom dark and cool

Additionally, you can optimize your bedroom to include sleep masks and ear plugs; blackout curtains; a noise machine and/or other sound-absorbing materials, such as carpet, area rugs or wall hangings; and a comfortable sleep surface, such as mattress, pillows and bedding, to help you fall asleep (and stay asleep) more easily.

But if nothing’s working and you still find yourself getting up at 4 a.m. more often than not, then you’ll want to check with your doctor to see if you have a sleep disorder.

“Quality sleep is the foundation on which optimal health is built. Even if nutrition and exercise are at their best, without proper sleep their benefits are greatly reduced,” Dr. Abhinav Singh, medical director, Indiana Sleep Center, expert at SleepFoundation.org, and co-author of Sleep to Heal: 7 Simple Steps to Better Sleep, previously told Fortune. “Sleep is important for metabolic health, immune health, muscle repair, optimal brain function and mental health. Optimal sleep not only adds years to your life, but life to your years

Fortune

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There are three kinds of network marketers:

1. Those who are inside the arena, won on the field of play, making things happen.

2. Those who are inside the arena, sitting in the stands, watching things happen down on the field of play.

3. Those who are outside the arena, asking, "What going on inside? What's happening?"

The first kind of network marketers – those who are on the field of play, making things happen – represent the smallest percentage of network marketers. They are the achievers, the ones who are on the field of play, the ones who are consistently and correctly "playing the game" of network marketing, day in and day out. This group declared loudly, "I want financial freedom and time freedom", and then they went for it. They learned what to do, then they did it, and they continue to do it. The primary difference between this first group and the other two groups are that this first group – those who make things happen – routinely make good and productive choices. Once they make a choice, then it's full steam ahead.

The second kind of network marketers – those who are sitting in the stands, watching things happen on the field of play – represent the largest percentage of network marketers, by a long shot. They want desperately to be down on the field of play. They truly want to "play the game" of network marketing. They truly long to achieve financial and time freedom. Yet something deep down inside holds them back. What holds them back are the choices they make. They know they can do network marketing. They know they can learn and apply and achieve. But something deep down inside causes them to be a prisoner of their own mind, of their own choices. For some it's fear, fear of failure or fear of success. For others it's low self-worth, the thought that they're not worth it. Regardless of what's holding them back, it can be overcome with a single thought, a single choice, and a single action, much like turning on their own light that shines brightly.

The third kind of network marketers – those who are outside the arena asking, "What's going on inside? What's happening?" – probably shouldn't have gotten involved in network marketing in the first place. They don't really understand it, they don't really want to understand it, they don't really "get it", or they get it but just don't care.

Unknown

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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There are successful direct selling companies in the world. Actually, there are numerous very successful companies and they have been around for a long period of time. What separates them from the rest? Is it a novelty product that they have launched? Or is it the compensation plan each has been using that had not been thought of before?

A real, economically sustainable success in direct sales can never fully be tied to one determinant. In my opinion, it is the result of a combination of five factors:

Compensation Plan

Despite a widely accepted belief among entrepreneurs, the compensation plan should never be the starting point for a new venture. It cannot lead to success (regardless of how well-developed it can be), if the other pillars that I will explain are not strong enough. All good compensation plans on the other hand, has several common characteristics:

· It is an integral part of the overall company strategy.

· It rewards all (and only the) key behaviors on the field.

· It is easy to understand, easy to explain.

· It provides unlimited income opportunity to the direct seller.

· It is a controlled expense to the company.

· It is in full compliance with regulations.

Have you noticed I have not mentioned “new/unused/unheard of” or “having the biggest payout”?

Operations

Operations within this context encompasses all tasks that are to be accomplished for the purpose of enabling the independent direct sellers to build and grow their businesses. This pillar consists of such building blocks as product procurement, distribution, information technologies, commissions payouts, customer services to give a few examples. A not-so-well constructed operations brings only crises… and on a daily basis. Some of these could be small and some of them more substantial. Yet, some of the crises could be quite catastrophic.

Communication

Good communication is vital in direct selling, period. There are two major aspects of this as far as we are concerned: Field and general public. Field communication includes a) all “transmission” to the direct sellers to help continue their businesses smoothly, and b) keeping the channels open for them to facilitate their voices being heard. Communication with the public serves two purposes: Building awareness and trust towards the brand among people and voluntarily representing oneself to the authorities.

Compliance

Thanks to the bad apples in the industry, this pillar has never been more important. Regulators around the world are bringing in tighter restrictions every day and consequently, compensation plans and “claims” are being scrutinized heavily. Therefore, it is essential to make sure every aspect of a company’s dealings with direct sellers and the direct sellers’ with end-users are in full compliance with the regulations in that market. Needles to say, failures in this area only lead to investigations, substantial fines and sometimes, to the closure of that business. The harm done to the industry as a whole is an additional collateral damage.

Training

A well-prepared training strategy is critical in becoming a winning direct sales venture. In essence, the objective of training is to show the field members ways to do their businesses better and to earn more. Field training has several sub-headings like product, selling techniques, working with the compensation plan, leadership, compliance etc. And each of these will have to be provided in various levels such as introductory, mid-level and advanced. The primary benefit expected to be provided to the field is “knowledge”. Yet, an important side-benefit is always “motivation”. So, this part should never be neglected.

Product Portfolio

No, I have not forgotten about the products. It is just so obvious that there should be a reasonable product portfolio that will be demanded by the end users and will be wide enough to allow independent direct sellers to make money. Without it, those five pillars above will take the business nowhere but to a launch that is doomed to fail.

World of Direct Selling

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The BIGGEST risk of coronavirus infection – and the BIGGEST threat of its deadliest complications – are in seniors, especially those with preexisting conditions.

But some of those preexisting conditions are much, much worse than others. And unfortunately, the DEADLIEST risk factor is also one of the MOST COMMON.

It's diabetes.

The new study finds that if you have the disease, then your chances of surviving a COVID-19 infection plunge. One in 10 diabetes patients hospitalized for the coronavirus die within a week, while 20 percent end up on a ventilator.

What's more, the study finds:

- 47 percent suffer eye, kidney or nerve complications

- 41 percent battle heart, brain and leg conditions

- EACH complication DOUBLES the risk of death in a week

- The death risk TRIPLES past the age of 65

- The death risk jumps 14 TIMES at 75

Natrual Health Response

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Perseverance is about as important to achievement as gasoline is to driving a car. Sure, there will be times when you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, but you’ll always get out of the rut with genuine perseverance. Without it, you won’t even be able to start your engine.

The opposite of perseverance is procrastination. Perseverance means you never quit. Procrastination usually means you never get started, although the inability to finish something is also a form of procrastination.

Ask people why they procrastinate and you’ll often hear something like this: “I’m a perfectionist. Everything has to be just right before I can get down to work. No distractions; not too much noise; and of course I have to be feeling well physically, too. I can’t work when I have a headache.” The other end of procrastination—being unable to finish—also has a perfectionist explanation: “I’m just never satisfied; I’m my own harshest critic; if all the i’s aren’t dotted and all the t’s aren’t crossed, I just can’t consider that I’m done. That’s just the way I am, and I’ll probably never change.”

Do you see what’s going on here? A fault is being turned into a virtue. The perfectionist is saying their standards are just too high for this world. This fault-into-virtue syndrome is a common defense when people are called upon to discuss their weaknesses, but in the end it’s just a very pious kind of excuse-making. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with what’s really behind procrastination.

Remember, the basis of procrastination could be fear of failure. That’s what perfectionism really is, once you take a hard look at it. What’s the difference between being afraid of being less-than-perfect or afraid of anything else? You’re still paralyzed by fear. What’s the difference between never starting or never finishing? You’re still stuck. You’re still going nowhere. You’re still overwhelmed by whatever task is before you. You’re still allowing yourself to be dominated by a negative vision of the future in which you see yourself being criticized, laughed at or punished. This negative vision of the future is really a mechanism that allows you to do nothing. It’s a very convenient mental tool.

I’m going to tell you how to beat procrastination. I’m going to show you how to turn procrastination into perseverance, and if you do what I suggest, the process will be virtually painless. It involves using two very powerful principles that foster productivity and perseverance instead of passivity and procrastination.

Break it down.

No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, whether it’s writing a book, climbing a mountain or painting a house, the key to achievement is your ability to break down the task into manageable pieces and knock them off one at one time. Focus on accomplishing what’s right in front of you at this moment. Ignore what’s off in the distance someplace. Substitute real-time positive thinking for negative future visualization.

Suppose I ask you if you could write a 400-page novel. Sounds impossible, right? But suppose I ask you a different question. Suppose I ask if you can write a page and a quarter a day for one year. Do you think you could do it? Now the task is starting to seem more manageable. We’re breaking down the 400-page book into bite-size pieces. Even so, I suspect many people would still find the prospect intimidating. Do you know why? Writing a page and a quarter may not seem so bad, but you’re being asked to look ahead one whole year. When people start to look that far ahead, many of them automatically go into a negative mode. So let me formulate the idea of writing a book in yet another way. Let me break it down even more.

Suppose I ask you if you can fill up a page and a quarter with words—not for a year, not for a month, not even for a week, but just today? Don’t look any further ahead than that. I believe most people would confidently declare that they could accomplish that. These are the same people who feel totally incapable of writing a whole book.

If I said the same thing to those people tomorrow—if I told them, I don’t want you to look back, and I don’t want you to look ahead, I just want you to fill up a page and a quarter this very day—do you think they could do it?

One day at a time. We’ve all heard that phrase. That’s what we’re doing here. We’re breaking down the time required for a major task into one-day segments, and we’re breaking down the work involved in writing a 400-page book into page-and-a-quarter increments.

Keep this up for one year, and you’ll write the book. Discipline yourself to look neither forward nor backward and you can accomplish things you never thought you could possibly do. And it all begins with those three words: Break it down.

Write it down.

We know how important writing is to goal-setting. The writing you’ll do for beating procrastination is very similar. Instead of focusing on the future, you’re going to be writing about the present just as you experience it every day. Instead of describing the things you want to do or the places you want to go, you’re going to describe what you actually do with your time, and you’re going to keep a written record of the places you actually go.

In other words, you’re going to keep a diary of your activities. And you’re going to be amazed by the distractions, detours and downright wastes of time you engage in during the course of a day. All of these get in the way of achieving your goals. For many people, it’s almost like they planned it that way, and maybe at some unconscious level they did. The great thing about keeping a time diary is that it brings all this out in the open. It forces you to see what you’re actually doing—and what you’re not doing.

Your time diary doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Just buy a little spiral notebook that you can easily carry in your pocket. When you go to lunch, when you drive across town, when you go to the dry cleaners, when you spend some time shooting the breeze at the copying machine, make a quick note of the time you began the activity and the time it ends. Try to make this notation as soon as possible; if it’s inconvenient to do it immediately, you can do it later. But you should make an entry in your time diary at least once every 30 minutes, and you should keep this up for at least a week.

Jim Rohn

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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One day my mentor, Mr. Earl Shoaff, said to me, “Jim, if you want to be wealthy and happy, learn this lesson well: Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” I must admit that this was the most challenging assignment of all. This business of personal development lasts a lifetime.

You see, what you become is far more important than what you get. The important question to ask on the job is not, “What am I getting?” Instead, you should ask, “What am I becoming?” What you become directly influences what you get. Think of it this way: Most of what you have today, you have attracted by becoming the person you are today.

I’ve also found that income rarely exceeds personal development. Sometimes income takes a luck jump, but unless you learn to handle the responsibilities that come with it, it will usually shrink back to the amount you can handle.

It is hard to keep that which has not been obtained through personal development. So here’s the great axiom of life: To have more than you’ve got, become more than you are.

The marketplace is a demanding place. There is plenty of opportunity, but you’ve got to get ready for it and prepare for it. We’ve got to spend a portion of this year getting ready for next year, and we’ve got to spend a portion of this decade getting ready for the next decade. Hopefully the reason why we’re here, looking well, doing fairly well, is because we spent a portion of the last decade getting ready for this decade.

So a big share of life is spent getting ready, getting prepared, and part of it is the development of skills. I’ve got a good key phrase for you to start with in developing skills that make for success in the marketplace. First, it starts with personal development, self-improvement, making measurable progress.

Personal development is a push. It’s a struggle. It’s a challenge. There wouldn’t be any winning without a challenge. That’s what life is all about. It’s the struggle and the challenge to develop ourselves and our skills to see what we can create in the way of value in the marketplace. Life is all about creating skills and value and taking those skills and value to the marketplace and what it will return for you. Now it also has a social part, a spiritual part as well as a physical part, and we’re going to talk about some of those parts.

New habits don’t come easy, but they can be developed. Sometimes when you develop a lot of momentum in one direction, it’s not that easy to change but it is possible. It isn’t easy, but it’s possible. Somebody once said, success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. You’ve just got to read the books, learn the skills, put yourself through the paces, do the mental pushups and get yourself ready. Inspiration is fine, but inspiration must lead to discipline. It’s one thing to be motivated, but it’s another thing to be motivated sufficiently to take the classes, do the reading, do the repetition, go through it over and over, until it becomes part of you. And those are challenges. They’re not easy, but they’re challenges that if you win and develop and grow, that’s what determines your place, your return, your equity, the worth you get from the marketplace.

I’ve divided personal development into three parts. Let me give you those:

1. Spiritual

I know when you talk spiritual you can get in an argument most anywhere, but I have a single belief that says humans are not just animals. Some people believe we’re just an extensions and an advanced form of the animal species, but I believe humans are unique. Spiritual qualities make us different from all other creations. Now I’m an amateur on that side of it, so I can’t give you a lot of advice there, but I would recommend you be a student of the spiritual side of your nature. And whatever you have to read and assimilate to develop in that area, I would strong suggest you do.

2. Physical

The mind and the body work together, so we’ve got to give some attention to both, mind and body. Development of mind and body. On the physical side, you’ve heard the phrase that says treat your body like a temple. A temple. Not a bad word. Something you would take extremely good care of. Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed, right? A temple. Take good care of it.

The only house we have to live in currently is the physical body we have and that’s part of success in the marketplace. That’s physical well-being. It’s feeling good about yourself physically, so that you stride into the marketplace with a sense of self-worth, self-confidence,having taken care of that end of it. It covers several parts, including good nutrition. Physically you can do extremely well if you just pay some attention. Read all the books about nutrition to make up your own mind. There are a lot of weird conflicts in the nutritional aspect, but you just have to read and decide for yourself a good plan for you, a good health plan.

Then there’s physical appearance. Be skillful enough to take care of your appearance in the marketplace. It has a lot to do with your acceptance. A big share of it is how you appear to other people—on the job, performing, company, community. You say, well, people shouldn’t judge you by your appearance. Well, let me tell you, they do! Don’t base your life on should and shouldn’t. Only base your life on realities. Sure, when people get to know you they’ll judge you by more than what they see, but at first they’re going to take a look. So, physical appearance is part of the physical side of personal development. Be conscious of self, but not self-conscious. There’s a certain point that we need to be conscious of ourselves, take care of it, then let it go. Some people worry about their appearance all day and it detracts rather than adds. So take care of it, and then let it go. Do the best you can, and let that get the job done. Be conscious of ourselves, but not to the point of being self-conscious.

3. Mental

Here’s the third part to personal development: the mind. Stretching your mind, developing good thinking habits, good study habits, pursuing ideas, and trying to find ways to apply them to human behavior and the marketplace. All of that takes mind-stretch and mind-exercise. Part of it is stretching yourself in reading habits. You can’t live on mental candy, so you’ve got to have the full range of mental food in order to grow. We call that mind-stretch.

Your willingness to tackle subjects that are difficult and that most people have decided to let slide gives you an extraordinary edge in the marketplace. How can you master part of the high skills, the extraordinary skills that make you an unusual performer in the marketplace? It takes mind-stretch. Some people skip poetry and literature, history and a lot of things that seem a little difficult to attack. But if you always back away from something that seems a little difficult at first, you leave yourself weak. You leave yourself unprepared in the marketplace. So, don’t be afraid to tackle the heavyweight stuff. It may be a lot easier than you think once you get into it and learn skill after skill.

Jim Rohn

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Let's admit it: Oatmeal is a total nerd. It lacks fashion sense – the color they named after it is somewhere on the drab side of beige. It's often seen with Sesame Street's Bert, who also loves bottle caps, paper clips and pigeons.

But when it comes to healthy eating, oatmeal and the oats it comes from can definitely hang with the cool kids at the breakfast table.

"It has many, many good qualities," said Candida Rebello, director of the nutrition and chronic disease research program at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.

Extensive studies have associated oats and oatmeal with plenty of heart-healthy benefits, such as lowering cholesterol (both total and "bad" LDL cholesterol) and helping with weight control. Oatmeal has a host of vitamins and minerals. Two examples: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a one-cup serving of cooked oatmeal has about 1.8 milligrams of vitamin B1, or thiamin. That's close to 15% of what an adult needs each day. It also has 1.36 mg of manganese, which is 59% of the daily recommendation for men and 76% for women. Manganese has roles in immunity, blood clotting and the way cholesterol and blood sugar are metabolized. But that's not what makes oats stand out, Rebello said. That same cup of cooked oatmeal has just 166 calories and nearly 4 grams of dietary fiber.

And the type of fiber is where oats start to distinguish themselves. It's called beta-glucan. Put that in the conversation, and it's like the scene in a movie where oatmeal takes off its glasses and everyone realizes just how beautiful it is. Not literally. It's a soluble fiber, which means it dissolves in hot water, where it thickens. "When you eat oatmeal, the kind of sliminess that you see – that comes from this viscosity that beta-glucan generates," Rebello said. That helps you feel full longer, she said. And it helps undigested food travel farther down your digestive tract, where it feeds the friendly bacteria living there.

Beta-glucan is abundant in oats and barley and has been shown "quite unequivocally" to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels, Rebello said. Oats also are rich phytonutrients – plant-derived substances that may boost health. One class of such phytonutrients is avenanthramides, which are found only in oats. Avenanthramides may have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, although Rebello said their possible benefits are not as well-researched as those for beta-glucans. Oats have been linked to heart-health benefits since the 1960s and come in many forms. The differences involve levels of processing.

Oats grow in an inedible casing called a hull. Inside the hull is a seedlike groat. That groat is encased in bran. "In other whole grains, like in wheat, you can remove that bran layer," Rebello said. "But in oats, this groat is very soft, so that bran layer cannot really be removed." That means oats are almost always a whole-grain food, and those are a key part of a healthy eating pattern. If oats are labeled "steel cut," it simply means they were processed with a steel cutter, Rebello said. Rolled oats are steamed first, then pressed with a roller. "If the roller crushes it into thinner flake, then you get quick-cooking oats," she said. "If it is then rolled into an even thinner flake, you get your instant oats." Rebello said that nutritionally, there is little difference between steel cut and rolled oats. Instant oats, however, have a higher glycemic index, meaning they raise your blood sugar faster.

When oats are ground to flour, the coarser portion is extracted and called oat bran. The beta-glucans will be concentrated in the flour rather than the bran, she said. Oat milk is derived from oats and water, but processing may add ingredients such as sugar, salt, oil and more. Oat milk has some dietary fiber, Rebello said – commonly 2 grams per cup – but the amount of beta-glucan is rather small. Unfortunately, Rebello ruled out sugar-filled oatmeal cookies as a healthy food (although she's not averse to having one as a treat now and then). How, then, to embrace oats? "Just eat regular oatmeal," she said. Half a cup of rolled oats cooks up quickly and will keep you full a long time. Oatmeal with your favorite fruit can be a sweet way to start the day. Cook it in low-fat milk for creaminess and add unsalted nuts to bolster its heart-health value. If you're time-pressed in the morning, try a healthy version of overnight oats, which can be prepared the night before. It's important to remember that no single food, even oats, can do it all, Rebello said, noting that if you eat a nutritious breakfast but then load up on sugar and fat the rest of the day, "that's really not going to help you much." But you should go ahead and invite oatmeal into your breakfast club, Rebello said. "I definitely recommend eating oats."

MedicineNet

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Although drugstore shelves might suggest otherwise, affordable dietary supplements that provide critical nutrients in appropriate doses for pregnant women are virtually nonexistent, researchers have found.

In a new study published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, investigators observed what many physicians have long suspected: most prenatal vitamins and other supplements do not adequately make up the difference of what food-based intake of nutrients leave lacking. Despite patients believing they are getting everything they need with their product purchase, they fall short of guideline-recommended requirements.

"There is no magic pill," said Katherine A. Sauder, PhD, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora and lead author of the study. "There is no easy answer here."

The researchers analyzed 24-hour dietary intake data from 2450 study participants across five states from 2007 to 2019. Sauder and colleagues focused on six of the more than 20 key nutrients recommended for pregnant people, and determined the target dose for vitamin A, vitamin D, folate, calcium, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids.

The researchers tested more than 20,500 dietary supplements, of which 421 were prenatal products. Only 69 products — three prenatal — included all six nutrients. Just seven products — two prenatal — contained target doses for five nutrients. Only one product, which was not marketed as prenatal, contained target doses for all six nutrients but required seven tablets a serving and cost patients approximately $200 a month.

For many years, Sauder and her colleagues have struggled to identify the gold standard of vitamins for pregnant patients. More than half of pregnant people in the United States are at risk of inadequate intake of vitamin D, folate, and iron from their diet alone, and one third are at risk for insufficient intake of vitamin A and calcium. Although more than 70% of pregnant women take dietary supplements, the products do not eliminate the risks for deficiencies.

The effects of inadequate nutrition during pregnancy may include neural tube defects, alterations in cardiovascular structure, and impaired neurocognitive development. The researchers also looked at the challenges within the dietary supplement industry. The US Food and Drug Administration regulates dietary supplements as foods rather than drugs, and therefore does not require third-party verification that would ensure product ingredients match labels. The researchers acknowledged the challenges in creating a one-size-fits-all nutritional supplement. "The supplement industry is difficult because you're trying to create a product that works for a large, diverse group of people, but nutrition is very personal," Sauder said.

Kendra Segura, MD, an ob/gyn at the To Help Everyone Health and Wellness Center in Los Angeles, said she was unsurprised by the results. "There's no good prenatal vitamin out there," Segura said. "There's no 'best.' "Segura said she advises her patients to focus on increased nutritional intake with foods, but added that that the lack of nutrients in diets and the need for supplements reflects the lack of availability of healthy food in some communities (known as 'food deserts'), as well as poor dietary choices. Diana Racusin, MD, an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive services at the University of Texas Health Science Center's McGovern Medical School in Houston, also "wasn't terribly surprised" by the findings. She stresses the importance of what patients eat more than the availability of supplements.

"What this is really showing us is we have work to do with our nutrition," Racusin said. Sauder's biggest takeaway from her study is the need for more patient guidance for their nutrition beyond advising a supplement. "We need better support for women to help them improve their diet during pregnancy so that they're getting the nutrients they need from food," she said, "and not having to rely on supplements as much."

Medscape

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In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist.

That such vessels could have escaped detection when the lymphatic system has been so thoroughly mapped throughout the body is surprising on its own, but the true significance of the discovery lies in the effects it could have on the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer’s disease to multiple sclerosis.

“Instead of asking, ‘How do we study the immune response of the brain?’ ‘Why do multiple sclerosis patients have the immune attacks?’ now we can approach this mechanistically.

Because the brain is like every other tissue connected to the peripheral immune system through meningeal lymphatic vessels,” said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience and director of UVA’s Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). “It changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction.

We always perceived it before as something esoteric that can’t be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions.”

“We believe that for every neurological disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role,” Kipnis said. “Hard to imagine that these vessels would not be involved in a [neurological] disease with an immune component.”

New Discovery in Human Body

Kevin Lee, PhD, chairman of the UVA Department of Neuroscience, described his reaction to the discovery by Kipnis’ lab: “The first time these guys showed me the basic result, I just said one sentence: ‘They’ll have to change the textbooks.’ There has never been a lymphatic system for the central nervous system, and it was very clear from that first singular observation – and they’ve done many studies since then to bolster the finding – that it will fundamentally change the way people look at the central nervous system’s relationship with the immune system.”

Even Kipnis was skeptical initially. “I really did not believe there are structures in the body that we are not aware of. I thought the body was mapped,” he said. “I thought that these discoveries ended somewhere around the middle of the last century. But apparently they have not.”

‘Very Well Hidden’

The discovery was made possible by the work of Antoine Louveau, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Kipnis’ lab. The vessels were detected after Louveau developed a method to mount a mouse’s meninges – the membranes covering the brain – on a single slide so that they could be examined as a whole. “It was fairly easy, actually,” he said. “There was one trick: We fixed the meninges within the skullcap, so that the tissue is secured in its physiological condition, and then we dissected it.

If we had done it the other way around, it wouldn’t have worked.”

After noticing vessel-like patterns in the distribution of immune cells on his slides, he tested for lymphatic vessels and there they were. The impossible existed. The soft-spoken Louveau recalled the moment: “I called Jony [Kipnis] to the microscope and I said, ‘I think we have something.'”

Maps of the lymphatic system: old (left) and updated to reflect UVA’s discovery. Image credit: University of Virginia Health System.

As to how the brain’s lymphatic vessels managed to escape notice all this time, Kipnis described them as “very well hidden” and noted that they follow a major blood vessel down into the sinuses, an area difficult to image. “It’s so close to the blood vessel, you just miss it,” he said. “If you don’t know what you’re after, you just miss it.”

“Live imaging of these vessels was crucial to demonstrate their function, and it would not be possible without collaboration with Tajie Harris,” Kipnis noted. Harris, a PhD, is an assistant professor of neuroscience and a member of the BIG center. Kipnis also saluted the “phenomenal” surgical skills of Igor Smirnov, a research associate in the Kipnis lab whose work was critical to the imaging success of the study.

Alzheimer’s, Autism, MS and Beyond

The unexpected presence of the lymphatic vessels raises a tremendous number of questions that now need answers, both about the workings of the brain and the diseases that plague it.

For example, take Alzheimer’s disease. “In Alzheimer’s, there are accumulations of big protein chunks in the brain,” Kipnis said. “We think they may be accumulating in the brain because they’re not being efficiently removed by these vessels.” He noted that the vessels look different with age, so the role they play in aging is another avenue to explore.

And there’s an enormous array of other neurological diseases, from autism to multiple sclerosis, that must be reconsidered in light of the presence of something science insisted did not exist.

Neuroscience news

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Time and time again, struggling network marketers need to, "Raise their bar. "Raise your bar. You deserve to raise your bar. That’s the only way you're going to succeed. No one's going to raise it for you. In network marketing you're on your own. Raise your own bar and you raise your income. It's that simple." "

By saying "raise your bar", you to choose to do more. To choose to be better. To produce more than you have been producing. Be confident. To be set higher goals. To raise expectations or standards.

In network marketing there's a direct connection between raising the bar and raising your income.

If a network marketer raises their bar – if they demand more and better of themself – then they raise their income.

Anonymous

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An estimated 15% to 20% of obese individuals have none of the metabolic derangements associated with obesity, such as high blood sugar, high blood fats, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. This has led to the idea that you can be obese yet in good health

According to recent research, “metabolically healthy obesity” (MHO) is a fallacy. Obese individuals, even without metabolic risk markers, are at increased risk of diabetes and heart disease

High body mass index (BMI) in combination with normal glucose and lipid levels, and the absence of high blood pressure, is not sufficient for MHO classification. Rather, it’s the behavior of the adipose tissue that matters. People with normally sized adipocytes (cells that store fat), have far fewer obesity complications compared to those who have enlarged and inflamed adipocytes

Where you store most of your fat also matters. Obese individuals with large visceral fat stores, meaning the fat is primarily stored around their internal organs, are far more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those whose fat stores are distributed more evenly around their body

Obesity is a state of energy deficiency due to inhibited mitochondrial respiration, which causes calories to be stored as fat instead of being burned for fuel. The solution is to optimize your mitochondrial function and raise your metabolic rate

Click here to download the full study

Mercola

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Bovine colostrum (BC) consists of highly concentrated nutritional and bioactive components after parturition. BC supplements are promoted for prevention and management of neurological disorders (dementia, cognition, Parkinsons disease, and Alzheimers disease), cardiovascular diseases, immunity-related and allergy problems, skin disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, gut microbial symbiosis as well as type-2 diabetes, and improved athletic performance.

This review provides succinct insights into emerging evidence from preclinical and clinical studies which suggest that BC constituents have enormous potential in nutraceuticals and non-pharmacological therapies. The overall composition, factors affecting, traditional and commercial products, health attributes of bovine colostrum particularly, B-type vitamins, oligosaccharides, immunoglobins, growth factors and the role of lactoferrin and lactalbumin in cancer therapy, are also briefly explained.

Naturally produced bioactive components, immunoglobulins lay the foundation of life-long immunity, while the other components in colostrum promote growth and maturation of the gastrointestinal tract as well as promote differentiation of bone marrow stem cells, increase lean muscle mass, and decrease the body fat level. The bovine colostrum is rich in versatile ironbinding lactoferrin that has strong anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-microbial properties

Additionally, BC products like ginna, kharwas, aguz, and processed BC supplements like colostrum powder, capsules, and infant-formulas are marketed by many companies all over the world. Considering the escalating cost of synthetic drugs, people in developing countries are desperately looking for affordable and cost-effective therapies for curing the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and infectious diseases. It will be interesting to see if BC might have viricidal effects against COVID-19 virus.

Science Direct

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Network Marketing – like any entrepreneurial or self-employed endeavour – is like a mirror that reflects back to us both our good or bad habits, and our positive and negative character traits.

Identifying one's bad habits and negative character traits is something that every honest and conscientious person can easily do. Once a person identifies their bad habits and negative character traits, then all they have to do is choose to replace them with good habits and positive character traits.

It really is that simple for a person to change their bad habits and negative character traits, especially when that person honest with themselves and is in the present moment.

The challenge, however, is that it's hard for people to be in the present moment because our brains want to be in the past or future. That's not good.

The only control we have in our lives is the now and the decisions we make now. We cant live in yesterday or tomorrow. Self improvement is a decision and when we are disciplined and take action our lives change.

No one can stop you but yourself.

The sky is always the only limit.

Unknown

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Often times on a professional sports team, (football, basketball, hockey, baseball, etc.), the team's star player has an "average game" or even a rather "bad game", yet the team still wins. That's because there's other players on the team the star player can rely upon.

But relying upon others doesn't happen in stroke-play golf tournament. Golf is solitary game. Even though the pro golfer is on the course with one or two other players in his group -- and even though the pro golfer has a caddie -- and even though the pro golfer's family and friends may be walking the course with him outside the ropes -- and even though there may be hundreds or thousands of spectators on the course -- the pro golfer is literally "all alone" on the course, playing by himself against the course.

When a pro golfer has an "average" or "bad" day on the course, there is no one else to rely upon. It is he and he alone. If he's having a bad or average round, there are no teammates that can come to his rescue to "save his round". All the pro golfer can do is forge ahead, shot after shot, hole after hole, and summon up his best inner attitude and mental strength to be in the present moment in an effort to make the most of what golf he has left in that particular round.

The good news is that for the pro golfer who is having an average or bad day on the course, there's always tomorrow! I've got some news that will no doubt come as a surprise to many network marketers. And that is that network marketing -- like golf -- is a solitary business.

The network marketing industry puts forth the image that network marketing is a "team business", particularly when it's recruiting new people into the industry. Time and time again new prospects are told that they have the "full support" of other people, and that they have a "full team" they will be a part of. The truth is, that in order for a person to succeed in network marketing, they must accept the fact that they will be working alone 99% of the time, and that they must be 100% self-determined, self-motivated, self-responsible, and self-functional.

Even though the network marketer has a sponsor and upline distributors they can talk with pretty much at any time throughout the day -- and even though the network marketer has downline distributors they can talk with pretty much at any time throughout the day -- and even though the network marketer has sideline distributors they can talk with pretty much at any time throughout the day -- what it comes down to is that the network marketer is "all alone" at their home or office, working their business alone.

When the network marketer is having an "average" or "bad" day, there is no one else they can rely upon to work their business. There's nobody to rely upon to make the calls for them. There's nobody to rely upon to do the follow-ups. There's nobody to rely upon to close the prospect and sign them up. All the network marketer can do is forge ahead, make those contacts and calls, manage their business, work their game plan, minute after minute, hour after hour, and summon up their best inner attitude and mental strength to be in the present moment in an effort to make the most of what time they have left in the day and do those things that need to be done. Their future lifestyle and financial independence depends on what they achieve each day. The good news is that for the network marketer who is having an average or bad day, there's always tomorrow.

Unknown

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Over 95% percent of the people who get into network marketing want to achieve two things: make big money and have more free time.

Both of those goals – make big money and have more free time – are great goals to have and are the reasons many ambitious people turn to network marketing

But both of these goals are "too far out there" for most success-seeking network marketers, at least initially. Instead, those networkers should focus on what should their #1 short-term goal, which is to earn their first $500 commission. Then the #2 goal, is $1000 a month. When you achieve that, double it. Success is a series of small programable and achievable steps, the same as any other career and remuneration.

The reason targeting $500 in a month should be their #1 short-term goal is because going from $0 to $500 is when you will start establishing those necessary productive habits and skills to become a successful (and rich!) network marketer.

Being a successful network marketer requires a person to "be their own boss", meaning they have to be self-determined, self-motivated, self-responsible, and self-functional. They must learn how to "play the game" of network marketing so that they apply only those methods that are proven to be measurably effective. They must become better communicators, better leaders, better teachers, and better role models.

While all of these things require conscious choices and routine application, they're all quite simple and easy to learn and can be achieved in a relatively short time.

In the beginning remember, there are a lot of skills to learn, so you will need to spend more time learning with a lower remuneration and as your skills increase you earn higher and higher remunerations. Without developing leadership in your team, the network structure will collapse as fast as you build, undermining your progress. You must train and facilitate as many people as possible up the career path for a sustainable business.

Unknown Source

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Magnesium is a critical mineral that the body uses for hundreds of important body processes. It is necessary for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. Along with calcium, we need magnesium for the proper function of muscles and nerves.

Sufficient levels of magnesium are necessary to maintain a healthy heart, bones, and to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure levels. Your body needs magnesium to generate energy. The mineral is present in a variety of foods and beverages, but many people may still fall short of optimum levels. In these cases, your doctor may recommend that you take magnesium supplements.

RDA for Magnesium

How much magnesium do you need? The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) represents the amount of a nutrient that healthy people need to meet their daily requirements. Adult women between the ages of 19 and 30 years old should aim to get approximately 310 milligrams of magnesium per day and 320 milligrams per day at the age of 31 and older.

Adult men between the ages of 19 and 30 should aim to get 400 milligrams of magnesium per day and 420 milligrams per day at the age of 31 and older. The RDA for children ranges from 30 to 240 milligrams per day, depending on the child's age. Ask your doctor or child's pediatrician how much magnesium you and your family members should be getting per day.

Magnesium Deficiency

Approximately half of people in the U.S. do not get enough magnesium in their daily diets. Chronic suboptimal intake of magnesium increases the risk of a variety of health issues including migraines, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. People who have Crohn's disease, celiac disease, alcoholism, and type 2 diabetes are at risk for having inadequate magnesium levels.

These conditions either impair nutrient absorption, increase magnesium requirements of the body, or deplete mineral stores, resulting in low magnesium levels. Older people are more likely to suffer from low magnesium levels as well because magnesium absorption decreases with age and our kidneys excrete more of the mineral as we get older. Older adults are also more likely to have medical conditions or take medications that decrease levels of this mineral.

Magnesium supplements come in a variety of forms including magnesium glycinate, magnesium orotate, magnesium threonate, magnesium amino acid chelate, magnesium citrate, magnesium chloride, magnesium lactate, magnesium sulfate, magnesium gluconate, and magnesium carbonate. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which type of magnesium supplementation is right for you.

Magnesium in Excess

Magnesium is a water-soluble mineral. If you are healthy and your kidneys work well, your kidneys will remove excess magnesium that your body does not need. What are the symptoms of too much magnesium? You may get cramps, feel nauseated, or have loose stools. If you take magnesium supplements, experts recommend taking no more than 350 milligrams per day. Check the labels of laxatives and antacids. These medications may contain magnesium and you could be taking in more of the mineral than you need. Thought rare, very high levels of magnesium may result in potentially life-threatening magnesium toxicity.

Get Strong Bones

One of the benefits of magnesium is it is involved in bone formation. It guards against bone loss, bone breaks, and the bone-thinning disease, osteoporosis. The mineral affects levels of parathyroid hormone and vitamin D, two other critical players for maintaining bone health. Adequate magnesium intake is associated with higher bone density in both men and women. Women who have osteoporosis have lower levels of magnesium than those who do not have the condition. More research is needed, but results of a small study suggest that postmenopausal women who took 290 milligrams of magnesium experienced less bone loss than those who did not take supplemental magnesium.

Inflammation Fighter

Inflammation is a normal response in the body that facilitates healing, but it can be harmful when it occurs in excess or at inappropriate times. Chronic inflammation has been linked to conditions like arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes. Results of studies suggest that low magnesium levels are associated with higher levels of inflammation. Getting adequate magnesium is one way to decrease inflammation and help reduce the risk of chronic conditions.

Protect Heart Healt

Magnesium is necessary for the proper function of the heart. Adequate magnesium levels decrease the risk of heart disease, heart attack, and dangerous heart rhythms (arrhythmia). In studies, people who had the highest blood serum levels of magnesium were less likely to suffer from sudden cardiac death than those who had the lowest blood serum levels of the mineral. Magnesium benefits blood vessel walls by relaxing them, which then leads to lower blood pressure. It may even help boost "good" HDL cholesterol levels.

Protect Heart Health

Magnesium is necessary for the proper function of the heart. Adequate magnesium levels decrease the risk of heart disease, heart attack, and dangerous heart rhythms (arrhythmia). In studies, people who had the highest blood serum levels of magnesium were less likely to suffer from sudden cardiac death than those who had the lowest blood serum levels of the mineral. Magnesium benefits blood vessel walls by relaxing them, which then leads to lower blood pressure. It may even help boost "good" HDL cholesterol levels.

Squash Migraines

Low levels of magnesium are linked to the release of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) and constriction of blood vessels in the brain that trigger migraines. Getting adequate magnesium may help reduce the frequency of debilitating migraines by an average of just a little more than 40 percent. Ask your doctor if taking 400 to 500 milligrams of supplemental magnesium per day is appropriate for you if you suffer from migraines.

Ward off Diabetes

Magnesium serves an important role in processing energy in the body. People who have low levels of the mineral are more likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes than those who have normal levels. People who have type 2 diabetes also lose more magnesium in their urine, leading to further potential problems with blood sugar control. Magnesium assists the function of insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Load up on nuts, leafy greens, and other magnesium-rich foods to keep your blood levels of this mineral high.

Eat More Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are good food sources of magnesium. An ounce of almonds or cashews has approximately 80 milligrams of magnesium. That is about 20 percent of the recommended daily value for the mineral. One-quarter of a cup of peanuts has approximately 63 milligrams of magnesium. Seeds can also help you reach your daily magnesium intake goals, too. Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds are great choices for salad toppings. Nuts and seeds are also rich in antioxidants, fiber, and healthy fats that boost heart health and guard against chronic diseases. Nuts and seeds help fill in nutrient gaps and prevent deficiency.

Get Your Fill of Whole Grains

When you eat grains, make sure they are whole grains that are high in magnesium and fiber. Whole-grain foods contain all three parts of the grain seed -- the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. The outermost layer of the seed, the bran, contains antioxidants, fiber, and B vitamins. The germ contains B vitamins, proteins, minerals, and healthy fats. Refined grains are stripped of many nutrients because they contain only the starchy endosperm. To maximize your magnesium and nutrient intake, choose whole grains.

Get your fill of magnesium throughout the day. For breakfast, have two large shredded wheat cereal biscuits that have 61 milligrams of magnesium. For lunch, have a sandwich with two slices of whole wheat bread that have 46 milligrams of magnesium. At dinner, have a 1/2 cup serving of brown rice that supplies 42 milligrams of the mineral. For breakfast or a snack, one packet of instant oatmeal serves up 36 milligrams of magnesium.

Reach for Healthy Avocados

Avocado is a great source of dietary magnesium. One cup of cubed avocado contains 44 milligrams of magnesium. They are also rich in potassium, fiber, folate, and healthy fats. You can enjoy avocados morning, noon, or night. Spread mashed or sliced avocado over a slice of whole wheat toast for breakfast. Add diced or sliced avocado to salads. Mash avocados and add diced tomatoes and onions, cilantro, lime, and salt and pepper to make a tasty guacamole. Avocado is a natural topping for favorite Mexican dishes like tacos and nachos.

Eat More Dark Leafy Greens

If you are deficient in magnesium, eat more spinach which is a great food source of the mineral. It contains approximately 150 milligrams of magnesium per cooked cup. Dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and collard greens are also rich in calcium, potassium, and iron. Additionally, they contain ample amounts of vitamins A, C, and K. Other veggies that are rich in magnesium include edamame, potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. Edamame has 50 milligrams of magnesium per half cup. Just 3 1/2 ounces of potatoes have 43 milligrams of the mineral. Broccoli has 12 milligrams per half cup. One medium carrot has 7 milligrams of magnesium.

Rely on Soy

Soy is rich source of vegetarian protein, but it is also a good food source of magnesium. A cup of soy milk contains 61 milligrams of magnesium. Fortified soy milk also provides a good dose of calcium. Half a cup of edamame contains 50 milligrams of the mineral. You can enjoy soy in many other forms including tofu, tempeh (fermented soy), miso, soy yogurt and ice cream, soy burgers, and soy hot dogs. Soy contains phytoestrogens, plant compounds that act as weak estrogens in the body.

Eat More Beans

Beans can help you reach your daily magnesium intake goals and avoid magnesium deficiency. One half cup of black beans contains 60 milligrams of magnesium. One half cup of kidney beans (35 milligrams), white beans (67 milligrams), lima beans (50 milligrams), navy beans (48 milligrams), and cow peas (46 milligrams) serves up ample doses of the mineral. You can add beans to soups, stews, and salads. Make zesty bean dips. Beans are good sources of protein and are rich in iron, zinc, and fiber, too.

Watch for Interactions

Ask your doctor before taking a magnesium supplement. Magnesium supplements can benefit you if you need them, but supplements can cause side effects and may potentially interact with other medications and other supplements that you are taking. Make sure your doctor has a complete list of all medications and supplements that you are taking. Some drugs may interfere with your ability to absorb magnesium. Magnesium supplements may interfere with the action of antibiotics and osteoporosis drugs.

MedicineNet

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Weight loss is achieved not through diet or exercise alone, but through a combination of the two. When you consume fewer calories through diet and burn more calories through exercise, you will lose weight.

Many experts recommend following the 80/20 rule for weight loss—80% through diet and 20% through exercise. However, this is not a hard and fast rule. The key to sustainable and healthy fat loss is maintaining a modest calorie deficit by eating a healthy, balanced diet and finding an exercise routine that helps you build muscle.

What diet is good for weight loss?

When it comes to choosing a diet for weight loss, it is important to make sure it is realistic, healthy, and sustainable. Diets that are effective for weight loss include intermittent fasting and the Mediterranean diet.

Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dietary strategy in which you have periods of eating and fasting spread throughout the day or week. The most popular methods include the 16/8 method and the 5:2 method.

· 16/8 method: Involves fasting for 16 hours a day and eating normally for the other 8 hours of the day

· 5:2 method: Involves restricting calories to 500-600 for 2 days a week and eating normally for the rest of 5 days.

While intermittent fasting can lead to weight loss, be careful not to overcompensate by eating too much food during the non-fasting periods. Since intermittent fasting can lead to significant drops in blood sugar levels, consult a doctor if you have conditions such as:

· Diabetes

· Eating disorders

· Pregnant or breastfeeding

Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet has won top honors as the best diet in annual rankings. The diet emphasizes eating fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish, olive oil, and a small amount of meat, dairy, and wine.

In addition to weight loss, the Mediterranean diet is good for the heart because it helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It may also help regulate blood sugar levels and protect against diseases such as Alzheimer's.

5 eating habits that can help you lose weight

Follow a low-carb, high-protein, healthy-fat diet

This dietary pattern restricts the number of refined carbs (such as white bread, rice, and pasta) in your diet by substituting them with protein-rich foods.

· Low-carb: The low-carb part of the diet can be followed in one of two ways:

· Very low-carbohydrate (less than 10% carbs) or 20-50 grams a day

· Low-carbohydrate (less than 26% carbs) or less than 130 grams a day

· Protein: Protein makes you feel full for a longer time and reduces your food cravings. Both factors promote weight loss. · Healthy fats: Eat healthy sources of fat in moderation, such as nuts, nut butter, avocados, olive-oil-based dressings, canola oil, and trans-fat-free margarine.

Limit added sugar intake

Although sugar can be found naturally in fruits, this type of sugar is less likely to cause weight gain as compared to added sugar. If you want to lose weight, added sugars should make up no more than 10% of your daily diet. For example, if you eat 1,800 calories a day, your sugar intake for the day should not exceed 9 teaspoons. Look for hidden sugars in packaged goods, where sugar may appear as the following on labels:

· High-fructose corn syrup

· Corn syrup

· Brown rice syrup

· Barley malt syrup

· Dextrose

· Raw sugar

· Cane sugar

· Evaporated cane juice

· Coconut palm sugar

· Agave

Eat more fruits and vegetables

Most fruits and vegetables are low in fat and calories and are rich in fiber, which helps keep you satiated. Additionally, some fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, such as vitamin C, which help improve overall health.

Drink in moderation

One glass of wine contains as many as 123 calories and a can of beer contains about 350 calories. Limit your alcohol intake to no more than one serving a day to avoid adding empty calories to your overall calorie intake.

Cook at home

You may not be able to control your portions when you eat out at a restaurant. If you cook at home more often, you will be more likely to be mindful about what you are eating and how much.

MedicineNet

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They say money can't buy happiness – and now a new study of Indigenous peoples around the world backs up that assertion. People living in small-scale societies on the fringes of the modern world lead lives as happy and satisfying as folks from wealthy, technologically advanced nations, researchers report Feb. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Surprisingly, many populations with very low monetary incomes report very high average levels of life satisfaction, with scores similar to those in wealthy countries," said lead researcher Eric Galbraith, a professor with McGill University in Montreal.

This runs counter to the notion that economic growth is a sure-fire way to increase the well-being of people in low-income countries, researchers noted. Global surveys have found that people in wealthier countries tend to report higher levels of life satisfaction than those in poorer countries, researchers said in background notes.

However, these global polls tend to overlook people in societies where the exchange of money plays a minimal role in everyday life, and where livelihoods depend directly on nature, researchers said. For this study, researchers surveyed nearly 3,000 people from Indigenous or primitive communities at 19 sites around the world. Only 64% of the surveyed households had any cash, researchers said.

And yet, their average life satisfaction scores were 6.8 on a 10-point scale across all communities, and four had an average score higher than 8 -- on par with happiness found in wealthy Scandinavian countries, the researchers noted. “This is so, despite many of these societies having suffered histories of marginalization and oppression,” researchers wrote.

Based on these results, the research team concluded that human societies can support very satisfactory lives without necessarily requiring lots of material wealth. "The strong correlation frequently observed between income and life satisfaction is not universal and proves that wealth -- as generated by industrialized economies -- is not fundamentally required for humans to lead happy lives," said senior researcher Victoria Reyes-Garcia, an anthropologist with the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain.

Researchers said they can't say why these communities report high levels of life satisfaction. Prior research would suggest that family, community, relationships, spirituality and connections to nature contribute to this happiness, "but it is possible that the important factors differ significantly between societies or, conversely, that a small subset of factors dominate everywhere,” Galbraith said.

“I would hope that, by learning more about what makes life satisfying in these diverse communities, it might help many others to lead more satisfying lives while addressing the sustainability crisis," Galbraith added in a university news release.

MedicineNet

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Champions and leaders understand the greatest obstacle to their success is a negative mindset. Psychologists define attitude as, “a learned tendency to evaluate life events in a particular way.” In other words, your attitude is the way you interpret circumstances in your life. My take? Our attitudes are within our power to change.

People are not optimistic because they have recognized possibilities. They recognize possibilities because they are optimistic. Maybe you've heard someone say, "I was born pessimistic, that's how my brain works." The implication is that he or she was born to think negatively. Great logic… let’s extend it here. If you were born in a barn, would that make you a COW?

Some people are convinced that negativism is genetically programmed into their DNA, as in, "I came into this world with curly hair, brown eyes and a bad attitude!" Okay, so terrorize the nursery, bring your dark shadows to preschool and shut down kindergarten at recess... If this is your belief, think again! A self-imposed negative mind-set is definitely a huge barrier to discovering new possibilities for yourself.

Just like everyone else, I was born with some unchangeable physical characteristics, and just like everyone else at times I have struggled to remain positive and accept what I cannot change. However, a major turning point in my life took place when I discovered that I had the power to be a "superhero." No, I couldn't catapult from building to building with my prosthesis, but I do have X-ray vision. I have always been able see through the brick walls of negativity that well-meaning people had placed in my path. You can have that same superpower. It’s your choice!

Being born with an unchangeable physical challenge forced me to look within for something that was changeable, something that I could control. Suddenly, I realized what it was! The greatest obstacle to my success was not my hands or legs. It was how I viewed them. Real power happens when we take complete control over our perspective. When you take control over the attitudes and beliefs that hold you back, you accept responsibility for your choices. You choose whether to notice and evaluate the possibilities. Therefore, you can choose which opportunities to jump at, and which ones to reject, based on your values and goals. You become an active driver, rather than a passive passenger of your life.

When I was a kid, I was often busy making excuses to get out of things I didn't want to do. In those instances, I'd play the "physically-challenged" card. I thought of it as my ace in the hole. Oh, was I good! What I never seemed to learn was that my father was playing a different game, and he held the trump card. He wanted me to succeed on the world's terms, and that didn't leave any room for "poor me-ism." He would confront my negativity with a comment like, “You can, but will you?” His admonition was that he wanted me to look inside myself, to confront my state of mind, instead of the external me in the mirror. Yes, the shape of my hands and legs were predetermined genetic traits, but my choice to become excited about the possibilities, and to explore them, was not. The good news is that choice, not chance, determines our attitude!

Are you weakening yourself with the kryptonite of negativity, apathy or fear? Tap into your inner superhero by choosing to be optimistic, and allow yourself to recognize the endless possibilities ahead of you. You no longer have to give in to your unchangeable circumstances, to anger, pessimism, negativity or fear. Instead, soar like the superhero you are!

Unknown

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Achieving genuine success is not a solo effort. You simply can’t be successful by yourself. With that in mind, I’d like to offer some tips that have been effective for me in building good relationships.

Let’s start with kindness. How kind should you be? As kind as you possibly can. Who should you be kind to? To everyone you come in contact with. From taxi drivers, to hotel clerks, to servers, to store clerks, to people on the street, in your office and at home. Be kind to everyone.

A kind word goes a long way. Perhaps somebody is having a bad day and you don’t know it. He or she is really feeling down and you offer a kind word. Maybe it’s just a friendly, “Hello, how are you today?” Maybe it’s just taking a minute or two to listen to what somebody has to say. But your few moments of attention could turn somebody’s day around. You might make them feel more worthwhile and important.

Be generous with your kindness. It will go a long way. People will remember, whether you know them or not. If you’re in a crowded restaurant and you’re especially nice to the waiter, he’ll remember you next time you come in and give you even better service.

When you give kindness, it’s not gone. It’s invested. It will come back to you two, five, 10, 100 times. Kindness is important in every aspect of your life, especially in building good relationships with others.

The next relationship-building essential is sensitivity. Allow yourself to be touched by the experience of others. Understand the plight of others. Open up your heart, mind and attention to the needs of others. Whether they’re people you work with or people you live with, you need to put yourself in other people’s shoes. Try to find out, if you can, what’s going on in their hearts.

If there’s a problem, you’ve got to be sensitive enough to ask some questions. One question might do it. Sometimes, however, you won’t even get through to the root of the problem until you’ve asked two or three questions.

People often won’t reveal the problem on the first question. You say, “How are you today? How are things?” He or she answers, “Well, everything’s OK.” You can tell by the way they say this that everything is not OK. Most of us don’t want to come right out and say what the real problem is, unless two criteria are met.

1. We need to feel as though we’re talking to someone we can trust.

2. We need to believe we’re talking to someone who really cares.

So it might just take a second, third or fourth question before the trust builds. Once the person finally understands that you do care, they’ll be willing to tell you what’s really going on. You’ll hear what’s really on their mind.

Asking questions up front can save so much time. Have you ever talked for an hour and then asked a question? You probably found out that you just wasted the previous hour. Learn to ask questions that will build the trust and communication between you and those you work with. Build trust and communication, and you’ll also build loyalty.

If you don’t know the other person very well, you will obviously need a longer questioning process. You need to take the time to find out what he’s all about. You must be sensitive to where he or she came from, what he or she has been through, and the tragedies in his or her life. If you really want to have an effect on people, start with where they are coming from. If they’re hurting, try to understand their pain. If somebody’s in trouble, you’ve got to start with the trouble.

Learn to express, not impress. If you want to touch somebody, express sincerity from the heart. When you try to impress, you build a gulf. By expressing, you build a bridge. People want to be able to relate their thoughts and philosophies and experiences to someone who will say, “Me, too. I know what you mean.” They don’t want your reaction to be, “So what?”

If you’re meeting someone for the first time, and you’re simply getting acquainted, here’s where you start: Find something you have in common. Find something you can both identify with.

When you’re talking with somebody who’s been stricken in the heart and you’ve had the same experience, you can talk about being stricken in the heart. Your words will mean something. They will have substance. They will have depth. If you start there, building the bridge with kindness and sensitivity, you have identification. You have the basis for a strong and fruitful relationship. And everyone will benefit.

Jim Rohn

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A new analysis of more than 1,500 papers and 60 types of tissue has revealed the total number of cells in the human body.

Cells are the building blocks that form all the tissues and organs of the body — and now, scientists have an estimate of just how many individual cells the human body contains.

According to a new analysis of more than 1,500 papers, the average adult male human has around 36 trillion cells — that's 36 followed by 12 zeros — while adult females have 28 trillion and 10-year-old children have about 17 trillion. To arrive at these estimates, the authors of the new study, which was published Monday (Sept. 18) in the journal PNAS, considered the size and number of 400 types of cells in the body across 60 tissues, including muscle, nerve and immune cells.

Although scientists have estimated a similar number of cells — between 30 and 37 trillion — in adult male humans before, until now, the relationship between cell size and number hadn't been studied across the whole body, according to the authors.

"We were surprised to see a fairly regular inverse relation between the size and count of cells across the whole human body," Ian Hatton, lead study author from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, Germany told Live Science in an email. In other words, there is a "trade-off" between cell size and number, so the larger the cell, the lower their overall number relative to smaller cells. That means, if cells are grouped by size, each group contributes the same amount to the overall mass of the body.

"This pattern spans seven orders of magnitude in cell size, from the tiny red blood cells to the largest muscle cells, comparable to the mass ratio of a shrew to a blue whale," Hatton said.

The authors acknowledged several limitations of the study. For example, they focused on "average" adults' and children's bodies. Their benchmark adult male weighs 154 pounds (70 kilograms), the adult female weighs 132 pounds (60 kg) and the child weighs 70 pounds (32 kg), based on reference figures from the International Commission on Radiological Protection. This notably doesn't reflect the huge variation in size and weight that exists between humans.

"There is of course large variation between different anatomical models," Hatton said. "But other than the variation in fat and muscle content in the adipocytes [fat cells] and myocytes [muscle cells], much of the variation is probably not significant relative to the other sources of error that is associated with trying to put bounds on the many trillions of cells in the human body," he said.

Indeed, the study authors explained that there may be a lot of uncertainty in their figures. In many cases, they had to rely on inferences about the dimensions of cells made using microscopy and other indirect measurements, rather than direct measurements of the mass of different cell types. They also estimated total cell numbers for adult females and children using papers that mainly considered adult males, study author Eric Galbraith, a professor and group leader at McGill University in Canada, told New Scientist.

"There's unfortunately still more information for reference males than females or children," he told New Scientist.

Further research is needed to fill these gaps, but for now, Hatton told Live Science that the study highlighted several discrepancies in cell counts proposed in prior work, which could have potential health implications.

"Possibly most critical is our estimate of the total number of human lymphocytes, which are vital for our immune function," he said. "We estimate 2 trillion lymphocytes in the human body which is four times higher than prior estimates and could prove important in lymphocyte-related health and disease, such as HIV or leukemia." HIV and AIDS weaken the immune system by destroying certain lymphocytes, while leukemia is a cancer that affects the immune cells.

LiveScience

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Figuring out how stress affects your body can be a challenge, because the answer can depend on how stressed out you are, and for how long. For instance, recent research has shown that low-to-moderate stress levels may actually be good for your ability to learn and apply knowledge. High stress levels, on the other hand, can negatively impact your working memory.

Likewise, short-term stress can impact your body differently than long-term stress. So, how does stress affect the body when it's momentary versus chronic? Here, experts break down the most common physical, mental and emotional outcomes for both, and offer some tips on how to manage stress to help prevent long-term health issues.

Short-term stress effects on the body

Cleveland Clinic psychologist Dr. Susan Albers-Bowling noted that daily stressors such as forgetting to pay a bill or missing the bus to work tend to cause short-term, low-to-moderate stress on the body. “What happens in the body is that our muscles begin to tense, our heart begins to beat faster and more oxygen goes to our lungs, this is to help prepare for the stressor,” she said in a Cleveland Clinic article. “The good news is that often, stressors are minor. After the stressor passes, our body goes back to its normal resting state.”

Dr. Suchita Shah, a University of Oxford undergraduate primary care tutor and examiner, explained in an article that short-term stress may also be “acute” if the stressor involves an unexpected crisis, such as a car accident. For these situations, your stress response usually lasts about two to three days.

In addition to experiencing the same physical symptoms that you would with short-term, low-to-moderate stress, the health impacts of short-term intense stress may include:

· Abdominal pain

· Nausea

· Headaches

· Anxiety

· Irritability and moodiness

· Chest pain

· Wanting to isolate

· Sleep issues

· Difficulty breathing

· Fatigue

· Feelings of detachment

· Trouble concentrating

Long-term stress effects on the body

“Chronic stressors are things like financial issues and conflicts with family members,” said Albers-Bowling.

She noted that with long-term stress, “your body gets stuck in overdrive in that fight-or-flight response, and it can't settle back down. So, your body becomes flooded with cortisol continuously. This causes inflammation, and it's the inflammation that makes you vulnerable to chronic disease.”

According to Yale Medicine, long-term stress may increase your risk of developing:

· Hypertension (high blood pressure)

· Stroke · Heart disease

· Depression

· Anxiety disorders

· Type 2 diabetes

· Arthritis

· Obesity

· Metabolic syndrome

· Addictions

, including drugs, alcohol, gambling, or food

Harvard Health notes that chronic stress can also elevate your risk for developing several different types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. It does this in part by lowering activity levels in brain regions that handle high-level thinking tasks.

Managing overall stress

Keeping your stress in check helps ensure it doesn't become a long-term issue that impacts your health. The good news is that there are several proven methods to help you manage your stress.

Take a dip in nature

Research reveals that parks, rivers and lakes can make great stress relievers. In fact, the Yale School of Environment notes that several studies have revealed nature's ability to lower stress levels and boost psychological health. One of these studies included nearly 20,000 participants, and it showed that 120 minutes a week in nature (but no less) elevated people's sense of good health and well-being. “Two hours a week is hopefully a realistic target for many people, especially given that it can be spread over an entire week to get the benefit,” lead study author Mathew White said after the study was published.

Eat the right foods

Eating a “rainbow of fruits and vegetables,” reducing sugar intake and avoiding alcohol are great ways to reduce your stress, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).

Take time to rest and unwind

“After experiencing times of great change, high demand or significant loss, it's essential to press pause and rest. Often creating time and space for rest means saying 'no' to invitations and requests for help, at least temporarily,” Johns Hopkin stress management expert Frances Callahan said in recent a blog.

Log off social (and traditional) media

Like with sugar and alcohol, the APA recommends a “dietary restriction” of media. This can help reduce the psychological impact of processing so many stories, which can trigger the stress response.

Know when to ask for help

“If you're having trouble getting to work, or you have changes in your sleep patterns or your appetite, these are some indications that your stress level may be out of control,” Albers-Bowling explained. Your doctor can work with you on a stress-reduction plan that may include medication, stress-management techniques and counseling. Callahan noted that “experiencing stress is inevitable, but managed well, stress can promote emotional and intellectual growth and resilience as we age.”

MedicineNet

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Caffeine boosts your energy and mood and makes you more alert. That can sometimes be helpful, especially in the morning or when you're trying to work.

Though your body doesn't store it, caffeine can affect you for up to 6 hours after you swallow it. But more is not always better. Too much can push you over the line from alert to jittery and anxious.

Interferes With Sleep

Too much caffeine can make it hard to nod off when you go to bed at night. Even moderate amounts can cause insomnia in some people, especially if you have it too close to bedtime. The effects may be worse as you age. Avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening if you notice it affects your sleep. And remember, it's not just in tea and coffee. It's also in chocolate, energy drinks, and other prepackaged foods and drinks.

Raises Heart Rate

Caffeine is a stimulant and may cause your heart to beat a little faster as it wakes you up. For most folks that's not a problem. But if you have too much caffeine or you're overly sensitive, your pulse may go up too much or stay high too long. It may even feel like your heart beats in a weird rhythm, sometimes called heart palpitations. Some people say it feels as if their ticker skips a beat.

Causes a Headache

If you have caffeine every day, whether in a pill, energy bar, or cup of coffee, you build up tolerance. Then, without your daily dose, you might get a "rebound" headache. It may be worse if you quit caffeine completely and all at once. You'll find your head will feel better if you reduce caffeine a little at a time.

Makes You Pee

Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it can make you pee more. Around 300 milligrams of caffeine -- the amount in three cups of coffee -- is enough to do it if you're not used to it. Water loss is minor and is unlikely to cause dehydration as long as you are otherwise healthy. The diuretic effect can fade if you get the same regular daily dose of caffeine because you build up tolerance.

Boosts Sports Performance

If you do "endurance" sports, like running, biking, or swimming, caffeine might help you go faster and with less muscle pain. It seems to work best in a non-liquid form, like a pill, taken about an hour before you exercise so that your body can absorb it completely. Around 200 to 400 milligrams (2 to 4 cups of coffee) should do it. More than that doesn't seem to help further.

Helps You Recover From a Workout

Some studies show that caffeine can help your body recover more quickly after hard exercise by making and restocking a stored form of fuel called glycogen. It seems to do this best if you combine it with carbohydrates, like in certain sports gels, sports bars, and drinks. Just take care not to overdo the caffeine, which could have the opposite effect on recovery or performance if it interferes with your sleep.

Raises Blood Pressure

Though the reason isn't clear, caffeine can spike your blood pressure for a short while and sometimes over the long term as well. It could be that it blocks a hormone that keeps your arteries wide and pressure down. Or it might cause your body to release more adrenaline, a hormone that raises blood pressure. Talk to your doctor about how much caffeine you can have if you have high blood pressure or heart problems.

Protects Against Disease

Caffeine seems to help prevent gallstones and inflammation, among other medical problems. Some studies show that regular caffeine might help keep away certain neurological diseases, like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Huntington's, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. More research is needed.

Affects Menopause

Women pass through menopause around age 50, a phase that brings an end to their monthly cycle. Caffeine can worsen the sudden body heat and sweats, known as hot flashes, that often happen at this time of life. The symptoms can go on for 10 years or more. Your doctor may be able to help you with hormone therapy if they get in the way of your everyday routine.

How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?

It depends on your weight, diet, medications, and overall health. Up to about 400 milligrams of caffeine a day is OK for most healthy adults. Over 600 milligrams daily is probably too much. But some people are just more sensitive to it. If you notice stomach problems, headaches, muscle twitches, or heart palpitations, it might be time to cut back. Talk to your doctor about how much is safe if you're pregnant or have heart trouble.

Web MD

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Myth Number One: It's No Big Deal.

The problem with high blood pressure initially is there are no symptoms. You don't feel bad, so how could anything be wrong?

The truth is, when your blood flow begins to push too hard against your blood vessels, it leads to damage of your heart, kidneys, and other organs in your body. High blood pressure is a very big deal indeed.

Myth Number Two: There Is No Good Treatment.

Many people feel there's nothing they can do about their high blood pressure. The truth is if you follow a sensible plan, you can manage your high blood pressure.

Myth Number Three: A "Little" High Blood Pressure Is Okay.

When you take your blood pressure readings, you probably notice they vary somewhat. You probably also notice there are two numbers, one on top and one on bottom.

Normal readings are: 119 or below for the top number, and 79 or below for the bottom number. Some people believe that as long as one of these numbers is normal, you're okay.

The truth is if either of your blood pressure numbers is above normal, you need to do something right away.

Myth Number Four: High Blood Pressure Cannot Be Prevented.

This idea is dead wrong. Even if everyone in your family has higher blood pressure, this doesn't mean there is nothing you can do.

Simple changes such as eating a healthy diet, limiting salt intake, and keeping your weight under control, can help you prevent high blood pressure.

Myth Number Five: Treatment Is Difficult.

Most people think that treating high blood pressure requires giving up all your favorite foods, engaging in some crazy exercise plan, or taking dangerous and expensive drugs.

While you do need to make changes to get your blood pressure under control, those changes do not have to be difficult or unpleasant.

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the removal of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from food packaging.

Issued on February 28, 2024, "this means the major source of dietary exposure to PFAS from food packaging like fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, take-out paperboard containers, and pet food bags is being eliminated," the FDA said in a statement.

In 2020, the FDA had secured commitments from manufacturers to stop selling products containing PFAS used in the food packaging for grease-proofing. "Today's announcement marks the fulfillment of these voluntary commitments," according to the agency.

PFAS, a class of thousands of chemicals also called "forever chemicals" are widely used in consumer and industrial products. People may be exposed via contaminated food packaging (although perhaps no longer in the United States) or occupationally. Studies have found that some PFAS disrupt hormones including estrogen and testosterone, whereas others may impair thyroid function.

Endocrine Society Report Sounds the Alarm About PFAS and Others

The FDA's announcement came just 2 days after the Endocrine Society issued a new alarm about the human health dangers from environmental EDCs including PFAS in a report covering the latest science. "IPEN and the Endocrine Society call for chemical regulations based on the most modern scientific understanding of how hormones act and how EDCs can perturb these actions. We work to educate policy makers in global, regional, and national government assemblies and help ensure that regulations correlate with current scientific understanding," they said in the report.

"Endocrine disrupting chemicals" are individual substances or mixtures that can interfere with natural hormonal function, leading to disease or even death. Many are ubiquitous in the modern environment and contribute to a wide range of human diseases. The new report Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals: Threats to Human Health was issued jointly with the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a global advocacy organization. It's an update to the Endocrine Society's 2015 report, providing new data on the endocrine-disrupting substances previously covered and adding four EDCs not discussed in that document: Pesticides, plastics, PFAS, and children's products containing arsenic. At a briefing held during the United Nations Environment Assembly meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, last week, the new report's lead author Andrea C. Gore, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin, noted, "A well-established body of scientific research indicates that endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are part of our daily lives are making us more susceptible to reproductive disorders, cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and other serious health conditions."

Added Gore, who is also a member of the Endocrine Society's Board of Directors, "These chemicals pose particularly serious risks to pregnant women and children. Now is the time for the UN Environment Assembly and other global policymakers to take action to address this threat to public health." While the science has been emerging rapidly, global and national chemical control policies haven't kept up, the authors said. Of particular concern is that EDCs behave differently from other chemicals in many ways, including that even very low-dose exposures can pose health threats, but policies thus far haven't dealt with that aspect. Moreover, "the effects of low doses cannot be predicted by the effects observed at high doses. This means there may be no safe dose for exposure to EDCs," according to the report. Exposures can come from household products, including furniture, toys, and food packages, as well as electronics building materials and cosmetics. These chemicals are also in the outdoor environment, via pesticides, air pollution, and industrial waste.

New Data on Four Classes of EDCs

Chapters of the report summarized the latest information about the science of EDCs and their links to endocrine disease and real-world exposure. It included a special section about "EDCs throughout the plastics life cycle" and a summary of the links between EDCs and climate change. The report reviewed three pesticides, including the world's most heavily applied herbicide, glycophosphate. Exposures can occur directly from the air, water, dust, and food residues. Recent data linked glycophosphate to adverse reproductive health outcomes.

Two toxic plastic chemicals, phthalates and bisphenols, are present in personal care products, among others. Emerging evidence links them with impaired neurodevelopment, leading to impaired cognitive function, learning, attention, and impulsivity. Arsenic has long been linked to human health conditions including cancer, but more recent evidence finds it can disrupt multiple endocrine systems and lead to metabolic conditions including diabetes, reproductive dysfunction, and cardiovascular and neurocognitive conditions.

The special section about plastics noted that they are made from fossil fuels and chemicals, including many toxic substances that are known or suspected EDCs. People who live near plastic production facilities or waste dumps may be at greatest risk, but anyone can be exposed using any plastic product. Plastic waste disposal is increasingly problematic and often foisted on lower- and middle-income countries.

'Additional Education and Awareness-Raising Among Stakeholders Remain Necessary'

Policies aimed at reducing human health risks from EDCs have included the 2022 Plastics Treaty, a resolution adopted by 175 countries at the United Nations Environmental Assembly that "may be a significant step toward global control of plastics and elimination of threats from exposures to EDCs in plastics," the report said.

The authors added, "While significant progress has been made in recent years connecting scientific advances on EDCs with health-protective policies, additional education and awareness-raising among stakeholders remain necessary to achieve a safer and more sustainable environment that minimizes exposure to these harmful chemicals."

MedScape

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Early signs and symptoms of breast cancer differ among patients. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women in the United States (next to some types of skin cancer that are most common).

Screening tests can help you identify if you have the condition. However, it is also important to check if your breasts are normal and have no new changes that you find abnormal. These new changes may be the warning signs that may be suggestive of breast cancer.

Early signs and symptoms of breast cancer differ among patients. The most common sign and symptom is a new painless, hard lump or mass with irregular edges. Not all patients with breast cancer will develop the lump. Some patients may experience any of the early signs and symptoms that include:

• Swelling of the whole breast or some of its area

• Dimpling of the breast skin

• Nipple retraction (turning inward)

• Nipple or breast skin that is red, dry, flaking, thickened, or itchy

• Unusual discharge (other than breast milk) from the nipple

• Pain in the nipple or breast

• Swelling of the lymph nodes in the armpit (even without feeling a lump in the breast)

Although all these signs and symptoms may be caused by conditions other than breast cancer, it is recommended to schedule an appointment with your doctor. Your doctor will examine your breast and ask you to undergo tests to check if the signs and symptoms are due to breast cancer or other conditions.

Can breast cancer be detected early?

Some women with breast cancer may not develop signs and symptoms in the earliest stages of the disease. However, breast cancer can be detected early even before any symptoms appear. This is possible by screening tests. Screening tests means checking for the presence of cancer even if there are no symptoms of cancer. Screening tests can help find breast cancer early so that treatment can be initiated at the earliest.

It is easier to treat breast cancer successfully when it has been found early and is small. This is why taking a regular breast cancer screening test is so crucial. The American Cancer Society recommends women with average risk to undergo a basic cancer screening test that includes a mammogram (an X-ray picture of the breast). The recommendations depend on their ages.

• Between 40 and 44 years: Women have the option of whether to go for a mammogram every year.

• Between 45 to 54 years: Women should get mammograms every year.

• 55 years and older: Women can consider a mammogram every alternate year, or they can choose to continue yearly mammograms. They should continue doing the screening as long as they are healthy and are expected to live for at least 10 more years.

Average risk women include women with

• No personal history of breast cancer.

• A strong family history of breast cancer or a genetic change related to an increased risk of breast cancer.

• No history of chest radiation therapy before the age of 30 years.

What are mammograms?

Mammograms are low-dose X-rays of the breast. A mammogram can often find breast changes before breast cancer develops enough to cause any symptoms. To take a mammogram of your breast, your breasts will be placed on the flat surface of a mammogram machine and will be pressed by another flat surface of the same machine from above. This step is repeated to take side views of your breast. You may feel slight pain or discomfort that lasts for only a few moments during the procedure. You can expect to get the results of your mammogram in a few weeks. Results will be reported by the radiologist to you and your doctor.

Mammograms are not perfect at diagnosing breast cancer. If there is some suspicious region in the breast, you will be asked to undergo a few more tests to confirm or rule out breast cancer. These tests include:

• Breast ultrasound (sonogram)

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

• Biopsy (removal of a piece of the breast tissue to check the presence of cancerous cells)

Before undergoing the screening test, make sure you discuss with your doctor its risks and benefits

MedicineNet

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Red Flags: A day or week of bad food choices won't do much damage. But when a poor diet leaves your body short on the nutrients it needs for a long time, it'll send a sign. You can reverse most of these issues with foods rich in the missing nutrient, a supplement, or both. Always check with your doctor first.

Hair Loss

It's normal to lose about 100 strands of hair a day. But if you notice big clumps of hair on your pillow or in the shower, you may be low in iron. You're not alone. It's the most common nutrient deficiency in the world. Your doctor can do a quick blood test to see if your levels are off. Eat more iron-rich foods, like:

• Lean beef

• Poultry

• Spinach

• Beans

• Cashews

Unexplained Fatigue

When the three S's -- sleep, stress, and sickness -- don't explain why you feel worn out, it's time to check your vitamin D. This vitamin is unique. Your body makes it when your skin is exposed to the sun, but it doesn't show up naturally in many foods. If you don't see the sun often, put a capital D in your diet with:

• Tuna

• Salmon

• Fortified foods like milk, OJ, and cereal

or talk to your doctor about a supplement

Burning Mouth Syndrome

The name says it all. This condition can make your gums, lips, the inside of your cheek, and roof of your mouth feel like they're burning. Or your mouth might be dry or numb. One of the things that causes it is a shortage of B vitamins like folate, thiamin, and B6. To boost the B6 in your diet, eat more:

• Beans

• Bananas

• Spinach

• Fortified cereals

Dry Skin

One of vitamin A's many jobs is to grow and maintain the tissues that cover every surface of your body, inside and out. When you're low on vitamin A, you may have dry, scaly skin, including your lips. To get more of this nutrient, eat:

• Leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale

• Orange vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots

• Orange fruits like cantaloupe and apricots

Spoon Nails

When your body needs more iron, your fingernails may become soft and bend away from your finger at the edges, creating a spoon-like shape. This could also be a sign of hemochromatosis, a condition that causes your body to absorb too much iron. Infants' nails may spoon at first, but it goes away as they get older. If this happens to you, see your doctor for a blood test to find the cause.

Cracks at the Corners of Your Mouth

This starts as dry or irritated skin at one or both corners of your mouth and can turn into painful, bleeding sores. Lots of things can cause this condition, which is also called angular chelitis. If it doesn't go away when you use lip balm, it could be a sign that you're low in iron or B vitamins like riboflavin. Riboflavin-rich foods include:

• Eggs

• Lean meats

• Milk

• Green vegetables like asparagus and broccoli

Swollen Tongue

Your tongue can tell you when something's up. This condition is also called glossitis, for the smooth, glossy look your tongue has when it's swollen. It can be a sign you're low in iron or B vitamins like folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and B12. If that's the case, your tongue may also hurt. To get more B12, choose:

• Fish

• Meat

• Milk

• Eggs

• Fortified cereals

Apathy

A lack of nutrients can affect your mind as well as your body. The B vitamin folate, also called folic acid, helps your body make red blood cells and create the chemicals that regulate sleep patterns and mood. When you don't get enough, you may feel forgetful, weak, and apathetic (which means you lack energy and enthusiasm). Bring up your folate numbers with:

• Fortified cereal

• Chickpeas - Asparagus - Spinach

Bruises

Your body has more collagen than any other protein. It holds everything together, including your skin cells. If you notice more bruises than usual, you may be low in vitamin C -- a key element in collagen. You're at risk if you:

• Have an eating disorder

• Eat little due to illness

• Have a severe digestive condition

• Smoke

Focus on fruits and veggies, especially:

• Bell peppers

• Citrus fruit

• Tomatoes

• Broccoli

WebMD

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Professional and amateur athletes often search for ways to improve their performance. Now, bovine colostrum offers an alternative to traditional athletic performance supplements, and it is available for athletes of all ages and skill levels – from weekend warriors to competitive professionals to Olympians.

Clinical studies have demonstrated various components included in bovine colostrum deliver a wide range of potential health benefits for athletes.

For example, a recent study of resistance training in older adults highlighted the benefits of colostrum supplementation. During the study, men and women received either bovine colostrum or whey protein complex while they participated in a resistance training program. All study participants improved upper body strength, muscle thickness, lean tissue mass, and cognitive function. However, only those who took colostrum increased their leg press strength.

In another study, a group of professional cyclists received either bovine colostrum or whey protein over an eight-week period. Ultimately, cyclists who received colostrum reported a greater improvement in their 40-km time trial. Also, the cyclists who were given colostrum reported better stamina levels and quicker recovery times than those who were given whey protein.

Bovine colostrum is an all-natural superfood whose growth factors that are biologically transferrable for human use. The large quantity of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) contained in bovine colostrum makes it an ideal supplement. IGF-1 is a type of growth hormone that promotes muscle growth and favors adipose stores over glucose as a fuel source. IGF-1 is primarily produced by the liver, and its production is stimulated by growth hormone (GH). It is naturally occurring and capable of driving muscle growth on its own.

How Does Bovine Colostrum Differ from Other Athletic Performance Supplements?

Athletic performance supplements are sometimes used in combination with a regular diet and exercise regimen. They are designed to increase energy and improve recovery. Yet these products offer no guarantees.

Although many athletic performance supplements claim to boost the immune function, none are capable of delivering the desired results. Instead, what athletes need are performance supplements that balance the immune system or return it to normal function following strenuous physical activity.

During a training regimen, athletes are in an immune-compromised state and open to harmful bacteria and viruses that may cause upper respiratory infections. Additionally, the immune system temporarily shuts down following intense exercise, and the production of T-cells and natural killer (NK) cells is suppressed at this time.

Colostrum contains natural antibodies. It also contains colostrum polypeptides (CPs), or proline-rich polypeptides; these short chains of amino acids help stimulate an underactive immune system or suppress an overactive immune system. Colostrum polypeptides help regulate the thymus gland and stimulate the production of either helper or suppressor T lymphocytes. They act as immune system modulators, and as a result, are essential to return the immune system to a state of balance, particularly when it has been overtaxed by exercise.

In addition to CPs, lactoferrin in colostrum helps destroy bacteria by removing the iron that bacteria need in order to replicate themselves.

How Does Bovine Colostrum Aid Leaky Gut?

“Leaky gut” refers to a condition that commonly affects long-distance runners and other athletes. It occurs due to an intestinal tight junction malfunction. Tight junctions serve as gateways between the intestines and the rest of the body. They control what substances are allowed to pass into the bloodstream. Tight junctions help keep microbes, toxins, and undigested food particles out of the bloodstream.

If tight junctions stop working, foreign particles can enter the bloodstream. When this happens, inflammation occurs, opening the body up to a number of autoimmune conditions, including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes. This occurs because the immune system goes in to overdrive and attacks healthy cells (i.e., lung tissue, joints, and insulin-producing cells in the pancreas), not just the foreign particles.

The physiological response to increased gut permeability is to get rid of the gut contents. This usually leads to diarrhea, which diminishes athletic performance. One study showed runners could experience a 2.5-fold increase in gut leakage in conjunction with a two-degree body temperature increase. Comparatively, runners in the study who received daily bovine colostrum supplementation for two weeks saw gut leakage decrease by 80%, despite the same temperature increase. Regular supplementation helps protect and heal the gastrointestinal (GI) and stomach lining. It contains growth factors that help “seal” the gut and prevent heat stroke.

Does Bovine Colostrum Support Wound Healing?

Athletic injuries can affect the bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons, and other tissues. Regardless of where these injuries occur, colostrum contains growth factors and cytokines that have been shown to help accelerate the healing process.

Growth factors are among the most important molecular families involved in the healing of injuries. They are also essential to building lean muscle mass. Colostrum contains a variety of growth factors that support wound healing and increased muscle mass, such as:

· Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1): Helps improve muscle regeneration in injured muscles, promotes tendon healing, and supports the proliferation and migration of fibroblasts, resulting in increased collagen production to aid muscle healing and regeneration.

· Transforming Growth Factors A and B (TGFa and TGFb): Help regulate cellular migration and proliferation.

· Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF): Helps stimulate angiogenesis and regulation of cellular migration and proliferation.

Furthermore, cytokines have been shown to help speed up tendon repair. These small, secreted proteins are released by cells and have been used in clinical trials for the treatment of assorted tissue injuries and wounds. Several researchers have indicated cytokines may provide a new, non-opioid therapeutic treatment for pathological pain related to nerve injury.

The Bottom Line on Bovine Colostrum for Athletes

Athletes tend to search for performance-enhancing supplements that are safe, legal, and deliver the best-possible results. As informed consumers, athletes should review each product closely in addition to doing their homework. The first step is understanding colostrum’s overall benefits for athletes. Do a PubMed search on “bovine colostrum” and “athletic performance.” Clinical studies highlight the potential performance and health benefits. It’s important to note that not all studies have shown positive results, and this is likely due to the particular brand of colostrum used.

The Guardian

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Associate Professor of Nutrition & Dietetics and Accredited Practicing Dietitian, University of South Australia Karen Murphy receives funding and/or support from the National Health Medical Research Council. In the last 10 years she has had funding from Dairy Australia and the Pork CRC.

Inside the Joint

Each hip is a ball-and-socket joint. The ball is the top of your thighbone (femoral head). The socket (acetabulum) is in your pelvic bone. Smooth, slippery tissue called cartilage lets the ball and socket glide against each other when you move. A thin lining (synovium) tops the cartilage and makes a bit of synovial fluid, which further eases rubbing. Tendons, ligaments, and muscles complete the joint.

Osteoarthritis

It's the "wear and tear" type of arthritis that many people get in middle age. Cartilage on the ball end of the thighbone and in the hip socket slowly breaks down and causes grinding between bones. You'll have stiffness, and you might feel pain in your crotch and at the front of your thigh that radiates to your knee and behind. It's often worse after a hard workout or when you don’t move for a while.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

With RA, your immune system attacks parts of your body, which can include the synovium. This normally thin lining starts to thicken and swell and to make chemicals that damage or destroy the cartilage that covers the bone. Doctors don't know why this happens. When one hip is affected, the other often gets it too. The joint may hurt and swell, and you might notice heat and red skin around it.

Sciatica

Too much sitting and too little exercise, among other things, might irritate and inflame the sciatic nerve, the largest in the human body. It runs from the bottom of your spine through your hips and down the back of your leg, which is where you'll feel the pain when it's pinched. It will radiate from the hip and might be mild, sharp, tingly, numb, or even like an electric shock.

Hip Fracture

It's a break in the top part of your thighbone. If you're young and healthy, it takes a lot of power, like a serious car wreck, to do it. But if you're over 65, especially if you're a woman, or you have brittle bones (osteoporosis), even a minor fall can cause it. Your groin and the top, outer part of your thigh will likely hurt, especially when you try to flex the joint. In a complete break, one leg may look shorter than the other.

Dislocation

It happens when the ball on top your thighbone is knocked out of its pelvic socket. It usually takes a lot of force, as when you fall from a ladder or crash a car. All that power often causes other injuries like tissue tears, bone fractures, and could even damage nerves, cartilage, and blood vessels. Get to a hospital. It's very painful, and you won’t be able to move your leg much, if at all, until your doctor starts to treat it.

Dysplasia

Here, the socket of your hip isn't deep enough for the ball to fit firmly inside. The looseness can vary from just a little jiggly, to fairly easy to push out (dislocate), to complete dislocation. Babies may be born with it, or they may get it in their first year. Female, firstborn, and breech birth (feet-first) babies get it more often. You could also cause it if you wrap (swaddle) your baby's legs too tightly.

Bursitis

It's when fluid-filled sacs, or "bursae," that ease friction between muscle, tendons, and bones get irritated and swollen. It can happen on the outside bony part of your hip (trochanteric bursitis), where it causes sharp, intense pain that dulls and spreads out over time. Less often, it happens on the inside (hip bursitis), where it causes pain in the groin. Either may worsen when you walk, squat, or climb stairs

Labral Tear

You can damage the cartilage at the bony edge of your hip socket that helps keep the joint together. You could injure it suddenly in a twisting fall or an accident, or you might simply wear it away with the same motion over time. You might feel clicking sensations and have pain in your groin or hip. You're more likely to get it if you play ice hockey, soccer, football, or golf.

Hip Strain

It's when you overstretch or tear any of the muscles and tendons that help your hip joint move. (It's a "sprain" when it happens to a ligament.) It could affect lots of muscles like your hip flexors, glutes, abductors, adductors, quadriceps, and hamstrings. The area might swell, weaken, and hurt, especially when you use it. Rest, ice, and over-the-counter pain relievers are often enough to get you healthy again.

RICE: Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate

It's a good first step for any hip pain. Rest, but don't stop all movements (that could make things worse), just the ones that hurt. Ice for 20 minutes at a time, and use a cloth so you won't damage your skin. Compress the painful area with an elastic bandage, but not too much. Loosen it up if you see skin turning blue. Elevate the injured part on a pillow or stool to stop blood from pooling there.

Medications

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, are often used to lessen pain and inflammation for arthritis and other painful hip problems. Most are pills, but creams and gels are also available. Your doctor can help you treat more serious pain and underlying conditions with corticosteroids, pain relievers, and drugs to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

When to Go to the Doctor

If home care doesn't curb your pain, make an appointment with your doctor. Ask someone to drive you to the emergency room if an injury caused your hip pain and your hip doesn't look normal, or you can't move your leg or put weight on it. You should also go to the ER if you have intense pain, sudden swelling, or any sign of infection like fever, chills, and red skin.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will want to know about your symptoms and health history. Be sure you mention any falls or injuries you've had, and any other joints that bother you. Your doctor will also examine your hip and might check to see how well it moves (range of motion). You may also get blood tests or imaging, like an X-ray or MRI.

Prevention

Some of the same things that help treat hip pain can make it less likely for you to get it in the first place. For example, if you're overweight, losing even a few pounds may ease stress on the joint. Exercise (ask your doctor about the right amount) can also help. Take it easy. Start with a warmup and stretch, stop when something hurts, wear the right shoes, and seek soft surfaces like hiking trails, not hard ones like asphalt and concrete.

Arthritis: Ways to Ease Hip Pain

Don't Wait: Lose Weight

For every 10 pounds of extra body weight you carry, there's an added 50 pounds of pressure on your hips and knees. If your joints are feeling the strain, find a weight that works best for you and talk to your doctor about the best ways to slim down. It'll ease your hip pain and make it easier to move around.

Take a Load Off

Your weight isn't only about body fat: Your hips also absorb the weight of everything you carry in your hands and on your back. To take the pressure off, use a handcart for groceries and use luggage with wheels. If you carry a purse, consider a backpack style so the weight is even across your back.

Move It to Lose It

It makes sense to rest your hip until the pain eases up. Once it does, prescribe yourself a daily dose of exercise to build stronger muscles and keep joint stiffness at bay. Ask your doctor whether low-impact activities like walking, swimming, or yoga would help ease your condition.

Avoid High-Impact Exercise

Movement will help your hips, but this isn't the time to take up downhill running or kickboxing. Start slow with a few minutes on a stationary bike or elliptical. As soreness gives way to strength, you can bump up the length of your workouts.

Water Workouts

For the ultimate low-impact exercise, use a pool or spa. Water supports your body and takes some of the stress off your joints. It also allows for freer, smoother movements and provides good resistance to make your muscles stronger. Talk to your doctor or a physical therapist about exercises that will help your hips.

Stretch, Strengthen, and Stabilize

There are also specific exercises that can help with hip pain. They can work the parts of your body that support these joints, including your legs and core. To get the right routine and form, it's best to work with a professional, like a physical therapist. And don't push yourself -- if you feel pain during a workout, stop.

Use Heat and Cold

Have a bag of frozen veggies handy? Wrap it in a thin towel and press it directly onto your hips to ease pain. Use warmth -- like a hot shower or compress -- to loosen up muscles right before you stretch.

Heal Without Heels

Sometimes the answer for hip pain is right under your toes. High heels put your foot at an unnatural angle and can throw off your body’s alignment, which can cause hip pain. Try flat shoes instead, and avoid standing for too long in one stretch. ust be sure the flats have good arch support and some cushioning to help absorb shocks.

Over-the-Counter Meds

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen and naproxen, are a common way to take the edge off when your hip hurts. If you can't take them (maybe because of allergies or stomach problems), try acetaminophen instead. Ask your doctor to recommend the best type and dosage for your condition, and to make sure these pain relievers are safe for you.

Consider Other Medicines

In some cases, hip pain is part of a bigger issue, like arthritis, an injury, or a pinched nerve. With these conditions, you'll need something stronger for the pain. For example, if you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), your doctor might recommend a steroid to ease inflammation or a biologic that works with the parts of your immune system that make your joints inflamed.

Try an Alternative Therapy

If traditional therapies don't work, shift to a mind-body approach. You may have more success with acupuncture, massage, or a chiropractic adjustment.

MedicineNet

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A century ago, pediatricians began prescribing for children with intractable seizures the "keto diet," which they also used to treat diabetes in children and adults. The low- carbohydrate, high-fat meals were designed to induce a near hypoglycemic state, forcing the body to use ketones for fuel instead of glucose.

The strategy fell out of favor after the discovery of insulin in the 1920s and the development of better antiseizure medications. But the epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the United States have revived interest in low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets. The global market for the ketogenic diet topped $11 billion in 2022. Is it just a fad, or has the public — and science — caught up with the 100-year-old approach?

Although scientists still don't know why the ketogenic diet was effective for controlling seizures, they have documented the effectiveness of ketogenic diets for the treatment of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. An extensive body of literature has documented their use in athletes, but less is known regarding conditions such as heart disease and dementia.

Although the data are promising, much of the research has been conducted with mice or come from trials of short-term use in humans. But earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health awarded a $3.5 million federal grant for a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to understand the effects of the long-term use of ketone ester supplementation on frailty. Developed 20 years ago, ketone esters are precursor molecules that the body quickly breaks down into ketone bodies when carbohydrates aren't available.

"We've learned so much recently about how ketone bodies interact with aging biology," John Newman, MD, PhD, of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California, and the study's principal investigator, told Medscape Medical News. "And we're only just starting to translate that out of the laboratory and into human studies to see how we can take advantage of ketone bodies to improve people's health."

Researchers from the Ohio State University and the University of Connecticut will also participate in the TAKEOFF (Targeting Aging With Ketone Ester in Older Adults for Function in Frailty) trial, which seeks to recruit a total of 180 people across the three sites.

Newman, an assistant professor at the Buck Institute and associate professor in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, said ketone bodies might have helpful applications in a variety of conditions of aging. One of the common things that happen during aging is that tissues — such as of the heart, brain, and muscle — lose the ability to metabolize glucose effectively. Over time, resistance to insulin can develop.

Researchers can map out areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer's disease, for example, by assessing where patients' glucose uptake drops. In heart failure, the heart has difficulty obtaining enough energy from glucose and instead burns fats and ketone bodies.

How might ketones affect frailty in the elderly?

As a practicing geriatrician, Newman measures frailty by evaluating patients' strength, endurance, and how they react to stresses. He and his colleagues believe certain molecular and cellular changes may make patients more likely to fall, to recover more slowly from surgery, or to lose mobility.

The main hypothesis of the TAKEOFF study is "that if you target these fundamental mechanisms of aging, you would be able to impact many different diseases of aging across different organ systems."

Newman and Brianna Stubbs, DPhil, lead translational scientist at the Buck Institute, are still finishing up the BIKE (Buck Institute Ketone Ester) pilot study, which was the first double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the use of ketone ester supplements in adults older than 65 years. "The BIKE study is 12 weeks long. That's actually the longest that anyone has studied ketone ester supplements in humans," Stubbs said. The results will help them firm up the protocol for the TAKEOFF trial, which will likely treat patients for up to 24 weeks.

The primary outcome measure at all three study sites will be leg press strength. Researchers will also assess a variety of secondary outcomes that cover geriatric and cognitive function — measures such as gait speed and walking endurance, cognitive tests, and quality of life. And at the Buck, Newman and Stubbs will be evaluating the use of biomarkers that are often available in clinical labs ― insulin, C-reactive protein, cystatin, and natriuretic peptide tests ― for use as outcome measures that are responsive to treatment interventions and that can be used to track outcomes in future research on aging.

To achieve the goal of looking broadly at different organ systems likely to be affected by ketogenic supplements, they have assembled a team of co-investigators with wide-ranging expertise in ketone and aging research.

Jeff Volek, PhD, a professor in the Department of Human Sciences at the Ohio State University, in Columbus, has contributed extensively to the literature on the use of ketogenic diets and supplements in a variety of populations, such as endurance athletes and patients with insulin resistance or diabetes.

Medscape

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Affiliate programs in direct marketing refer to a marketing strategy in which a business rewards affiliates or partners for promoting and driving sales for their products or services. In other words, an affiliate program is a way for a company to pay individuals or other businesses (affiliates) for referring new customers or clients to them.

In affiliate marketing, an affiliate earns a commission for each sale or lead that they generate for the company. This commission is typically a percentage of the sale price or a fixed amount for each lead. Affiliates can promote the company's products or services through a variety of methods, such as through their website, social media accounts, email marketing, or other channels.

Affiliate programs are beneficial for both the company and the affiliates. The company can expand its reach and increase sales without investing a lot of money in marketing campaigns, and the affiliates can earn a commission for their efforts in promoting the company's products or services. Affiliate programs can also help to build strong relationships between the company and its affiliates, leading to more effective marketing efforts and long-term partnerships.

Overall, affiliate programs in direct marketing can be an effective way for businesses to reach new customers and increase sales while also rewarding partners for their contributions.

Unknown

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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When I was 21, I was ready to take my life to the next level, but I felt stuck—I still lived at my parents’ house, I was making $8 an hour at a side job, and I was enrolled in a never-ending MBA program. Deep down inside, I knew I had to escape. But unlike I was used to doing, I wasn’t going to run away from myself.

This time I was determined to make a change—I wanted so bad to become successful, except I didn’t know what to do or where to start. What I firmly believed, though, was that if I changed my habits, my habits would change me. So instead of fooling around with miscellaneous activities like sports and TV, I started reading books and giving speeches.

And I saw positive results. Professionally, I became more competent. Personally, I became more confident. This realization, that competence breeds confidence, was the pivotal point that changed my life. It enabled me to reach the summit of success, to create wealth and inspiration for so many people.

The habits I created are what made me who I am today—they are what took me from $8 an hour at 21 to a self-made millionaire at 24. And they can change your life, too.

1. Simplify your words.

How well do you spread your message? Millionaires know how to share their message in simplest terms. They use their words with precision and possess deep meaning in what they say. Personally, I peruse the dictionary every day, but I would never attempt to use every word I know. By speaking pompously, many people exterminate their opportunities. In short, never drown people in the sea of verbosity.

To learn to speak with ease, join your local Toastmasters club to brush up on your communication skills. Unfortunately, too many people get lazy with their communication and subtly conform to the habits of others. But millionaires diligently work on improving what they say and how they say it.

2. Abandon the old.

Before you are able to face the new, you must relinquish the old. If you want a new car or house, then bless the old one and search for a new one. When you want to achieve a positive mindset, you must get rid of the negative one first. To abandon your negative habits, you must replace them with positive ones.

I realized this one day as I was feasting on a couple cheap burgers at McDonald’s. I decided to venture out to find the finest steak houses in the area to seek a new and delectable experience with my meals. Instead of indulging in $1 burgers several times a week, I was happier to splurge my money on a robust steak once or twice a month.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

3. Set goals—daily.

Every day, I set my goals on paper. This is an inspiring habit that I promise to keep for the rest of my life. Whether you’re writing your financial projections, planning your weekly tasks or scheming new ways to build your empire, you’ll want to create a daily goal-setting habit that will give you momentum—on a daily basis. When you set your goals every day, it helps you prioritize and keep “first things first.” Prioritization is first doing what matters most. Instead of pursuing $100 actions, this habit will promote you to embody $1,000 activities. Once you accumulate more profitable activities in your day, you’ll add money to the bank.

4. Be congruent.

You must do what you say you’re going to do. There will be many times in your life where you’ll be asked to sacrifice your personal values to reach professional goals. Don’t do it. There’s nothing more valuable than remaining congruent in your personal and professional lives—it allows you to mix “business with pleasure.” Many people will tell you that you can’t mix business with pleasure, but they’re wrong. When you’re doing what you love, business is pleasure. When you’re living a life that is based on integrity, your reputation will grow, enriching yourself and many others in the process. Never put your reputation in jeopardy by failing to remain congruent with your highest values and ideals.

5. Make decisions.

The more decisions you make, the more successful you will be. While one person could make a dozen decisions in a day, another one can make hundreds. The person who makes the most decisions will win, even if their decisions lead to failure. Just imagine, if you were going the opposite way on a one-way street, you’d learn to quickly make adjustments! But most people are afraid to make crucial decisions because they are conquered by fears, which leaves them paralyzed. Being paralyzed prevents them from making decisions, forcing them to forfeit opportunities. Always make a decision, even if you don’t know where it will lead. Soon enough, you’ll find the answers you need.

6. Ask questions.

Most people assume that they know answers. Their assumptions actually hold them back from knowing the truth. You should want to ask questions to gain clarity about the direction you are heading, but the fact is that many people don’t ask any questions—they habitually guess their way. Why? Many people don’t want to ask questions because it exposes them to confront the reality of their circumstance, which may scare them, or asking questions forces them into the laborious task of thinking, which is why they fail to do it.

To become a millionaire, don’t answer your questions, but question your answers. When you need to know the facts, you must inquire—don’t just make assumptions.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” — Voltaire

7. Become a master.

One time, a fine pianist performed at a party. After she was done, a woman from the party said to the virtuoso, “I’d give anything to play as you do.” As the master pianist sipped her coffee in slow motion, she took a brief pause and said, “Oh no you wouldn’t.” Soon, a great hush filled the room as they were baffled in astonishment and massive confusion. She continued, “You’d give anything to play as I do, except time. You wouldn’t sit and practice, hour after hour, day after day, year after years.” Then she flashed a warm smile while repositioning her coffee cup. “Please understand, I’m not criticizing,” she said. “I’m just telling you that when you say you’d give anything to play as I do, you don’t really mean it. You really don’t mean it at all.”

“Every master was once a disaster.” — T. Harv Eker

Good habits are as addictive as bad habits. Once you’ve adopted a good habit, keep gaining new ones. An average person develops up to 10 new habits a year, which also means that they are dropping that many old habits. Regardless, think about your daily habits and how they affect you. And remember, you make your habits in the beginning—then your habits make you!

Daniel Ally

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Although finances shouldn’t be the highest priority in our lives, I will say money plays a major role and we need to see it for what it is: a tool. As my good friend Zig Ziglar says, “Money isn’t everything, but it ranks right up there with oxygen!”

Money is a tool that, depending on how we use it, can bring much joy to our lives or it can bring destruction. We need to be aware of all the possibilities it offers as well as the pitfalls.

Some of the most amazing things have been done because people had the financial resources to fund them—businesses have been built, schools started and philanthropic charities founded that have accomplished much good. On the other hand, friendships have been ruined, illicit gains profited and lives destroyed—all over money.

So today, I want to focus on applying some simple financial principles, but I also want to teach the underlying philosophies that govern what good people can do and what tremendous accomplishments can be made when we see money for what it is: a tool to improve our lives and the lives of others.

John Wesley said, “Earn all you can, save all you can and give all you can.” A person who sees the powerful force for good that money can be will more likely keep their own life in balance by pursuing the disciplines of earning, saving and giving, which, together, create the perfect tension and balance.

But we must also remember that money has a seductive side and tells you it will solve all of your problems, but it won’t. It is great to have money—lots of it—as long as your life is in balance and you keep the proper perspective. It is important that we own our money and not the other way around.

The first way to make sure money doesn’t own us is to deal with the issue of debt. Americans, along with most of the world, have more debt than ever. We would do well to remember the old proverb, “The borrower is the servant to the lender.”

When we are in debt, we owe someone, and because of this, they have a certain amount of control over us. We are, in essence, their servant. This is not the way of financial freedom.

Interestingly enough, when it comes to debt, I have found that many otherwise intelligent people just don’t get it. So, for a little help, here are five things you must understand to achieve financial freedom:

1. Develop the right mindset.

When it comes to debt, the only mindset is one of ruthless opposition. We need to see debt as the very enemy of our financial lives. If we begin to say, “Well, a little debt here and maybe a little debt there,” we will soon see a lot of debt everywhere. In the same way money can compound positively when we save and invest, debt can also multiply and push you deeper into debt as each month passes. The right mindset is that we need to get out of debt and stay out of debt. Is this your mindset? Many times, we are a product of the environment we were raised in or we associate with currently. Have you thought lately about the mindset you have toward debt?

2. Gain more understanding.

Some people have no idea how much debt they actually have. Some people do not know whether they have a positive or negative net worth. You can’t plan your future if you do not know where you currently are. Think of it this way. Let’s say you wanted to visit a friend and needed directions to get to his home. When you call for directions, he would ask you where you are coming from. Typically, we would tell him our town or address, and he would then give us directions how to get there from where we are. Imagine, however, if we told him we didn’t know where we were. He couldn’t give us directions because he wouldn’t know whether to tell us to go north or south, east or west.

The same is true with knowing where we are financially. If you have a goal to save $1 million, your plan is going to be different if you already have $750,000 saved than if you have $100,000 in consumer debt. Figure out where you are financially—get an understanding. In this instance, the old “Knowledge is power” adage is true. There is power in knowing where you stand financially, because only then can you map your financial future!

3. Seek help.

When you are sick, you go to the doctor. When you want to improve in a sport, you get a coach. When you are in debt, you need to seek some help. Depending upon the amount of debt you have, you will have to look for varying degrees of help. If you have $2,000 to $5,000 in credit card debt, you might just need a friend to keep you accountable on monthly spending. If, on the other hand, you are over your head in debt, for instance $50,000 in credit card debt, you may need to bring in the help of a financial advisor who can help you with your creditors. Don’t let your pride get in the way. Everyone needs help at times, and wise people get help when they need it. If you have debt and need help managing it, get help. Your future depends on it.

4. Get control.

Think about the concept of debt for a minute, especially the specific action of going into debt in order to purchase something you want but don’t have the funds on hand to pay. Now, you might not ever articulate it this way, but what you are really saying is, “I don’t have the money for this, but I want it so much that I cannot go any longer without it. And, not only that, but I am willing to pay 10 to 20 percent more for it than it costs.” (Ten to 20 percent is a typical yearly percentage rate on a credit card.)

What this boils down to is an issue of control. Can you control your urges? Or, more appropriately, will you control your urges? Will you take control of your life? Will you take responsibility for your actions and decide for yourself that you will no longer buy on credit and dig yourself deeper into debt, jeopardizing your financial future?

5. Create a Plan.

To get out of debt, you need a plan. It needs to be simple, effective, workable and tailored to your individual life. There are some fundamentals you can follow, but everyone has different incomes, levels of debt and at different stages in life. A 50-year-old couple who has an income of $125,000 with $50,000 in debt is going to have a different plan than a single male, age 25, who has an income of $30,000 a year and a total of $10,000 in debt.

The key is to have a plan. Once you have a plan that will work for you, then work the plan with all of the discipline you can muster. Your plan should include detailed strategies for spending, income, saving, investing, etc. I remember the day so clearly that I told my mentor Mr. Shoaff, “If I had more money, I would have a better plan.” To which he replied, “No, I would suggest that if you had a better plan, you would have more money. Remember, it’s not the amount that counts, it’s the plan.” As the old adage goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” So true.

Here are a few additional basics for your get-out-of-debt plan:

· Write down everything you spend. Keep a ledger or a journal or a notepad or whatever works for you, but write down every transaction you make. This is so important. It creates awareness, forcing you to take a second look at each decision, and helps bring accountability to your spending.

· On all future credit card charges, pay off the full charges for the previous month’s expenditures—no exceptions. This will keep you from paying “new” interest. If you are not able to do this right away, set it as a goal to be able to do as soon as possible.

· Determine how much additional money you can apply to your debt each month and apply it all to your highest-interest debts.

Your financial future can be amazing; it can be anything you want it to be. Part of the heritage you can leave behind is being financially independent, but it will involve some deep soul-searching and some tough decisions to figure out exactly what you want out of life. One of the first issues you must deal with, though, is debt. If you don’t have debt, that is fantastic. If you do, life isn’t over for you; you can still achieve whatever you desire, but only if you make the commitment to shift your priorities.

Jim Rohn

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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When was the last time you saw ants reach an obstacle and give up with their heads down and head back to the ant hole to relax? Never.

Here’s another question. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for winter? All that it possibly can. Imagine what you could accomplish if you never quit and always did all that you could do.

I think everybody should study ants and their philosophy—it’s simple, but it’s powerful:

1. Ants never quit.

That’s a good philosophy. If ants are headed somewhere and you try to stop them; they’ll look for another way. They’ll climb over, they’ll climb under and they’ll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you’re supposed to go.

2. Ants think winter all summer.

That’s an important perspective. You can’t be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering their winter food in the middle of summer. An ancient story says, “Don’t build your house on the sand in the summer.” Why do we need that advice? Because it’s important to be realistic. In the summer, you’ve got to think storm. Think ahead.

3. Ants think summer all winter.

That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, “This won’t last long; we’ll soon be out of here.” And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they’ll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can’t wait to get out.

4. Ants think "all-you-possibly-can."

How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. Ants don’t have quotas or “good enough” philosophies. They don’t gather a certain amount and then head back to the hole to hang out. If an ant can do more, it does. What an incredible philosophy, the “all-you-possibly-can” philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can

Jim Rohn

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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If we don’t learn good habits, life becomes more difficult. We have a choice: Get hard on ourselves so life becomes easier, or get easy on ourselves resulting in life getting harder.

Successful people choose good habits over a stagnant life. At first it might not seem like you are accomplishing much, but don’t be fooled. “Small hinges open big doors.”

Not all good habits are created equal. Some are more powerful than others. Here are four powerful habits that will strengthen your confidence, help you get what you want and result in a satisfying journey.

1. 1. Embrace life, don’t resist it.
2. When things aren’t working, our first action is often resistance. Instead of resisting, take a moment to consider what isn’t working and why. This kind of information is valuable.
3. Tough times can be used to disrupt stagnant patterns in thinking. If we embrace the disruption, it can have a purifying effect that knocks off the rust and barnacles we naturally collect on our daily voyage. Embracing life is resisting stagnation.
4. Life might wreck your plans when your plans are about to wreck you. So pay close attention.
5. 2. Affirm yourself, don’t degrade yourself.
6. One of the most common ways to degrade ourselves is to ask the wrong questions. Wrong questions are disempowering. They immediately change our subconscious thought patterns from positive to negative, or vice versa. They are powerful.
7. • Question: Why can’t I lose weight? Answer: Because you’re a pig!
8. • Question: Why can’t I do things right? Answer: Because you’re not smart!
9. • Question: Why am I so broke? Answer: Because you’re a loser!
10. Ask a bad question and you’ll get a bad answer. This is how our subconscious mind works. Because the conscious mind programs the subconscious, take charge. Good questions lead to productive answers.
11. • What are the top two things I can do to lose weight?
12. • What is a better way to do this?
13. • What are three things I can do to increase my cash flow?
14. Asking the right question is empowering.
15. 3. Brainstorm, don’t blame-storm.
16. Blame-storming is using our creative abilities to come up with reasons why something is not our fault. This creates an emotional roadblock to healthy living called resentment. It comes from the Latin words “re” and “sentire,” which means “to feel over and over again.” It’s almost exclusively internalized, which makes it different from anger even though it can accompany the emotion.
17. It’s tempting to wallow in resentment because it provides a feeling of control. But that is an illusion. The past is no more. There is no control. How can we disempower the past from stealing the present? Through brainstorming, you come to the realization that your past deepens you but does not define you, deter you or defeat you.
18. It is a part of your maturity but not your identity. Your past has made you stronger for today. You are not a prisoner of your past. You are a pioneer of your future. And you have power in the present.
19. 4. Do something, not everything
20. It’s good to be resilient—to a point. Sometimes quitting is the smartest thing to do. There are times when I look at my to-do list and complete one or two of the items quickly, just by eliminating them. For example, if I have 10 things on my list, Pareto’s Principle reminds me that 80 percent of my results comes from 20 percent of my effort. Let me get those top two done first and I’ll go from there. To not do this is to spread myself too thin. Time to prune the list.
21. The secret of concentration is elimination. This leads to productive living and has health benefits as well—a needed message for a society of high achievers.
22. In Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain, people who quit unattainable goals saw physical and psychological benefits, including:
23. • Less depressive symptoms and negative affect
24. • Lower cortisol levels
25. • Lower systemic inflammation
26. • Better immune functioning
27. • Fewer physical health problems over time

This is not a polemic for a carefree life! The happiest people are busy but in control. They are not rushed.

By Mick Ukleja

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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My dream home looks like the end of a Fixer Upper episode set on the property of a Real Housewives of New York City Hamptons home: sprawling beachfront complete with a gourmet kitchen, walk-in closets and an outdoor living space.

As a personal-finance author, I know better than to keep up with the Joneses. That is, I know not to use the lifestyles of others as a reference point for my own. At least in theory.

But in practice, I resent not having the stainless-steel appliances prominently showcased at the end of every home-makeover show. And I dislike having to wash my dishes by hand and go to the self-service laundry each week. I’ve even considered paying an extra 30 percent in rent just to live in an apartment with these amenities.

Unlike my parents’ generation, who grew up with their next-door neighbors serving as the primary point of comparison for what they wanted, I came of age in the boom years of HGTV, reality TV and social media—a time when lifestyle reference points were no longer limited to the folks living next door, but expanded to include the millions of people on social media.

As our perceptions of living standards increasingly become shaped by reality shows and Facebook feeds, the Joneses are no longer the family across the street with the white-picket fence in suburbia. And our lifestyle wants increasingly become perceived as lifestyle needs, inflating our standard of living at a rate we can’t always afford to keep up with. The result? Often futile and even debt-inducing attempts to attain a lifestyle that is out of reach.

But the goalposts of our lives needn’t be defined by the Joneses, whether they’re our neighbors, social media stars or reality TV celebrities. Instead of getting caught up in the pursuit of more and more to support an inflated standard of living, and losing touch with our priorities along the way, let’s realign our resources with the things we care about most and build our perceptions of success around those values.

1. START BY IDENTIFYING YOUR PRIORITIES.

Rather than constantly upscaling in an effort to keep up, prioritize your time, money and energy around the things you really value. The momentum of the minimalist and tiny home movements is a prime example of this kind of downshift and the rejection of traditional lifestyle comparisons.

2. CHOOSE YOUR PEER GROUP CAREFULLY.

Spend time around people who won’t judge you if you say, “I can’t afford that right now.” This will help you stay focused on your true goals.

3. PRACTICE GRATITUDE.

Rather than maintaining some arbitrary, hyper-consumer status quo and seeing everything that falls short of the reality-show ideal as a sacrifice, shift your perspective to recognize all that you already enjoy.

When you cut back from excess, everything feels like a sacrifice. But when you build up from zero, everything is a bonus. Shifting your perspective to the latter might prove to be the most valuable tool in promoting both your fiscal security and your happiness.

Stefanie O’Connell

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Trying to stay forever young? It’s a popular goal: The anti-aging market, valued at $40 billion, is estimated to hit $60 billion by 2032. To stave off old age, people slather on wrinkle cream, pop supplements, and lift weights, among other interventions.

Though aging is often portrayed as a problem to fix, it’s more modifiable than you might think. According to the latest science, there’s no clear biological tipping point marking the transition from midlife to late life, says Eric Verdin, president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California.

“There's an incredible amount of variability between different people,” says Verdin, who favors using someone’s biological age—which is how old your cells and tissues are—rather than their chronological age, which is the number of years you've been alive.

That belief has started to upend the status quo: A recent study published in the journal Psychology and Aging shows that the age at which someone is considered old is shifting up.

Middle-aged and older adults nowadays feel younger than similar aged people did 10 to 20 years ago, according to the study led by Markus Wettstein, a researcher at Humboldt University in California.

People are living longer, which partially explains this trend. But the findings may also reflect bleak views toward aging, particularly in the Western Hemisphere. “People postpone old age as they do not want to enter this rather undesirable life phase,” Wettstein and his colleagues said in an email to National Geographic.

The history of old age

For much of human history, a person’s ability to complete tasks or contribute to their family and community shaped the perception of old age. Throughout the Western Hemisphere in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, retirement marked when the focus shifted to an individual's chronological age, not their abilities. The average American retires at 62, which is around the time most officials and governments consider a person old. The range of 60 to 65 has remained relatively consistent over time, even as lifespans extended and humans experienced major social and economic changes.

Across the board, aging is the strongest risk factor for most non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Most people will spend a significant fraction of their lives affected by conditions like these. By some estimates, nearly 95 percent of U.S. adults over 60 have at least one chronic condition, while nearly 80 percent have two or more. Yet chronological age may not be a good indicator for defining old age, the new study says. Rather, individuals might enter old age at different times, according to their own perceptions.

And it’s true that no one wants to be old, especially as aging stereotypes have become more negative over the last 200 years—fueling what some call a worldwide crisis of ageism. Ageism, which can be as subtle as hiring a more youthful candidate or as blatant as disrespect, leads to social isolation, poor health, and even earlier death, according to the World Health Organization. It's not your life span you need to worry about. It's your health span. Becca Levy, a professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale who was not involved in the new study, has spent much of her career untangling the downstream effects of age beliefs, which she detailed in her book, Breaking the Age Code. “More negative age beliefs can lead to worse physical, mental, and cognitive health,” Levy says, whereas positive ones precipitate better health. One of Levy’s analyses estimates that a one-year cost of ageism in the United States totals $63 billion.

“Aging is colored by culture,” Verdin says. “In the Western world, youth is valued, but in Eastern cultures such as China and Korea, aging is associated with wisdom and is considered a virtue.”

When does old age begin?

Over the last century, scientific interest in aging has surged. Investors and government funders have poured billions into longevity research, leading to new insights into the aging process. Cells can now be reprogrammed to restore youthful function. New drugs can eliminate senescent cells that drive inflammation. Dietary interventions such as intermittent fasting and caloric restriction have shown potential to extend life.

Despite this progress, scientists still quibble over what aging is and when it starts. For one, there’s not a definitive way to measure it.

Our bodies may age faster or slower depending on what has happened during our lives. Some major events, such as stressors or chronic illnesses, can make us age “faster,” thereby accelerating our biological age.

While certain physiological phenomena, like puberty and menopause, mark milestones along life’s path, old age isn’t defined by universal markers. Aging is a multifactorial process characterized by the accumulation of damage and degeneration across physiological pathways. This cascading deterioration eventually disrupts normal cell and tissue function. In the last 30 years, scientists have searched for distinct metrics that accurately represent a person’s biological age. Certain factors like physical capability, lipid profiles, and DNA damage have been flagged as potential biomarkers. But currently, there is still no gold standard tool to assess healthy aging

“Aging is not something that happens abruptly,” Verdin says. “It's a continuum, which makes it difficult to define.”

Investigating superagers

Still, everyone ages differently, and some live long and thrive. These so-called “superagers,” who remain relatively youthful and healthy long after age 70, have fascinated scientists.

By studying them, Verdin and other aging researchers hope to increase non-superagers’ healthspan, or the amount of time they live without chronic disease. By 2050, 1 in 3 people in the world will be 60 years or older, a demographic shift that makes this research more pressing than ever. “I hope our work will allow us to give people extra years of healthy life,” Verdin says, “and therefore change public perceptions and make people feel less negative about their own aging."

National Geographic

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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The documentary film “We’re All Plastic People Now” delves into how we have become the embodiment of the trash we created. Director Rory Fielding had four generations of his family’s blood tested for plastic-derived chemicals and found alarming results

· Many of the chemicals used to make plastic are endocrine disruptors, which mimic, block or interfere with your natural hormones, causing problems in various physiological functions, such as growth, metabolism and reproduction

· Some endocrine-disrupting chemicals are also considered estrogenic carcinogens, which mimic the effects of estrogen in the body, thus increasing your risk of estrogen-sensitive cancers

· Vote with your pocketbook and get your national and local government involved to catalyze changes in plastic use. More tips below on how to reduce your microplastic exposure are included

A plastic straw, a bottle of water, a plastic bag from the grocery — these single-use plastics seem so innocuous that people barely give them a second thought before tossing them out. Unfortunately, the development of this throwaway culture has contributed to the mounting burden of plastic waste that threatens the environment, wildlife and our very own bodies.

Discarded plastics are made primarily from petrochemicals1 and degrade into microscopic fragments called microplastics, which lurk everywhere, from the depths of our oceans to the food we eat and the air we breathe. It's a sobering reality underscored by the Emmy Award-winning documentary featured above, "We're All Plastic People Now."

Plastic Pollution Has Become a Generational Burden

Produced and directed by Rory Fielding, “We’re All Plastic People Now” delves into how we have become the embodiment of the trash we created. It’s introduced by actor and ocean preservationist Ted Danson and featured at the 2024 Santa Fe Film Festival.2

While the film briefly illustrates the devastating impacts of microplastics on marine life, particularly sea turtles found with plastic-filled stomachs, it dives deeper into a more disturbing truth — humans are not separate from plastic pollution.

As David A. Davis, Ph.D., a researcher from the University of Miami who’s featured in the film, aptly puts it, “Water is life, so if the water is polluted and we have sentinel species like dolphins and sea turtles, if they're also sick, we can anticipate that we'll be sick, too.”

Studies have detected microplastics in human tissues, including the brain,3 lungs,4 kidney, liver5 and heart,6 as well as in human blood7 and stool.8 Even babies are exposed to microplastics starting from their mothers’ placenta to the breast milk they rely on for nourishment.9

Dr. Antonio Ragusa, the study’s lead researcher on microplastics in the placenta and one of the featured experts in the documentary, bluntly referred to humans as “cyborgs” because our bodies are no longer purely biological but have become part plastic.

This assertion is further confirmed in the film as Fielding had four generations of his family’s blood tested for plastic-derived chemicals. Their blood samples were submitted to Rolf Halden, Ph.D., an environmental engineer from Arizona State University. According to Halden’s analysis, Fielding and his family carry over 80 different chemicals in their body. He further explains:

“What we detected in the blood of all these participants are precursors of plastics, plastic constituents themselves, as well as degradation products of consumer plastics. These chemicals are known to be carcinogens, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, obesogens and neurodegenerative agents.”

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Can Make Your Body ‘Go Awry’

Many of the chemicals used to make plastic are endocrine disruptors. As microplastics circulate in your body, they carry these chemicals and distribute them to your cells and tissues, where they can pose significant harm to your health. Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician and director of the Center for Investigation of Environmental Hazards at New York University, noted in the film:

“We live in a world where we're still not as aware of endocrine-disrupting chemicals as we should be. We're talking about our natural hormones, our molecules that orchestrate all sorts of signaling of basic bodily functions, maintaining a healthy temperature, good metabolism, salt, sugar and even sex. When we're talking about endocrine-disrupting chemicals, we're talking about synthetic chemicals that hack those molecular signals and make things go awry in the human body.”

Some of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) found in microplastics include bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). By mimicking, blocking or interfering with your natural hormones, EDCs can disrupt the function of your endocrine system, which leads to problems in various physiological functions such as growth, metabolism and reproduction.10

Some EDCs are also considered estrogenic carcinogens. Also known as xenoestrogens, these chemicals can mimic the effects of estrogen in the body.11 This results in abnormal stimulation of estrogen receptors, which then promotes cell proliferation and potentially contributes to the development and progression of estrogen-sensitive cancers, such as breast cancer12 and endometrial cancer.13

Another form of EDC found in microplastics is PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), a group of about 5,000 ubiquitous chemicals in consumer products and used in industrial, electronic, firefighting and medical applications. They’re also known as “forever chemicals,” as they do not degrade naturally, persist in the environment and accumulate in people and wildlife.14

In the featured documentary, John Hocevar, director of Greenpeace Oceans Campaign, states, “PFAS chemicals can give us cancer ... and they can damage our immune systems. PFAS can also interfere with fetal development, and they can harm our hormonal and reproductive systems.”

Can Plastics End the Future of Humanity?

In the documentary, Shanna Swan, Ph.D., a professor from Mount Sinai Hospital, sheds light on her research on phthalates, which she believes is one of the major culprits behind the decline in sperm count in the last 50 years. She purports that exposure to these chemicals causes phthalate syndrome, a condition wherein the male reproductive organs and fertility are affected depending on their mother’s exposure to phthalates while they’re in the womb. She explains:

“What [phthalates] are doing is they’re lowering testosterone. Initially, male and female have the same genital ridge ... Around early first trimester, there starts to be differentiation of the males and females. All that’s happening very fast in early pregnancy, and that needs testosterone to be there at the right time and the right amount ... If the testosterone doesn’t come on board at the right time and there isn’t enough of it ... let’s just say we call those males incompletely masculinized. And in the females, if testosterone gets in there when it shouldn’t or more than should be there, then the female starts producing more male-like genitals. So, what you’re seeing is a decreasing of sex differences. So, the male becomes less completely a male, the female less completely a female.”

Halden further emphasizes the potential implications of the trend of decreasing sperm counts and loss of fertility, cautioning that we could be “playing with the future of humanity.”

“Essentially, we are allowing chemicals like plastic chemicals into our family planning,” Halden adds. “They [plastic chemicals] decide whether there is life or not. We don’t want to give more voting rights to chemicals as we plan in the future.” Dr. Ragusa echoes this sentiment, stating, “Plastic can be the future for big oil companies. But not for us, not for humanity. For humanity, plastic is the end of the future.”

A Battle for Change in Southern Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

In an 85-mile stretch of land between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is an area known as “Cancer Alley.” In the area there are over 150 plastic plants and chemical industries. The cancer rates in this area are 50 times higher than the national average.15

The pervasive presence of estrogenic carcinogens in the surroundings likely contribute to these numbers. Moreover, exposure to plasticizers is also associated with oxidative stress, inflammation and DNA damage,16 all of which are also mechanisms of carcinogenesis.

Sharon Lavigne, founder of Rise St. James in Louisiana, lives in the middle of Cancer Alley. She shared that their community used to have beautiful trees before 19 petrochemical plants were built to replace them, with 12 of them located near Sharon’s home.

“I lost my sister-in-law [to] cancer. I lost my neighbor on both sides of me [to] cancer. We had so many people dying, it made me wonder what was going on ...” Sharon says. “I felt like if another industry would come in here, it would be a death sentence for St. James [Parish].”

Her personal experience spurred her on to fight against further industrial expansion in her community. The documentary features how their group’s efforts successfully prevented the construction of what would’ve been the world’s largest plastic plant in their hometown.

Profit From Plastic Is Prioritized Over Public Health

Despite the mounting evidence of the dangers caused by microplastics, the industry is still planning to expand plastic production. According to Christy Leavitt, the plastics campaign director of Oceana, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ocean conservation:

“We’ve seen, over the last couple of decades, the amount of plastic production has increased rapidly, and so too has all of the plastic pollution ... They’re looking towards a world where not only do we have the current amount of plastic that’s out there, but they want, in fact, triple the amount of that.”

She also revealed that recycling is no longer going to be enough to address the worsening plastic crisis. Halden elaborates on the economic challenges of recycling plastics, explaining that while the plastic industry’s narrative promotes recycling, it’s actually far more economical for them to produce virgin plastic.

The production of cheap plastic from fossil fuels is also being incentivized, causing companies to produce new ones instead of recycling. As for the logistic issues, Halden presented data from BeyondPlastics.org:17

“The things that we carry into recycling centers are only a small fraction of the overall plastic mass that we're using. In past years, only about 9% of plastics actually arrived at recycling centers. Today, it's only 5% of all the plastics that we make and consume. But that's not where the bad news ends because when the plastics arrive at the recycling center ... they just put the plastic in a barge and ship it to a country that doesn't have a solid waste disposal system. So, it ends up in the landfill, blows into the ocean and comes right back in our food.” Moreover, NPR news correspondent Laura Sullivan, who also appears in the documentary, found internal documents revealing a stark contrast between the oil industry's million-dollar promotion of plastic and recycling and its private doubts about the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of large-scale recycling initiatives.18

It’s Not Too Late to Address the Plastic Crisis

Toward the end of the documentary, the featured experts and environmental activists shared a similar sentiment — there is still hope for reducing plastic pollution and safeguarding the health of future generations.

According to Halden, it’s not the first time humanity has endangered our future with what we thought were innovative industrial advances, yet we’ve come up with solutions to mitigate the dangers before they completely destroy our planet. “Plastics is the next big challenge for us,” he declares positively.

Hocevar notes that the plastic problem has a very simple solution: We should just stop producing so much of it. One way to achieve this is by voting with your pocketbook. As Dr. Ragusa pointed out in the film, the major producers of plastics right now are big food and beverage manufacturers.

Refusing to buy their products can urge these companies to take accountability and change their plastic use. It will also go a long way toward reducing your own plastic waste. Leavitt highlighted the importance of getting the state and local government involved as well, “so that they’re actually requiring companies to change the way that single-use plastics are produced and used.”

Mercola

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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The date is February 21, 1981. It is a bright, sunny morning in Los Angeles, California and we find ourselves at the Bonaventure Hotel. We’re there for the first and only event of its kind, an event called, The Millionaire Training.

Forty-eight hours before the event begins, sensing the enormous value of what was about to be shared, Mark Hughes decides to record what is said. A man is hired to record the event and is paid $150 to capture the audio. He duct tapes a microphone to the center seat in the front row and turns on the recorder.

It’s time to get started and Doug Stuntz walks up in front of the room. The boisterous room goes quiet as he gets everyone’s attention. After a brief introduction, a 35-year-old, excited Larry Thompson takes the stage.

Once too shy to stand up in front of his classroom and give an oral book report, he is a walking example of everything he is about to share. He brings everything he has to the small and enthralled crowd.

Four hours later, he has given what has been called, “One of the greatest business speeches of all time.” With zero edits, the now world-famous The Millionaire Training audio cassettes are distributed to the field and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Speaking of history, where did Larry Thompson learn all that he shared that day? Who did he learn it from? That, my friends, is a fascinating story. One I am honored to share with you.

Larry learned all he shared that day from some of the original founders of the network marketing profession. What he shared came from a unique set of circumstances that had begun decades earlier. Circumstances that gave Larry Thompson credentials that few on the planet have.

To better understand The Millionaire Training, we must go back to the place it all started:

1934: Carl Rehnborg starts selling a vitamin and mineral supplement. He names his new company, California Vitamins, Inc.

1939. At a cost of $69.56, Rehnborg renames California Vitamins, Inc. to Nutrilite Products, Inc. At this point, it was still a direct sales company.

1943-1944: Having too many customers to personally service, Rehnborg asks people in key areas to buy a little extra product and service a customer base. He agrees to pay a commission and later, overrides, to these key people, loosely creating the business model that becomes network marketing.

1945: Sensing the huge opportunity of the supplement business, two men named Lee S. Mytinger and William S. Casselberry make a deal with Rehnborg to become Nutrilite National Master Distributors. Here’s where things get COOL.

1948: Rich Schnackenberg joins Nutrilite and develops the core foundations that finish out the business model started by Rehnborg while building the largest known team in the company.

1949: Neil Maaskant joins the Schnackenberg organization in Nutrilite. Knowing his cousin, Jay Van Andel, was always looking for a good opportunity, he tells Jay, and his partner, Richard DeVos, about the opportunity.

Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos (future founders of Amway) join the Schnackenberg organization in Nutrilite, but after only selling a single order of product, they completely lose interest in the business. A few weeks later, Maaskant talks Van Andel and DeVos into attending a Nutrilite company event in Chicago where they hear Rehnborg, Schnackenberg, and other leaders speak.

The event rekindles their interest and the two men go to work. Over the next decade, they build a thriving organization of over 2,000 distributors. About this time, the FDA really goes after Mytinger and Casselberry for many infractions including false advertising and bogus product claims. Rich Schnackenberg tries to warn the two men and advises against their strategies to no avail. Frustrated by all of this, Schnackenberg tries to buy controlling interest in Nutrilite but Rehnborg would not sell. Rich maintains his distributorship but stops actively building.

1953: Dr. J. B. Jones, a direct student of Napoleon Hill, tours the country giving lectures on Hill’s Laws of Success. Seeing the promise of food supplements, he starts a company that couples the philosophy of abundance with vitamins and christens his new company Abundavita.

Dr. Jones, having watched and admired Rich Schnackenberg from a distance, and knowing of his current frustrations with Nutrilite, recruits him as Executive Vice President of Training for Abundavita. Reluctantly, Schnackenberg resigns his position with Nutrilite. Excited about joining a success philosophy with selling food supplements, he throws himself into this new enterprise. Within months, the new company is thriving. While giving a lecture on Napoleon Hill’s success philosophy in Long Beach, California, Dr. Jones recruits a pants presser named J. Earl Shoaff.

Shoaff and Schnackenberg become best friends and, under Schnackenberg’s watchful eye, Shoaff works his way up to Executive Vice President of Sales in less than a year. Dr. Jones promises the two men lucrative stock options once the company hits $1 Million per month in sales so they throw their heart and soul into it.

1955: The two men cross the country building Abundavita until, one night, in October, they find themselves in Pensacola, Florida. There, a 25-year-old Sears stock clerk, Jim Rohn, blown away by what he had heard the two men share, joins the company. He borrows $200 from his parents to get started.

About this time, Shoaff and Schnackenberg are left in charge of the company as Dr. Jones begins an around-the-world vacation spanning a year and a half. The company explodes under the two men and they quickly hit their $1 Million per month sales goal and sales kept climbing.

1957: Upon his return, Dr. Jones’ ego could not handle the fact that Shoaff and Schnackenberg had tripled the company without him. Jones not only reneges on the stock deal he made with the two men, he cuts their pay. They resign on the spot.

Frustrated beyond belief, they ponder on everything that has happened to them while considering their next move. After much discussion, Schnackenberg convinced Shoaff that they should try to buy controlling interest in Nutrilite. They made their proposal, but, again, they could not get Rehnborg to sell.

The men meet in Schnackenberg’s living room and decide to start their own food supplement company from scratch. In July, the Nutri-Bio Corporation is born. They flip a coin to decide who would become President and Shoaff won the toss. Schnackenberg would be Executive Vice President.

Jim Rohn, along with a huge chunk of Abundavita distributors, leave to join Nutri-Bio. It was here that Shoaff and Schnackenberg absolutely thrived. Jim Rohn, under the direct mentorship of the two men also thrived.

So many legends and icons of the profession got their start in Nutri-Bio, such as:

· Jim Rohn (who had come on in Abundavita)

· William E (Bill) Bailey

· Robert “Bobby” DePew

· William Penn Patrick

· Zig Ziglar

Both Shoaff and Schnackenberg become multi-millionaires while helping create unheard of fortunes for their distributor base. Nutri-Bio begins outselling Abundavita, Nutrilite, and every other food supplement company in business at the time.

1959: Van Andel and DeVos, also frustrated, leave Nutrilite, and with many of their top earners, begin their own company called The American Way (Amway) selling liquid soap called Frisk.

1961: When Shoaff and Schnackenberg decide to expand Nutri-Bio into Canada, they hand pick Jim Rohn to be Executive Vice President of the Canadian Division. At 31 years old, the huge bump in pay along with lucrative stock options make Jim a multimillionaire with a net worth of $2.3 Million.

1963: Nutri-Bio folds. Schnackenberg and Rohn decide to launch a new supplement company called Bio-Lite but are shut down before they can launch. Rohn, realizing the value of all he had learned, gives his first public speech at the Beverly Hills Hotel which starts a speaking career on the side.

1964: Shoaff wants completely out of the food supplement business and starts Ovation Cosmetics, Schnackenberg comes on as Executive Vice President. The company is still in business today.

1964: William Penn Patrick starts Holiday Magic Cosmetics. Bill Bailey and Bobby DePew come on as executives with Bailey becoming the first president of the company. Zig Ziglar joins and quickly becomes one of the top earners in the company. It was at this time that a sewing machine salesman named Glenn W. Turner joins and becomes a top earner.

1966: After a disagreement with Penn Patrick, Bill Bailey resigns from Holiday Magic and starts Bestline Products selling a biodegradable soap called Zif. Bobby DePew joins as Vice President of the new venture. Larry Huff joins.

1967: Glenn Turner leaves Holiday Magic and starts his own company called Koscot Cosmetics. He also later starts a motivation company called Dare to Be Great!

1968: Bobby DePew invites Jim Rohn to a Bestline meeting in San Jose, California. Mike Fuller invites a co-worker named Larry Thompson to that same meeting where both men join the company that night.

1969: Fleming (future president of Avon West and gig economy expert) joins Bestline Products and is introduced to the network marketing business model.

1972: Les Brown joins Bestline Products. He’s at the Neil House Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. There for another meeting, he hears Bill Bailey’s voice through the walls and decides to check it out. Bill introduces Jim Rohn and Les is blown away and joins the company. All of this is filtering down into that fateful day of The Millionaire Training. Here’s where it really starts to tighten up.

1978: A suit salesman named Mark Hughes joins a supplement company called Slender Now. It is in this company where Mark attends his first Jim Rohn seminar.

1979: A pivotal year. Slender Now goes out of business. Larry Huff starts a new company called Golden Youth that markets supplements and a piece of exercise equipment called a Slim Gym. Huff invites Larry Thompson to take a look. Mark Hughes is there, too. Mark and Larry Thompson meet and both men join the company that night. Mark quickly becomes a top earner and Thompson becomes Vice President, so the two men form a solid friendship.

Within a few months, Golden Youth folds and Mark decides to start his own company. Thompson, needing a break, and missing his family, moves back to Texas to be closer to them. Mark is serious about starting this new company and wants Larry to be a part of it. Larry is hesitant to jump back in but gladly consults with Mark about products, marketing, compensation plan, etc. Jim Rohn was also consulting with Mark offering his guidance from the beginning, too.

1980: Mark launches Herbalife International. Selling products from the trunk of his car, the company does $24,000 in sales their first month. $48,000 the second month. By May, Mark and Larry shake hands on a deal for Larry to officially become part of Herbalife, but it’s not until October 7th that he actually does so.

Mark wanted to make him vice president of the company right away, and just like Jim Rohn had done in Bestline, Larry said, “No, they’re not going to accept me unless I build a team.” So, he went to work building a team. On January 4, 1981, Larry became the official Executive Vice President of Herbalife International.

Six weeks later, on February 21, 1981, Larry hits the stage and delivers The Millionaire Training. It was a culmination of all Larry had learned over the previous 13 years.

Here's a simplified view:

Rich Schnackenberg started it ALL and is the man this entire profession can be directly traced back to and he was an avid student of Napoleon Hill, Orison Swett Marden, Wallace Wattles, Dale Carnegie, George S. Clason, James Allen, and more. Rich Schnackenberg poured into Earl Shoaff. Both men poured into Jim Rohn, Bill Bailey, Bobby DePew, William Penn Patrick, Zig Ziglar. Jim Rohn, Bill Bailey, and Bobby DePew poured into Larry Thompson. Jim Rohn and Larry Thompson poured into Mark Hughes. The same ideology that created the legends and icons of this profession, the same ideology that had been poured into Larry Thompson is what he shared that day in The Millionaire Training.

The people in this book are all products of what was shared and captured that day. Some were there in person. Most of us were given the audio and wore out more cassettes than you can count. All that Larry had, he poured into us. Now, with this book, let all of us pour into you.

Ron Henly

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Thailand is experiencing a significant but underreported surge in COVID-19 cases, with both public and private hospitals feeling the strain as outpatient and inpatient admissions rise. This trend mirrors situations in other countries like Singapore, the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, and France, driven by new variants from the KP lineage (e.g., KP.1, KP.2, KP.3).

Governments worldwide, including Thailand, are often downplaying the severity of this surge, with some manipulating COVID data. Despite claims from health authorities that new KP variants are not more transmissible or immune evasive, the increasing severity and hospitalisation rates suggest otherwise.

From May 12 to 18, 2024, Thailand reported 1,882 new COVID hospitalisations, averaging 269 per day, with many patients requiring ICU care, supplemental oxygen, or mechanical ventilation. The elderly and those with comorbidities are particularly at risk. During this period, there were also 16 new COVID-19 deaths.

The actual spread of the virus in Thailand could be more extensive than reported, as there is no data on total infections, positivity rates, ICU admissions, or ventilator use. Private hospital data indicates higher COVID admission rates than official reports, reminiscent of the Delta variant surge.

Long COVID poses a significant threat, with potential long-term impacts on Thailand’s healthcare infrastructure. The KP variants are more adapted for viral persistence, potentially leading to severe health issues like organ failure, neurological problems, strokes, blood clots, sepsis, and cancers.

Since the start of 2024, 16,819 patients have been hospitalised in Thailand due to COVID complications, with 120 deaths reported. With upcoming holidays and school reopenings, experts predict a continued rise in cases, further stressing the healthcare system. Lax health screenings at airports and borders may also contribute to the spread of new variants.

Asean Now

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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‍Worldwide, the incidence of cancer is on the rise. Current cancer treatments include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Chemotherapy and radiation treatment are typically associated with severe adverse effects and a decline in patients’ quality of life

Anti-cancer substances derived from plants and animals need to be evaluated therapeutically as it is cost-effective, have fewer side effects, and can improve cancer patients’ quality of life.

Recently, bovine colostrum (BC) has attracted the interest of numerous researchers investigating its anti-cancer potential in humans. Dressings loaded with BC are beneficial in treating chronic wounds and diabetic foot ulcers. Lactoferrin, a glycoprotein with potent anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antimicrobial effects, is abundant in BC. The BC pills successfully promote the regression of low-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia when administered intravaginally. The biological, genetic, and molecular mechanisms driving BC remain to be determined. Oral BC supplements are generally well-tolerated, but some flatulence and nausea may happen. To evaluate the therapeutic effects, long-term safety, and appropriate dosages of BC drugs, well-designed clinical trials are necessary. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the anti-cancer potential of BC and its constituents.

Click here to read the full article

National Libray of Medicine

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All dietary carbohydrates are digested into sugars called glucose. Glucose, in turn, can be metabolized (burned) for fuel using two different pathways. First, the glucose is metabolized into pyruvate. The pyruvate can then either enter the glycolysis pathway in the cytoplasm of the cell and produce lactate (this is an inefficient backup pathway), or it can be converted into acetyl-CoA and shuttled to the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which results in optimal energy production

The Warburg Effect refers to the observation that if your body has access to enough oxygen, it will preferentially burn (oxidize) glucose in your mitochondria by converting the pyruvate into acetyl-CoA

The state of mitochondrial physiology that Warburg accurately identified occurs when your body has enough oxygen and the mitochondria are not maxed out, yet still uses the backup glycolysis pathway. This is also called cancer metabolism. It gives the false impression that cancer is using glucose to supply its metabolic needs for energy, but it is merely an illusion

The primary reason glucose cannot be burned in your mitochondria is because the mitochondria are dysfunctional. This dysfunction is the result of the electron transport chain (ETC) being backed up with an excess of electrons that are unable to flow easily through the five complexes. This condition is known as reductive stress. In this situation, your body has no choice but to use the backup system, glycolysis

Contrary to natural fructose (found in ripe fruits and honey, for example), refined sugars and many starches are more likely to cause gut dysbiosis that leads to the production of endotoxin. This endotoxin is one of the factors that destroys mitochondrial function, resulting in cancer metabolism (the Warburg Effect) where glucose is burned through glycolysis

Click here to read the full study

Mercola

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In the oil/fat wars, there are some clear winners and losers. First the losers–processed vegetable seed oils including corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, and canola oil are extremely dangerous to our health; can cause inflammatory diseases, an increase in harmful free radicals, damage DNA and even increase the risk of certain types of cancer. High omega 6 vegetable seed oils lose BIGTIME.

The Benefits of Monounsaturated Fatty Acids

First, let’s talk about monounsaturated fatty acids—the primary type of fat in both olive oil and avocado.

Oils containing monounsaturated fats are considered some of the healthiest types of oils. Monounsaturated fats are surprisingly stable for cooking, unlike other processed vegetable oils which contain polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fatty acids or MUFA’s, protect our cells’ DNA and add energy to the mitochondria. MUFA’s are one of the best fatty acids for our cell walls, unlike polyunsaturated fatty acids which make cell walls weak, brittle, and vulnerable to pathogens. MUFA’s support and strengthen immune function, helping us fight off pathogens, improving wound healing, as well as tempering autoimmune disease.

Monounsaturated fatty acids are known to prevent and reduce breast cancer, according to this meta-analysis. The primary type of MUFA in both olive oil and avocado oil, oleic acid, fights tumors, especially those found in treatment-resistant breast cancers. Oleic acid also enhances the effectiveness and reduces the dosage of some chemotherapy treatments as well. Monounsaturated fatty acids are also known to raise the levels of good HDL cholesterol in our bodies and lower the more harmful LDL cholesterol. In addition, when LDL oxidizes, it sticks to our blood vessel walls, contributing to arthrosclerosis and heart disease. An interesting feature of those wonderful MUFA’s in olive oil and avocado oil, is that they help prevent oxidation in LDL. MUFA’s also help keep triglycerides low—another component of heart disease. This study from the Medical Science Monitor, showed that elderly subjects who had just 2 tablespoons of olive oil a day, had significant drops in their total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. In addition, the ratio of HDL (you want this one to be high) to LDL (you want this to be low) was greatly improved.

Monounsaturated fats also protect the endothelium in our blood vessels which helps in lowering blood pressure, reducing inflammation in the blood vessels, and preventing atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by a buildup of plaque in the inner lining of an artery. MUFA’s also help with diabetes. Monounsaturated fats improve blood sugar control in type 1 and 2 diabetics, while helping to prevent diabetes complications such as diabetic retinopathy. In type 2 diabetics, MUFA’s reduce insulin resistance, especially compared to diets high in vegetable seed oil which contain polyunsaturated fats. Vegetable seed oils are known to cause inflammation, and a worsening of chronic disease. One more important benefit worth noting—olive oil and avocado oil consumption can help burn body fat. This study published showed the addition of olive oil to the diet brought about greater weight loss. Other support for these monounsaturated oils’ fat burning ability comes from another study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, which suggests that MUFA’s help break down fat in the body more efficiently.

Antioxidants

Research suggests that the health benefits from both avocado and olive oil are due not only to their high content of monounsaturated fats, but also their collection of valuable antioxidants, including chlorophyll, carotenoids, and the polyphenols, tyrosol, hydrotyrosol and oleuropein— all of which have some pretty powerful free-radical scavenging abilities. Free radicals contribute to chronic disease such as heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and diabetes.

The polyphenols in olive oil and avocado oil are powerful antioxidants that come from the plants. Antioxidants in the plants protect them from oxidative stress and keep away insects. Polyphenol antioxidants don’t hurt humans–of course, but the natural irritation they create in our bodies induces a positive adaptive response in our cells.

Oleic acid is one type of monounsaturated fat in both olive oil and avocados. Oleic acid is also known to inhibit the clotting process that causes platelets to adhere to blood vessel walls, thus further preventing heart disease and strokes. Oleic acid has also been shown to reduce blood pressure, as this study shows.

First Comparison: Olive Oil vs. Avocado Oil

Olives are one of the oldest known foods in the Mediterranean and have been in existence for at least 6,000 years. Most olive oil still comes from the Mediterranean area of the world, or California. Extra virgin olive oil is considered one of the healthiest of all oils. The highest quality extra virgin olive oil is made from the first pressing of olives.

Avocados are considered a fruit, native to Central America and grown in warm and subtropical climates all over the world. Avocados contain about 60% oil, depending on their size. The primary growers and producers of avocado oil in the world include New Zealand, Mexico, the United States, South Africa, and Chile.

Avocados and their oil have become very popular for nutrition and are common in grocery stores all over the world, as well as skin care products, hair care, and cosmetics. Avocados have a similar fatty acid profile as olive oil and similar health benefits. Both olive oil and avocado oils should be from the first-pressed, cold processed oils to possess the above health benefits. Both avocado and olive oil extracted using heat or chemical processing lose their health benefits and are not much better than standard vegetable oils at that point.

For olive oil to be labeled “extra virgin” it must be free of certain defects in flavor and contain the important attributes of fruitiness, bitterness, and pungency. Many olive oil companies will label their olive oil as “extra virgin” even when it has not met the above quality standards. Avocado oil can also be extracted in a variety of ways including the use of hexane (chemical processing), enzymes, or microwave/heat methods. These methods are far less desirable than the first cold pressing. Both avocado oil and olive oil have similar fatty acid profiles and calories, while olive oil contains slightly more vitamin E. Both are beneficial for skin health and eye health, while avocado holds a slight edge towards being more absorbed through the skin.

Cooking with Avocado Oil and Olive Oil

First let’s talk about cooking with olive oil. We have been conditioned to believe that olive oil is not great for cooking, but that is simply not true. Olive oil is more stable than polyunsaturated, highly inflammatory vegetable seed oils, making EVOO a great oil to cook with.

The smoke point of an oil is the temperature at which it starts to degrade and release harmful free radicals. Extra virgin olive oil works best with low to medium heat, and will smoke at about 375-400 degrees F. Good quality extra virgin olive oil does have a fruity, olive oil taste to it. This sometimes enhances cooking but may not always work for baking and other types of cooking where you don’t want the flavor of olive oil to stand out.

Avocado oil has a much milder, more buttery flavor which makes is suitable for many types of cooking, including baking. Avocado oil can also be heated to a higher temperature without smoking or altering the components of the oil. Avocado can be heated up to about 480 degrees F, making it ideal for frying, searing, and grilling.

Cooking with both olive oil and avocado helps the food being cooked to be healthier. For example, when you combine Mediterranean foods like onions, garlic, peppers, and tomatoes with either oil, it increases the antioxidants and the bioavailability of the nutrients in the vegetables.

Cooking with olive oil and avocado have been shown to protect and enhance the polyphenols and antioxidants found in the vegetables and increase the bioavailability of the polyphenols.

How to Avoid Fakes

Both avocado oil and olive oil are subject to being ‘fake’, adulterated, rancid or labeled improperly. However, there are a few pointers when it comes to purchasing high quality, extra-virgin, cold-pressed oils full of antioxidants, polyphenols, and monounsaturated fats.

Tips for Choosing the Best Olive Oil

· First, always choose ‘Extra Virgin’ olive oil when purchasing olive oil. This is the first pressing of the olives, which contains the most flavor and nutrients and should be free of taste defects, and contain the olive oil attributes required for that label. The “Extra Virgin” on the olive oil label also means the olive oil is free of taste defects detected in the certification process. These include rancidity, fustiness, winey/vinegary, and mustiness. Many olive oils put “Extra Virgin” on the label despite these defects, leading to what many refer to as ‘fake olive oil’.

· A high-quality olive oil should be fresh, so always look for a harvest and use by date. Olive oil does not improve with age and is best used up quickly.

· Contrary to popular belief, high quality olive oil does not have to come from the Mediterranean. In fact, there are a lot of award winning, fresh olive oils that come from California. California has very high standards for olive oil certification. · Look for seals of quality and certified origin, such as 100% Qualita Italiana (for Italy), or the California Olive Oil Commission (COOC) 100% Certified Extra Virgin seal. Or look for the North American Olive Oil Association’s NAOOA Certified Oil, bearing a red circular logo with a green olive branch.

· A good quality extra virgin olive oil should smell and taste green, bright, peppery, earthy, grassy, and with a slight bitterness that sticks in the throat after swallowing.

· A high-quality extra virgin olive oil will produce throat-stinging sensation. This is in direct correlation to the amount of polyphenols in the olive oil, especially oleocanthal. Although oleocanthal is present in all extra-virgin olive oil, concentrations vary depending upon a range of factors, including the quality of the olives.

· Consider the price point. Olive oil is a quality food, so the price should reflect that. Very inexpensive olive oil usually means low quality. That doesn’t mean you should spend exorbitant amounts of money on olive oil, but it’s also probably a good idea not to choose the cheapest option on the shelf.

· Purchase olive oil in a dark-colored glass bottles. This helps protect the oil from oxidation — or the degradation of quality when exposed to oxygen — before it even hits the shelves. Avoid any oils sold in clear glass container, it’s probably rancid.

· Look for a harvest date or pressing date on the label. This tells you how long ago the pressing occurred. Choose the freshest oil possible, although when properly stored olive oil generally retains its goodness for as much as 18 months after bottling.

My favorite brand of Olive Oil comes from my friends at Kasandrinos. It’s a family-owned and operated Greek brand of Extra Virgin Olive Oil that’s harvested and bottled fresh, so you know that every bottle you receive is from the most current harvest (and not rancid like what you get in the grocery stores). It’s 100% organic, 100% pure, cold pressed. Not only that, but the olives are hand-picked at single-source family farms AND it’s veteran-owned. Click here to grab your bottle.

Bottom line: Olive oil is one of the healthiest oils you can use if you follow the above guidelines.

Tips for Choosing the Best Avocado Oil

· The extraction method very important to the overall quality and taste of the avocado. High quality avocado oil is cold-pressed virgin oil. Expeller pressing is another extraction method that uses mechanical means to make avocado oil rather than chemicals or heat. Avoid any oil that is chemically extracted or extracted with heat. Keep in mind if the oil doesn’t specify a high-quality extraction method, it’s a good indication that chemical or heat extraction was used and should be avoided.

· Unlike olive oil, there is no certifying body for avocado oil.

· Check harvest and production dates which should be printed on the bottle. Don’t just rely on the “best before” date.

· Avocado oil, like olive oil should be purchased as fresh as possible. Avocado does not age well.

· Purchase avocado in dark colored glass bottles to preserve the antioxidants and nutrients.

· Avocado oil comes from several different varieties, and Hass variety, from Mexico, Australia, California/United States, and New Zealand, has been characterized as having the best proportion of healthy fats.

· Be sure to use your sense of smell to check its freshness. Rancid avocado will have a taste and smell a little like “play-dough”.

· Taste is also a good indicator—the avocado oil should taste buttery, grassy, and with a slight mushroom-like taste.

· Always choose organic and fair-trade whenever possible, to be sure of sustainably harvested oil.

· And lastly, like olive oil, cold-pressed virgin avocado oil is not cheap. You generally will get what you pay for, if you go by the above guidelines.

Bottom line: Avocado oil is a super healthy oil, like olive oil with similar nutrients and healthy benefits. Avocado oil works best if you want an oil with a milder taste or a higher smoke point.

If you’re looking for a recommendation, I highly suggest you click here to discover more about my all-time favorite brand of avocado oil from my friends at Ava Jane’s Kitchen. It’s delicious, smells amazing, and is full of flavor.

Coconut oil

While avocado oil and olive oil are very similar in taste and health benefits, coconut oil is an oil of a whole different breed. Coconut oil comes from the meat of the coconut and can be extracted using a “wet” or “dry” method. Virgin coconut oil is extracted from the meat of the coconut using the wet method, and like olive oil and avocado oil, the virgin coconut oil is the most nutritious and has the most health benefits. The biggest difference between coconut oil and avocado and olive oil is the ratio of saturated fat to monounsaturated fat. While olive oil and avocado oil contain mostly monounsaturated fat, coconut oil contains about 90 percent saturated fat. This makes coconut oil very stable for cooking and is also what makes it solid at room temperature.

Coconut oil contains three unique fatty acids, all of which are medium chain fatty acids.

· Caprylic acid

· Lauric acid

· Capric acid

Over 60 percent of the oil in coconut is made up of these three fatty acids—all of which have health benefits. Most of the fats we consume consist of long chain fatty acids. These fats take longer to break apart, digest and metabolize. Long chain fatty acids take about 26 steps to be metabolized.

However, coconut oil consists of medium chain fatty acids. These shorter fatty acids provide an excellent source of energy, as MCFA’s only require three steps to be turned into fuel for the body. Because of this, they are not as readily stored as fat in the body and instead readily used as energy. Coconut oil is known for boosting endurance and enhancing athletic performance. Because coconut oil is a fat, not a carbohydrate, it is a great source of energy without increasing blood sugar or stimulating insulin. This makes is one of the best body fat burning fuels you can find, which is why coconut oil is a favorite of the keto diet crowd.

This study from the Obesity Research Journal helps explain why MCFAs have fat-burning ability. When studying the rate of fat breakdown in rats, it was observed that fat breakdown occurred as fast as if the subjects were fasting. And on top of its fat burning ability, capric acid in coconut oil can speed up metabolism by helping the thyroid function better.

Lauric acid and caprylic acid are known to have specific antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. Research suggests it may have antimicrobial effects against disease-causing microorganisms such as these:

· Staphylococcus aureus

· Streptococcus mutans

· Streptococcus pyogenes

· Escherichia coli

· Helicobacter pylori

Some of coconut oil’s other health benefits include protecting and aiding the brain in those with Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, as the healthy MDFA’s help fuel the brain better than glucose. Although coconut oil is a saturated fat, it has been shown to be good for preventing heart disease, and can convert harmful LDL cholesterol into the helpful HDL cholesterol. By increasing the HDL in the body, it helps to lower the risk of heart disease. Coconut oil also helps to lower harmful triglycerides in the blood—another risk factor for heart disease. Coconut oil also helps to lower inflammation and can improve arthritis symptoms—better than some medications. Coconut oil works as both an analgesic and anti-inflammatory.

Coconut oil is also very helpful to the digestive system. It can help the body absorb fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. When coconut oil is ingested with omega 3 fats, it can improve the effectiveness of these healthy fatty acids as well. Because coconut oil helps the body absorb helpful minerals such as calcium and magnesium, it helps to increase bone volume in test subjects and decrease bone loss due to osteoporosis. Coconut oil improves gut health by helping destroy harmful bacteria and troublesome yeasts that live in the gut such as candida. Because coconut oil is so easy to digest, it aids the gallbladder and pancreas as well.

Because coconut oil is composed of smaller sized fat molecules, it is easily absorbed into the skin, making it an excellent moisturizer and sunscreen for skin. The fatty acids in coconut oil help to reduce inflammation reducing skin breakouts, dermatitis, and helping to heal wounds. Coconut oil has a medium smoke point of about 350 degrees, making it a decent option for cooking and baking. It is one of the best options to use for cooking oil, due to its highly stable nature under heat. This makes far less inflammatory, especially compared to processed seed oils such as soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil and canola oil.

Like olive oil and avocado oil, coconut oil should be purchased as “extra virgin”, unrefined, organic coconut oil, so you know it is not heat or chemically extracted and that retains all of its beneficial health qualities. Most unrefined coconut oil does have a mild coconut flavor and odor, and can sometimes interfere with your cooking flavors. Some people with nut allergies may react to coconut oil, as it is considered a nut.

Bottom line: Coconut oil is a very healthy option for cooking, and has a wide variety of health benefits. However, it can cause allergic reactions in some people and virgin coconut oil will impart a slight flavor and coconut scent to foods cooked in it.

Now, the winners–extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil—all good for us. All three oils are very healthy and have many health benefits. It basically comes down to personal taste and the recipe. Avocado oil is one of the best for cooking since it has the highest smoke point and a neutral taste. Extra virgin olive oil is best as a finishing oil for salads, breads, and other dishes to add flavor. And coconut oil is great for baking, or for adding to drinks and smoothies for extra long-lasting energy and brain fuel.

The Nutrition Watchdog

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For much of his life, 32-year-old Michael Smith had a war going on in his head. After a big meal, he knew he should be full. But an inexplicable hunger would drive him to pick up the fork again. Cravings for fried chicken or gummy bears overwhelmed him, fueling late-night DoorDash orders that — despite their bounty of fat and sugar — never satisfied him.

He recalls waking up on the couch, half-eaten takeout in his lap, feeling sluggish and out of control. "It was like I was food drunk," recalls Smith, who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. "I had a moment I looked at myself in the mirror. I was around 380 pounds, and I said, 'OK, something has got to give.'"

Smith is among the 42% of US adults living with obesity, a misunderstood and stubbornly hard-to-manage condition that doctors have only recently begun to call a disease. Its root causes have been debated for decades, with studies suggesting everything from genes to lifestyle to a shifting food supply loaded with carbohydrates and ultraprocessed foods. Solutions have long targeted self-discipline and a simple "eat less, move more" strategy with remarkably grim results. Those who successfully slim down tend to gain back 50% of that weight within 2 years and 80% within 5 years. Meanwhile, the obesity epidemic marches on.

But a new frontier of brain-based therapies — from glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist drugs thought to act on reward and appetite centers to deep brain stimulation aimed at resetting neural circuits — has kindled hope among patients like Smith and the doctors who treat them. The treatments and theories behind them are not without controversy. They're expensive, have side effects, and, critics contend, pull focus from diet and exercise. But most agree that in the battle against obesity, one crucial organ has been overlooked. "Obesity, in almost all circumstances, is most likely a disorder of the brain," said Casey Halpern, MD, an associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. "What these individuals need is not simply more willpower, but the therapeutic equivalent of an electrician that can make right these connections inside their brain."

Throughout the day, the machine that is our brain is constantly humming in the background, taking in subtle signals from our gut, hormones, and environment to determine when we're hungry, how food makes us feel, and whether we are taking in enough energy, or expending too much, to survive. "We like to think that we have control over what we eat, but the brain is also integrating all of these factors that we don't fully understand in ways that shape our decisions," said Kevin Hall, PhD, an obesity researcher with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "I liken it to holding your breath. I can do that for a period of time, and I have some conscious control. But eventually, physiology wins out."

Mounting evidence suggests that in people with obesity, something in the machine is broken. One seminal 2001 study in The Lancet suggested that, like people addicted to cocaine or alcohol, they lack receptors to the feel-good brain chemical dopamine and overeat in pursuit of the pleasure they lack. A recent study, not yet published, from Hall's lab drew a slightly different conclusion, suggesting that people with obesity actually have too much dopamine, filling up those receptors so the pleasure spike from eating doesn't feel like much. "It's kind of like trying to shout in a noisy room. You're going to have to shout louder to have the same effect," said Hall. Gut-brain pathways that tell us we're full may also be impaired.

In another study, Yale researchers tube-fed 500 calories of sugar or fat directly into the stomachs of 28 people with normal weight and 30 people with obesity and observed their brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In people with normal weight, about 30 regions of the brain quieted after the meal, including parts of the striatum (associated with cravings). In those with obesity, the brain barely responded at all. "In my clinic, patients will often say 'I just finished my dinner, but it doesn't feel like it,'" said senior author Mireille Serlie, MD, PhD, an obesity researcher at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. "It may be that this nutrient-sensing interaction between the gut and the brain is less pronounced or comes too late for them after the meal."

Halpern recently identified a brain circuit linking a memory center (hippocampus) to an appetite control region (hypothalamus). In people with obesity and binge eating disorder, the circuit appears jammed. This may cause them to, in a sense, forget they just ate. "Some of their eating episodes are almost dissociative — they're not realizing how much they are eating and can't keep track of it," he said. Another brain system works to maintain longer-term homeostasis — or weight stability. Like a set thermostat, it kicks on to trigger hunger and fatigue when it senses we're low on fat. The hormone leptin, found in fat cells, sends signals to the hypothalamus to let it know how much energy we have on board.

"If leptin levels go up, it signals the brain that you have too much fat and you should eat less to return to the starting point," said Rockefeller University geneticist Jeffrey Friedman, MD, PhD, who discovered the hormone in 1994. "If you have too little fat and leptin is low, that will stimulate appetite to return you to the starting point." In people with obesity, he said, the thermostat — or set point the body seeks to maintain — is too high. All this raises a crucial question: How do these circuits and pathways malfunction in the first place?

Studies show that genetics underlie as much as 75% of people's differences in body mass index, with certain gene combinations raising the risk for obesity in particular environments. While hundreds of genes are believed to have a small effect, about a dozen single genes are thought to have a large effect. (Notably, most influence brain function.) For instance, about 6% of people with severe obesity since childhood have mutations in a gene called melanocortin 4 receptor, which influences leptin signaling. Still, genetics alone cannot account for the explosion in obesity in the United States over the last 50 years, says epidemiologist Deirdre Tobias, ScD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. At the population level, "our genes don't change that much in less than a generation," she said. But our food supply does.

Ultraprocessed foods — those containing hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, flavoring agents, emulsifiers, and other manufactured ingredients — now make up about 60% of the food supply. "The evidence is fairly consistent indicating that there's something about these foods that is possibly causing obesity," said Tobias. In one telling 2019 study, Hall and his colleagues brought 20 men and women into a study center to live for a month and tightly controlled their food intake and activity. One group was provided with meals with 80% of calories from ultraprocessed food. The other was given meals with no processed food. The three daily meals provided had the same calories, sugars, fats, fiber, and carbohydrates, and people were told to eat as much as they wanted. Those on the ultraprocessed diet ate about 500 calories more per day, ate faster, and gained weight. Those on the unprocessed diet lost weight. "This is a stark example of how, when you can change the food environment, you cause really remarkable changes in food intake without people even being aware that they are overeating," said Hall.

Just what it is about these relatively novel foods that may trigger overeating is unclear. It could be the crunch, the lack of water content, the engineered balance of sugar/salt/fat, their easy-to-devour texture, or something else. Some research suggests that the foods may interfere with gut-brain signaling that tells the brain you're full. "Evidence is amassing that the nutritional content of processed foods is not accurately conveyed to the brain," wrote Dana Small, PhD, a neuroscientist at Yale, in a recent perspective paper in Science. Even more concerning: Some animal studies suggest processed foods reprogram the brain to dislikehealthy foods.

And once these brain changes are made, they are hard to reverse. "The problem is our brain is not wired for this," said Halpern. "We are not evolved to eat the food we are eating, so, our brain adapts, but it adapts in a negative way that puts us at risk." That's why changing the food environment via public policy must be part of the solution in combating obesity, Tobias said.

Medscape

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Studies have repeatedly failed to find an association between full-fat dairy and cardiovascular events. In fact, full-fat dairy actually reduces your risk of cardiovascular events and deaths. Dairy products are also associated with lower risks of Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and more.

Whole-fat dairy contains odd-chain saturated fats (OCFAs), which have significant health benefits. OCFAs are found only in small amounts in certain foods, primarily dairy fat, and your body only makes one type of OCFA. Researchers now believe one OCFA may be an essential fat, as your body cannot make it. Higher circulating levels of OCFAs in the blood are associated with lower risks of obesity, chronic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, NASH, COPD, pancreatic cancer, and all-cause mortality.

OCFAs do not inhibit glucose burning because they are not converted to acetyl-CoA; rather, they enter the Krebs Cycle as succinyl-CoA. This means that you don’t need to restrict your consumption of full-fat dairy, as it won’t affect your ability to burn glucose. Instead, full-fat dairy reduces your risk of cardiovascular events and deaths. Dairy products are also associated with lower risks of Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and more. Whole-fat dairy contains health-promoting compounds such as specific amino acids, unsaturated, medium-chain, and branched-chain fats, odd-chain saturated fats, phospholipids, vitamins and minerals, and probiotics.

Recent research suggests that odd-chain saturated fats are likely one of the most essential fats in the human diet, unlike linoleic acid that most foods are loaded with. It’s virtually impossible to become deficient in linoleic acid outside of a laboratory diet. The same cannot be said for OCFAs. You need to get them from dairy, as that’s the primary source. A 2020 scientific report titled “Efficacy of Dietary Odd-Chain Saturated Fatty Acid Pentadecanoic Acid Parallels Broad Associated Health Benefits in Humans: Could It Be Essential?” stated that higher circulating concentrations of OCFAs are associated with lower risks of cardiometabolic diseases, and higher dietary intake of OCFAs is associated with lower mortality.

The low-fat recommendation has been around for more than 40 years, and since that time cholesterol levels and heart disease rates have gone in the opposite direction of what was intended. In the two decades following that recommendation, average intake of whole fat milk dropped significantly, yet prevalence of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and NAFLD rose to new heights. Meanwhile, researchers found that people who consumed whole fat milk had lower risks of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, consumption of linoleic acid skyrocketed as saturated fats were replaced with processed seed oils, and we now have robust evidence showing that excessive linoleic acid is a key driver of these chronic diseases, as it destroys mitochondrial function and metabolism.

Milk contains several different kinds of fat. About 68% of the fats are even-chain saturated fats, the primary ones being myristic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid. The odd-chain saturated fat pentadecanoic acid represents only 1% of the fat content, and another OCFA makes up 0.5% of the total. Previous studies have shown that higher dietary intake of OCFAs, and subsequently higher circulating levels of OCFAs in the blood, is associated with lower risks of obesity, chronic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome.

Type 2 diabetes, NASH, COPD, pancreatic cancer, and all-cause mortality. Dr. Paul Saladino reviews studies showing similar benefits for butter. For example, one study found people who ate about 1.5 tablespoons of butter per day had lower levels of inflammation.

To understand how OCFAs affect human health and prevent disease, a variety of studies were conducted. These studies found that one specific OCFA is a dual, partial agonist for certain receptors, effective at reducing proinflammatory and profibrotic states in human cell systems. This study supports that a minor increase in this OCFA concentrations can positively impact its anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic activities.

Daily supplementation of this OCFA at specific doses improved various health indices in animal models. This includes lowering inflammation, glucose, and cholesterol levels in obese mice and improving liver health. The studies also demonstrated that this OCFA had no off-target pharmacological activities and was noncytotoxic across human cell systems.

Based on these findings, researchers concluded that this particular OCFA is most likely an essential fatty acid. Chronic low-grade inflammation, driven by proinflammatory chemokines and cytokines, contributes to cardiometabolic comorbidities and the aging process. Daily oral supplementation with OCFAs lowered proinflammatory states in obese mice with metabolic syndrome, as well as lowered proinflammatory biomarkers in human cell systems. Dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia, components of metabolic syndrome, were also positively impacted by daily oral supplementation of this OCFA.

Interestingly, OCFAs are only partially metabolized via the beta-oxidation pathway. In this pathway, fats are first converted to acetyl-CoA, which allows them to enter the Krebs Cycle. OCFAs, in contrast, are first converted into succinic acid, then succinyl-CoA, which then enters the Krebs Cycle and helps support electron transfer in the mitochondria. Georgi Dinkov, an expert on bioenergetic medicine, explains that eating a diet high in fat with mostly even-chain fats would result in a reduction of glucose metabolism. However, with odd-chain fats, no such reduction is expected. In fact, certain OCFAs were described in studies as stimulating mitochondrial function and ATP production, ultimately resulting in improved hair growth.

In conclusion, the take-home message is that dairy fat is a crucial source of an essential fat that your body needs and cannot make. A long list of studies has shown that this and other OCSFs improve mitochondrial function, lower your risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, promote healthy hair growth, lower inflammation, and much more. While you can drink whole fat milk, consuming high-quality butter or ghee is an easier way to get these odd chain saturated fats. Butter has 20 times the fat concentration of whole fat milk, and ghee has 25 times the fat. A reasonable dose for most people is 1 tablespoon of butter a day, but it would be unwise to go over 5 tablespoons a day. High-quality butters are difficult to purchase commercially, but organic ghee can be an accessible option.

The document concludes with the understanding that milk fats do not inhibit glucose metabolism and that a balanced intake of fats, including OCFAs, is crucial for maintaining good health.

Dr. Joseph Mercola

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A recent study I coauthored in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences found a damaged intestinal barrier, or leaky gut, can lead to 30-fold increased odds of developing autoimmunity.

Leaky gut allows undigested food, microorganisms, toxins, and other pathogens in the gut to escape into the bloodstream. This can trigger systemic inflammation and promote autoimmunity.

The intestinal walls consist of epithelial cells, which absorb nutrients from food while preventing harmful compounds from passing into the bloodstream. Connecting the epithelial cells are occludin tight junction molecules, which prevent potential pathogens from passing into the bloodstream. Occludin is regulated by zonulin, a protein that tells occludin when to open or close the junctions.

Occludin and Zonulin

When gut damage occurs (I’ll discuss factors that cause damage later in this article), occludin and zonulin get caught up in this tissue damage. The immune system produces antibodies against them to remove the dead and damaged cells. As such, we can identify intestinal permeability through lab testing by screening for elevated levels of zonulin and occludin.

Our study investigated whether these markers of intestinal permeability relate to markers of autoimmune reactions.

We investigated the lab results of 266 random subjects tested for:

· Occludin antibodies.

· Zonulin antibodies.

· 24 tissue antibodies indicative of various forms of autoimmunity.

The results showed that those with leaky gut had up to 30-fold increased odds of developing autoimmunity compared to those without. They showed an elevation of autoimmune antibodies in 17 out of 24 autoimmune markers, including against the brain, hormone glands, joints, smooth muscles, cardiovascular tissue, and more.

We found that the higher the leaky gut antibodies, the higher the autoimmune antibodies. In other words, the worse your leaky gut, the greater your risk for autoimmunity.

Leaky Gut Increases the Risk of Neurological Autoimmunity

We also found a correlation between zonulin and occludin antibodies and neurological autoimmunity. The brain has a barrier that serves a function similar to the gut barrier—to allow necessary compounds in and out while protecting the brain from pathogens. The blood-brain barrier is also comprised of zonulin and occludin, which function as they do in the gut. Research suggests a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier plays a role in neuroinflammatory disorders, brain degeneration, and brain autoimmunity. For instance, past studies have shown a correlation between advanced intestinal permeability and multiple sclerosis. Our data supports previous research, showing a correlation between leaky gut and brain autoimmunity.

Leaky Gut and Bone and Joint Autoimmunity

Leaky gut is also shown to promote autoimmunity against bone and joint tissue. Recent studies suggest intestinal permeability can lead to the circulation of bacteria that promote inflammation in the bones and joints.

Leaky Gut and Autoimmunity Against the Thyroid, Liver, Pancreas, Glands, and Gut

Our study also supports past research showing links between leaky gut markers and Type 1 diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disease, adrenal autoimmunity (Addison’s disease), ovarian/testicular autoimmunity, primary sclerosing cholangitis, autoimmune hepatitis, gastric autoimmunity, and chronic inflammatory bowel diseases.

The 3 Stages of Autoimmunity

Having autoimmune antibodies does not necessarily mean you have an autoimmune disease or even symptoms. Clinically, I have found autoimmunity moves through three stages:

Stage 1: Positive antibodies but no symptoms or disease.

Stage 2: Elevated antibodies and symptoms, but their condition hasn’t progressed to a disease state that requires medical intervention.

Stage 3: Elevated antibodies and their autoimmune damage is extensive enough to be diagnosed as a disease and require medical treatment.

If you are in Stage 1 or Stage 2, you may potentially prevent the progression of the autoimmunity by repairing your leaky gut, identifying your autoimmune triggers, and maintaining a diet and lifestyle that dampens inflammation. If you are in Stage 3, implementing strategies that dampen autoimmune expression can prevent the disease from worsening.

Things That Cause Leaky Gut

Leaky gut doesn’t appear out of nowhere. Through reviewing the research and clinical practice, I have found multiple factors contributing to leaky gut. They include:

· Gluten sensitivity.

· Sensitivity to other foods (dairy, egg, soy, lectins, etc.).

· Gut infections—bacterial, parasitic, or fungal.

· Hormonal deficiencies or imbalances.

· Past brain injury—brain development or degeneration issues.

· Blood sugar instability—chronically high or low blood sugar.

· Low blood pressure.

· Gut autoimmunity.

· Chronic stress.

· Chronic sleep deprivation.

· Corticosteroids, antibiotics, NSAIDs, and other drugs.

· Glutathione deficiency.

· Vitamin D deficiency.

· Dysbiosis (imbalance of bad bacteria).

Understanding which underlying mechanisms caused your leaky gut gives you a better understanding of the scope of your issue and how to address it. Someone with a past brain injury is going to have a much different strategy than someone who was on a round of antibiotics. The great thing is that by addressing the underlying mechanism in addition to leaky gut itself, you will significantly improve your overall health and well-being.

I hope by now you realize how serious leaky gut is. It is not a passing health fad but a formidable condition that could shape the rest of your life. By ignoring the signals from your body to manage your leaky gut, you risk triggering or exacerbating an autoimmune condition.

Epoch Health

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Despite advances in treatment, a large proportion of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) do not achieve or stay in remission even after further lines of treatment have been given. Up until now, one major obstacle has impeded our interpretation of studies focusing on patients suffering from this chronic condition: the lack of standard criteria and terminology among authors.

Under the guidance of the endpoints cluster of the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD), a group of experts held a consensus meeting to propose a common operative definition for "difficult-to-treat IBD." It's the first step to better understanding this condition and designing targeted studies and interventions.

The Definition

After the meeting, the experts agreed that "difficult-to-treat IBD" is defined by these characteristics:

· The failure of biologics and advanced small molecules with at least two different mechanisms of action · Postoperative recurrence of Crohn's disease after two surgical resections in adults or one in children

· Chronic antibiotic-refractory pouchitis (inflammation of the ileal pouch-anal anastomosis [J-pouch] created in patients with ulcerative colitis who have had total colectomy surgery)

· Complex perianal disease (difficult-to-treat Crohn's disease)

· Comorbid psychosocial complications that impair disease management (eg, comorbid disorders that obstruct treatment compliance, participation in follow-up visits, or objective assessment of symptoms by clinicians)

The Path Here

The starting point was the IOIBD-sponsored 2022 global survey in which doctors treating patients with IBD were asked what they thought contributed to difficult-to-treat IBD. Using the responses from that survey, a series of statements were drawn up covering these three main areas: failure of medical and surgical treatments, disease phenotypes, and specific complaints from patients (not limited to bowel disease).

The statements were scrutinized by a 16-person task force made up of experts from eight European countries, Canada, Japan, Israel, and the United States. These experts took part in this initiative on behalf of Italy: Silvio Danese, MD, PhD, and Tommaso Lorenzo Parigi, MD (San Raffaele Hospital Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan); and Ferdinando D'Amico, MD (Humanitas University, Rozzano, Milan). The project and its findings were published in the journal The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Danese is the corresponding author of the article and a member of the IOIBD.

Using the modified Delphi technique, the experts argued for or against the 20 statements proposed. Consensus was achieved for five of these statements (meaning that at least 75% of voters were in agreement).

What Does It Mean?

"The scope of this consensus initiative was twofold," explain the authors. "First, we wanted to help standardize study reporting and promote clinical study designs that include patients with difficult-to-treat IBD by proposing common terminology. Second, we hoped to identify, within clinical practice, a group of patients requiring specific treatment or referral to a specialist unit. For patients with conditions resistant to two or more advanced drug types (what is referred to as difficult-to-treat IBD), more aggressive treatment strategies, such as combined therapies or multidisciplinary approaches, should be taken into consideration.

"In the field of rheumatology, the creation of common criteria for difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis has allowed researchers to concentrate their efforts on identifying progressive disease markers, assessing drug efficacy, mechanisms of inefficacy, personalized management strategies, and analyzing the use of healthcare resources and costs. Similar advances could be achieved in the area of inflammatory bowel disease."

MedicineNet

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Even if you are a long-time smoker, there are some surprising, and even immediate, benefits to quitting.

Every year, half a million Americans die from smoking-related causes, while an estimated 16 million Americans are living with smoking-related chronic health conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, stroke, or cancer. Although the risks of smoking are well-known, it’s also incredibly challenging to quit, leading many to give up, assuming the damage has been done. However, as research is consistently showing, there is a significant upside.

To get a sense of what these short- and long-term health benefits are, National Geographic spoke with some experts about what happens in your body in the hours, days, weeks, months, and years after quitting.

Improved heart rate and breathing

Those who give up smoking can expect their heart rates and breathing to improve. The first change, which can happen within hours of quitting, is a decrease in heart rate, says Humberto Choi, a pulmonologist at the Cleveland Clinic. The elevated carbon monoxide levels in the blood found in smokers (roughly three times higher) also return to normal within days. Over the course of weeks, other changes kick in. One of the major ones is that lung function improves and coughing decreases, which can help improve exercise capacity. These changes help people breathe a little easier, while also making it a little less challenging to develop and maintain an exercise habit—such as going for regular walks or fitting in a morning strength-training routine. “In general, people tend to feel better,” Choi says.

Exercise also offers an alternative habit to replace smoking. “The habit doesn’t go away fast,” Choi says. “It’s good to add something else in.” Many people also report a better sense of smell and taste in the weeks and months after quitting. “Sometimes they didn’t even realize they lost the sense of smell and taste,” Choi says.

Sharp reduction in risk for heart attack or stroke

As the months stretch into years, quitting smoking can lead to a drastic reduction in risk for developing cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke. “In the first two years after quitting, you lose a lot of the excess risk,” says Marie Robertson, a cardiologist who serves as the chief science officer for the American Heart Association. As Robertson notes, this risk continues to drop the longer a person stops smoking. By the 10-year mark, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease drops by 63 percent, compared to smokers. After 20 to 30 years, this risk drops to similar levels as that of someone who has never smoked.

Cancer risk drops after a decade

As time progresses, the risk for developing certain types of cancer also drops. Around the 10-year mark is when this risk declines substantially. “After 10 years, the risk for death from lung cancer is half the risk of current smokers,” says Farhad Islami, the senior scientific director for the American Cancer Society, and a researcher who studies cancer risks in various populations There is a similar reduction in risk for other types of smoking-related cancers, such as head, neck, or esophageal cancers, Islami says. In a recent paper Islami co-authored, he and his colleagues found that 20 to 29 years after quitting, the risk of dying from cancer drops by about 90 percent. For people who were able to quit before the age of 35, there is an even greater reduction in risk, to the point that over a period of two to three decades their risk of dying from smoking-related cancers becomes almost equivalent to a person who has never smoked.

“It’s best if you quit smoking at an earlier age,” Islami says. But, he adds, even if people aren’t able to quit until they are older, “the benefits are still very, very substantial.”

Progression of smoking-related conditions slows

For people who are living with smoking-related chronic health conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), quitting can slow the progression of disease, while also improving the odds of survival. “The chance of having a recurrence after cancer is lower if you quit smoking,” Choi says. For people who have already had a heart attack, quitting can reduce the chance of having a second one and lower the likelihood of COPD getting worse.

“We want people to quit before they develop those conditions,” says Luba Yammine, a researcher at UTHealth Houston, whose research focuses on substance use disorder, adding that “if you have already developed the disease, it is still going to be of great benefit to quit smoking.”

Addiction is complex

Smoking can be one of the hardest addictions to break, due to a number of factors. “Nicotine is the most addictive substance there is,” Yammine says. “It’s very easy to get addicted and very difficult to quit.” The difficulties in quitting are due to a mixture of physical and behavioral factors. The first challenge is due to physical dependence on nicotine, which can cause a combination of cravings and withdrawal symptoms after quitting.

“This combination of cravings and withdrawal symptoms is quite unpleasant,” Yammine says. Many people report experiencing excess hunger after quitting, along with general feelings of irritability. In order to help reduce these symptoms, there are a number of tools available, including nicotine patches and gum, or medications such as bupropion.

The second major factor, that makes quitting so difficult, is behavioral. “Cigarettes become a very integral part of your life,” Yammine says. For a long-term smoker, their day is often structured around when and where they smoke, whether it’s having a cigarette with their morning coffee, taking periodic smoke breaks throughout the day, or lighting up in specific environments. These behaviors can become so engrained that it becomes very difficult to break the habit, even if the physical symptoms of withdrawal are well-controlled.

Quitting often requires multiple attempts

Due to the difficulties associated with nicotine addiction, smokers report many attempts at quitting, before they are able to find a successful strategy; and what ultimately works for one person may not work for another. While quitting cold turkey works for some, others need the assistance of medication to curb their cravings. Some people must make major changes to their daily habits to quit, while others may succeed with just minor adaptations. Some quit after the first few tries; for others it takes many attempts. “Each try is a lesson about how to do it better the next time,” Robertson says.

National Geographic

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Folks quenching their thirst with bottled water can expect to chug down hundreds of thousands of minute plastic particles with their refreshing H2O, a new study reports.

On average, a liter of bottled water contains some 240,000 detectible plastic fragments – 10 to 100 times more than previously estimated, researchers said.

Nine in 10 of these plastic particles were nanoplastics, they added. Nanoplastic particles are so tiny that they can pass through the intestines and lungs directly into the bloodstream, eventually lodging in organs like the heart and brain, researchers said.

Because of this, medical researchers are racing to study how these nanoplastics might do harm to the human body. “Previously this was just a dark area, uncharted. Toxicity studies were just guessing what's in there,” researcher Beizhan Yan, an environmental chemist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said in a news release. “This opens a window where we can look into a world that was not exposed to us before.”

Microplastics are defined as fragments ranging from less than a quarter-inch to 1/25,000th of an inch. Nanoplastics are even tinier particles, measuring smaller than 1 micrometer. By comparison, a human hair is about 70 to 75 micrometers across.

Unlike natural organic matter, most plastics don't break down into harmless substances, researchers said. They just grind down into smaller and smaller particles made of the same material, with no theoretical limit to how small they can get. Plastics in bottled water became a public issue after a 2018 study found an average of 325 particles per liter. Follow-up studies have since found more and more particles in bottled water, researchers said.

However, good estimates stopped at sizes below 1 micrometer, which is considered the boundary of the nano world, researchers said. Previous studies could provide a bulk estimate of plastic nano mass in bottled water, but for the most part could not count the individual particles, lead author Naixin Qian, a graduate student in chemistry at Columbia, said in a news release.

“People developed methods to see nano particles, but they didn't know what they were looking at,” Qian said. For this study, researchers employed a new microscopy technique in which two lasers simultaneously probe samples to make specific molecules resonate, so they can be detected.

The team targeted seven common plastics, to see how many particles they could find in bottled water. They tested three popular brands of bottled water sold in the United States, analyzing plastic particles down to just 100 nanometers in size.

They found 110,000 to 370,000 particles in each liter, 90% of which were nanoplastics. One common plastic particle was polyethylene terephthalate (PET), from which many water bottles are made. The particles probably slough off into the water when the bottle is squeezed or exposed to heat, researchers said.

But PET particles actually were outnumbered by particles of polyamide, a type of nylon used in plastic filters meant to purify water before bottling, results show. Industrial plastics like polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and polymethyl methacrylate also were commonly found in bottled water. However, the seven plastic types only accounted for about 10% of all the nanoparticles found in samples. Researchers have no idea what the rest of the particles are made of. If they are all nanoplastics, that means they could number in the tens of millions per liter.

The research team next plans to look at nanoplastic levels in tap water and wastewater. Researchers believe millions of microplastic and nanoplastic particles wind up in wastewater from each 10-pound load of laundry, coming off the synthetic materials in many articles of clothing.

MedicineNet

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When you walk into any grocery store, it’s almost impossible to figure out the difference between real food and fake “Frankenfood.” But a new “revolution” in food technology is making it even harder – and much more dangerous.

I’m talking about Big Agra’s use of mRNA gene therapy to alter the genes of the livestock that could end up on your dinner plate. Meat from these vaccinated animals has already begun to enter the global food supply. Of course, we all know that vaccines using mRNA are relatively new.

They contain genetic material – “messenger RNA” – that carries instructions on how to make a specific protein. This protein causes an immune response, which then teaches the body to produce antibodies against it. It's the same technology that was used to create the Covid vaccine. But here’s the problem… To date, there have been ZERO studies done on the side effects of humans eating animals that have been vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine. We don’t even know if the virus can pass to humans who consume dairy or meat products from an mRNA-vaccinated animal! That means the risk is completely unknown.

Vaccines that contain the virus messenger RNA are already used on several American pig farms – not to mention they’re in pork that has been imported into the U.S. The purpose is to combat swine flu, which spreads like wildfire through the cramped confines of industrial pig factories. Shrimp farms have also started using mRNA in their animals. The first batch of mRNA-vaccinated shrimp is expected to reach U.S. shores by early 2024.

Cattle are most likely the next target. Multibillion-dollar research programs are now underway in America to test the effectiveness and animal safety of mRNA vaccines for use at U.S. cattle ranches. And while no mRNA vaccines are currently licensed for use in U.S.-raised cattle, America imports more and more beef from countries around the world, including those that are now considering mRNA vaccines – like Brazil and Australia.1 To avoid viruses making their way to your dinner plate, I recommend making sure you buy grass-fed, organic red meat, eggs from cage-free and pastured hens, and wild-caught fish. You see, when animals are pastured and raised humanely, there is NO NEED to vaccinate them. Industrialized practices that keep industrialized animals confined and drugged have nothing to do with your health and everything to do with massive profit margins.

Unknown

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are poised to become a global health concern in the coming decades. In the race to develop new weapons, scientists from Texas A&M have created a novel family of antibacterial polymers that can kill 'superbugs' in a way they can't evolve resistance to.

The discovery of penicillin was one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century. Suddenly infections were far more survivable, with antibiotics opening up more surgical and medical treatments to more people. But the arms race was just beginning.

Bacteria are adaptable little pests, and so they quickly evolved defenses against antibiotics. Scientists in turn developed new ones, but of course bacteria soon evolved resistance to those too, in a cycle that lasted decades. Unfortunately, in recent years the tides have begun to turn in favor of bacteria – we’re running out of new drugs, but they’re not running out of evolution. Our last lines of defense are beginning to fail, and there are now strains of superbugs that are immune to anything and everything we can throw at them.

We need brand new tactics if we’re going to prevent a global health crisis, and antibiotic polymers are a decent step in that direction. These synthetic molecules latch onto and disrupt the outer membranes of bacteria, in a form of attack that the bugs can’t develop resistance to.

In the new study, the Texas A&M team developed new polymers that are more customizable, allowing them to be tuned to fight superbugs even more effectively. The key is a catalyst called AquaMet, which can handle a high concentration of charges and is water-soluble. That charge tolerance is important – antibacterial polymers work because their positive charge attracts them to the negative charge of the bacteria.

The team's new method of making these polymers allows for more precise placement of where particular parts can be added to the molecule, which previous work has suggested could improve their performance.

In lab tests, the new polymers were found to be active against the two main groups of bacteria – gram-positive, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and gram-negative, such as E. coli. This suggests the molecules will work against a variety of superbugs. Importantly, the drugs also worked at low concentrations.

The main complication of antibacterial polymers is that red blood cells also have a negative charge, meaning the drugs can be attracted to them too. But in this case, the team’s method of more customization of the molecules allowed them to be more selective for bacteria. This area does still need more work though, the team says, which is the current focus of the next round of research.

Michael Irving

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Too much inflammation for too long is not a good thing, but when we have joint pain or an injury, we need it to help us heal. As we age, our bodies produce too many damaging inflammatory molecules, a link so well established that it's been coined inflammaging. Scientists are actively studying the out-of-control inflammation that can come with age, and working on ways to ease the pain.

It happens to everyone. With age come discomforts: achy joints, wounds that heal more slowly, and a rising risk for cancers, heart disease, dementia, arthritis, and other illnesses. Those changes follow an uptick in inflammatory molecules over the course of a lifetime, according to a large and growing body of research. The link between age, inflammation, and disease is so well established, it has a name: inflammaging.

Now, researchers are unraveling the details of how the inflammatory process changes over the lifespan, what instigates the shift, and how it might be possible to interfere with the process. The work suggests interventions ranging from new drugs to new motivations for healthy habits like exercise that can slow the aging process, says Ron DePinho, a cancer biology and aging researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Research on inflammaging also illustrates the nuanced challenge of taking the reins of inflammation to sustain health later in life. Although many people fixate on the need to reduce inflammation, it is more important to sustain the appropriate amount of it as a means toward extending quality rather than quantity of life, says Judith Campisi, a cell biologist at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, an independent research facility in Novato, Calif.

“What happens with age is you lose control of inflammation,” she says. “Even if you're five years old, you will never heal a wound without an initial inflammatory response. It’s not always bad. It's sometimes good.”

Hallmarks of aging

As people age, according to numerous studies, increasing amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other inflammation-related molecules circulate in the blood alongside a rise in localized inflammation. When the shift occurs depends on the person, DePinho says, but 50 is generally when inflammation starts to increase, with a dramatic shift after 60.

That uptick tracks closely with disease trends. Beginning in the early sixties, risks rise substantially for the most common chronic diseases of aging: cancer, diabetes, heart disease and dementia, DePinho says. Starting at 65, the number of people with Alzheimer’s doubles every five years. In the U.S., 80 percent of adults over 65 have at least one chronic condition. By age 85, a third of people may have Alzheimer’s, while a third of men and one-fourth of women have had cancer. People with more inflammation in their bodies have a higher risk of disease.

Scientists have identified a dozen biological changes that correspond with age. All of those hallmarks of aging are associated with inflammation, and inflammation is considered a pillar of aging, says Luigi Ferrucci, a geriatrician and epidemiologist at the Intramural Research Program of the NIH’s National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland.

For example, as people get older, their immune cells lose their protective functions and stop doing the job of fighting off invaders, turning into what scientists call senescent cells. Other kinds of cells can also become senescent in response to stress. They cease replicating, no longer do their jobs, and start to secrete powerful inflammatory molecules that cause yet more cells to become senescent in a self-perpetuating cycle.

A relentless loop

Meanwhile, DNA damage inside cells accumulates over time, especially at the tips of chromosomes in protective regions called telomeres, which are long stretches of bunched-up DNA. Each time a cell divides, its telomeres become shorter until they reach a critical length that is perceived by the cell as DNA damage or instability, which may induce cellular senescence.

As telomeres become damaged, they initiate a signaling process through proteins that turn certain genes on and off. Some of the genes affected support the function of mitochondria (the cell components that produce energy). As a result of the gene disruption, mitochondria become defective and leak their DNA into cells, sparking inflammation.

Scientists used to consider telomere shortening, mitochondrial damage, inflammation, and other processes as separate theories of aging that could contribute to diseases like cancer, DePinho says. Now it is clear that all of these changes are connected and that inflammation acts like a “co-conspirator” in the aging process.

As chronic inflammation sets in, it becomes harder for the immune system to perform routine tasks, like detecting and eliminating cancer cells and pathogens, which could make people more likely to develop diseases. Inflammation in the body may also activate immune cells in the brain called microglia, according to one theory, causing inflammation, weakening the blood-brain barrier, and destroying nerve cells, ultimately contributing to the development of Alzheimer’s.

This burgeoning understanding of inflammaging as a relentless circuit of steps that all exacerbate inflammation is revealing new ways to break the cycle.

Aging better

Efforts to develop anti-aging interventions that target inflammation are challenging because they need to be specific to avoid causing more harm than good, Ferrucci says. Trying to tackle the chronic inflammation of aging with general anti-inflammatory drugs, for example, could make people more susceptible to disease by impairing the inflammation that our bodies need for staying healthy. “When you have an infection, if you don't have inflammation, you're going to die,” Ferrucci says. “Shutting down inflammation with a bomb like a corticosteroid or some monoclonal antibodies works. It's also quite dangerous.”

One of the most promising new strategies for dealing with inflammaging is attacking senescent cells, experts say. In mice, a low-dose combination of two drugs, called Dasatinib and Quercetin, appears to be particularly effective at getting rid of these deadbeat cells and reducing inflammation in the intestines with the potential to extend lives. Clinical trials are now underway with these and other so-called senolytics to see if the same kinds of compounds might kill senescent cells and break the cycle of inflammation and disease in people too, says DePinho.

Other ongoing approaches include efforts to identify drugs that could restore telomeres, enhance mitochondrial function, and activate anti-aging genes, a strategy DePinho is working on. Some over-the-counter supplements claim to boost levels of proteins called sirtuins, which help cells respond to stresses, and a molecule called NAD+, which helps mitochondria function, among other roles, and dwindles in half from youth to middle age. Although evidence has been seriously questioned and these products have been over-hyped, DePinho says, further study may illuminate new anti-aging properties of sirtuins.

Scientists are hopeful that they are getting closer to understanding which interventions will help most, and studies in mice illustrate the tantalizing possibilities. “Tissues retain a remarkable capacity to renew themselves if you remove the underlying instigators of the aging process,” DePinho says.

Advances in immunology are lending new insights into how we can allow good inflammation to proceed while squashing the bad that can come from too much of it, Ferrucci adds. “As we discover the nuances of inflammation,” he says, “then it may be possible to find drugs that do not shut down inflammation completely.”

Age-fighting behaviors

For now, there are simple steps people can take to address inflammaging in their own bodies, experts say, including exercise. Regular physical activity enhances DNA repair, improves mitochondrial function, activates sirtuins, and, studies show, can reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. Regular vigorous activity is best, but as little as 15 minutes a day can make a difference, DePinho says, and even leisure activities help.

Dietary choices, too, can improve the chronic inflammatory state of inflammaging, according to a variety of studies that support eating a Mediterranean-style diet with an emphasis on whole grains, produce, nuts, and fish. Eating a wide variety of vegetables may also help sustain the gut microbiome, which tends to become less resilient and contribute to rising levels of inflammation with age. Each Saturday, when Ferrucci goes to the market to shop for the week, he buys 10 different kinds of vegetables, based on this emerging evidence. “That is something that has been suggested in the literature,” he says. “And I think that's a simple way of following that advice.”

Body fat releases cytokines that promote inflammation, DePinho adds, so using exercise and diet to control weight can have extra benefits. He also advises people to avoid or quit smoking, a habit known to increase DNA damage and drive inflammation. Finding ways to relax is another useful goal, as chronic stress has been linked to shortened telomeres, accelerated aging, and inflammatory diseases. Adequate sleep and meditation can help reduce stress, DePinho says.

Healthy habits like these are important throughout life, Ferrucci says, but they become especially important as the mechanisms that protect our cells from damage become less functional with age. That accumulating damage is a key source of inflammation. “Intervening in any possible way becomes more important as you become older,” he says

National Geographic

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Cancer deaths continue to decline in the United States, with more than 4 million deaths prevented since 1991, a new report shows. But more people are developing cancers than ever, making the dreaded disease a continued threat to human health, according to the new report published Jan. 17 by the American Cancer Society (ACS).

New cancer diagnoses are projected to top 2 million for the first time in 2024, up from 1.9 million last year. Further, cancer patients are getting younger. Diagnoses in middle-aged folks (50 to 64) increased from 25% in 1995 to 30% in 2020, at the same time diagnoses in seniors 65 and older decreased from 61% to 58%, the ACS said.

“We're encouraged by the steady drop in cancer mortality as a result of less smoking, earlier detection for some cancers and improved treatment,” said lead report author Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society. “But as a nation, we've dropped the ball on cancer prevention as incidence continues to increase for many common cancers -- like breast, prostate, and endometrial, as well as colorectal and cervical cancers in some young adults,” Siegel added in an ACS news release.

Higher obesity is driving some of the increased cancer incidence in people born after the 1950s, along with other as-yet-unknown factors, the ACS said. In another shift toward the young, people under 50 are battling colorectal cancer more frequently, the report says. Colon cancer had been the fourth leading cause of cancer death in both younger men and women two decades ago. Now it's the number one cause of cancer death in younger men, and second in women only to breast cancer.

“The continuous sharp increase in colorectal cancer in younger Americans is alarming,” said senior study author Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance and health equity science at the American Cancer Society. “We need to halt and reverse this trend by increasing uptake of screening, including awareness of noninvasive stool tests with follow-up care, in people 45-49 years.” “Up to one-third of people diagnosed before 50 have a family history or genetic predisposition and should begin screening before age 45 years,” Jemal added. “We also need to increase investment to elucidate the underlying reasons for the rising incidence, to uncover additional preventive measures.”

Racial disparities also continue to hamper progress against the disease, the report said. Compared to whites, Black Americans have twice the death rate for prostate, stomach and endometrial cancers, and Native Americans have a doubled death rate for liver, stomach and kidney cancers, the report said. In one example, steeper increases in endometrial cancer among women of color have made it one of the few forms of cancer that continues to kill more people each year.

Overall death rates for endometrial cancer continue to increase 2% each year. The death rate is now two times higher in Black women (9.1 deaths per 100,000) than in white women (4.6 per 100,000). “This report underscores the need for public policy interventions to help reduce these cancer disparities and save more lives,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of ACS's advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

In another piece of good news, cervical cancer cases are declining steeply in women in their 20s, the first wave to receive the new HPV vaccine. However, cases increased by 1.7% per year in women ages 30 to 44 between 2012 and 2019, highlighting the need for continued screening.

MedicineNet Newsletters

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Men with advanced prostate cancer undergoing local therapies such as radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy experience significantly more gastrointestinal and sexual issues, along with problems with incontinence, in the following years, than systemically treated patients. These were the findings of a retrospective cohort study in JAMA Network Open.

The standard treatment of advanced prostate cancer is androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). "The role of local therapy has been debated for several years. Studies have shown that radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy can improve patient survival under certain conditions," said Hubert Kübler, MD, director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Urology and Pediatric Urology at the University Hospital Würzburg in Germany. "At academic centers, a local therapy is pursued for oligometastatic patients if they are fit enough."

The hope is to spare patients the side effects of ADT over an extended period and thus improve their quality of life. "But what impact does local therapy itself have on the men's quality of life, especially considering that the survival advantage gained may be relatively small?" wrote study author Saira Khan, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, and her colleagues.

Examining Side Effects

This question has not been thoroughly examined yet. "To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies investigating the side effects of local therapy in men with advanced prostate cancer for up to 5 years after treatment," wrote the authors. The cohort study included 5500 US veterans who were diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer between January 1999 and December 2013. The tumors were in stage T4 (tumor is fixed or has spread to adjacent structures), with regional lymph node metastases (N1), and partially detectable distant metastases (M1).

The average age was 68.7 years, and 31% received local therapy (eg, radiation therapy, radical prostatectomy, or both), and 69% received systemic therapy (eg, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, or both).

Types of Local Therapy

Combining radiation therapy and radical prostatectomy "diminishes the meaningfulness of the study results," according to Kübler. "The issue should have been analyzed in much finer detail. Studies clearly show, for example, that radiation therapy consistently performs slightly worse than prostatectomy in terms of gastrointestinal complaints."

In their paper, the researchers reported that the prevalence of side effects was high, regardless of the therapy. Overall, 916 men (75.2%) with initial local therapy and 897 men (67.1%) with initial systemic therapy reported experiencing at least one side effect lasting more than 2 years and up to 5 years.

In the first year after the initial therapy, men who underwent local therapy, compared with those who underwent systemic therapy, experienced more of the following symptoms:

· Gastrointestinal issues (odds ratio [OR], 4.08)

· Pain (OR, 1.57)

· Sexual dysfunction (OR, 2.96)

· Urinary problems, predominantly incontinence (OR, 2.25)

Lasting Side Effects

Even up to year 5 after the initial therapy, men with local therapy reported more gastrointestinal and sexual issues, as well as more frequent incontinence, than those with systemic therapy. Only the frequency of pain equalized between the two groups in the second year.

"Our results are consistent with the known side effect profile [of local therapy] in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer receiving surgery or radiation therapy instead of active surveillance," wrote the authors. The comparison in advanced prostate cancer, however, is not with active surveillance but with ADT. "As the study confirmed, ADT is associated with various side effects," said Kübler. Nevertheless, it was associated with fewer side effects than local therapy in this study. The concept behind local therapy (improving prognosis while avoiding local problems) is challenging to reconcile with these results.

Contradictory Data

The results also contradict findings from other studies. Kübler pointed to the recently presented PEACE-1 study, where "local complications and issues were reduced through local therapy in high-volume and high-risk patients."

The study did not consider subsequent interventions, such as how many patients needed transurethral manipulation in the later course of the disease to address local problems. "There are older data showing that a radical prostatectomy can reduce the need for further resections," Kübler added.

"I find it difficult to reconcile these data with other data and with my personal experience," said Kübler. However, he agreed with the study authors' conclusion, emphasizing the importance of informing patients about expected side effects of local therapy in the context of potentially marginal improvements in survival.

Different Situation in Germany

"As practitioners, we sometimes underestimate the side effects we subject our patients to. We need to talk to our patients about the prognosis improvement that comes with side effects," said Kübler. He added that a similar study in Germany might yield different results. "Khan and her colleagues examined a very specific patient population: Namely, veterans. This patient clientele often faces many social difficulties, and the treatment structure in US veterans' care differs significantly from ours."

Medscape

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Certain gut bacteria reside in colorectal tumors, but the species differ depending on a patient's age, offering hope that our gut tenants could serve as early warning signs of cancer in young people.

Colorectal cancer most often affects people over age 50, but it's on the rise in younger people, who are rarely offered screening to catch these cancers early. Now, a new study hints that microbes found in the tumors of younger and older cancer patients differ, and this could potentially offer new means for early diagnosis.

In new research, published Feb. 1 in the journal eBioMedicine, scientists probed the gut microbiome — the community of microbes that populate the lower digestive tract — in cancer patients of two age groups. They included 136 people under age 50 with a median age of 43 and 140 people over 50 with a median age of 73. The researchers found that distinct sets of bacteria were present in tumors of older and younger people with colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer is often, but not always, hereditary.

"We know that many of these early-onset cancers are not directly linked to a genetic factor," said Laura Valle, a cancer researcher at the Catalan Institute of Oncology, IDIBELL in Spain who was not involved in the new study. Environmental factors, such as alcohol consumption and high-fat, low-fiber diets, are also associated with this cancer, whereas people who eat fiber-rich foods appear less likely to develop it. The foods and drinks people consume are known to affect their gut bacteria, suggesting a link between these factors.

"We have always hypothesized that early-onset colorectal cancers will have something to do with the microbiome," Valle told Live Science. To find out which gut bacteria thrive inside the tumors of older and younger people, researchers retrospectively looked at samples of tissue taken from cancer patients, sampling the microbiome directly from tumors and from nearby noncancerous tissue.

In both age groups, tumors harbored a smaller variety of bacterial species than surrounding tissue, and this loss of diversity was more dramatic in the older group. This suggests that only a portion of gut bacteria can survive in a tumor, a low-oxygen environment that's often inflamed by the immune system.

However, it's not yet clear what the bacteria do inside the tumors or why certain species thrive there. "This is what exactly needs to be figured out using mechanistic studies," said lead study author Naseer Sangwan, a microbiologist at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.

Beyond looking at overall changes in microbial diversity, Sangwan and colleagues found certain species that were more often found in tumors of one age group over the other. They also found that different types of colorectal tumors — such as colon carcinomas and rectal tumors — housed distinct bacterial species.

Neither Sangwan nor Valle wanted to speculate about how any given species might affect the growth or spread of a tumor. "It's usually not just one bacterium," Valle said; the community of bacteria in a given tumor should be considered as a whole, not as individual parts. In other words, the microbes interact in complex ways and could collectively influence a tumor's behavior.

At this point, the study has revealed a correlation between certain gut microbes and colorectal cancer. Although this doesn't prove that these bacteria cause colorectal cancer, there's a possibility of a causal link. One hypothesis is that the presence of certain bacterial species or a combination of species could either prevent or promote the cancer.

For example, a broad group of bacteria called Akkermansia, which were more often found in the younger group, were predominantly present in small tumors. This led the scientists to speculate whether these microbes might somehow limit tumor growth. In fact, a mouse study revealed that probiotic treatment — which involved consuming live cultures of Akkermansia — could hinder tumor growth.

Such findings lead some scientists to wonder whether probiotics could control or limit colorectal cancers in human patients. Valle said she's skeptical, citing evidence that treatments designed to alter the gut microbiome don't necessarily have lasting effects.

Sangwan, on the other hand, is excited about the prospects for harnessing the microbiome for early cancer diagnosis. The eventual goal is to "accurately predict the occurrence of cancer in young people," he said.

Early diagnosis of colorectal cancer isn't usually an option in people under age 45, who have yet to undergo their first colonoscopy. "If you get symptoms from a cancer in the colon, it usually means that it's quite advanced," Valle noted. However, lowering the screening age might not be the best solution.

"It's invasive, and there is a percentage of adverse effects," such as punctures in the colon, she said. But if we know what bacteria can be found in tumors, it might be possible to detect the microbes in stool samples from young people, she suggested, thus narrowing down who should be screened for signs of cancer.

The study had a small number of participants, so it requires validation in a larger group, Valle said. In addition, many ethnic groups were missing from the study — such as Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander backgrounds — so scientists aren't certain these results would be similar in patients in these groups.

"We will follow up on this using bigger cohorts of diverse people and ethnicities," Sangwan said.

Live Science

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French veterinarian Gaston Ramon was researching diphtheria vaccines in the 1920s when he noticed something unusual. Adding breadcrumbs, tapioca, and other seemingly random ingredients made the vaccines work better.

Ramon used the word adjuvants to describe these additives, based on the Latin word adjuver, which means "to help." Today, there are more than half a dozen of them in use for various vaccines, and scientists continue to refine their understanding of how these helpers work to take the reins of the immune system and optimize inflammation. The research, experts say, might be the key to a new generation of vaccines that fight off more diseases for longer periods of time.

Vaccines already work by stimulating the inflammatory processes necessary to fight off infections, says Bali Pulendran, an immunologist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Adjuvants take the process a step further, helping our bodies produce enough of the right type of inflammation but not too much of it. "You need just that Goldilocks zone—not too hot, not too cold, but just the right kind of inflammation of the right level and in the right place," Pulendran says. "That's where adjuvants can do their magic."

Controlled burn

The basic idea of a vaccine is to mimic the disease you want to protect against so that the immune system will respond in a specific way, says Larry Corey, an expert in virology, immunology, and vaccine development at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. Many vaccines do this with a killed version of a germ, a weakened version of a germ, or a toxic product of the germ that is packaged into a shot. Once injected, usually in the arm, the shot starts to trigger the immune system as soon as the offending agent, known as an antigen, enters the body. For an antigen that is new to the body, it takes two weeks to mobilize a measurable response.

The immediate reaction to a foreign antigen is called the innate immune response, and it involves specialized cells, such as dendritic cells and monocytes, which emit cytokines, prostaglandins, and other proteins that induce inflammation, Corey says. Symptoms of that immediate inflammation can include pain and swelling that may make your arm red and sore. In some cases, people also feel sick for a day or two.

In the meantime, immune cells carry the vaccine antigen to nearby lymph nodes, setting off a more lasting, "adaptive" immune response, during which yet more specialized cells, such as T cells and B cells, produce antibodies and develop a memory for the antigen. After they have been programmed, memory cells retreat to the bone marrow and lymph nodes, where they lay in wait until a similar invader appears again. The adaptive response is what leads to protection that can last for months to decades, Corey says.

Both the innate and adaptive immune responses rely on inflammatory processes, and vaccines are designed to try and induce just the right amount of it. "Vaccination is a form of inflammation," says Corey. "You're trying to elicit an immune response against the foreign antigen in a controlled way so you don't get sick."

Help needed

Some vaccines do a good job of inducing immunity simply by showing the immune system part of the pathogen being targeted; the meningococcal vaccine targeting meningitis is one example. But some diseases are particularly hard to develop vaccines for. HIV, for example, employs multiple strategies to avoid recognition by immune cells and downplay their response. Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 evolve variants that can evade immune recognition. The malaria parasite has a complicated life history with still poorly understood impacts on the immune system.

To develop vaccines for these and other elusive pathogens, scientists are tapping into the intricacies of the immune system—many of them still not completely understood. For the ever-evolving SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses, for example, some researchers are working on universal vaccines that would recognize the parts of antigens that remain stable even as other parts mutate to produce new strains.

Adjuvants are a major part of the effort to harness inflammation with vaccines, based on work dating back to Ramon's era. The Frenchman's discovery began with what was a routine procedure at the time. For decades, scientists had been injecting a toxin made by the diphtheria bacteria into horses to elicit an immune reaction. They would then extract the horse's blood, which was now filled with antibodies, and use the serum to treat people who were sick with diphtheria.

Ramon noticed that when horses developed infections around the site of the vaccine injection, they produced a more powerful anti-diphtheria serum. Soon he was adding breadcrumbs and other items to shots to try and spur the same inflammatory reaction and aid immunity. Around the same time that Ramon was doing his research, British immunologist Alexander Glenny, also working with shots of diphtheria toxin, found that he could accentuate their effects in rabbits by adding aluminum salts. Aluminum was the first adjuvant used in licensed vaccines in the U.S. and the only one used in these vaccines for the next 70 years. It is still the most commonly used, Pulendran says, contained in billions of doses of vaccines given today.

Adjuvant biology got its next boost in the mid-1990s with the discovery of receptors on innate immune cells that, Pulendran says, are like "the sixth sense in the body" for their ability to recognize bits of invading pathogens, initiate an inflammatory response, and rev up the adaptive immune system. That finding allowed scientists to start targeting specific receptors, leading to the development of at least half a dozen more adjuvants. One is a colorless oil called squalene that is sometimes supplemented with Vitamin E or other ingredients and is used in an influenza vaccine called Fluad, which is approved for older adults. Another is a compound from the Chilean soapbark tree, which is added to the Shingrix vaccine for shingles.

Helpers of the future

Researchers have a better handle on how some adjuvants work than others, says Darrell Irvine, an immunologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Some are accidental, like Ramon's discovery. For instance, the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna use an ingredient called lipid nanoparticles, which appear to work like adjuvants through pathways that are only partially understood. Some adjuvants are chosen more intentionally. For an adjuvant in the Shingrix vaccine, on the other hand, scientists incorporated a molecule that is a component of some kinds of infectious bacteria.

"Your immune system is evolved to recognize that molecule and it creates a certain kind of inflammation when it sees that molecule," Irvine says. "It's sort of fooling your immune system, saying, ‘There's something dangerous. It looks like bacteria. And you should mount an immune response.'"

Eventually adjuvants might be able to reprogram gene activity in immune cells to fight off many illnesses at once, not just the one being targeted by a specific vaccine, says Pulendran, who is working on the technique. Studies, including work in his lab, suggest it might be possible.

In a combination of studies in mice and people, for example, evidence suggests vaccination with the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis can protect against influenza, candida yeast infections, staph infections, and respiratory infections, and researchers are investigating whether it might help against COVID.

Based on that research, along with evidence about the inflammatory molecules associated with those responses, groups including Pulendran's are developing adjuvants that, he says, aim to induce low levels of long-lasting antiviral immunity, like lingering embers that burn on low heat for weeks to months and create a heightened resistance to all sorts of invaders. "It's a kind of virus-agnostic inflammation that could be beneficial in fighting against any infection," he says. "They keep the smoldering fire of good inflammation at a tolerable level—not too bad, not too damaging."

Promise for cancer

Work on adjuvants that control inflammation in finely tuned ways are opening the potential for developing vaccines that would protect against diseases previously outside the realm of possibility for vaccination, including cancers, Irvine says. Ongoing trials of mRNA vaccines for melanoma and pancreatic cancer suggest that adjuvants (in this case, the lipid nanoparticles), combined with proteins produced by a person's own tumors, could help the body develop immunity against cancer. "We don't have really effective therapeutic vaccines for cancer yet, but we may get there one day," he says. "The recent data have people excited."

Underneath all these efforts to build better adjuvants and protect people from diseases is a basic idea: In order to fight diseases, our bodies need to produce just the right amount of inflammation to battle the illness but not make us extremely sick. When our immune systems can't strike the right balance on their own, perhaps we can engineer solutions that do it for them.

Adjuvants of the future are likely to evolve alongside the growing understanding of how inflammation works, experts say, and may help tackle the diseases that continue to plague humanity: HIV, malaria, cancers, new strains of influenza and SARS-CoV-2, and whatever else emerges.

"A lot of the research in vaccines nowadays is trying to think about: How do you get the right amount of inflammation, and how do you make it happen at the right place to help the immune response without making people feel like they've gotten infected with something?" Irvine says. "Further engineered adjuvants will probably be an important part of finding ways to make vaccines for some of the really challenging scenarios."

National Geographic

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The human gut is finally receiving the respect it deserves — and so are its trillions of inhabitants. You are, at your core, a microbial being, and while microorganisms are found everywhere from your skin to your mouth and even your blood, it’s your large intestine where your body’s largest bacterial ecosystem resides.

If you treat it and the rest of your microbiome well, good health — both mental and physical — is likely to result. By nourishing this complex microbial community, you can even influence your gut-brain axis, which regulates digestion, mood, immune function and much more.

The Number of Microbes Living in Your Gut Is Staggering

Your gut is home to bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea and eukarya. The latter two resemble bacteria but are distinct groups of microorganisms. Bacteria, meanwhile, make up the vast majority of microbes in your microbiome. Three main phyla or groups of gut microbes make up the human microbiome and serve diverse structural, protective and metabolic functions

· Bacteroidetes — Porphyromonas, Prevotella and Bacteroides

· Firmicutes — Ruminococcus, Clostridium, Lactobacillus and Eubacteria

· Actinobacteria — Bifidobacteria (the most prevalent type)

Broken down, the average person may host the following quantities of bacteria in different body regions. Remember that this is just an average — your age, health status, diet and environment all influence the numbers and diversity of microorganisms in your gut.

Mouth — 100,000 colony-forming units (CFU) per milliliter (mL)

The digestion process begins in your mouth when you chew your food, making it easier to break down in your gut. Your mouth contains an impressive number of microbes to maintain oral health but if they become out of balance, disease may result.

For instance, the bacteria in your mouth are thought to play a role in blood pressure via nitric oxide (NO), a soluble gas stored in the lining of your blood vessels, called the endothelium. However, antiseptic compounds in mouthwash may destroy beneficial oral bacteria that are important for maintaining blood pressure, thereby contributing to high blood pressure levels.

In one study, the use of the mouthwash twice daily was associated with a significant increase in systolic blood pressure after one week, while once the mouthwash was stopped, "recovery from use resulted in an enrichment in nitrate-reducing bacteria on the tongue."

Differences in more than 10 species of bacteria living on the tongue were noted after mouthwash use, including lower microbial diversity after one week of use.10 As noted in a Frontiers in Bioscience review, nourishing and protecting your oral microbiome may reduce your risk of multiple diseases

"Recent studies show that one approach to reducing the risk of chronic infections, such as caries, gingivitis, periodontitis, and halitosis, is to control the ecology of the oral microbiome instead of completely removing both the harmful and beneficial microorganisms.

This is based on the knowledge that oral diseases are not caused by a single pathogen but rather by a shift in the homeostasis of the entire microbiota, a process known as dysbiosis."

Pseudomonadota, which are present in higher concentrations in the mouth than in the gut,12 also play an important role in producing short-chain fatty acids and boosting the growth of beneficial gut microbes.Fusobacteriota represent another prominent type of microbes in the body. While they can help stimulate inflammatory responses to fight pathogens, they may also drive inflammation and are linked to periodontal disease.

Esophagus — 10 Million CFU/mL

Firmicutes tend to be particularly abundant in the esophagus. While relatively low in numbers compared to elsewhere in the gastrointestinal tract, Firmicutes are useful for helping to break down sugars and carbohydrates from the foods you eat. Interestingly, Firmicutes, which are centrally involved in glucose and insulin metabolism, belong to the phylum most adversely affected by the artificial sweetener sucralose. Animal studies suggest the sucralose-altered gut microbiome could be involved in inflammation of the gut and liver, as well as cancer.

Stomach — 1,000 CFU/mL

Your stomach's low pH levels limit the growth of microbes. But even in this high-acid environment, some microorganisms survive. Actinomycetota tend to be the dominant microbes in the stomach, along with Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Peptostreptococcus and Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus has been dubbed a "psychobiotic" because of its effects on mental health, particularly anxiety and depression. Lactobacillus bacteria — found in many fermented foods — helps dampen stress responses and prevent depression and anxiety, in part, by modulating your immune system.

Small Intestine — 1,000 CFU/mL to 100 Million CFU/mL

The concentration of microbes in the small intestine gradually increases, starting with 1,000 CFU/mL in the duodenum — the first part of the small intestine — and rising to 100,000 CFU/mL in the second part, known as the jejunum. In the third part, the ileum, there are about 100 million CFU/mL. Firmicutes are abundant in the small intestine, but actinomycetota, which help break down complex carbohydrates and produce vitamins B12 and K2, are another dominant species. They also help protect against pathogens. Bacteroides are also found in the small intestine. They also play a role in breaking down complex carbohydrates and producing vitamins, as well as helping to regulate the immune system.

Large Intestine — Up to 1 Trillion CFU/mL

Bacteroides are the dominant microbe in your large intestine, the area of your body with the highest concentration of bacteria. Bifidobacteria are also present. The composition of these microbes, and those elsewhere in your gut, are linked to health conditions like obesity and inflammation.

As noted in a review published in Nutrients, obese individuals tend to have higher proportions of Firmicutes and Lactobacillus and lower proportion of Bacteroidetes and Bifidobacterium compared to normal weight individuals.

Studies have also linked specific strains to specific health problems. For example, high levels of Bacteroides vulgatus, which is abundant in the human gut, appear strongly associated with inflammation, insulin resistance and altered metabolism. Low levels of certain bacteria in the Firmicutes phylum, including Blautia and Faecalibacterium, have been linked to the accumulation of trunk-fat specifically.

Your Gut-Brain Axis Is an Information Highway

Gut microbes' effects don’t only apply to your gastrointestinal tract. They interact with your central nervous system via the microbiota-gut-brain axis, a two-way information highway that involves neural, immune, endocrine and metabolic pathways. By promoting proinflammatory cytokines, bacteria may also play a role in damaging the integrity of the microbiota-gut-brain axis and the blood-brain barrier.

There are also 10 gut microbiota genera with a significant link to Alzheimer's. Six are negatively associated with Alzheimer's, meaning they’re less common in people with Alzheimer’s than in those without the disease and may therefore have a protective effect.

The remaining four are positively associated with Alzheimer's, meaning they’re more abundant in those with Alzheimer's disease, making them a risk factor for the condition. Specifically

· Bacteria protective against Alzheimer’s include Firmicutes phylum (Eubacterium nodatum group, Eisenbergiella and Eubacterium fissicatena group) as well as from Actinobacteria (Adlercreutzia, Gordonibacter) and Bacteroidetes (Prevotella 9)

· Bacteria associated with Alzheimer’s include Firmicutes (Lachnospira and Veillonella), Actinobacteria (Collinsella) and Bacteroidetes (Bacteroides)

What's Hurting Your Microbial Health?

Researchers are only beginning to tap the surface when it comes to unveiling the complex relationship microbes have with human health and disease. But it's known that microbial diversity in your gut is a good thing, while decreased diversity in the gut microbiome has been linked to chronic conditions such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

In general, gut microbial diversity decreases with age, but even younger people are being affected. The overuse of antibiotics, elective C-sections and processed foods have been described as primary factors "driving the destruction of our inner ecology." C-section delivery is associated with an increased risk of immune system and metabolic disorders, possibly due to altered microbes.

Dramatic increases in chronic diseases, including Type 1 diabetes, asthma, obesity, gastroesophageal reflux disease and inflammatory bowel disease, are also linked to the loss of bacterial diversity in our guts — caused by the overuse of antibiotics. Consumption of whole foods, meanwhile, is linked to higher gut microbiota diversity, as is consuming herbs and spices, for instance.

But processed foods, which are devoid of fiber needed to feed a healthy microbiome, contain chemicals such as the herbicide glyphosate that also disrupt microbes. From EMFs and air pollution to antibacterial soap, your microbiome is under constant assault from the world around you.

How to Optimize Your Gut Microbiome

Avoiding antibiotics, including those found in conventionally raised meat, is key to keeping your microbiome health intact. Ultraprocessed foods, artificial sweeteners, chlorinated and fluoridated water, elective C-sections and antibacterial products are other culprits that can worsen your microbial health

A healthy gut microbiome depends on the consumption of fermented foods. A study assigned 36 adults to consume a diet high in fermented foods or high-fiber foods for 10 weeks. Those consuming fermented foods had an increase in microbiome diversity as well as decreases in markers of inflammation. If you do take antibiotics or are looking for another supportive measure for gut health, consider spore-based probiotics, or sporebiotics. These are part of a group of derivatives of the Bacillus microbe and have been shown to dramatically increase your immune tolerance.

Spore-based probiotics do not contain any live Bacillus strains, only its spores — the cell wall or protective shell around the DNA and the working mechanism of that DNA. As such, they are not affected by antibiotics and may be able to reestablish your gut microbiome more effectively when taken in conjunction with the antibiotic.

In your gut, the Bacillus species also convert sugar into vitamin C, a nutrient well-known for its anti-infectious effects and, according to Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, a long-time mentor of mine, sporebiotics also massively increase reproduction of acidophilus, bifidus and other beneficial microbes in your gut via the electromagnetic messages they send out.

This is entirely unique. When you take a regular probiotic, they primarily take care of themselves. Bacillus spores, on the other hand, enhance many other beneficial microbes. Bacillus spores also create 24 different substances that have strong antimicrobial properties. But they do not kill indiscriminately the way antibiotics do. As noted by Klinghardt:

"Seeding the gut with things that make it stronger, more resilient towards the offenses we present to it is a huge key to our time. We need to live through this insane time, and we need to use all the tools that give us more resilience, which is for me like a holy war. Resilience means immune tolerance — tolerating the stresses of our time, and any tool that does it, that is healthy, that doesn't have side effects, is important to have in our tool chest. Sporebiotics is one of the major ones."

Dr. Joseph Mercola

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Bovine colostrum is available in health food shops and as a sports food supplement and is rich in antibodies and growth factors including IGF-1.

World Anti-Doping Agency advises athletes against taking colostrum for fear of causing increased plasma IGF-1. There are also concerns that colostrum may theoretically stimulate malignancy in organs which express IGF-1 receptors. We, therefore, determined changes in plasma IGF-1 levels in subjects taking colostrum or placebo for 1 day, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks.

Methods:

Plasma IGF1 levels were determined in healthy males (n = 16) who ingested 40 g bovine colostrum or placebo along with undertaking moderate exercise for total period of 4.5 h. Two further studies followed changes in IGF1 using double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled, randomized trials of colostrum or placebo (N = 10 per arm, 20 g/day for 4 weeks and N = 25 colostrum, N = 29 placebo arm 20 g/day for 12 weeks).

Results:

Baseline IGF1 levels 130 ± 36 ng/ml. 4.5 h protocol showed no effect of colostrum on plasma IGF1 (ANOVA, treatment group: p = 0.400, group × time: p = 0.498, time p = 0.602). Similarly, no effect of colostrum ingestion was seen following 4 week (ANOVA, group: p = 0.584, group × time interaction: p = 0.083, time p = 0.243) or 12 week (ANOVA, group: p = 0.400, group × time interaction: p = 0.498, time p = 0.602) protocol.

Conclusions:

Ingestion of standard recommended doses of colostrum does not increase IGF-1 levels in healthy adults, providing additional support for the safety profile of colostrum ingestion.

View full study here

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Vitamin C was first isolated in 1928 and the chemical structure was identified in 1933. It wasn't until the early 1970s that Dr. Linus Pauling recommended that the optimum daily intake of vitamin C was 2,000 milligrams (mg) and everyone should consume at least 200 mg to 250 mg per day.

However, as "modern" medicine and the pharmaceutical industry ramped up the health care machine, vitamin C quickly fell out of favor as it is inexpensive, easy to administer and has very few side effects. In other words, as effective as vitamin C is in prevention and treatment, you can’t make money prescribing or manufacturing it.

It's important to note that most mammals can make vitamin C in the body, but humans and guinea pigs must get it from their diet. Vitamin C is an essential factor in many enzyme reactions and several studies have shown that it's associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular conditions such as stroke, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease

Vitamin C has always been vital to immune function, but research data also show that it plays an important role in the treatment of several health conditions, including cancer. Research suggests that IV vitamin C could extend survival, even in people with pancreatic and ovarian cancers, which are among the deadliest types of tumor growth.

Throughout the early years of the COVID pandemic, researchers and doctors who used vitamin C to help treat the infection were ridiculed and "modern" medicine organizations tried to sideline them. In the following three years, information about vitamin C continued to be shared but many suffered at the hands of Big Pharma.

Vitamin C — A Historical Perspective

Since vitamin C cannot be patented, it's a significant threat to the pharmaceutical industry and Western medicine’s disease model of care. An Australian independent journalist, Just Call Me Jack from Totality of Evidence, published a deep-dive history of vitamin C, how it's been used and suppressed. He intends to identify and capture significant data points throughout history that have led up to the COVID-19 pandemic and document what has happened since, including to "discover incremental changes through time, which on their own may seem laudable or benign, but watch them morph and put them together and the Totality of Evidence reveals a picture of ever-increasing centralized control and influence."

Vitamin C has played a role in this influence. In 2002, Dr. Thomas E. Levy published the book "Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins: Curing the Incurable." By 2011, research and publications identifying ways in which vitamin C might be used were reaching the media. Dr. Suzanne Humphries published a special report on the treatment of whooping cough and Orthomolecular Medical News proposed intravenous vitamin C as a cancer therapy

Vitamin C and Sepsis

In November 2013, "Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C" was revised and republished. The book recorded the clinical experiences of Dr. Frederick R. Klenner, who used vitamin C in the treatment of polio, which I discuss below. In 2014, Alpha Fowler from Virginia Commonwealth University and his team published Phase 1 safety trials for the IV administration of vitamin C in patients with sepsis.

The goal was to move to Phase 2 trials and when Dr. Paul Marik, former chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in East Virginia, was asked if he wanted to participate, he declined since vitamin C had already become his standard of care after the Phase 1 trial was published. Marik further developed the treatment protocol, adding thiamine and steroids, which was published in the journal Chest in 2017.

Some physicians joined Marik in using the early sepsis protocol while others dragged their heels, waiting for larger clinical trials despite knowing the treatment doesn’t have significant side effects or make patients sicker.

In a 2018 review of the protocol, the writers noted the reception for the treatment was mixed, which means your ability to receive this potentially life-saving treatment depends on the hospital where you end up. One of the anticipated larger studies was the Vitamin C, Thiamine and Steroids in Sepsis (VICTUS) study sponsored by Emory University and published in JAMA.

Initially, the researchers, including Fowler, hoped for 2,000 participants but finalized the study with 501. In a presentation at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Fowler describes the positive effects of vitamin C on sepsis.

However, the VICTUS paper came to a negative conclusion — that the treatment "did not significantly increase ventilator- and vasopressor-free days within 30 days" — because he was told he to make it negative. In this video of the presentation, you can see Fowler’s reaction to the negative conclusion he and the team were asked to make. He notes that $1 billion spent on clinical trials had not produced anything that enhanced survival, but in the VICTUS trial they "have shown an outcome difference." Fowler goes on to say:

"I got an email from them yesterday and I shared this with Leslie today. They have asked us to state that this trial is negative and that we do not recommend it as a therapy. I am going to put a caveat into that 'until a large phase 3 trial is done.'"

In 2022, Marik’s paper in the journal Chest came under attack in a series of unsubstantiated allegations of fraud from Australian doctor Kyle Sheldrick. The journal then launched a thorough review of the study and in April 2023, stated there were no methodological errors. Marik and the FLCCC followed up with a defamation suit against Sheldrick and, as a result, Sheldrick had to publicly acknowledge regret for questioning Marik’s integrity.

Polio, Multiple Sclerosis and Vitamin C

One of the important threads that winds its way through polio and COVID history is vitamin C. During the polio epidemic of 1948 to 1955, many people avoided crowds and public gatherings in much the same way as during the COVID pandemic, without mandates to do so. In a biography on Klenner, Andrew Saul, assistant editor for the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, discussed some of the pioneering work by Klenner during the polio epidemic.

Klenner began with vitamin C treatments for patients with viral pneumonia, the details of which he presented in 1948 in the Journal of Southern Medicine and Surgery. Before the polio vaccine was released, Klenner treated polio patients with high doses of vitamin C administered intramuscularly.

In 1949, Klenner summarized his work with polio at the annual session of the American Medical Association. He was from Reidsville, North Carolina, and had no national credentials, research grants or experimental laboratory, but declared in front of this group of authorities that "When proper amounts are used, it [vitamin C] will destroy all virus organisms."

Although Klenner found the most effective route was intravenous, he had determined that intramuscular injections were satisfactory at a dose of 25,000 to 30,000 mg for an adult delivered at 350 mg per kilogram of body weight every two hours. He operated under the premise that the sicker the patient, the higher the dose should be.

He treated 60 cases of polio with the administration of massive doses of vitamin C and cured everyone. None of his patients were paralyzed and all were well within three days. Levy discussed the remarkable case of a 5-year-old girl who already had lower limb paralysis for four days by the time Klenner treated her. She only received massive doses of vitamin C and massage. By day 19, the girl had a complete return of sensation and motor function and no long-term impairment. Yet, this simple, effective and inexpensive treatment was not well-published, and Klenner did not receive any acknowledgment for his results.

Saul also describes the vitamin-based cure for multiple sclerosis that Klenner went on to develop. Following the doctor's death in 1984, his son was implicated in the murders of five people, a tragedy that became the subject of a 1988 book and a 1994 made-for-TV movie. Yet, true to how the media treats the pharmaceutical industry, it was the son's crimes that were reported far more than the father's cures.

Polio and COVID Narratives Follow a Similar Journey

Just Call Me Jack details the history of the polio vaccine, which is alarmingly similar to the release of the COVID-19 shot. By 1952, the public’s fear of polio was at a peak, and all were focused on the hope of a vaccine. April 12, 1955, the Salk inactivated polio vaccine was declared "safe and effective" and on the same day, the U.S. licensed it for use. Earlier that year — just like COVID —the diagnostic criteria for polio was changed too. Just Call Me Jack asks: Sound familiar?

In their book "Dissolving Illusions," Dr. Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk detail a history of medical interventions that have claimed to lengthen lifespan and prevent masses of deaths. The book demonstrates how these interventions were not responsible and an Amazon summary of the book asks the question: What else is being ignored and misinterpreted today? Polio is one of the diseases and subsequent vaccines included in the book.

Before 1954, patients with short-term paralysis were diagnosed with polio but this criterion changed in 1955 when the vaccine was released. Instead, patients who had no residual paralysis after 60 days did not have polio. Just Call Me Jack quotes the book, writing "Thus, simply by changes in diagnostic criteria, the number of paralytic cases was predetermined to decrease in 1955-1997 whether or not any vaccine was used."

In other words, how a case was defined instantly changed both the incidence of the disease and the efficacy of the polio vaccine. April 2, 1999, the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, entitled "10 Great Public Health Achievements," said: "During 1951–1954, an average of 16,316 paralytic polio cases and 1879 deaths from polio were reported each year. Polio incidence declined sharply following the introduction of vaccine to 1000 cases in 1962 and remained below 100 cases after that year."

The question you must ask yourself is whether the decline in polio was a result of the vaccine or because the criteria for diagnosing polio had changed? The Totality of Evidence reports that less than one month after the oral vaccine was introduced, the lab suspended production because children who were vaccinated were infected with poliomyelitis, a concern that continues to this day.

Statistics from American Polio Surveillance Reports demonstrated that in 1957, two years after the vaccine had been released, nearly half the cases of paralytic polio in children were happening in vaccinated children, which led to the decision that the children needed more vaccines.

It is not difficult to see the similarities between the release of the COVID-19 vaccine, after which the number of deaths from COVID in the U.S. spiked, and the polio vaccine. While public health officials initially told the public that the COVID clinical trials indicated the vaccine would prevent them from getting infected, prevent them from spreading the infection and that only one vaccine was required, those recommendations quickly changed when the genetic experiment was released to a far wider cohort than the one in which it was initially tested.

In other words, the shot was released to the world and the public health experts suddenly had much more disturbing data.

Vitamin C, Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

The antiviral capacity of vitamin C was successfully paired with quercetin during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and included in the initial MATH+ protocol released in April 2020. I reported that in the early months of COVID-19, the FLCCC Alliance recommended a combination of vitamin C, quercetin, zinc, melatonin and vitamin D3 for prophylaxis. To date, the preventive protocol for COVID, flu and RSV includes antimicrobial mouthwash, vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc and melatonin. June 19, 2020, Marik published the paper, "Quercetin and Vitamin C: An Experimental, Synergistic Therapy for the Prevention and Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Related Disease (COVID-19)" in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, noting:

"Ascorbic acid [vitamin C] … plays a role in stress response and has shown promising results when administered to the critically ill. Quercetin is a wellknown flavonoid whose antiviral properties have been investigated in numerous studies. There is evidence that vitamin C and quercetin co-administration exerts a synergistic antiviral action due to overlapping antiviral and immunomodulatory properties and the capacity of ascorbate to recycle quercetin, increasing its efficacy. Safe, cheap interventions which have a sound biological rationale should be prioritized for experimental use in the current context of a global health pandemic."

However, as many have noted during the COVID pandemic, the use of "Safe, cheap interventions which have a sound biological rationale" has not been prioritized, but rather has been vilified. Much of the benefit from vitamin C is how it helps to mediate inflammation and oxidative stress.

This was demonstrated in a 2022 study, which sought to determine how vitamin C could help individuals with cystic fibrosis. The data showed that vitamin C supplementation in individuals with advanced inflammatory disease could help increase plasma vitamin E and lower the inflammatory response.

Vitamin C also plays a significant role in holistic cancer treatment as Dr. Nathan Goodyear and I discussed in a 2022 interview. In this area, Western medicine also strove to suppress information since vitamin C is inexpensive and cannot be patented. As I said, Linus Pauling originally demonstrated that intravenous vitamin C could improve cancer survival, but when Mayo Clinic physicians attempted to reproduce the results without using IV administration, they found no benefit.

Put Legal Strategies in Place Before You Get Sick

The history of vitamin C is replete with public health experts who count the benefits of vitamin C as preventive but continue to push Big Pharma solutions in the face of infection or disease, not the least of whom is former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was interviewed in 2016 in the Washingtonian.

When asked how do you avoid getting sick when you're around sick people all day, he replied: "I take vitamin C. It can enhance your body’s defense against microbes. I take 1,000 milligrams a day. Many people also do not get enough vitamin D, which affects a lot of body functions, so that would be helpful, too."

During the COVID pandemic, Laura Bartlett and Greta Crawford founded an organization to help people address the forced treatments they were receiving when hospitalized. This same strategy, which must be in place before you are hospitalized, can be used to protect yourself against other medical hazards as well. Read more about how to include this in your health plan at "How to Save Your Life and Those You Love When Hospitalized."

Take Control

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Once thought to be a bygone disease, measles is making a comeback in the United States and globally as folks shun a safe, surefire way to prevent it: The measles vaccine.

But what is measles, and how easily does it spread? Drs. Aaron Milstone and Lisa Lockherd Maragakis, two infectious disease experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, provide answers to your common measles questions.

What is measles? How easily can it spread?

Measles is a viral illness that's one of the most easily transmitted infections known to medicine. "Nine out of 10 un-immunized children who are in contact with an infected person will contract the virus," the Hopkins experts wrote, and "the virus can linger in the air for about two hours after a person with measles has left the room."

How serious a disease is it?

Many people may believe that measles is just an uncomfortable but transient illness, but the truth is that it can prove very severe -- especially for kids.

Even in its "uncomfortable" form, measles is not easy, Milstone and Maragakis said. Besides the hallmark rash, which begins on the face and can cover the body, measles can involve high fever, cough, conjunctivitis (red, runny eyes) and congestion.

Without complications, measles typically runs its course in a week. When complications do arise, things can get much worse, however. Complications "can include ear infections, pneumonia and encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, that can lead to permanent neurologic damage and even death," the two doctors wrote. "On average, measles kills between one and three of every 1,000 infected children."

Prevention is easy: Vaccination

The measles vaccine is one of the most effective known to medicine: 95% effective after one dose and 99% effective after two doses, the experts said.

Currently, the measles vaccine is recommended for all children. The first dose should be given between the ages of 12 and 15 months, and the second between the ages of 4 and 6. If you plan to take your kids to an area where measles is a risk, the second dose can come as soon as a month after the first dose, the Hopkins experts added. The vaccine is deemed to be less effective for babies between 6 months and one year of age, so any baby who receives their first shot that young should get two more boosters.

Is the measles vaccine safe?

Don't believe internet rumors: The measles vaccine has a long track record of safety, Milstone and Maragakis said.

First of all, "scientific research has shown unequivocally that the measles vaccine does NOT cause autism or other permanent neurologic or developmental problems," the two experts wrote.

The measles vaccine is made with a live but weakened form of the measles virus. As with any vaccine of this type, rare side effects can occur. "Some children -- about 10 percent -- will develop a fever about six to 12 days after vaccination, and an even smaller percentage will have a rash that can last a few hours to a day or two," the experts said. "In extremely rare cases, the fever can precipitate a seizure in children predisposed to fever-induced seizures."

In typical kids with healthy immune systems, getting the vaccine will not trigger measles-like illness. For children with weakened immune systems vaccination could spur such illness, so "if the immune deficiency is diagnosed in time, these children should not be vaccinated," Milstone and Maragakis advised.

Protecting your child - and others

Most children will not have any vaccine side effects, however, and getting vaccinated can spare them a potentially severe illness.

Getting vaccinated shields others, too.

"Because infants and a small number of other people cannot receive the vaccine, it is critically important that the rest of the population be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks and spread of the disease," the Hopkins experts said.

MedicineNet

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Last winter, I spent nearly a month in Mexico and aimed to maintain my daily habit of drinking a glass of milk. My preference is organic milk, but the only type I could find was ultrapasteurized milk, which is widely available in grocery stores there.

I was unaware of the risks associated with this product and feel it's important to share my concerns with you and why I suggest you seriously consider avoid ever using this product.

· Ultrapasteurized milk arose in response to the emergence of pasteurization-resistant pathogens like Listeria and antibiotic-resistant Salmonella that couldn't be killed using lower temperatures

· The shift toward grain-based diets for dairy cows, encouraged by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since the mid-1980s, fosters antibiotic resistance and exacerbates milk contamination issues

· Ultrapasteurization, which uses temperatures significantly higher than traditional pasteurization, has detrimental effects on milk nutrients, enzymes and proteins

· A 2019 study found that all forms of milk processing tested caused "formation of protein oxidation products which impair spatial learning and memory in rats." That includes boiling, microwave heating, spray drying and freeze-drying, and ultrapasteurization exposes the milk to far higher heat than boiling (284 F compared to 212 F)

· For optimal health benefits, opt for organic, grass fed raw (unpasteurized) milk, ideally certified by the American Grassfed Association (AGA), which ensures the highest quality grass fed products

Last winter, I spent nearly a month in Mexico and aimed to maintain my daily habit of drinking a glass of milk. My preference is organic milk, but the only type I could find was ultrapasteurized milk, which is widely available in grocery stores there. I was unaware of the risks associated with this product and feel it's important to share my concerns with you and why I suggest you seriously consider avoid ever using this product.

In a recent article,1 Sally Fallon Morell, author of "Nourishing Traditions" and president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, discusses the implications of ultrapasteurization of milk, which arose in response to the emergence of pasteurization-resistant pathogens like Listeria, and antibiotic-resistant Salmonella. It began in 1983 when an outbreak of listeriosis sickened 49 individuals, resulting in 14 fatalities. The outbreak was traced back to pasteurized milk, yet inspections of the plant where the milk was made uncovered no evidence of improper pasteurization. Regulatory officials involved in the investigation noted that Listeria is notably resilient to heat and that the intracellular nature of L. monocytogenes might allow it to survive pasteurization. "These results ... raise questions about the ability of pasteurization to eradicate a large inoculum of L. monocytogenes from contaminated raw milk," they wrote.2

Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens That Survive Pasteurization

Further outbreaks occurred in 1984 and 1985, linked to Salmonella typhimurium. Disturbingly, investigations revealed this pathogen had developed resistance to commonly used antibiotics. An estimated 168,791 and 197,581 people were sickened and at least five people died in these outbreaks.

"Health officials concluded that the milk was contaminated after pasteurization by Salmonella, which persisted in the plant despite efforts to eradicate it," Fallon writes.3 But just how did the Salmonella become so hardy?

As explained by Fallon, in the mid-1980s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) started urging dairy farmers to enhance their efficiency by confining cows to barns and providing them with grain-based diets, which necessitates the use of antibiotics to keep the animals healthy. This, in turn, set the stage for antibiotic resistance to develop.

"Large amounts of grain are not a natural diet for cows," Fallon explains,4 "nor is it natural for cows to live in close quarters with no way of distancing themselves from their fresh manure. To keep the cows alive in such conditions of filth, antibiotics became necessary. It was a recipe for antibiotic resistance and stronger, mutated pathogens.

With the outbreaks of the mid-1980s, the dairy industry realized that under these new conditions, pasteurization was not working. Unfortunately, their solution to the problem was not to go cleaner, but to go hotter. Enter UHT-ultra-high temperature processing.

Old-fashioned, 'low-temperature' pasteurization takes milk to 150 F — hot enough to destroy most of the enzymes in milk, many of which protect against pathogens, while others attach to vitamins and minerals in order to make them easy to absorb. High-temperature pasteurization (also called flash pasteurization) takes milk to 161 F, hot enough to kill all the enzymes and denature some of the proteins. Ultrapasteurization takes milk to 284 F — hotter, much hotter, than the boiling point — by rushing this most fragile, delicate food past superheated stainless steel plates. The process kills bacterial endospores — tough, dormant structures produced by many pathogens, which allows them to 'hibernate' and come back to life when conditions are sufficiently favorable (such as the small intestine). The process also kills everything else, including nutrients, enzymes, and proteins."

Ultrapasteurized Milk Is Harmful to Your Health

According to Parmalat,5 which sells ultrapasteurized milk in Europe, the product is "the same as fresh milk" and "contains a lot of nutrients that are good for your body, just like fresh milk." Scientific studies, however, strongly suggest otherwise. For example, a 2019 study6 from China found that all forms of milk processing tested caused "formation of protein oxidation products which impair spatial learning and memory in rats." That includes boiling, microwave heating, spray drying and freeze-drying, and as noted by Fallon, ultrapasteurization exposes the milk to far higher heat than boiling (284 F compared to 212 F). So, clearly, ultrapasteurized milk doesn't even come close to real milk.

"All four techniques (even freeze-drying) caused 'various degrees of redox state imbalance and oxidative damage in plasma, liver, and brain tissues,'" Fallon writes.7 "Feeding damaged milk proteins to rats resulted in learning and memory impairment — why would any parent want to give UHT [ultra-high temperature] milk to their kids?"

According to the authors of that study, the industry ought to "control milk protein oxidation and improve the processing methods applied to food." Other researchers have come to similar conclusions. A 2021 study8 in the journal Polymers noted that "The major protein modifications that occur during UHT treatment are denaturation and aggregation of the protein, and chemical modifications of its amino acids."

Damaged milk proteins may contribute to allergic reactions, Fallon notes, and milk allergy is now commonplace. According to the Asthma and Allergy Network, an estimated 20 Americans die each year from anaphylactic shock caused by conventional milk9 — a shocking reminder of just how far modern milk has strayed from real, raw milk, which rarely causes any allergic reactions.

One-Third of Conventional Milk Contains Risky Contaminants

Nonorganic pasteurized milk also has other downsides. Aside from potentially hazardous pathogens, conventional milk has also been found to contain a variety of drugs and agricultural chemicals, including:

· Antibiotics such as amoxicillin, oxytetracycline and sulfadimethoxine, as well as sulfathiazole and sulfamethazine, both of which are banned for use in dairy production due to human health concerns, which include acute and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions.

· Pesticides such as chlorpyrifos (an insecticide known to disrupt brain development and cause brain damage, neurological abnormalities, reduced IQ and aggressiveness in children), atrazine (linked to reproductive harm in animals, birth defects and cancer), diazinon, cypermethrin and permethrin (a synthetic pyrethroid13 insecticide linked to behavior problems in children).

None of these pesticides and antibiotics were found in organic milk samples, however. As noted by the authors

"Among the conventional samples, residue levels exceeded federal limits for amoxicillin in one sample (3%) and in multiple samples for sulfamethazine (37%) and sulfathiazole (26%). Median bGH and IGF-1 concentrations in conventional milk were 9·8 and 3·5 ng/ml, respectively, twenty and three times that in organic samples. Current-use antibiotics and pesticides were undetectable in organic but prevalent in conventionally produced milk samples, with multiple samples exceeding federal limits. Higher bGH and IGF-1 levels in conventional milk suggest the presence of synthetic growth hormone."

Why You Shouldn't Avoid Milk

While it may sound as though avoiding milk altogether might be your best bet, that's not the case at all. As detailed in "The Amazing Benefits of Dairy Fat," whole or full-fat dairy contains the odd-chain saturated fats (OCFAs) pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) and heptadecanoic acid (C17:0), which have significant health benefits.

These OCFAs are primarily found in dairy fat, and your body cannot make C15:0, so you must get it from your diet. This fat is so beneficial that researchers now speculate that it may be an overlooked essential fat. Higher circulating levels of OCFAs in the blood is associated with lower risks of obesity, chronic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, NASH, COPD, pancreatic cancer and all-cause mortality.

And, importantly, OCFAs do not have an inhibitory effect on glucose burning because they are not converted to acetyl-CoA; rather, they enter the Krebs Cycle as succinyl-CoA. What this means in practical terms is that you don't need to restrict your consumption of full fat dairy, as it won't affect your ability to burn glucose. Raw organic grass fed milk also has important immune-boosting benefits. According to a 2015 study15 in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, children who drank raw organic grass fed milk had 30% lower rates of viral and respiratory tract infections, including regular colds, then those who drink ultrapasteurized milk. So, milk can indeed "do your body good," as the old marketing slogan used to say, but you must drink the right kind of milk.

Organic Raw Grass Fed Milk Is the Safest Option

The healthiest and safest variety of milk is raw, unpasteurized milk sourced from organically raised, grass fed or pastured cows. Contrary to widespread belief, raw milk is significantly less likely to harbor hazardous bacteria linked to foodborne illness compared to pasteurized counterparts. Despite assertions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration16 and the USDA17 regarding the increased health risks associated with raw milk consumption, empirical evidence from foodborne illness data contradicts these claims. According to an investigation by Dr. Ted Beals,18 the likelihood of falling ill from raw milk is 35,000 times lower than from other food sources.

Similarly, a 2012 investigation by Mark McAfee, CEO of Organic Pastures Dairy — which included a FOIA request to the CDC for data on deaths claimed to be related to raw milk — revealed:

· Zero deaths attributed to raw milk consumption in California over a 37-year span

· The two deaths the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists as being related to raw milk were actually due to illegal Mexican bathtub cheese, and not raw milk produced in the U.S.

· The last people to die from milk died from contaminated pasteurized milk

· According to a Cornell study which used CDC data, 1,100 illnesses were linked to raw milk between 1973 and 2009. Meanwhile, 422,000 illnesses were traced back to pasteurized milk. And, while no one died from raw milk, at least 50 Americans died from pasteurized milk or pasteurized cheese

Both FDA and USDA caution against the potential presence of disease-causing bacteria in raw milk, yet fail to acknowledge that these pathogens stem from industrial farming practices, which contribute to animal health issues. Animals raised on pasture under healthier conditions typically do not harbor harmful levels of pathogenic bacteria.

Their cautionary stance on raw milk consumption would only be warranted if explicitly targeting unpasteurized milk from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), where risks are indeed elevated. Raw organic grass fed milk, when handled according to proper sanitary protocols, seldom poses health hazards as organic dairy farms are mandated to adhere to stringent guidelines, enhancing safety measures.

Consider Goat Milk as an Alternative

I, along with many others, have a distinct preference for raw goat's milk over cow's milk. This choice isn't just about taste; it's also influenced by the nutritional and physical properties of goat milk. One of the notable differences between goat's milk and cow's milk is the composition of fat. Goat milk has smaller fat globules and a different type of fat, which means it naturally remains more homogenous.

Unlike cow's milk, which often requires mechanical homogenization to prevent its fat from separating, goat milk naturally maintains a consistent mixture. This characteristic not only affects its texture and taste, making it smoother and more palatable, but it also makes goat milk easier to digest for many people. Additionally, goat milk predominantly contains A2 casein. Unlike most cow's milk, which can have both A1 and A2 casein, goat's milk, along with sheep and buffalo milk, generally contains the A2 type of casein that is considered to be easier to digest for some people and less likely to cause the adverse effects associated with A1 casein. This makes goat's milk a preferred option for those sensitive to dairy products derived from cows with A1 casein.

Most Store-Bought Milk Is Ultrapasteurized

Upon its introduction to the U.S. market in the early 1990s, ultrapasteurized milk was sold in specialized sterile containers, originally developed in Europe. This product required no refrigeration and boasted a shelf-life of up to nine months. However, American consumers were leery about buying unrefrigerated milk. Consequently, the industry reverted to traditional packaging methods and relocated the product back to the refrigerated aisle. Fast-forward to today and most of the milk sold is ultrapasteurized, even if it's organic.

Fermented products like sour cream and cheese, however, are typically made from pasteurized milk, but not ultrapasteurized, as milk that has undergone ultra-high heat treatment cannot ferment. "That's another way of saying that UHT milk is indigestible, as fermentation is a form of digestion," Fallon notes. She goes on:20 "A recent listeria outbreak causing two deaths and more than 20 hospitalizations initiated a Feb. 5 recall of pasteurized cheese, yogurt, and sour cream — an indication that pasteurization doesn't ensure safety in fermented dairy foods. UHT milk has served as a temporary fix for the dairy industry, but it will ultimately be its undoing. Milk consumption in the United States has declined by half since 1970, and the dairy industry has been unable to reverse the trend. It blames competition from sodas and plant-based 'milk' but won't admit that UHT processing makes milk unpalatable, allergenic, and indigestible."

Where to Find Raw Milk

Though organic milk stands as a preferable option compared to conventional counterparts, it's crucial to recognize that any organic milk sold in mainstream grocery stores is either pasteurized or ultrapasteurized, thus compromising some of its advantages. Pasteurization, responsible for eliminating harmful bacteria, also eradicates beneficial bacteria and may harm essential enzymes. To learn more, see RealMilk.com's article, "The 15 Things That Milk Pasteurization Kills."21 What's worse — regulatory loopholes permitting CAFO dairies to produce "organic" milk, even though the cows are not grass fed on pasture? I discuss this in "How Organic is Your Organic Milk?"

For optimal health benefits, opt for organic, grass fed raw (unpasteurized) milk, ideally certified by the American Grassfed Association (AGA), which ensures the highest quality grass fed products. The AGA website allows you to search for AGA-approved producers22 certified according to strict standards that include being raised on a diet of 100% forage; raised on pasture and never confined to a feedlot; never treated with antibiotics or hormones; and born and raised on American family farms.

Other resources that can help you find raw grass fed milk locally include Raw-Milk-Facts.com23 and RealMilk.com.24 They can tell you what the status is for legality in your state, and provide a listing of raw dairy farms in your area. The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund25 also provides a state-by-state review of raw milk laws.26 California residents can also find raw milk retailers using the store locator available at www.rawfarmusa.com.27 As noted by Fallon:28

"My prediction: Within 20 years UHT milk will be a thing of the past, recognized as a misuse of technology, a rust belt solution that ruins the goodness of Nature's perfect food. We have many elegant technologies today — stainless steel, on-site testing, a national cold chain, and moveable electric fencing that makes grazing feasible — which allow us to get clean raw milk safely to every person in America. 'Get bigger, go hotter' is not the future. The future is small and medium grass-based farms selling raw milk directly to grateful customers."

Dr. Mercola

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Men with localized prostate cancer face a number of treatment choices, including radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy with or without androgen deprivation therapy, and active surveillance. Understanding the likely functional outcomes of each treatment over time is important as most patients are expected to live at least 15 years after diagnosis.

New research published on January 23 in JAMA parses functional outcome results from a population-based study of men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. For their research, Bashir Al Hussein Al Awamlh, MD, of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and his colleagues looked at sexual function, urinary health, bowel function, hormonal function, and other outcomes in this cohort at 10 years' follow-up.

Among 2455 patients for whom 10-year data were available, 1877 were deemed at baseline to have a favorable prognosis (defined as cT1-cT2bN0M0, prostate-specific antigen level less than 20 ng/mL, and grade group 1-2), and 568 had unfavorable-prognosis prostate cancer (defined as cT2cN0M0, prostate-specific antigen level of 20-50 ng/mL, or grade group 3-5). Follow-up data were collected by questionnaire through February 1, 2022. The men in the study were all younger than 80 years, and three quarters of them were White.

At 10 years, outcomes differed based on the amount of time that had passed since diagnosis (they found different results at 3- and 5-year follow-ups, for example) and which treatment a patient received.

Among men with favorable prognoses at diagnosis, 20% underwent active surveillance for at least 1 year, while 56% received radical prostatectomy, 19% had external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) without ADT, and 5% had brachytherapy. Nearly a third of men originally opting for surveillance went on to undergo a therapeutic intervention by 10 years.

Dr Al Hussein Al Awamlh and his colleagues found that while 3- and 5-year follow-up studies in this cohort had shown declines in sexual function among men who underwent surgery compared with those who had radiation or active surveillance, by 10 years those differences had faded, with no clinically meaningful differences in sexual function scores between the surgery and surveillance groups. In an interview, Dr Al Hussein Al Awamlh said that this finding likely reflected mainly age-related declines in function across the study population — though it could also reflect declines after converting from surveillance to surgery or gradual decline with radiation treatment, he acknowledged.

Men with favorable prognoses at baseline who underwent surgery saw significantly worse urinary incontinence at 10 years compared with those started on radiotherapy or active surveillance. And EBRT was associated with fewer incontinence issues compared with active surveillance. Among the group of men with an unfavorable prognosis at baseline, 64% of whom underwent radical prostatectomy and 36% EBRT with ADT, surgery was associated with worse urinary incontinence but not worse sexual function throughout 10 years of follow-up, compared to radiotherapy with androgen deprivation therapy.

Radiation-treated patients with unfavorable prognoses, meanwhile, saw significantly worse bowel function and hormone function at 10 years compared with patients who had undergone surgery. Dr Al Hussein Al Awamlh said that a strength of this study was that "we had enough patients to stratify functional outcomes based on disease prognosis." Another key finding was that some of the outcomes changed over time. "For example, among the patients with unfavorable prognoses, at 10-year follow-up there was slightly worse bowel and hormone function seen associated with radiation with ADT compared with surgery," he said — something not seen at earlier follow-up points.

The findings may help offer a more nuanced way to counsel patients, Dr Al Hussein Al Awamlh noted. For example, the side effects associated with sexual function "are not as relevant for those with unfavorable disease," he said. While current prostate cancer guidelines do address quality of life in shared decision-making, he said, "hopefully this data may provide more insight on that." For patients with favorable prognosis, the findings reinforce that "active surveillance is a great option because it avoids the effects associated with those other treatments."

Ultimately, Dr Al Hussein Al Awamlh said, "this is a patient preference issue. It's important for patients to understand how different functions are affected and to decide what is better for them — what they can live with and what they cannot, provided all the options are oncologically safe." The study authors disclosed as limitations of their study its observational design, the potential for response bias among study participants, and small numbers for some of the measured outcomes.

In an interview, urologist Mark S. Litwin, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, characterized the study as "a well-conducted, very-long-term longitudinal cohort that tracked men long past the initial diagnosis and treatment. That empowered the Vanderbilt team to find differences in quality of life many years later and compare them to other older men who had not received treatment."

The new findings, Dr Litwin said, "are critical in showing that most men with prostate cancer do not die from it; hence, the quality-of-life effects end up being the key issues for decision-making."

MD Edge

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Immune system weakening has long been attributed to aging and poor lifestyle choices, but according to an October 2023 study in Nature Communications, the key reason for this immune system decline is dysfunctional mitochondria, your cells' powerhouses, particularly the mitochondria found in T cells (a type of immune cell).

When the mitochondria don't work well, the T cells don’t have the energy required to perform their functions, which leads to a decline in immune system function. This in turn, results in an inability to ward off both acute infections and chronic diseases.

The study identifies glycolysis as an inefficient way to produce energy, and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced in the process damage T cells

The findings suggest reversing mitochondrial damage could improve immune response and cancer therapies

Excess linoleic acid (LA) intake and estrogen dominance are major contributors to mitochondrial dysfunction

Strategies that will improve your mitochondrial function include lowering your LA intake, reducing stress and taking a niacinamide supplement

View the full study below

Dr. Joseph Mercola

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Do you believe that the older we get, the more health issues we'll inevitably experience? More fatigue, more aches and pains, and more chronic inflammation?

Most people do.

Perhaps you're already experiencing certain health issues that seem to persist no matter what you do. And if you've come to accept that that's simply "a part of life."

But what if we told you that there was a way to make illness optional. And that anyone – even you – could live the rest of your life ‘disease free,' and enjoy a lifetime of vibrant physical and mental health, endless energy, and even turn the clock back on aging and extend your longevity.

Could your gut hold the key to a lifetime of peak health, wellness, and longevity? The "Real Secret" to eradicating your health challenges actually lays in your gut.

Intrigued?

Recent scientific breakthroughs in the field of gut health have revealed something astonishing. And it's being hailed by scientists as "the most important scientific discovery for human healthcare in recent decades." And that's that 95% of all chronic diseases can be traced to a single root cause:

An imbalance in the trillions of bacteria, fungi and viruses living in your gut (collectively known as your gut microbiome). Arthritis. Diabetes. Asthma. Cardiovascular disease. Mental health disorders. The list goes on.

The science is clear: many of the world's most common chronic diseases are definitively linked to one's gut microbiome.

So the big question is… How do you ‘re-balance' your gut microbiome to not only eradicate any chronic disease… but prevent them from ever taking root in the first place?

Mother natures colostrum maximizes internal design and efficiency. Contains the full spectrum of mammal compatible prebiotics and probiotics. The foundation of good health

Unknown

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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Pennsylvania mother of two Racheal Devore demanding answers from manufacturers as she struggles to find the formula needed for her baby, says prices going up.

Toddler milk products have grown into a multibillion-dollar global business, despite warnings from health authorities that the benefits of this milk formula are unproven. The products are marketed with claims of improving brain development or immune function, but the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warned in an Oct. 2023 report that toddler formula is "unnecessary and potentially harmful to young children."

"For healthy toddlers without a specific medical diagnosis, there is no evidence of a need [for] or benefit from toddler milk," Dr. Jenelle Ferry, a neonatologist and director of feeding, nutrition and infant development at Pediatrix Medical Group in Tampa, Florida, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

In spite of these warnings, toddler milk has grown into a $20 billion worldwide business, according to a recent report. "It is disappointing that regulations have not been strengthened, given package claims and marketing messages that imply toddler milks are beneficial, or even necessary, for a toddler’s healthy growth," Fran Fleming-Milici, PhD, director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut, told Fox News Digital.

Infant formula vs. toddler milk

Most infants in the U.S. receive some or all of their nutrition from formula, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Standard infant formula can be supplemented with appropriate solid foods at around 4 to 6 months of age, ensuring intake of essential nutrients like iron, calcium and zinc, the AAP said in a previous statement.

Infant formula is regulated under The Infant Formula Act, which requires that the products meet nutritional requirements as the only source for babies through the first 12 months of age, the statement added. If a toddler beverage is intended for infants younger than 12 months, the product must comply with the FDA’s infant formula regulations in addition to all other applicable food regulations, an FDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

There are two different types of toddler milk on the market: transition formulas for infants and toddlers 9 months to 24 months old, and toddler milk for children 12 months to 36 months age, according to a previous research report from the NYU College of Global Public Health. Unlike infant formulas, toddler milks are not nutritionally complete, experts said. "A healthy diet for toddlers would limit excess processed foods, salt and sugar." Approximately 80% of toddler milks have higher sugar content than whole milk and 100% have less protein, the AAP stated.

After toddlers are weaned off breast milk or infant formula, Ferry recommends that they drink milk and water, with the majority of their nutrients coming from solid foods. "A healthy diet for toddlers would limit excess processed foods, salt and sugar," she said.

Regulation of toddler milk

"Toddler beverage products intended for children 1 year and older are regulated as conventional foods and must comply with the FDA’s labeling regulations," an FDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "This includes providing the Nutrition Facts label, specifically for children 1 to 3 years of age."

When it comes to marketing toddler milks, manufacturers must adhere to certain rules.

"Manufacturers cannot make claims regarding disease conditions, but can use language relating to symptoms, even if they are not supported by evidence," he told Fox News Digital in an email. They can claim their product is lactose-free, for example — but cannot claim that it is helpful for lactase deficiency, he said.

"Nutrient content claims or health claims are not allowed on food products intended specifically for use by infants and children under 2 years of age unless specifically provided for by regulation," added the FDA spokesperson. "In general, the product labeling must be truthful and not misleading."

Cross-promotion in marketing and packaging

Some experts warn that infant formula and toddler milk are often marketed and packaged in a way that may lead parents to believe they are the same in terms of nutritional content. "The cross-promotion of toddler milks with infant formula … allows for the trust caregivers have for formula brands to be transferred to a product that is not regulated, contains added sugar, and is not recommended by the AAP," warned Fleming-Milici.

"Research shows that these messages lead caregivers to believe toddler milks are superior to their family meals and plain cow’s milk – which is much less expensive and is what experts recommend." A WHO report noted that "formula milk marketing, not the product itself, disrupts informed decision-making and undermines breastfeeding and child health."

Showing parents educational videos to correct misleading marketing can help to reduce sugary drink consumption in the first few years of a child’s life, Fleming-Milici’s research found. "Exposure to the videos significantly reduced positive attitudes toward toddler milks and fruit drinks, and reduced intentions to serve both," she told Fox News Digital.

Potential nutritional benefits

Advocates, however, argue that toddler formula is helpful to many young children who don’t get the proper nutrients in their diet. "In general, the product labeling must be truthful and not misleading." "Research demonstrates that nutrient intake for young children often falls below adequate levels for iron, vitamins D and E, calcium, choline, potassium and fiber," a spokesperson from the Infant Nutrition Council of America (INCA) told Fox News Digital. INCA is a Washington, D.C.-based association of manufacturers of infant formulas and toddler milks, representing brands including Abbott Nutrition, Perrigo Nutritionals and Reckitt Benckiser.

"For kids 12 months to 36 months who need nutritional support, toddler nutritional drinks have been shown to contribute to nutritional intake and potentially fill nutrition gaps, as recognized globally in the international Codex Alimentarius standard," the INCA spokesperson added. When children need extra nutrition because of a medical condition — such as failure to thrive or an intestinal or metabolic disorder — they should receive specialty liquid nutrition rather than products marketed as toddler milk, Ferry noted. A spokesperson from Nestlé, which makes a variety of powdered milk products for toddlers, said in response to an earlier Fox News Digital query that the company "seeks to provide a range of foods and beverages to support consumers at all stages of life."

The spokesperson added, "Nestlé has consistent standards that apply to our responsible marketing for products intended for babies and young children. Those standards and practices fully comply with the WHO [World Health Organization] code and follow either local law or our own policy — whichever is stricter." A spokesperson from Similac also submitted a statement to Fox News Digital in response to an earlier query as well. "National health studies indicate that U.S. toddlers have nutritional gaps in their diet often related to picky eating," the spokesperson said. "When they don’t do well transitioning to table foods, or won’t drink milk, our toddler drinks contain many of the complementary nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, that they may be missing in their diet."

Fox News

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A genetically modified cow has produced proteins needed for human insulin in its milk, and the scientists behind the experiment have high hopes that a herd of these cattle could solve the world's insulin supply problems.

If such a herd were viable – and, based on this first case, that's still a long way off – the researchers think it could out-compete current insulin production methods, which rely on genetically modified yeast and bacteria.

Insulin – and its role in diabetes – was first discovered in 1921, and for many years diabetics were treated with insulin sourced from the pancreases of cattle and pigs. But in 1978, the first 'human' insulin was produced using proteins from genetically engineered E. coli bacteria, which, along with similar processes that use yeast instead of bacteria, is the main source of medical insulin to this day.

While turning to cows for human insulin supply isn't new, the new study is the first time 'human' insulin production has been achieved in a genetically modified bovine. The research team, led by animal scientist Matt Wheeler from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, inserted a particular segment of human DNA that codes for proinsulin (a protein that's converted to insulin) into the cell nuclei of 10 cow embryos, which were then inserted into the wombs of normal cows.

Only one of these genetically modified embryos developed into a pregnancy, leading to the natural birth of a living, transgenic calf. When it reached maturity, the team made a variety of attempts to get the genetically modified cow pregnant, by artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and even the old-fashioned way. None were successful, but the team notes this may be more to do with how the embryo was created than the fact it was genetically modified.

Eventually they were able to get the cow to lactate via hormonal induction, using an undisclosed method attributed to animal reproduction technologist Pietro Baruselli from the University of São Paulo. The cow didn't lactate as much as it would during a pregnancy, but what little milk it did produce over a month was examined to look for specific proteins, using western blotting and mass spectrometry.

The blotting revealed two bands with similar molecular masses to human proinsulin and insulin, which were not present in the milk of non-transgenic cows. Mass spectrometry indicated the presence of the C-peptide that's removed from human proinsulin in the process of creating insulin, which suggests that enzymes in the cow's milk may have converted the 'human' proinsulin into insulin.

"Our goal was to make proinsulin, purify it out to insulin, and go from there. But the cow basically processed it herself. She makes about three to one biologically active insulin to proinsulin," Wheeler says. In 2014, a similar kind of genetic modification was achieved in mice, whose milk contained up to 8.1 grams per liter of human proinsulin. Comparable concentrations were not reported in this new study, but that hasn't stopped Wheeler from thinking about scaling up.

A typical unit of insulin is 0.0347 milligrams, so if, as Wheeler proposes, each cow could make one gram of insulin per liter of milk, that's 28,818 units of insulin. "You'd need specialized, high-health-status facilities for the cattle, but it's nothing too out of the ordinary for our well-established dairy industry," he says. "I could see a future where a 100-head herd… could produce all the insulin needed for the country. And a larger herd? You could make the whole world's supply in a year."

Science Alert

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When you enjoy a couple of digestive biscuits with your cuppa – who has just the one? – it probably doesn’t occur to you that you’re consuming salt. So it may shock you to learn there’s about the same amount of salt in that “sweet” snack as there is in a packet of ready salted potato crisps.

It’s not the salt we’re sprinkling on our meals at the table that’s damaging our health, according to campaign group Action on Salt. The hidden salt in sweet and savoury packaged foods is the silent killer; over time and in excessive amounts, it’s raising our blood pressure and causing heart attacks and strokes.

“We were getting the message to cut back on salt 10-15 years ago, but unfortunately it’s started to creep up again,” says Sonia Pombo, a registered nutritionist with Action on Salt. “In the UK, adults are eating about 8.4 grams of salt per day, about 40 per cent higher than the maximum recommended limit of 6g (about one teaspoon).” And most of that is hidden in products we buy at the supermarket, she says.

Salt serves a purpose in food, of course; in manufactured products it prevents spoiling and extends shelf life. And foods containing lower-quality ingredients are often generously salted to add much-needed flavour. “But food manufacturers certainly don’t need to add as much as they do,” Pombo says.

It’s not necessary to try to avoid salt altogether – our bodies need it to function. “It’s a case of scrutinising labels a bit more and switching to products with slightly lower amounts of salt,” Pombo says. “Small subtle changes over time will allow your tastebuds to adapt to eating less salt.”

The following foods are surprisingly high in salt, in many cases comparable to the amount in a 32.5g packet of Walkers Ready Salted Crisps (0.44g).

Sweet biscuits and treats

The McVities digestive biscuits mentioned above contain 0.2g of salt each, so a snack of two contains roughly the same amount as a bag of crisps. And there are even saltier sweet treats out there. Sainsbury’s Belgian White Chocolate & Raspberry Cookies contain 0.34g of salt each. White Ring Donuts from Iceland are covered in icing, so they might seem sugary – but each contains more salt (0.49g) than a packet of ready salted crisps.

Cheese

Salt is essential in cheesemaking, but Action on Salt argues that some manufacturers use much more than necessary. In its recent report into 607 hard cheeses, the organisation found that Asda 30% Less Fat Mature British Cheese was the saltiest cheddar with 2g of salt per 100g. That means there’s 0.6g of salt in the recommended matchbox-size serving (30g) – more than a bag of crisps. Some manufacturers manage to make cheddar with much less salt, Pombo points out. But even the least salty cheddar, Morrisons Savers Mild Coloured Cheddar, contains 1.44g of salt per 100g.

String cheese, which is hugely popular with children, contains worrying amounts of salt at 0.36g per portion, Pombo says. “Manufacturers could make them with a much lower salt content. It’s a missed opportunity to help children develop a lower salt palate.” But plant-based cheeses are the saltiest. One brand – Tesco Plant Chef Alternative to Mature Cheese – contains 2.5g salt per 100g, while Cathedral City Plant-Based Dairy-Free Block contains 2.2g of salt per 100g.

Breakfast cereals

Most of us consider cereal to be a sweet breakfast, but that’s not the whole picture. A bowlful might not taste as salty as crisps, but some brands are even saltier. For example, a 50g serving of Kellogg’s Cornflakes contains 0.55g of salt – significantly more than a bag of crisps – over one-quarter of the recommended intake of salt for a 3-year-old.

Even cereals considered healthy can be salty; one 50g serving of Kellogg’s Bran Flakes contains 0.33g of salt.

Bread

Our daily loaf – the plastic-wrapped supermarket kind - is one of the biggest sources of salt in the British diet, says Pombo. Even apparently healthy options are secretly salty. One slice of Hovis Granary Wholemeal sliced bread contains 0.46g of salt – more than a packet of crisps. A slice of Waitrose White Sourdough contains 0.41g.

If you eat sandwiches, the salt can easily add up. Two slices of Tesco White Bread (0.68g) spread with 4 teaspoons of salted butter (0.3g) and a serving of Marmite (0.86g) contains a total 1.84g of salt. That’s the same amount as in four packets of crisps, around one-third of the maximum recommended salt limit for adults, and the entire maximum daily recommended limit for three year olds.

Processed meats like bacon

Another big contributor to salt intake in Britain is processed and cured meat, including sliced ham and bacon. It’s not surprising they contain salt, as it’s used in the curing process, but the quantity they contain is sobering. For example, two slices of Sainsbury’s British Honey Roast Cooked Ham contain a total 0.55g of salt – significantly more than a packet of crisps. But bacon pulls an even saltier punch. Two rashers of Aldi Specially Selected Dry Cured Smoked Back Bacon contain 2.3g salt, more than in five packets of crisps.

Sausages are salty, too. Two Macaulay’s Irish Pork Sausages from Aldi contain 1.96g of salt – more than in four packets of crisps. Two Waitrose Cumberland Pork Sausages contain 1.58g of salt – more than three packets of crisps.

Plant-based meat

Like plant-based cheese, vegan meat alternatives are often high in salt to boost the flavour. “Eating less meat can and should be good for you, but people often conside plant-based alternatives as healthier when that’s not necessarily the case,” Pombo says.

Beyond Burger plant-based patties each contain more than 0.75g of salt – almost the same as in two bags of crisps, while two Richmond Meat Free Sausages contain 1.3g of salt – three bags of crisps.

Salad dressings and sauces

It’s easy to overlook the salt content of condiments because we only use small amounts, but some are laden with it, and it all adds up. One tablespoon of Hellmann’s Fat Free Vinaigrette Salad Dressing contains 0.11g of salt, while Tesco French Style Dressing contains 0.2g.

Ketchup is even saltier. One 15g serving of Heinz Tomato Ketchup contains 0.3g of salt, so if you smother sausages with it, you’re not far off the amount of salt in a bag of crisps – and that doesn’t include the salt in the sausages. But brands vary. Morrisons Tomato Ketchup contains only 0.12g per 15g serving, while Sainsbury’s Tomato Ketchup and Batts Tomato Ketchup (Lidl) contain 0.15g and 0.2g of salt per serve respectively.

Ready meals and soups

Food manufacturers have reformulated their recipes over the past few decades to drastically reduce the salt content in ready meals and soups. But some are still saltier than you might expect. Sainsbury’s Sausages and Mash contains 2.29g of salt – equivalent to the salt in more than five packets of crisps and almost half the recommended maximum daily limit for adults. Tesco Finest Spaghetti Carbonara isn’t far behind at 2.22g per serving.

Supermarket soups can also be incredibly salty. Cully & Sully Chicken and Vegetable Soup (available at various supermarkets) contains 2.4g of salt per serving, while M&S Chunky Chicken & Vegetable Soup contains 2g.

The Telegraph

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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The immune system is under more threat today than at any stage in human existence. Mutating viruses, processed foods, preservatives, pollution, microplastics, heavy metals, stress and lifestyles challenges just to name a few. All disease and even aging is the result of a dysfunctional immune system. Enter colostrum. There is no substance on earth that can equal the immune boosting multi functioning properties of colostrum.

Colostrum is the first milk produced by all mammals after birth of a baby. Bovine colostrum, distinct from regular milk, stands out for its remarkable composition of bioactive compounds. This unique substance has garnered attention for its potential benefits in various contexts, especially in promoting health and disease resistance. It is produced in the mammary gland just prior to birth so it is available for the baby from the moment they are born. Not only is colostrum a rich food source for the newborn, but its natural purpose is also to protect the infant from infections in the first few days of its life. Without colostrum the new born will die within 72 hours due to infections.

Through Colostrum a mother transfers a complete copy of her immune systems memory and protective qualities going back thousands of years. Colostrum protects the gut of the newborn from attack by pathogenic bacteria and viruses, but more importantly it helps the newborn to immediately establish a healthy gut microbiome.

Colostrum is not only life’s first food its also the “Foundation Of Good Health.” While the development of the gut microbiome and pathogen protection is colostrum’s most important role, it contains many other natural bio active factors that are now known to heal and protect the future of the newborn. We also know that these factors are important at all stages of life, particularly as we start to grow older. As humans we have known this for centuries, but with the advent of modern medicines this has been suppressed and we have forgotten.

The ancient Egyptians believed that colostrum had spiritual properties capable of enhancing the souls of the deceased. They believed it helped them transition into the afterworld and attain everlasting life. When there was a plague or epidemic it was known that the only protection was to take colostrum. It was so revered that it was believed to be “The Gift Of Creation.” Colostrum was prescribed in Ayurvedic medicine, as having medicinal and spiritual benefits. Even today, Hindus continue to hold cows in high regard due to their spiritual significance, particularly their association with colostrum. The term for astonishment in all cultures is “Holy Cow” again indicting the reverence colostrum is held.

Evidence can be found in many cultures across the world, including first nations peoples, and Europeans of the reverence in which colostrum is held, for its healing properties. European cultures consumed traditional foods and cheeses made from colostrum, as they understood the health promoting properties of this life sustaining substance, produced by a mother to protect her newborn. Many families today, particularly in Eastern bloc countries use colostrum as a preventive product, and also increase consumption when they faced health challenges. Most cannot afford western medicines, but they understand the healing power of colostrum.

Many would ask why are the healing properties of colostrum not more widely known. Firstly, they are a mothers secret and this secret is passed through families by word of mouth. Secondly, we cannot yet make pharmaceutical type claims because there are so many substances in colostrum that work together, synergistically. We cannot isolate one compound like in modern medicine and say that this multi functioning compound has a specific effect on a body function.

Colostrum acts as a complete product to heal and repair the body back to an optimum state, by firstly returning the gut microbiome back to a healthy state. The body then picks up the bio actives it needs from colostrum and food to heal itself. It is just the way that nature intended it to be. Thirdly when Alexander Flemming discovered penicillin in 1928 it is apparent the pharmaceutical industry wanted to avoid any competition to the infection treatment industry, so most of the ancient knowledge was suppressed. Being natural of course it cannot be patented. The New Image mission is to again make the world aware of the spiritual powers of mother natures colostrum.

Mr Graeme Clegg was a sheep farmer. In his early farming career, he made a crucial observation, newborn lambs that did not get colostrum died of infections within 48 hours. He began to realise the importance of this first milk, colostrum, in reducing mortality and transferring a fast start to life. Motivated by anecdotal evidence and personal observations, he transitioned from farming to a relentless pursuit of expanding colostrum knowledge worldwide, and learning from experts in the field. Simultaneously, he founded his business, New Image Group Ltd., producing and selling colostrum-based products to health concious consumers who believed in its significant benefits.

The bio actives that triggered every function in the new born of course have the same ability to restore optimium function awhen taken at any stage in life. With a robust safety profile, applicability across diverse age groups, and availability in user-friendly oral formulations post-inactivation, colostrum stands as a compelling option for consumer acceptance and ease of use. Ensuring safe processing for human consumption is paramount in maximizing these advantages.New Image has partnered with mother nature to make colostrum conveniently available on demand.

Colostrum is an extremely complex substance essential to activate every function of the new borns body. It could be described as blood serum converted by the mamary gland having every life force blood has, without the type limitations. Being a life force it transfers memory and instructions while also facilitating cell to cell communication. At that time the only commercially avaiable colostrum was from cows. He understood that it did not matter what mammalian species the colostrum came from. All mamals are warm blooded and suckle their young. They all get the same diseases. Blood poisoning, Diarreah, Food poisioning, Cancer, Covid etc. Cows produce much more colostrum than one baby calf needs, so the surplus can be sustainably harvested .

Not being hygenic like humans, cows colostrum is many times more potent than human mothers colostrum. It is essential that the new born gets sufficient colostrum to insure its immunity is not compromised otherwise they will not survive. However colostrum must be treated so carefully to retain its precious life-forces. New Image realised that most of colostrums bio actives were too fragile to be processed in dairy milk powder plants with high temperature and pressure, so has developed its own facilities to ensure that all the precious bioactives are retained. These processes are unique and protected by patents ensuring a far superior product retaining the maximium bioavailability intended by mother nature.

The company has since grown and successfully diversified into a range of colostrum-related products. It has expanded its operations internationally into 25 countries. In 2022, New Image Group Ltd. achieved a remarkable milestone, securing the #26 position in the Global 100 Direct Sales companies, with revenues nearing $500 million. This exponential growth, starting from humble origins, underscores the trust placed by our global consumers in the products we offer. This growth reflects the substantial health and well-being benefits derived from colostrum, and promoted by New Image.

Moving forward, the Company is committed to expanding its presence overseas and breaking into new markets by introducing innovative products. The objective is to empower individuals worldwide to achieve their health and wellness goals through awareness and self intevention. “A healer is not someone you go to for healing. A healer is someone that triggers within you, your own ability to heal yourself.”

Bovine Colostrum: Science or Sales Gimmick?

Bovine colostrum stands out for its remarkable composition of bioactive compounds. These compounds can provide significant health benefits when colostrum is consumed on a regular basis. A significant amount of research has been carried out by prominent scientists all over the world. Many of the published and peer reviewed papers are available at “The Institute of Colostrum Research”, www.colostrumresearch.org. The latest scientific data is collected by this not-for-profit organisation and made available to the general public.

The most notable of the bioactive compounds are the antibodies (immunoglobulins). Antibody levels in colostrum are very high. Nature has designed it this way so the newborn infant can get immediate protection against attack by pathogenic viruses, fungi and bacteria. The antibodies work largely in the gut scavenging these bad bacteria and viruses removing them from the intestine. This allows the good bacteria to populate effectively and form a healthy gut microbiome. The science supports this statement.

Complementing the antibodies are an absolutely huge number of other bioactive compounds. There are immune-like factors, growth factors, signalling proteins and sugars, bioactive carbohydrates, bioactive peptides, milk phospholipids, oligosaccharides, lysozymes, lactoferrin, and lactoperoxidase to name a few. It is a perfect most complete food. Some colostrum-derived peptides exhibit promising potential in modulating immune responses, reducing inflammation, and displaying antiviral properties.

Drawing upon the scientific evidence available, it becomes apparent that the importance of colostrum to both ancient and contemporary societies is undeniable. Thus, its benefits are substantiated and not merely perceived as marketing tactics. Even now we are still uncovering the secrets nature has embedded in this product, produced by a mother to protect her newborn. Our latest research has identified 106 amino acid peptide sequences and an astonishing 152 proteins in the colostrum cream which is syphoned off during most commercial processing. Graeme Cleggs curiosity about why mother nature would have cream in colostrum if there was no value to it, led to these discoveries.

The current focus revolves around unravelling the intricate science of polypeptides, elucidating their mechanisms of action, delving into cell biology, and exploring translational immunology, among other areas. The company is dedicated to disseminating these discoveries to the broader international community, thus enriching the understanding of bovine and goat colostrum. This steadfast commitment to scientific inquiry underscores the dedication to unlocking the full potential of colostrum in promoting human health and pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge, aligning with the vision of New Image Group Ltd.'s Founder.

Aware of the immense potential of colostrum, New Image Group Ltd. delved into preserving its nutritional value and bioactive compounds. To progress the unlocking of colostrums secrets, Graeme Clegg has established a research arm of the company, New Image Innovation (NII). The role of the NII scientists is to explore the bioactive compounds in colostrum and understand how they interact with humans to provide tangible health and wellness benefits. The company has already made several important innovative leaps in technology to deliver superior products for consumers.

The Alpha Lipid™ Technology is one of these technology leaps. The technology provides a protective barrier for the delicate bio actives in colostrum helping them transition through the gut wall into the body, as well as also providing protection for them through the acidic environment of the stomach. This technology is about maximising processed colostrum health and wellness benefits to the consumer. The objective is to empower individuals worldwide to achieve their health and wellness goals through strengthening the immune system.

New Image Innovation has completed an extensive program of research into the manufacture of a new and significantly more enhanced bioactive colostrum. While immunoglobulin G has been the accepted primary measure of colostrum activity, it is only a measuring one aspect of the products functionality. NII is now preparing to manufacture a novel Gold Standard colostrum powder. While the company has been the leader in colostrum powder development, this new technology is a paradigm shift in colostrum manufacture. The product is considerably more bioactive, than other powders in the market place, allowing it to target a much wider range of health conditions.

NII has identified medical research partners, and an initial program is already in place investigating the effects of this new powder in mitigating the effects of type II age on-set diabetes.

Already reported in literature are studies investigating the relationship between colostrum and gut associated diseases, Chrones disease, Leaky Gut syndrome and Irritable Bowel. All these diseases are related to significant inflammation states within the body. We are investigating further the relationship between anti-inflammatory compounds in colostrum and the mitigation of diseases related to inflammatory states within the human body, such as arthritis, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. New Image intends to maintain its role at the forefront of colostrum research and understanding of how this product helps heal and repair disease states within the body.

What many people don’t understand is the importance of the gut to your overall health and wellness. When the gut microbiome functions as it should, receptors in the gut communicate with receptors in the brain. They then tell the brain where the body needs assistance, and it can heal and repair itself. The gut, blood brain communication mechanism is probably the most important tool your body has to keep itself healthy and free of disease.

We already know that colostrum repairs the human gut microbiome. This makes the gut more healthy. Food is better utilised, components required for normal body function are better absorbed. Our research is ensuring we are providing people with the safest, most efficacious product on the market, with proven health and wellness benefits.

Graeme Clegg’s vision of building a world-renowned health and wellness company based on the life-force power contained within a product produced by a mother to protect her newborn is becoming a reality. Driven by a philosophy of continuous improvement and a desire to contribute to human health, the company has developed numerous cutting edge products over time. Alpha Lipid Lifeline a fortified breakfast shake is the hero product developed to strengthen and protect the body throughout the day. Has become a family institution throughout Asia. Colostem, formulated to facilitate an increase in Stem Cells circulating was shown to increase numbers 122% through clinical trials published in prestigious medical publications. Immunfort tablets were a breakthrough in concentrating 600,000 antibodies into a tablet to reinforce the immune systems defences against bacteria and viruses.

It is correct, not all colostrum is equal or provides real health and wellness benefits. New Image has set the standard for all the colostrum it markets. It ensures that it only uses product that meets its stringent quality parameters. This requires exhaustive testing through highly sophisticated laboratory methods. We also know that the source of colostrum affects the overall bioactivity of the product and how it behaves within the human gut. Some colostrum’s, because of the way they are handled and processed cannot dissolve in the gut and are therefore useless in enhancing health and wellness.

What is unusual is the founder Graeme Clegg is so passionate about colostrum he personally is the “Guinee Pig” for all the research. A recognised anti aging specialist at 84 years of age he is still physically active working out in the gym and enjoying his tennis. Known internationally as “the man who slowed down time” he still actively runs the companies international and expansion operations. He states he started the company to save his life and not to make money and been fortunate to be beneficiary of both. He experienced the trauma of losing his younger brother to cancer at 46 years of age followed by both parents. Realising he could be genetically programmed to be a victim of cancer he was determined to outwit the grim reaper.

We also know that the environment in which cows who give colostrum live, affects the quality of the colostrum. Other factors such as feed type affects the product. In large factory farms the health and wellness of the newborn calf is not taken in to account, by companies harvesting and processing colostrum. Nearly all the male calves receive less than the minimum recommended quantity of colostrum to start their life. These calves either die or are slaughtered. We also know these large factory farms are a toxic environment therefore excessive amounts of antibiotics are used which enter the colostrum and milk. There are even practices of including hormones to force extra milk production off setting the high costs of forcing cows through their lifetime to live on concrete in barns and fed a diet of corn. Cows are ruminants and their digestive system is designed specifically for grass.

For Colostrum to be of the best quality, it should only be harvested from cows which live naturally in a clean environment. They must graze freely on pasture, as nature intended, where they pick up the microbiome within the environment building a robust immune system. The colostrum harvested is therefore much more potent as mother nature designed. When colostrum is harvested it has to be gently treated. It should be immediately chilled and held in vats with a simple agitator to maintain its fluidity. It should be processed within 48 hours of harvesting from the cow. It should never be frozen and held for long periods of time. New Image includes these parameters in its tough product specifications.

Embracing New Zealand's Clean Green Ethos: New Image Group Commitment to Environmental Responsibility and Calf Welfare.

New Zealand's commitment to environmental stewardship resonates deeply with New Image Group., aligning with the nation's ethos of sustainability and responsibility. As advocates for environmental, social, and governance practices endorsed by the government, the company places a strong emphasis on animal welfare, particularly concerning the collection of colostrum. Recognizing the important role colostrum plays in bolstering the immune systems of newborn calves, New Image Group. prioritizes calves receiving colostrum within the first 12 hours after birth. Failure to provide this essential nourishment can leave calves vulnerable to diseases, highlighting the critical importance of responsible colostrum management. To ensure adherence to stringent welfare standards and environmental obligations, the company collaborates closely with dairy farmers. This partnership aims to uphold sustainable practices in colostrum collection and sale, aligning with the Code of Welfare for Dairy Cattle (2019) guidelines. Through these efforts, New Image Group. strives to safeguard calf welfare while honouring New Zealand's environmental ethos, preventing unnecessary loss, and promoting sustainability across the industry.

Why use the colostrum from New Zealand and New Image Group Ltd?

New Image has invested heavily in manufacturing technology to secure its position as the global leader in the colostrum market for the foreseeable future. The New Image Group works directly with selected farmers to secure supplies of premium fresh raw colostrum. Then ensuring that all measures are taken to ensure only the finest grade of colostrum is harvested and held on farm for no longer than 48 hours before it is processed into powder. New Image places its own collection vats on supplier farms to ensure quality standards are maintained. Cows in New Zealand graze on pasture year-round, enjoying the freedom to roam and benefit from natural sun exposure and living conditions. This is the colostrum we harvest.

By eliminating certain factors known to negatively impact quality, such as confinement and artificial lighting, New Zealand cows produce premium colostrum. This natural, pasture-based approach to farming not only promotes animal welfare but also enhances the nutritional content and bioactive properties of the colostrum produced. New Zealand emerges as a prime source for high-quality colostrum, reflecting the country's commitment to sustainable and ethical farming practices.

As part of its investment strategy New Image acquired in a unique, bespoke spray drying facility, NZ Food Innovation (Waikato), www.nzfiw.co.nz. Manufacture of New Images New Generation Colostrum is being moved to NZFIW. Investment in high technology plant and equipment is being made, with installation in June this year for operation in July. The innovative process by which the product will be made, is soon-to-be-patented. NZFIW will be managing the process, and all R&D will be co-ordinated through this entity as well,

In August this year we undertook production trials in the facility and determined this was the only facility available to manufacture New Images Next Generation colostrum. The facility operates under licence from the New Zealand Government agency MPI. It is audited against food safety and product safety standards every three months. The level of compliance is very high, and this is reflected in the quality standards of the product produced. In our novel process we enhance levels of a wide range of bioactives, we reduce heat stress on the product, and significantly reduce any denaturation of the important bioactive compounds.

In part of the process, we employ a novel liposome technology where we encapsulate some of the bio actives to further protect them through the human gut. The process to manufacture our next generation colostrum is novel, world leading and uses cutting edge technology, to further protect the valuable life-force contained within a product produced by a mother to protect her newborn. The innovative technology being installed is attracting international interest as the membrane technology will enable the direct extraction of valuable bio actives so they can be concentrated for health supplements, dairy and infant formulas.

With its rich composition of bioactive compounds, bovine colostrum represents a historical cornerstone in health practices, validated by scientific scrutiny. The intricate interplay of colostrum's immunoglobulins, peptides, and growth factors and other immune-like compounds suggests a holistic impact on immune modulation, inflammation reduction, and metabolic health, positioning colostrum as a valuable dietary component with therapeutic implications. As we stand on the cusp of new scientific horizons, colostrum's legacy persists, offering insights that may reshape paradigms in health and nutrition, fostering a future where its inherent benefits contribute to a more profound understanding of mental health, well-being, and resilience. If there was just one supplement to maximise health benefits it would have to be mother natures colostrum. If the immune system is robust the body is protected in many ways accumulating in extended lifespans.

The world needs New Image and colostrum.

Unknown

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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From choosing what to have for breakfast to making sweet treats 'healthy', here are the tips you need to navigate the tricky world of sugar. Unless you've just arrived from Mars, it won't come as news that in Britain we consume too much sugar, with terrible consequences for our health. That much seems straightforward, yet these days, sugar is a hot and confusing topic.

Scientist, gut health expert and Telegraph columnist Professor Tim Spector recently sparked a heated debate on social media by claiming orange juice was "just as bad" as cola.

Meanwhile, nutrition experts have lambasted some of Pret a Manger's apparently healthy granola breakfast bowls for containing more sugar per serving than a Mars bar. Even Pret's new kids' meal deals are in the firing line, with experts saying the yogurt pots contain more sugar than a packet of Haribo sweets.

Those of us with a sweet tooth – and that's most of us, at least occasionally – can only scratch our heads. Are all types of sugar the devil's work? Are we really damaging our health by reaching for a sweet treat occasionally? Only in our dreams would kids choose an apple over sweets, so what do we do in the real world when they badger us for a treat? We asked the experts.

What types of sugar are least healthy?

To make informed choices about sugar, it's important to understand the basics. There are two types of sugar in food: intrinsic and free. Intrinsic sugars are naturally present in the cell structure of whole foods such as fruit, vegetables and milk. Free sugars, on the other hand, have been 'freed' from the cells through processing, such as squeezing for juice or blitzing into purée. Free sugars include the white stuff we stir into our tea, as well as all the brown sugars, which are widely and wrongly thought to be healthier. But many free sugars are less obvious: fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, fruit purée, honey and syrups all count.

These "free" sugars are the ones the Government advises us to limit our intake of. This is because they damage our teeth and are quickly absorbed, causing spikes in blood sugar. And they don't fill us up, so leave us wanting more. Eating too much sugar is also linked to a range of serious health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. In contrast, there's no evidence that intrinsic sugars – the kind in, say, apples – are damaging. "They take longer to digest and don't spike your blood sugar as quickly as free sugars because they come with extra nutrients, like fibre and other compounds that are good for us," says nutritionist Sam Rice.

How much sugar should we consume?

The Government recommends we limit our intake of free sugars, not intrinsic sugars. For adults and children aged 11 and above, that means a maximum of 30g a day; for those from seven to ten, it's 24g a day; and from four to six, 19g a day. Unfortunately, as a nation, we ignore these recommendations.

According to the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey, overall average intakes of free sugars are roughly twice the recommendation. And we're potentially seriously risking our health as a result.

"Excessive consumption of sugar can increase the risk of tooth decay and Type 2 diabetes," says registered nutritionist Valeria Folco. "It can also promote a higher intake of energy, which in the long-term may lead to weight gain." What's more, free sugars trigger sharp rises and falls – spikes – in blood sugar levels. Emerging evidence suggests that over the long term, frequent and extreme spikes can cause chronic inflammation – cell damage – and associated conditions such as heart disease, Alzheimer's and potentially even cancer.

The hidden sugar to look out for

Sometimes we don't know how much free sugar we're consuming, so it's important to be able to spot it on labels. This isn't necessarily easy, as it can be disguised under many names. Look out for the words syrup, nectar, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, fruit juice, fruit purée and anything ending in 'ose' (such as fructose, glucose, dextrose and maltose). Some recent studies have suggested fructose may have a particular role to play in weight gain, but Folco says the evidence for this is "conflicting".

Also look for the "carbohydrates of which sugars" figure on the nutrition label. Products are considered to either be high or low in sugar if they fall above or below the following thresholds - high: more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g; low: 5g or less of total sugars per 100g.

Misleadingly, "no added sugar" on packaging doesn't mean it's free from all "free sugars", just table sugar. Manufacturers are technically allowed to use the term if they've added free sugars such as fruit purée or concentrate

The Telegraph

Any opinions, views and beliefs represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the opinion, views and beliefs of the organisation and employees of New Image™ International

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