Dr. Jonny Bowden

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  • Another Reason to Skip Diet Sodas

    A new study shows people who regularly drink diet sodas are 43% more likely to suffer a stroke, heart attack, and other vascular problems than people who didn’t touch diet soda.

    Researchers weren’t sure what exactly in the diet soda triggers that increased vascular risk, but something does.

    The study, which appeared in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, interestingly found people who drink regular soda and only have, say, one diet soda each week don’t have these vascular issues.

    Now, the take-home from this study is not to engulf Coke and only occasionally have a Diet Coke. I want you to ditch soda, period, whether it’s sweetened with aspartame or high-fructose corn syrup.

    Nobody pays much attention when I say diet soda can give you a heart attack or stroke. But mention that  it makes you fat, and suddenly people get all riled up: “But, wait… It’s diet soda. And it has no calories…”

    Don’t shoot the messenger. Studies verify diet soda can pack on the pounds and lots worse.

    One study, for instance, showed that diet soda drinkers who drank just two cans a day got fatter than people who drank two cans of regular soda. No kidding.

    Another study showed drinking diet soda daily significantly increases your risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

    But wait, you say. Diet sodas don’t have any sugar, so how could they contribute to diabetes?

    A study in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine explained this predicament. In a nutshell, sweetness without the calories could increase your appetite and makes you reach for the Sausalito cookies.

    Scientists call this phenomenon “calorie dysregulation.” Ever noticed when you’re drinking a Diet Coke you suddenly get cravings for something crunchy or sweet?

    Those Yale researchers also concluded diet sodas trigger sugar craving and sugar dependence.

    That could happen for several reasons. One, the diet soda’s exacerbated sweetness could make you crave more sugar.

    And your body could mistake the aspartame for real sugar. Your pancreas responds with insulin, which among its other duties stores fat and takes your blood sugar on a rollercoaster ride.

    The end result is more cravings. And trust me, when I say cravings, I don’t mean for wild salmon and broccoli.

    Oh, and don’t even get me started about the numerous problems aspartame can create.

    Look, I know kicking the diet soda habit can be brutal, especially if Diet Coke to you falls into one of the four food groups. If cold turkey seems torture, at least cut back to one can a week. (Or, okay, one a day if your habit is that bad.)

    You might also dump the diet soda for seltzer water flavored with lemon or lime. The water’s carbonation has a similar mouth feel to diet soda without the aspartame and other nasty ingredients.

  • Yerba Mate: All of the Caffeine, None of the Jitters

    Yerba Mate: All of the Caffeine, None of the Jitters

    A recent study at the University of Illinois found when human colon cancer cells become exposed to bioactive compounds present in just one cup of yerba mate tea, those cancer cells die. These tea compounds also reduced inflammation.

    “Put simply, the cancer cell self-destructs because its DNA has been damaged,” said Elvira de Mejia, associate professor of food chemistry and food toxicology at the University of Illinois.

    These findings could benefit all types of cancer. Because it helps to absorb and metabolize caffeine-related compounds, however, yerba mate’s anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits are probably most useful for your colon.

    You might be asking “Yerba what?”

    It’s pronounced “mah-tay.” Yerba mate has long been a staple in South America, which regards this potent tea for its medicinal and social qualities.

    Much like you might gather with friends at Starbucks, people in Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay gather to drink yerba mate. In fact, it’s a ritual with its own set of rules.

    Traditionally, the host or person who brings the mate prepares the drink and refills the gourd with water. In these three countries, they keep hot (never boiling) water for yerba mate in a vacuum flask, a pava (kettle), or in Brazil, a garrafa térmica (thermos).

    Yerba mate doesn’t quite get this kind of love in North America. However, I hope more people get turned on to this invigorating, healthy drink, which you can find in Target and Whole Foods.

    I’ve long been a fan of yerba mate, which is sometimes higher in antioxidants than green tea thanks to its cholorogenic acid.

    Interestingly, yerba mate sometimes packs more caffeine than coffee, but somehow the antioxidants and caffeine work synergistically and don’t give people jitters like a grande Starbucks dark roast might.

    Other beneficial stimulants in yerba mate include xanthines, theophylline, and theobromine. You may have heard of that last one, also found in dark chocolate.

    These synergistic compounds create a sharp, focused, alert feeling without coffee’s negative effects.

    Yerba mate also comes loaded with the minerals potassium, zinc, and magnesium. And one cup offers 30% of the B vitamin niacin. Not bad.

    Among its other benefits, yerba mate can raise your metabolism, help burn fat, and promote regular bowel movements. Hey, if this were a supplement, we’d be lined up around the corner to buy it!

    Yerba mate has a slightly grassy taste that might take some getting used to. You want the water to be hot but not boiling: yerba mate becomes very bitter in too-hot water. Adding a little stevia and coconut milk will make mate more drinkable for newcomers.

    You can find yerba mate as loose-leaf tea or in tea bags. Some commercial brands come blended with peppermint or citrus, which makes them more palatable. If you’re curious about trying it, you might want to start with one of these.

    Yerba mate makes a great alternative if you need to give up coffee for, say, a detox, but still need that morning caffeine kick. If you’re trying it for the first time, let me know your thoughts.

  • Paula Deen and the Lost Teaching Moment

    Paula Deen has diabetes. And a terrific opportunity for a “teaching moment” is being lost.

    In case you’re not familiar with Paula Deen—apparently I’m the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen her show—she’s a famous chef with a hit program on the Food Network, and is known for her rich Southern cooking.

    She’s also known as “the Buttah Queen” due to her liberal use of butter in virtually every recipe.

    And therein lies the rub and the lost opportunity.

    The press is having a field day with this one. Let me summarize the collective rap this way: “Of course she has diabetes! She cooks with all that fat! She’s the “buttah queen” for goodness sake! How could you promote all that high fat cooking and not be diabetic? Sheesh!”

    OK, everybody, calm down.

    Paula Deen is not diabetic because she eats too much butter. She’s not diabetic because she cooks with too much fat. She’s not diabetic because she eats “unhealthy” stuff like meat.

    She’s diabetic because her body can’t effectively process sugar.

    Period.

    In fact, if all she ate was fat and protein, we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion. (But of course, there would also be no Paula Deen show.)

    Diabetic educators, the American Diabetes Association, and virtually everyone else in the mainstream is jumping on her high-fat cooking as the “cause” of her diabetes, but nothing could be further from the truth. Fat is NOT the enemy in the American diet. Fat doesn’t make you fat, and it most certainly doesn’t make you diabetic.

    Let me explain.

    Type ll diabetes is a disease of carbohydrate intolerance. Not fat intolerance. Not protein intolerance. Carbohydrate intolerance. And the reason the “teaching moment” is being lost here is because everyone is parroting the same old, past-its-expiration-date garbage about the “dangers” of fat, while ignoring the simple fact that it is carbohydrates- especially sugar and processed carbs—that creates the blood sugar havoc that ultimately results in diabetes.

    (Before the vegan contingent starts sending hate mail, let me be clear: I’m not talking about vegetables, or even about moderate amounts of fruit, like berries. I’m not even talking about occasional portions of starchy carbs like peas, or “mixed” foods like legumes. [As the great C. Leigh Broadhurst, PhD, researcher at the USDA, once said to me—“No one ever got diabetic from eating peas and carrots”.] I’m talking about pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, cereals, and all the other crap we eat to the tune of 300 grams of carbs a day and more. We’re not getting those 300 plus grams of carbs from vegetables, folks.)

    Diabetics—both type l and type ll—have an insulin problem. Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas whose job is to remove sugar from the bloodstream and get it into the cells. The higher your blood sugar, the more insulin is produced. Type l diabetics can’t make insulin at all, so they have to inject it. Type ll diabetics—of which Paula Deen is one—have the opposite problem. They make plenty of insulin. It just doesn’t work very well.

    The scenario usually unfolds like this. You eat a ton of carbs, your blood sugar goes through the roof. The pancreas starts working overtime to pump out enough insulin to remove all that excess sugar. But our bodies weren’t designed to cope with the amount of carbohydrates/sugar we ordinarily consume, so eventually the system breaks. The pancreas is valiantly trying to pump out enough insulin, but it’s like a Volksvagen trying to go 110 miles an hour. At some point blood sugar is either too high for insulin to effectively remove it, or the cells just stop letting sugar and insulin in. You wind up with both high blood sugar and high insulin.

    You wind up with diabetes.

    Any logical 4th grader would immediately see the solution to this mess: Stop driving your blood sugar up so high. Which means eat less of the foods that send it to the stratosphere, which, in turn, means your body won’t have to pump out so much insulin. Then your Volksvagen will be running at a much more acceptable 60 miles per hour, and everything will be fine. High levels of insulin close the door to the fat cells making “fat burning” fiendishly difficult (one reason obesity and diabetes go hand in hand). High levels of insulin also raise blood pressure.

    Conclusion: High levels of insulin are not a good thing.

    Now here’s the kicker. Fat has virtually no effect on insulin, and minimal if any effect on blood sugar. (Protein has some effect, but not nearly as much as carbohydrates.)

    So the ideal diet for most type ll diabetics is one with plenty of protein and fat and with just enough carbs to let you feel like you’re a member of the human race, but not so much as to raise your blood sugar (and your insulin) to levels that cause a host of metabolic problems.

    If only the message from the media about Paula Deen had been “we’re all eating too much sugar!”

    Instead, a perfectly good teaching moment was wasted in a sea of inanities about the “dangers” of eating fat.

  • Just 4 Minutes of this Exercise Burns Fat, Builds Muscle

    We know exercise makes us feel good, so why doesn’t that motivate us to do it more often?

    Why aren’t people getting their happy-hour fix at the gym?

    The number one excuse for not exercising involves time. People often complain to me they just don’t have hours to spend at crowded, overpriced gyms running on elliptical machines.

    I want to tell you a kind of exercise that takes you just four minutes and burns fat, builds muscle, boosts metabolism, reduces insulin resistance, and increases your energy levels.

    Wait. Did I lose you at the four minutes part?

    Seriously: kiss those long hours of treadmills and spin class goodbye.

    Burst training, also called high-intensity interval training (HIIT), involves short, intense 30 – 60 second bursts. Remember Rocky and those stairs? That’s burst training.

    With burst training, you’ll quickly notice you have more energy, sleep better, and your clothes fit a little looser.

    Before you dismiss this as another Susan Somers Thighmaster-type infomercial, there’s tons of science to support these claims.

    A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology, for instance, showed that just two weeks of HIIT increased fat burning in moderately active women. And a study in the journal Metabolism concluded HIIT far better reduced fat compared to endurance training in far less time.

    You can get these benefits without climbing huge flights of stairs or even stepping foot outside your door with the Xiser. This very cool machine gives you a full body burst training workout in – yup – just four minutes.

    The Xiser is well-built, USA-made, with solid steel construction, which means you’ll get years out of this reliable machine. It stores compactly under your bed, is easy to carry, and travels well.

    Don’t dismiss the Xiser as another lightweight, useless contraption that will gather dust in your garage.

    Trust me: bursting will kick your butt. It will be the hardest exercise you ever do, because you’re performing at maximum intensity for a short period of time. Remember when you did those painful sprints in high school gym class? You get that same out-of-breath feeling.

    With the Xiser, you’ll have to come up with a new excuse other than time while you’re not working out.

  • It’s Not Sexy… But It Works for Weight Loss!

    It’s Not Sexy… But It Works for Weight Loss!

    Mention fiber, and you might immediately recall those gigantic tubs of Metamucil your grandma stocked up on at warehouse stores. In other words: not sexy.

    I don’t need to remind you of fiber’s many benefits, which include reducing inflammation, triglycerides, and cholesterol. But I really get people’s attention when I say fiber is the number-one supplement for weight loss.

    Fiber helps you burn fat in several way:

    • delays stomach emptying
    • curbs ghrelin (your hunger hormone that tells your brain to eat)
    • buffers carbs so your blood sugar doesn’t spike so dramatically

    In short: nobody likes to talk about fiber, but it works.

    A decades-long study just published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health concludes that our paltry-fiber modern diet contributes to diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

    No kidding.

    “Consuming adequate quantities of dietary fiber can lead to improvements in gastrointestinal health, and reduction in susceptibility to diseases such as diverticular disease, heart disease, colon cancer, and diabetes,” researchers concluded. “Increased consumption has also been associated with increased satiety and weight loss.”

    The study also argued that supplements are an easy way to get more fiber in your diet.

    Here’s a super-quick fiber lesson. There are two forms of dietary fiber: soluble and insoluble.

    • Soluble fiber forms a gel-like substance that, among its many duties, binds cholesterol and balances your blood sugar.
    • Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, absorbs water and keeps things moving along.

    In other words, you benefit from both types.

    The average American gets a sad 5 – 14 grams of fiber a day. Our lean, athletic Paleo ancestors put us to shame by getting a whopping 60 grams or more!

    I want you to eat as many fiber-rich foods you can every day. Nuts and seeds, leafy green vegetables, legumes, berries and other fruits like avocados are loaded with fiber.

    Now, granted, you can get enough fiber from food, but it takes a lot of planning and math. And even when you do load up on high-fiber foods, it’s not always easy to get 50 – 60 grams a day. Let’s face it: few of us are getting anywhere near that amount in our diet.

    There are lots of really great fiber supplements on the market. But PaleoFiber from Designs for Health is the Rolls Royce of them all.

    Each serving of PaleoFiber contains 8 grams of fiber from 12 sources including fruits, vegetables, roots, seeds, and tree extracts like apple pectin and prune fiber. The formulation mimics the diet our Paleo ancestors thrived on and the one you’re most likely to thrive on too.

    What’s more, PaleoFiber packs prebiotics from inulin, probiotics, and a powerful antioxidant punch. You’re not going to find those benefits in your drugstore run-of-the-mill fiber powder.

    I love to toss a scoop of PaleoFiber mixes in my morning protein smoothie to get a powerful fiber wallop. Unlike other fiber powders, PaleoFiber comes in a pleasant-tasting original or delicious berry that makes meeting your fiber quota quick and pleasant.

    So eat as many varieties of fibrous vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds as you can. And then ratchet it up a few notches with PaleoFiber to get therapeutic amounts of this nutrient that can benefit your health in numerous ways and help you get the lean, sexy body you want.

  • Depression Linked to Heart Disease

    NewsRx.com

    Think your thoughts and feelings don’t matter?

    Think again. Recent data suggests that individuals who suffer from a mood disorder could be twice as likely to have a heart attack compared to individuals who are not depressed.

    This process has been poorly understood – until now. A new study led by Concordia University has found that depressed individuals have a slower recovery time after exercise compared to those who are not depressed. (Exercise recovery time is an excellent metric for judging the condition of the heart.)

    These findings suggest that a dysfunctional biological stress system is at play among depressed individuals. Published in the journal Psychophysiology, the research warns of the importance of testing for cardiovascular disease among people suffering from major depression.

    “There have been two competing theories as to why depression is linked to cardiovascular disease,” says first author Jennifer Gordon, who is a PhD candidate at McGill University. “Depressed people may have poorer health behaviors, which may in turn lead to heart problems. The other possibility is physiological: a problem with the stress system known as the fight or flight response. Our study was the first to examine the role of a dysfunctional fight or flight response in depression in a large population.”

    Heart rate recovery is a powerful diagnostic tool. Even fitness trainers are taught to use a form of it (the Step Test). You step up and down on a Reebok step (or similar device) for three minutes and then sit down immediately and take your heart rate. The length of time it takes to get your heart rate back down to under 100 varies greatly, with very fit people getting there in under a minute.

    A total of 886 participants, who were on average 60 years old, took part in the study conducted by Concordia in association with the Montreal Heart Institute, McGill University, the Hopital Sacre-Coeur de Montreal, the Universite du Quebec a Montreal and the University of Calgary.

    Approximately 5 per cent of participants were diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. All individuals were asked to undergo a stress test after which their heart rate and blood pressure were recorded. Recovery heart rates and blood pressure levels were compared between depressed and non-depressed individuals.

    “We found that it took longer for the heart rate of depressed individuals to return to normal,” says senior author, Simon Bacon, a professor in the Concordia University Department of Exercise Science and a researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute.

    “Heart rate recovery from exercise is one way to measure the fight or flight stress response. The delayed ability to establish a normal heart rate in the depressed individuals indicates a dysfunctional stress response. We believe that this dysfunction, can contribute to their increased risk for heart disease.”

    “The take-home message of this study is that health care professionals should not only address the mental disorder, but also the potential for heart disease in patients who are suffering from major depression,” adds Bacon. “Both of these health issues should be treated to minimize risk of severe consequences.”

  • Fish Oil Boosts Women’s Power

    Fish Oil Boosts Women’s Power

    Guest article from Craig Weatherby, health and science reporter for Vital Choice, Inc

    Fish Oil Boosted Women’s Power

    Older women gained more strength from exercise when taking omega-3s; Results echo findings in younger people.

    by Craig Weatherby

    Bone and muscle weakness is common among older women … and to a lesser but substantial extent, men as well.

    Diet and exercise can help prevent or slow age-related declines in bone and muscle strength … two critical factors for avoiding crippling falls and limits on physical activity and capacity (Misic MM et al. 2009; Bento PCB et al. 2010).

    A study we reported last year indicates that omega-3s from fish and fish oil can enhance efforts to build the strength of bones and muscle among healthy young and middle-aged adults.

    And the new findings suggest that the same is true in older people, judging by the results of a controlled clinical trial from Brazil.

    Although the new study was small, the advantage seen in those who took fish oil while engaged in strength training was substantial, and more than a statistical anomaly.

    This Brazilian trial is the first to show that supplemental fish oil can enhance muscle activation and force among elderly women undergoing strength training.

    Brazilian trial finds fish oil enhanced exercising women’s strength gains

    A team of researchers from Parana Federal University recruited women aged about 64 (plus or minus 1.4 years) and assigned them all to a strength training program (Rodacki CL et al. 2012).

    The 45 participants – who were not engaged in any other regular exercise during the year before the study began – were divided into three groups:

    • Control Group took no fish oil during 90 days of strength training.
    • Fish Oil Group #1 took two grams of fish oil per day during 90 days of strength training.
    • Fish Oil Group #2 took two grams of fish oil per day for 60 days prior to the study, and during 90 days of training.

    Each one gram (1000mg) capsule of fish oil contained about 0.4 grams of omega-3 EPA and 0.3 grams of omega-3 DHA … which are modest amounts.

    After 90 days of strength training, all 45 women showed gains in muscle power, measured as muscle torque and the rate of torque development.

    (Muscular torque is the force of a muscle contraction, and is a key measure of the force a person can exert.)

    Before and after the study period, the scientists gave all of the participants four tests of strength: “foot up and go,” “sit and reach,” “chair-rising,” and “6-minute walk”.

    After 90 days of training, no differences were seen in three of these tests.

    However, the two fish oil groups both showed about 50 percent greater strength in the chair-rising test, compared with the control group.

    (This test, also called chair-standing, measures the number of times you can come to a full standing position in 30 seconds while your arms are crossed over your chest.)

    Interestingly, the researchers detected no additional strength benefit from a longer period of supplementation with fish oil.

    It seems likely that the observed strength benefit stems from raising your cellular levels of omega-3s to a certain level, after which further increases provide no more benefit.

    Both fish oil groups showed substantially higher levels of omega-3s in their cell membranes at the end of the trial, compared with the control group. Fish Oil Group #2, which took the omega-3 supplements the longest, had the largest increase … their EPA levels rose by 112 percent and their DHA levels rose by 50 percent.

    The researchers stressed the practical implications of the strength advantages seen in all of the women, which were greater in the two fish oil groups (Rodacki CL et al. 2012):

    • “The improved RTD [rate of torque development] reflects improved muscle contractility [torque], which is an important measure for the elderly due to its contribution to several daily life tasks and its relation to the ability to recover from a slip or trip, preventing a fall.”
    • “Strength training has been shown to facilitate muscle protein anabolism, energy expenditure, and improved appetite and food intake in elderly people.”

    And as they wrote, “Thus [fish oil] may be an attractive supplement for the elderly to maximize their neuromuscular responses to strength training, which is important to life quality.” (Rodacki CL et al. 2012)

    Based on the results of other studies, the Brazilian team proposed that fish oil may work in at least two ways:

    • Alter the fluidity of muscle cell membranes.
    • Increase muscle cells’ sensitivity to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which facilitates fast communication between nerves and muscles and accelerates muscle contraction (torque).

    Clearly, older people can gain a great deal from strength training … with or without fish oil.

    But it seems that omega-3s enhance some of those gains, and may make exercise more rewarding in a pretty short period.

     

    Sources

    • Smith GI, Atherton P, Reeds DN, Mohammed BS, Rakin D, Rennie MJ, Mittendorfer B. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids augment the muscle protein anabolic response to hyperinsulinemia-hyperaminoacidaemia in healthy young and middle-aged men and women. Clin Sci (Lond) 2011; 121:267–78.
    • Bento PCB, Pereira G, Ugrinowitsch C, Rodacki ALF. Peak torque and rate of torque development in elderly with and without fall history. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon) 2010;25:450–4.
    • Alves RV, Mota J, Costa MC, Alves JGB. Physical fitness and elderly health effects of hydrogymnastics. Rev Bras Med Esporte 2004;10:31–7.
    • Misic MM, Valentine RJ, Rosengren KS,Woods JA, Evans EM. Impact of training modality on strength and physical function in older adults. Gerontol 2009;55:411–6.
    • Skelton DA, Greig CA, Davies JM, Young A. Strength, power and related functional ability of healthy people aged 65–89 years. Age Ageing 1994;23:371–7.
    • Rodacki CL, Rodacki AL, Pereira G, Naliwaiko K, Coelho I, Pequito D, Fernandes LC. Fish-oil supplementation enhances the effects of strength training in elderly women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Jan 4. [Epub ahead of print]

  • The Wisdom of Menopause

    I’m excited to tell you that my friend and colleague, Christiane Northrup, M.D., has revised and re-released her classic The Wisdom of Menopause.

    The Wisdom of Menopause is not just for the woman having hot flashes and wondering about hormone therapy. It is a comprehensive resource that addresses all of the health concerns women face in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and beyond.

    In the new edition of The Wisdom of Menopause, Dr. Northrup tackles everything a woman needs to navigate “the change.” Women will return to this treasured reference time and again for advice on breast health, bone health, pelvic health, and heart health as well as diet, supplementation, and sexuality. Dr. Northrup also teaches how you can emerge from your midlife transition happier and healthier than ever.

    Of course no book on women’s health would be complete without an in-depth discussion on hormones. The Wisdom of Menopause contains the latest choices in hormone therapy-and tells you how to develop an individualized plan to fit your lifestyle and preferences.

    You can purchase The Wisdom of Menopause on Amazon.com  or at a bookstore near you. Click here to read an excerpt.

    To learn more about Dr. Northrup and her work, go to www.drnorthrup.com or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

  • Vitamin D Protects Against Liver Diseases

    Two Israeli research teams have separately become the first to discover two different benefits from vitamin D against common liver diseases – hepatitis C and cirrhosis.

    One involved the mechanism in human cells in the lab, while and the other proved itself on liver tissue in rats. The two discoveries have not yet been tested clinically.

    Prof. Ran Tur-Kaspa, from the Rabin Medical Center- Beilinson Campus, and his team worked on hepatitis C, the major factor in chronic liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis. It is also the main cause in the Western world of organ failure requiring a liver transplant and is one of the causes of primary liver cancer.

    Antiviral treatment can help in half the cases, but the side effects are serious even if the treatment is effective.

    Tur-Kaspa, a liver specialist and researcher who is dean of the Galilee Medical Faculty in Safed, said there is a constant search for medications and other technologies that are more effective and accompanied by fewer side effects.

    He and his team investigated ordinary vitamin D, which is already taken by many people as prevention for numerous diseases, to see whether it had any effect on hepatitis C and on liver cells that host it. They discovered, and published in Hepatology, a peer-reviewed medical journal, that vitamin D directly halts the activity of viruses in general and hepatitis C in particular. They also found that a system for actively producing vitamin D is found in liver cells and can activate the immune system and repress the virus.

    The research showed without doubt that vitamin D functions in the liver cell, and it causes an increase in naturally produced interferon and repression of the production of the virus, said Dr.

    Romy Zemel, who was part of the team. The research proves that integrating the use of interferon and vitamin D boosts the effects synergistically, beyond the effects of each alone.

    Interferons are a family of naturally occurring proteins that are made and secreted by immune-system cells. Thus, with the right combination, said the Beilinson researchers, one could destroy the virus. Their discovery was made serendipitously.

    Vitamin D is produced as a result of exposure to the sun or taken in the diet or by vitamin D supplements. (I recommend at least 1000 IUs daily, preferably 2000IUs of vitamin D. )

    Its classic role, said Tur-Kaspa, is to protect the balance of calcium and phosphorus in the body. Over the years, additional influences such as on the immune system became clear, and at the same time, vitamin D became popular as a number of health benefits were reported.

    The Beilinson discovery of the weakening of the hepatitis C virus in the presence of the vitamin opens up a potential treatment for the infections, so one can improve the efficacy of treatment while reducing the dosage of interferon, said Tur- Kaspa.

    Meanwhile, the latest issue of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s newsletter published an article by Prof. Shimon Reif and colleagues on how vitamin D fights liver cirrhosis, in which liver tissue is replaced by fibrotic scar tissue, usually collagen, leading to the loss of liver function.

    Special cells in the liver called hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) collect vitamin D when they are “resting.”

    After they are activated, they produce collagen, which leads to fibrosis. Using liver tissue taking from rodents, the Sourasky team treated them with vitamin D and increased the expression of a receptor for the vitamin. This significantly repressed the growth of HSCs, they found.

    The same effect was then found in live rats.

  • How to Check Your Thyroid Function At Home

    While health professionals continue to debate the most meaningful blood test for thyroid function, there’s one test you can do right now, at home.

    This low-tech no-cost method has been around for years and serves as an excellent starting point for any discussion with your doctor about your thyroid.

    Your doctor may dismiss it as not being scientifically tested, or being old-fashioned. Both are correct. The details of the test were first published in the Journal of the American Medical Association back in 1942, so it’s certainly not a “modern” test. Nonetheless, it’s served thousands of health practitioners over 6 decades as a screening tool, and it has been widely reported that the results correlate strongly with blood tests.)

    The test was discovered by Broda Barnes, an American physician—born in a log cabin in Missouri, no less—who studied endocrine dysfunction with an emphasis on hypothyroidism (low thyroid function). Barnes may have been a small-town boy but he was no country bumpkin when it came to credentials. He earned a Masters in physiological chemistry from Western Reserve, a PhD from the University of Chicago, and then went on to become an MD (completing his degree in 1937). The test he invented is known as the Barnes Basal Temperature Test.

    Barnes’ belief was that you could get a good idea of your basal metabolic rate (a good indicator of thyroid condition) by taking your temperature in the proper way, and using his guide to interpret the results.

    It’s the easiest thing in the world to do.

    1. Get a regular mercury thermometer OR one of the newer BBT (basal body temperature) thermometers. If you use a mercury thermometer be sure to shake it down before going to bed and leave it right near your bedside.
    2. Immediately upon awakening put the thermometer under your left armpit and leave it there for ten full minutes.
    3. Note the temperature.
    4. Repeat for three to five days and take the average. (Barnes originally recommended ten days, which is probably even more accurate.)

    Men can take the test anytime, but women who are menstruating should not take it during the first few days of their period. (Some say you can start taking it on the third day, some say on the fifth.)

    Interpretation is easy:

    • An average basal temperature of 97.8- 98.2 is normal.
    • Anything less is a possible indicator of underactive thyroid, particularly anything under 97.6. Some practitioners (but not all) consider anything under 98 to be a possible indicator of low thyroid function, but just about everyone agrees that 97.6 or under is a problem.

    It’s very important to realize that this test is not- repeat not- infallible, and Barnes himself was the first to admit that. Thyroid function depends on many things. But as a “first response” screening test, it’s hard to beat it for cost, accuracy and convenience.

    Some of my favorite resources for thyroid information are David Brownstein, MD, the book “Thyroid Power” by Richard Shames, MD, and Mary Shames, PhD, and the about.com thyroid site run by Mary Solomon.

    These experts may not agree on every detail but they all have unique and valuable perspectives that are worth checking out.