In this Issue:

• Cook with Fire for a Better Brain and Healthier Heart

• Jump-Start Your Metabolic Engine

• Flush Cancer Out of Your Body

Cook with Fire for a Better Brain and Healthier Heart

With the start of summer right around the corner that means the start of grilling season.  And that’s good news.

Grilling is the oldest and most natural, original form of food preparation.  Grilling appeals to our sense of natural order…that is, as long as you keep it natural.

Keeping it natural also means there’s no need to cook your meat into shoe leather. For healthy grilling, it also matters how you prepare your meat for grilling. And these days, you don’t have to hunt your evening meal but you do want quality meat and fish for your grill.

Today’s newsletter will show you:

• How to choose meat with more Vitamin E, omega-3’s and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). 

• Why rarer is better.

• Recipes to keep the pre-processed junk off your grill.

Real Cows Don’t Eat Grain

No amount of sauce, rub or marinade is going to compensate for nutritionally inferior food. Choose animals that eat their “original” diet. “Grass-fed” animals and wild fish are the way to go. Here’s why...

Grass-fed animals roam the pasture freely, dining on a variety of grasses as they choose.  Some people think we raise all animals we eat that way. Unfortunately, it’s far from the standard practice.  The truth is most animals live in confined and dirty spaces. They eat a diet of grains. This is not natural to them and it makes them abnormally fat and unhealthy. To combat these diseases they get regular doses of antibiotics. Livestock account for the largest percentage of antibiotic use – and they’re passing it all on to us, even when we don’t need it.  

Free range is an improvement but it’s not the same as grass-fed. Grass-fed means free-range, but free-range does not necessarily mean grass-fed. “Free-range” suggests that animals have access to the outdoors. But with no standards or certification, conditions may still be cramped and unhealthy and you’d never know. Also, the animal’s diet may still be unnatural, and they may be injected with antibiotics and hormones.

Then there’s the term “organic.” Since 1999, farmers can certify their meat and poultry as organic as long as they don’t use hormones or antibiotics, and they use 100% certified organic feed. But it doesn’t mean the animals get their original diet, and it doesn’t tell you anything about their living conditions.

Another Fishy Farming Industry

Fish is a good addition to the American diet in recent years – with indisputable health benefits. But just like their four-legged friends, how fish grow and eat determine if they belong on your grill.

Let’s look at salmon, currently the most consumed fish in America. Farmed salmon live in extremely crowded conditions and eat food tainted with PCB’s. No, you’re not having a flashback. We banned PCB’s in the 1970’s – but they are persistent chemicals that are still found in high levels in farm fish feed. A recent study found that farmed Atlantic salmon contains 10 times more dioxins, PCBs, and other cancer-causing contaminants than wild Pacific salmon.

Wild fish is the ocean’s version of grass-fed meat.  

Get 350% More Vitamin E the Natural Way

Natural meats and fish taste better, and contain greater quantities beneficial nutrients.  They are lower in harmful omega-6 fatty acids and higher in omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). 

A steak from a grass-fed steer has more omega 3-fatty acids than even wild fish do.  These “good fats” form in the cells of the leaves of green plants and algae. Animals and fish whose diets are high in these plants naturally have higher levels of omega-3’s.  Studies have shown a steady decline in the levels of stored omega-3’s in commercially raised or farmed animals and fish.

People with high levels of omega-3’s have lower rates of high blood pressure and are 50% less apt to suffer a heart attack. Omega-3’s are also essential to building and maintaining your brain and nerves. They reduce depression, attention deficit disorder and Alzheimer’s disease. Finally, they reduce your risk of cancer. Research has shown that CLA fights cancer as well. It’s also effective against arteriosclerosis, reduces body fat and can prevent diabetes. 

Grass-fed meat is higher in Vitamin E, an essential nutrient for heart health and cancer protection as well as its anti-aging properties.  One study showed that cattle from the pasture have almost four times more vitamin E than grain-fed cattle do.

Choosing grass-fed meat and wild fish for your summertime grilling sessions will make for a much tastier – and healthier – season.  Try hunting them down at your grocery store, but if they don’t carry them, here are a couple of websites you can order from: www.alaskaseafood.org and www.grassfedbeef.2ya.com.  

Sizzling Hot and Healthy

Now that you have the right meat, it’s time to get it ready for your grill. Be careful picking a pre-made sauce. They’re usually full of the worst kind of sugar. It’s easy to make your own marinade or spice rub. Here are some simple tips:

• Marinade is a seasoned liquid composed of three parts: an acidic liquid for tenderness such as soy sauce, vinegar, lemon or lime juice, wine, an oil to keep it moist; and seasonings for flavor.  Follow these guidelines for marinating times. 

• Here’s an easy and delicious marinade recipe for you to try.

• Spice Rubs cut down on prep time – you just rub on and cook. My favorite spice combo is garlic, fresh thyme, dried cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper.

• Plain and simple - you went through the trouble of selecting the best natural, flavorful meat, why cover it up? A little salt and pepper can be plenty. Just don’t salt the meat too far in advance or you’ll dry it out.

How would you like that done, sir?

An equally important consideration when grilling is to cook the meat without charring.  When the proteins in meat are burned by high heat, they can produce a harmful reaction, causing the creation of carcinogens called HCAs (heterocyclic amines) and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).   The more rare the meat, the less of this reaction and the tastier the meat.  

I also use natural charcoal sometimes called charwood.  And for that great smoky, old-fashioned flavor, you can add some water-soaked hardwood chips (like oak or hickory).  Just soak them for an hour and toss them right onto your coals.

Tips for Safe and Healthy Grilling

Here are some tips for healthy grilling.

• Wash your grill with hot water before grilling or turn it on high and scrape off any residue.

• If you use wooden skewers, soak them in water for an hour before use so that they don’t burn on the grill.

• Use tongs instead of a fork to turn meat so it doesn’t pierce the meat and let the juices out.

• Don’t let the meat char or turn black – this part of the meat can contain carcinogens.  If your meat does char, trim that portion off.

• If you marinade raw meat, don’t reuse the sauce.  It can pick up bacteria from the meat.  (This will be killed in the mat over the heat on the grill but can replicate in the sauce.)

• Touch your meat for doneness.  Your forehead has the consistency of well-done meat.  The tip of your nose feels like medium doneness.  For the feel of rare meat, touch the tip of your chin.

• Meat will continue to cook for a few minutes after you remove it from the fire so take it off the grill a few moments before the desired doneness.
  ____________________

Sources:

Sucher, Lauren, Liz Moore, “First-Ever U.S. Tests of Farmed Salmon Show High Levels of Cancer-Causing PCBs, Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC, 2003, July 30 press release.
Duckett, S.K., D.G. Wagner, et. al (1993) “Effects of time on feed on beef nutrient composition”, J Anim. Sci., 71 (8): 2079-88
Siscovick, D.S., T.E. Raghinathan, et. al. (1995), “Dietary Intake and Cell Membrane Levels of Long-chain n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and the Risk of Primary Cardiac Arrest”, JAMA 274(17): 1363-1367
Simopolous, A.P. and Jo Robinson, (1999), The Omega Diet, New York, Harper Collins
Rose, D.P., J.M. Connolly, et. al. (1995), “Influence of Diets Containing Eicosapentaenoic or Docosahexaenoic Acid on Growth and Metastasis of Breast Cancer in Nude Mice”, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 87(8): 587-92
Smith, G.C. “Dietary supplementation of Vitamin E to cattle to improve shelf life and case life for domestic and international markets”, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523-1171
Knize MG, Salmon CP, Pais P, Felton JS. Food heating and the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mutagens/carcinogens. Advances in Experimental Medicine & Biology. 1999;459:179-93.

Jump-Start Your Metabolic Engine

By Mark Hyman, MD

How can you lose up 10 pounds in 7 days?

I'll show you exactly how a patient of mine did it. Then, he lost another 10 pounds over the next two weeks. He also revitalized his health, boosted his energy, improved his mood and cleared up his skin.

How did he do it? Put simply, he addressed two of the biggest root causes of disease and obesity that are mostly ignored by conventional medicine.

After working with thousands of patients for more than 20 years, I have discovered what works and what doesn't to give people quick results for revitalizing their health and losing weight.

For just one week, I ask people to do an experiment. They just stop eating toxic and inflammatory foods and replace them with detoxifying and anti-inflammatory foods. Try it for one week, notice what happens and how you feel.

What happens when you do this?

Besides increased energy, you may lose the puffiness in your face and around your eyes, and your skin may even glow. Your senses may be heightened. You may sleep better, have fewer allergies, and have more mental clarity. Your joint and muscle aches may disappear and all your digestive problems, like irritable bowel syndrome and reflux, may vanish.

First, take away the things that make you toxic and inflamed. Second, provide your body with foods and activities that help you detoxify and cool inflammation. Your body does the rest -- automatically!
It has a natural ability to find balance and heal once you stop doing things that throw it off kilter and provide things that put it back in balance.

By eliminating the major sources of toxins in your life -- addictive substances such as coffee, sugar, alcohol, processed food, fast food, junk food, trans fats, and high-fructose corn syrup -- and reducing toxic stress for only 7 days, your body can renew and rejuvenate itself.

By eliminating the major sources of inflammation in your diet -- food allergens, sugar and flour products, and bad fats -- your body can heal.

The Simple Keys to Good Health

First, let's review the first key concept in my approach -- toxins and detoxification.

New scientific research links environmental and internal toxins to disruptions of key mechanisms involved in weight control. This may explain why some people continue to struggle to lose weight despite doing all the right things. They may be toxic.

As shown in the chart below, you can see the correlation between obesity and the production of toxic, synthetic chemicals.

A = Synthetic chemical production
B = % Overweight adults, based on survey points
C = % Overweight adults, interpolated

From: The Body Restoration Plan: Eliminate Chemical Calories'" and Repair Your Body's
Natural Slimming System" by Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton © 2003 by Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton 2000

So what are toxins and how do they interfere with weight loss?

I refer to toxins in the broadest sense -- the sum total of our poor diet, chronic stress, and environmental pollutants that overload and poison our bodies and minds. Let's face it -- We're living in a sea of toxins. They include toxic foods such as sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, food additives and preservatives, pesticides, and hormones and antibiotics in our food and water supply, as well as mercury, lead, and other heavy metals.

But toxins aren't just found in the world around you. They also include toxic behaviors and beliefs that keep you chronically stressed. They produce a flood of hormones, such as cortisol, that promote weight gain around the middle, increase your blood sugar and blood pressure, and even kill brain cells.

Detoxification is the process of eliminating toxins from your body and your life. It's a natural and critical part of your biology. But what happens if your body doesn't detoxify as it should? Well, your metabolism might not work properly, for one thing -- and that can lead to weight gain.
Toxins affect your metabolism in several ways.

First, thyroid hormone function is altered by toxins. The liver excretes more of your active hormones so your thyroid and metabolism slow down. And the thyroid receptors (the docking stations for thyroid hormone) are damaged.

Second, toxins interfere with appetite control mechanisms in the brain.

Third, toxins promote inflammation, which increases insulin resistance. This promotes fat storage and leptin (the "feeling full hormone") resistance, which in turn prevents your brain from recognizing that you are full.

Fourth, toxins damage the energy production in your mitochondria, the little factories that turn food and oxygen into energy. There are thousands of these inside your cells and when they are damaged, your metabolism grinds to a halt.

And lastly, oxidative stress and free radicals created by toxins activate signals inside your cells to slow metabolism and increase insulin resistance.

So what can you do about it? First, you need to avoid toxins. Second, you must boost your own detoxification systems.

Eat High Quality Protein to Boost Detoxification

Your detoxification system relies on the right balance of protein, fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals to be effective. All these play a role in helping rid your body of toxins.

For example, adequate protein is required to supply the amino acids (which are the building blocks of protein) used by the liver to help create glutathione. Glutathione is the body's most critical antioxidant and detoxifying molecule --and one that is easily depleted in the face of chronic exposure to toxins.

Protein also provides the amino acids critical for many of your body's detoxification pathways. So getting enough protein and the right types of it -- such as eggs, whey protein (if you are not allergic to eggs or dairy), beans, nuts, whole grains, and lean organic animal products -- can help your body handle the poisons it is exposed to every day and help you lose weight.

Be Colorful

Many phytochemicals (colorful plant chemicals) enhance detoxification pathways.

These include dark-colored plant foods such as cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, collards, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower), green tea, watercress, dandelion greens, cilantro, artichokes, garlic, ginger, rosemary, turmeric, citrus peels, and even cocoa.

The phytochemicals called polyphenols found in berries, green tea, and cocoa turn on genes that help boost glutathione, which is the most critical agent your body has for removing toxins.

So eating a colorful diet full of these detoxifying molecules can protect you, and help you lose weight.

Sweating Out Toxins

Heat therapy is an underutilized treatment in medicine, but one that has big benefits.

It helps balance the nervous system, reduces stress, lowers blood sugar, burns calories, and boosts the excretion of pesticides and heavy metals through the skin. Sauna therapy is an established treatment for chemical poisoning. So get sweaty and take a sauna regularly.

Hopefully, I now have you thinking about how toxins affect your health and have given you some ways to address this problem.

____________________

About the Author:
Dr. Hyman was co-Medical Director for nine years at Canyon Ranch, one of the world's leading health resorts; co-authored the New York Times bestseller Ultraprevention: The 6-week Program That Will Make You Healthy for Life ,and wrote the New York Times bestseller UltraMetabolism:  The Simple Plan for Automatic Weightloss.

To learn more about his program for eliminating harmful toxins from your body visit his website www.ultrasimplediet.com.

Flush Cancer Out of Your Body

Ever since I’ve been practicing medicine my patients have been asking me how to prevent cancer. They’ve seen the nasty side effects of treatments for cancers. And, like you, they are upset with mainstream doctors who have no background in nutrition

Fortunately, I have a plan of action that can help. Today I want to focus on 2 “hormone-dependent” cancers of the breast and prostate.

Time to Clean House

Most forms of breast and prostate cancer are hormone-dependent cancers (HDC). Other than skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women, and prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men. 1, 2

One of the ways cancers spread is through the lymphatic system. Your lymphatic fluid is a crucial part of your immune system. It transports infection-fighting immune cells to needy areas and carries waste matter and toxins away from our cells.

However, your lymph can also spread tumor cells and the hormones that help them grow.         

Cancers may begin in one area and then spread to other regions of your body via your lymph. That’s why it’s important to make sure your lymphatic system, your body’s built-in cleaning service, is as healthy as possible.

Detoxify in Four Easy Steps

It’s terrible, but you can find plenty of unwanted hormones in your food and in many materials present in your home. Two common culprits are hormones in meat and hormone-mimicking chemicals in meat and in plastic products such as shopping bags, vinyl flooring, and cosmetics.

Luckily, by adopting my four-step plan to flush out your lymphatic system, you’ll be ridding your body of excess hormones. And you’ll be preventing cancer.

Step 1. Limit Exposure to Hormones

• Take a look at your red meat consumption. If you are eating commercially raised grain-fed beef you should cut back to once a week. One study showed that you are 250% more likely to have advanced prostate cancer if you eat grain-fed red meat daily than if you eat red meat only once per week.3 If you eat hormone-free, grass-fed, eat it as often as you like.
• It’s not only the hormones in commercially raised beef you have to worry about, it’s the fat too, which boosts the production of sex hormones. So if you’re eating grain-fed meat, eat only lean cuts and trim off the fat. If you eat grass-fed, eat the fat, it’s good for you.
• Reduce your intake of caffeine, grain carbohydrate, and sugar. All three make it harder for your body to fully process the estrogen in your system.
• Limit your exposure to hormones and hormone-mimickers found in everyday items such as plastic containers, flea collars, and pesticides.

Step 2. Block and Flush Out Harmful Hormones

• Boost your intake of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, and arugula. Cruciferous vegetables contain a key ingredient in preventing hormone-dependent cancers, named indole-3-carbinol (I3C).

I3C helps to balance the body’s estrogen. What’s more, once inside your body it converts to diindolylmethane (DIM). DIM is a major cancer cell blocker that I have been recommending to my patients and readers for some time now.

• Drink green tea. A recent study shows that green tea blocks the hormones that aid in forming tumors.4
• Eat cooked tomatoes, which are rich in cancer-fighting lyocpene. A Harvard study found that the risk of prostate cancer was a third lower in men who ate more pasta sauce and other tomato products.5
• Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on salads or in soups. Studies show that pumpkin seeds reduce the ability of testosterone and its byproduct to make prostate cells multiply. This may prevent the prostate from swelling.6

Step 3. Stimulate the Lymph with Herbs and Supplements

Vitamins are an important part of an anti-cancer regimen. That much the medical establishment allows. But what you’re not likely to hear conventional doctors recommend are herbs used for centuries as cleansing tonics.

Here are three herbs that help to stimulate and drain the lymphatic system:

• Black Cohosh. I’ve long recommended this herb to my patients for its role in reducing the symptoms of PMS and menopause. It is also effective in blocking the spread of tumors in the breast.
• Burdock Root. The root of this thistle increases urine and perspiration production.
• Red Root. Red root is excellent for stimulating your lymph and for promoting drainage in breast and ovarian cysts.7

All three herbs are easy to find in health food stores. Since herbs can contain substances that may trigger side effects or interact with other herbs, supplements and medications, use herbal remedies under the supervision of a doctor who is knowledgeable in the field of botanical medicine.

Step 4. -Do Your Body Good                                                                                                                        

• Stretch your limbs. Stretching releases acids from tissues.
• Bounce on a mini-trampoline. The rebounding will circulate your lymph, wash out waste, and increase cancer-fighting white blood cells.
• Sweat it out in a sauna. Perspiring in the heat releases toxins through the skin.
• Get a good night’s sleep. Your immune system will thank you.8

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1 “What Are the Key Statistics for Breast Cancer?” American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_breast_cancer_5.asp), accessed 4/02/08.
2 “How Many Men Get Prostate Cancer?” American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_1X_How_many_men_get_prostate_cancer_36.asp?sitearea=), accessed 4/02/08.
3 “Prostate Health.” Doctor Yourself (http://www.doctoryourself.com/prostate.html), accessed 4/02/08.
4 “Green Tea Shown To Possess Antitumor Effect In Breast Cancer.” Science Daily (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071208171411.htm), 12/9/2007.
5 “Study Finds Tomatoes Lower Risk of Cancer.” Consumer Affairs (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/tomatoes.html), 6/14/2000.
6 “Heal Prostate Cancer Naturally - Anti-Cancer Foods.” E-Zine Articles (http://ezinearticles.com/index.php?Heal-Prostate-Cancer-Naturally---Anti-Cancer-Foods&id=938668), accessed 4/5/2008.
7 “Red Root.” University of Santa Cruz (http://arboretum.ucsc.edu/ceanothus_cuneatus.htm), accessed 4/05/08.
8 “Lymph Health—An Herbal Recipe for Breast Cancer and Lymphomas.” Natural News (http://www.naturalnews.com/022570.html), accessed 4/02/08.

Keep an eye out for your next issue of Health Confidential and...

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• Women and Heart Disease...

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