Top health stories for 2012

Health-wise, how did you fare (or did you fail?) last year? Here’s looking back at the year that was as we list the top health stories for 2012 (as put together by natural health doctor Joseph Mercola):

10.  Get this: Eating this can put holes in your gut. Take this grain of wisdom: Did you know that grains contain anti-nutrients and lectins that could damage your gut? We’ve often been told that whole grains are healthy, but the whole truth is the high-fiber bran portion of the grain — the part that makes a whole grain — actually contains many of the anti-nutrients. Letting these gut contents flood our bloodstream will cause bloating, gas and abdominal cramps as well as fatigue, skin rashes, joint pain, allergies, psychological symptoms, autism, and more. Legumes, too, can cause a leaky gut.

9. Flash report: A study shows that genetically engineered (GE) corn causes massive tumors, organ damage, and early death. Rats fed Monsanto’s maize were found to develop massive breast tumors, kidney and liver damage, among other health problems, according to a two-year French feeding study that evaluated the long-term health effects of a GE corn.

8. Fresh news: Beware of coated fresh fruits and veggies. Most of us know that our fresh produce is most likely contaminated with pesticides. But are you aware of today’s common practice of coating fresh fruits and vegetables — yes, including the organic ones — with edible plastic to increase shelf life?

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) slows down spoilage by coating food with an edible film. This film consists of lipids, resins, polysaccharides, and proteins, with a variety of antimicrobials, plasticizers and texturizers thrown in.  If misapplied, these coatings could promote the growth of foodborne pathogens.

7.  Eggspert advice: Free-range eggs provide the best proteins you can eat, but know how best to cook them — otherwise the cholesterol in the yolk can oxidize and cause damage to your body if you have high cholesterol. Free-range eggs from hens that are allowed to roam freely outdoors and forage for their natural food are nutritionally superior to commercial eggs from caged hens, which are usually fed an unhealthy diet of GE corn and soy-based feed. They’ve got 1/3 less cholesterol, 1/4 less saturated fat, 2/3 more vitamin A, two times more omega-3 fats, three times more vitamin C, and seven times more beta-carotene (according to Mother Earth News).

To reap the most health benefits, free-range eggs are best eaten raw or soft-boiled. Scrambling them is the worst way of eating free-range eggs.

6. D truth about the sunshine vitamin: Optimize your vitamin D levels, but know the difference between the two types of vitamin D supplement. An analysis looking at mortality rates for “doctor recommended” synthetic vitamin D2 supplement vs. natural vitamin D3 shows a six-percent risk reduction among those who used D3, compared to a two-percent increased risk among those who used D2. Research also shows that vitamin D3 is approximately 87-percent more potent in raising and maintaining vitamin D concentrations than D2.

Plant-based food sources that contain vitamin D provide vitamin D2. On the other hand, only animal-based food sources — such as fish, egg yolk, and raw milk — contain D3.

A friendly reminder: Get the most of your vitamin D via sunlight (which is why it’s called the sunshine vitamin). If you choose to use an oral supplement, make sure you’re taking vitamin D3. Also, if you’re taking high doses of the vitamin D supplement, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin K2 as these two nutrients work side by side (note that vitamin K2 deficiency causes the symptoms of vitamin D toxicity). The latest vitamin D prescription is that if you’re taking 8,000 IUs of vitamin D3 per day, you’ll need something like 800 to 1,000 micrograms of vitamin K2.

5. Take heart: Aerobic/conventional cardio exercise can actually shrink your muscle and accelerate aging. Emergency Room doctor Doug McGuff, also an expert in high-intensity interval training, says that high-intensity exercise, which engages your fast-twitch muscle fibers, is required if you want an effective aerobic workout. This can cut your workout time from an hour on the treadmill down to as little as 12-15 minutes.

He explains: “Your fast-twitch fibers are largely glycolytic and store a lot of glucose. When these muscles are recruited, it creates the stimulus needed to grow muscle. At the same time, it enlarges the glucose storage reservoir in the muscle, which enhances your insulin sensitivity. Long, slow, distance-type of exercise can actually cause your intermediate and fast-twitch fibers to begin to atrophy. Aside from losing muscle mass, this also promotes the onset of loss of insulin sensitivity.”

4. Food for thought: You can starve cancer out of your body. You can either feed or prevent cancer via the food you eat. And which are the cancer-promoting foods? Once more, the culprits are processed foods, soft drinks, red meat, trans fats, all forms of sugar, and any food containing or contaminated with xenoestrogens. On the other hand, plant foods, especially cruciferous vegetables and flax seed as well as many herbs and spices, can prevent cancer. Then there are the healthy fats like omega-3 and omega-9, which effectively slow down tumor growth in estrogen-sensitive cancers such as breast, prostate, and colon cancers, according to plastic surgeon Dr. Christine Horner.

3. An absorbing observation: Your digestive system dictates whether you’re healthy or sick. Did you know that most disease, both physical and mental, originates in your digestive system? No one can stress enough the importance  of one’s gut. It is home to countless bacteria, both good and bad, outnumbering the cells in your body by at least 10 to one. Keeping the ideal balance of good and bad bacteria serves as the foundation for good health — physical, mental, and emotional.

2.  Message sent: New urgent warning to all cell phone users. If you’re in the habit of tucking your cell phone in your pocket or on your belt, hear this — or watch the video from the Environmental Health Trust. According to Dr. Devra Davis, author of  Disconnect — The Truth About Cellphone Radiation, “the biological impact of your cell phone is not related to its power, which is quite weak, but rather to the erratic nature of its signal and its ability to disrupt resonance and interfere with DNA repair.”

Take the case of a young woman, who had no other predisposing risk factors for cancer but developed breast cancer directly under the area of her breast where she’d been tucking her cell phone into her bra. Earlier research shows that carrying a cell phone on your hip may weaken an area of your pelvis. And men, take note: Cell phone radiation has been found to affect men’s sperm count, and the quality and motility of their sperm.

Thus, as a general precaution, avoid carrying your phone anywhere on your body. In terms of radiation exposure, the most dangerous place to be is within about six inches of the emitting antenna — especially when it is put next to soft tissue such as in your pants or shirt pocket, or worse, under a woman’s bra. Anywhere near the breast is not the best place to hide your cell phone.

1. A mouthful of warning: 97 percent of terminal cancer patients previously had this dental procedure. If you have a chronic degenerative disease, the root cause can be traced back to your mouth. Your dentist may tell you that a root canal is perfectly safe even as scientists have been warning us about its dangers for over a century now.

Here’s the tooth and nothing but: “During a root canal, there is no way to sterilize your tooth; after the root canal, dangerous bacteria can hide out in the tooth and are unreachable with antibiotics. Root-canaled and filled teeth harbor bacteria that can morph into very toxic forms, which then can migrate to other tissues in your body and cause serious medical conditions, including diseases of your heart, kidneys, bones, and brain.”