my doctor has only twice in my 24 years prescribed me a pill, and both times it was an antibiotic. one for strep throat (*sp?) when i was little, and one for a kidney infection a couple of years ago, and even then he was more concerned with what/how much i was eating. i asked him what the medicine was for during the second episode, and he told me it was so i could "get over it faster without scar damage" and told me to drink a bunch of different juices and water along with it. i think he writes enough scrips to keep his bosses quiet, but would prefer a diet approach over anything.
> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:34:51 -0700 > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > Subject: [Biofuel] The overwhelming evidence of the healing power of food... > > > > > > > "There are no studies that prove the benefits of nutritional or integrative > therapies..." > > It's a refrain that I hear time and time again. > > And I hear it from my colleagues. > > But they couldn't be more wrong! > > They just have not done their homework -- or perhaps they are reading the > wrong medical journals. > > One of my favorite medical journals is the "American Journal of Clinical > Nutrition," which every month publishes more than 300 pages of research with > NO ADVERTISING. > > This is very unlike my other medical journals -- such as the "Journal of the > American Medical Association" or "The New England Journal of Medicine" -- > which have pages and pages of color glossy drug ads. > > So today, I thought I would take you on a journey through just one issue of > the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" to see just how much research is > being done on how food and nutrients affect our health. > > The sad thing is that it can take 20 years before this knowledge becomes > commonplace or used in medical practice. > > Unfortunately, there is little money available for large-scale studies or to > publicize the findings of the role of nutrients and food in health and > disease. Unlike in the pharmaceutical industry, there are no "food reps" that > drop off food samples in doctor's offices. > > Except perhaps in my case. > > *********************************************** > > To see the quick, 5-minute video version of this on my blog, go to: > > ==> http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog > > *********************************************** > > You see, I have been sent walnuts, whole-food bars, wild salmon, and even > whole-kernel rye bread from Germany -- all of which I like much better than > the pens and cups and Post-it notes with drug names all over them. > > And I certainly like these better than the "free" drug samples I'm sent that > are meant to get my patients hooked on the latest and most expensive (though > not necessarily the best) medications. > > Advertising medications directly to patients used to be illegal. They still > are in Canada and the European Union. > > But, boy, have things changed! > > Since "direct-to-consumer" advertising has been allowed in the United States, > we have seen dramatic increases in the use of those drugs. > > In fact, when a person sees an ad for a drug on TV and then asks their doctor > for it, they are likely to get it about 50 percent of the time. > > Just look at the numbers. > > According to a recent article in "The New England Journal of Medicine," > pharmaceutical advertising and promotion grew from $11.4 billion in 1996 to > $29.9 billion in 2005 -- and direct- to-consumer ads grew by 330 percent! (1) > > I can assure you that NO ONE is spending $30 billion promoting the benefits > of food and > nutrients to support health and cure disease, even if they are more effective. > > You don't hear about the best or most effective treatments, just the ones > that are most heavily > promoted. > > Now let's get back to the nutrition journal and a sampling of the types of > research out there that demonstrate the healing power of food. > > These are all from the May 2007 issue (I am a little behind on my reading!). > > The most important study in that journal was on nutrigenomics -- the > foundational concept of my book UltraMetabolism. The basic idea is that food > is information, not just calories. > > In this study, researchers from Finland took two groups people with metabolic > syndrome (pre- diabetes) and gave each group a different diet. > > Well, sort of. It was different ONLY in the type of carbohydrates they > consumed for 12 weeks. The rest of their diet was identical -- the same > calories and the same amount of fat, protein, carbohydrate, and fiber. > > The first group had wheat, oats, and potatoes as the source of their carbs. > The second group ate rye as their source of carbohydrate. (As I mentioned in > my book, UltraMetabolism, rye has some very special properties because it is > slowly absorbed by the body and has phytonutrients that help you lose weight > and improve metabolism.) > > After the 12 weeks, the researchers took a fat sample or biopsy and analyzed > it to find out which genes were turned on or off. > > So what happened? > > *********************************************** > > In the wheat, oat, and potato group, 62 genes were activated that increased > inflammation, oxidative stress, and the stress response, worsened blood sugar > balance, and generally amplified all of the forces in the body that lead to > obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease! > > It was a 100 percent effect -- NO good genes were turned on. > > In the rye group, 71 genes were turned on that prevent diabetes, lower > cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and improve blood sugar control. > > This was a 100 percent GOOD gene effect. (2) > > Now that should have been headline news -- but the rye lobby is just not that > powerful! > > In fact, in an accompanying editorial called "Putting your genes on a diet: > the molecular effects of carbohydrate," Harvard researcher David Ludwig, MD, > PhD, wrote that "Molecular pathways involved in hormone action have been the > target of a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical research effort. However, > many of these pathways may normally be under dietary regulation." (3) > > If there were a drug that could turn off all the disease-promoting genes and > could turn on all the health-promoting, anti-aging genes, it would be a > blockbuster. > > But you don't see ads on TV telling you to eat more whole-kernel rye bread! > > Findings from a few other key studies from just that one issue are worth > noting: > > -- Supplementing with conjugated linoleic acid (a special fat from meat and > dairy fats) caused a modest loss in body fat. It also may prevent cancer, > heart disease, and inflammation. > > -- Long-term fish consumption protects against arrhythmia or irregular heart > beats. > > -- Eating a diet high in monounsaturated fats from olive oil can help reduce > blood pressure while a high refined-carbohydrate diet can increase blood > pressure. > > -- Combining fish oil supplements with regular aerobic exercise helps improve > body composition > and reduce heart disease risk factors (lower triglycerides, higher HDL). > > -- Women need more choline (a nutrient that is needed for cell membrane > formation and to make the neurotransmitter acetylcholine necessary for brain > function) after menopause or are at risk of liver and muscle damage. > > -- If women with HIV are given a multivitamin, they have less anemia and > their children also have less anemia. Anemia in HIV is associated with a much > faster rate of disease progression and death. > > -- In Bangladesh, where arsenic poisoning is common, giving folate, vitamins > B12 and B6, choline, and niacin reduced the toxic effects of arsenic. > > -- People who eat more meat and saturated fat have a higher risk of skin > cancer. > > And those are just from May! > > The June 2007 issue, which I am just getting through, has a fantastic > randomized controlled study of calcium and vitamin D, which shows that those > nutrients substantially reduce risk for all cancers and that the blood level > of vitamin D is the most important predictor of decreased risk. > > So what are we to learn from all these studies? > > This is just a smattering of the research out there -- only a few out of the > many in that one issue alone. > > And it is stuff you are not hearing about. > > So if you hear from your doctor that eating better and taking supplements has > no "real" scientific evidence to support it, ask them if they have read the > "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" lately. > > It is also interesting to note that the main medical journals publish mostly > positive studies on drugs and mostly negative studies on nutrients, foods, > and herbs. > > And the findings correlate 4 to 1 for a positive outcome for a drug if the > study was funded by the drug company. > > The same is true for nutrients. > > Dr. David Ludwig published a study that showed that if a food company or > industry, like dairy, for example, funded a study, there was a zero percent > chance that the outcome was unfavorable for the funder. But if it was > independently funded, the negative outcomes were about 40 percent. (4) > > That is exactly what happened in another study I saw on the effects of high > fructose corn syrup. > It showed no adverse effects -- and was funded by the American Beverage > Association. > > Surprise! > > So I encourage you all to beware when someone tells you there is no research > to back up the use of food or nutrients as the primary mode of treatment of > disease and prevention of chronic illness. > > The evidence is overwhelming -- just ignored. > > Now I'd like to hear from you... > > How often do you hear about positive studies of food and nutrients? Of drugs? > > Have you ever asked your doctor for a drug based on an ad? What happened? > > Has your doctor -- or someone else -- told you that there's no research to > back up natural treatments like these? > > Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment on my blog at: > > ==> http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog > > Just look for the post at the top titled: > > "The overwhelming evidence of the healing power of food..." > > To your good health, > > Mark Hyman, M.D. > > PS - For more information on this and other blogs, please go to: > > ===> http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog > > (1) Donohue JM, Cevasco M, Rosenthal MB. > A decade of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. > > (2) Kallio P, Kolehmainen M, Laaksonen DE, Kekalainen J, Salopuro T, Sivenius > K, Pulkkinen > L, Mykkanen HM, Niskanen L, Uusitupa M, Poutanen KS. > Dietary carbohydrate modification induces alterations in gene expression in > abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue in persons with the metabolic syndrome: > the FUNGENUT Study. > Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 May;85(5):1417-27. > > (3) Salsberg SL, Ludwig DS. > Putting your genes on a diet: the molecular effects of carbohydrate. > Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 May;85(5):1169-70. > > (4) Lesser LI, Ebbeling CB, Goozner M, Wypij D, Ludwig DS. > Relationship between funding source and conclusion among nutrition-related > scientific articles. > PLoS Med. 2007 Jan;4(1):e5 > > UltraWellness LLC > 45 Walker Street > Lenox, MA 01240 > http://www.ultrawellness.com > > > > This email is provided for general educational purposes only and is not > intended to constitute (i) medical advice or counseling, (ii) the practice of > medicine including psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy or the provision of > health care diagnosis or treatment, (iii) the creation of a physician patient > or clinical relationship, or (iv) an endorsement, recommendation or > sponsorship of any third party product or service by the sender or the > sender's affiliates, agents, employees, consultants or service providers. If > you have or suspect that > you have a medical problem, contact your health care provider promptly. > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: /pipermail/attachments/20071025/9dd3f32e/attachment.html > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _________________________________________________________________ Help yourself to FREE treats served up daily at the Messenger Café. 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