Saturday, April 26, 2008

Toxic Water, Toxic Water Everywhere

Toxic Water, Toxic Water Everywhere
 by: Dr. Patrick Flanagan
I am Dr Patrick Flanagan, and this is the latest edition of my Dr Health Secrets newsletter. Just in time for hot summer days and ice-cold thirst quenching water, I wrote this newsletter about toxic water and its effects on your body.
Wash Away All Your Health
I suppose you can say that water is my, well, thing. As an advocate for the nutritional benefits of water, as well as the health implications associated from there-lack-of, I feel obligated to highlight the darker side of the substance that is needed as much as the air that we breathe.
This saddens me greatly, although I suppose I should just be resigned to the fact by now, but I still fail to fully understand how people continue to pollute, corrupt, and destroy something that is so vital to all of our lives. Still less plausible even, is the knowledge that people still drink this water, then wonder how and why their health has decreased immeasurably and almost unexplainably.
The water that you drink, bathe in, shower in, do laundry in, and otherwise completely function in, has a dark enemy within it that craves a healthy body, such as yours, to corrupt and nestle inside. It may sound dramatic, but if people truly knew what was in their water, they would feel more violated than if they were robbed and then later sued by the assailant after he/she fell and broke their leg.
The chemicals in tap water have been a growing concern for many years, and although there are groups and organizations that make it their work and passion to inform the public, their voices seem to fall on naпve and unassuming ears.
Water Way
70-80% of the human body is composed of water. It is the ultimate solvent and mixes with almost everything biological or chemical. Our bodies are mostly water and, like you, I'm careful about what I drink. Yet today there are over 2,100 known toxins that cause cancer in U.S. drinking water. I used to think, "Come on! If harmful chemicals were really in drinking water, the city or state would do something."
But then one day I simply bought a home water testing kit and sampled some of my tap water. I was shocked and appalled at what I found. Just type "home water testing kit" into your favorite search engine for your own kit
In the U.S. alone, there are over 100,000 toxins present within the environment. In U.S. drinking water, there are over 2100 toxic chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Women have a one in three chance of contracting some form or cancer, while men have a one in two chance. Currently, there are 19 major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, San Diego, New Orleans, Atlanta, Detroit, Denver, Phoenix, and others, that have highly polluted drinking water that is not fit for human consumption.
This is a warning you are used to hearing when you travel within exotic locations, but now the threat has made its way into your home. According to the Washington, D.C. based Environmental Working Group (EWG), manufacturers dumped more than one billion pounds of toxic chemicals into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water between 1990 and 1994. EWG also estimates that manufacturers contributed about 450 million additional pounds via sewage. (1)
1000 contaminants are added every year and only 100 are addressed. 1/10 of 1 year's amount of toxins is not sufficient. Just one example is the fish in the UK now reportedly contaminated by Prozac due to so many prescriptions while the sewer systems have no way of breaking down this non-organic chemical. That's just one example.
Pesticides are an entirely other problem. Two billion pounds of pesticides are used every single year. That's eight pounds for every American. These pesticides enter water systems via disposal sites, animal waste, runoff, sewage, etc. After reviewing published (but not publicized) State data and conducting its own tests, EWG found that a single glass of Midwestern tap water has three or more pesticides in it at any given time.
What's a Water Drinker To Do?
The best solution is get information about your local water supply (see RESOURCE BOX) and then to get a highly advanced water filter for your house. Quality filters can range in the thousands of dollars, but clean water is much cheaper and easier than medical problems later in your life. Nothing feels as good as a shower without chlorinated water!
Remember, the problem with drinking distilled water is that your body is designed to drink water with minerals in it. So try adding minerals to your water and see how you feel. And some mineralized bottled water sources are great, as long as they are rigorously tested as many premium bottled waters are.

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24 Good Reasons Why You May Need Vitamin Supplements

24 Good Reasons Why You May Need Vitamin Supplements
 by: David Exon
Many people believe that eating a well balanced diet provides all the vitamins and minerals necessary for good health. In ideal circumstances, this is the case, but in reality there are many reasons why you may need vitamin supplements to cope with living in the twentieth century environment. Taking vitamins when required is a safe method of optimizing your dietary sources of nutrients, providing you follow the instructions on product labels.
1. Poor Digestion
Even when your food intake is good, inefficient digestion can limit your body's uptake of vitamins. Some common causes of inefficient digestion are not chewing well enough and eating too fast. Both of these result in larger than normal food particle size, too large to allow complete action of digestive enzymes. Many people with dentures are unable to chew as efficiently as those with a full set of original teeth.
2. Hot Coffee, Tea and Spices
Habitual drinking of liquids that are too hot, or consuming an excess of irritants such as coffee, tea or pickles and spices can cause inflammation of the digestive linings, resulting in a drop in secretion of digestive fluids and poorer extraction of vitamins and minerals from food.
3. Alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol is known to damage the liver and pancreas which are vital to digestion and metabolism. It can also damage the lining of the intestinal tract and adversely affect the absorption of nutrients, leading to sub-clinical malnutrition. Regular heavy use of alcohol increases the body's need for the B-group vitamins, particularly thiamine, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid and vitamins B12, A and C as well as the minerals zinc, magnesium and calcium. Alcohol affects availability, absorption and metabolism of nutrients.
4. Smoking
Smoking too much tobacco is also an irritant to the digestive tract and increases the metabolic requirements of Vitamin C, all else being equal, by at least 30mg per cigarette over and above the typical requirements of a non-smoker. Vitamin C which is normally present in such foods as paw paws, oranges and capsicums, oxidizes rapidly once these fruits are cut, juiced, cooked or stored in direct sunlight or near heat. Vitamin C is important to the immune function.
5. Laxatives
Overuse of laxatives can result in poor absorption of vitamins and minerals from food, by hastening the intestinal transit time. Paraffin and other mineral oils increase losses of fat soluble vitamins A, E and K. Other laxatives used to excess can cause large losses of minerals such as potassium, sodium and magnesium.
6. Fad Diets
Bizarre diets that miss out on whole groups of foods can be seriously lacking in vitamins. Even the popular low fat diets, if taken to an extreme, can be deficient in vitamins A, D and E. Vegetarian diets, which can exclude meat and other animal sources, must be very skillfully planned to avoid vitamin B12 deficiency, which may lead to anemia.
7. Overcooking
Lengthy cooking or reheating of meat and vegetables can oxidize and destroy heat susceptible vitamins such as the B-group, C and E. Boiling vegetables leaches the water soluble vitamins B-group and C as well as many minerals. Light steaming is preferable. Some vitamins, such as vitamin B6 can be destroyed by irradiation from microwaves.
8. Food Processing
Freezing food containing vitamin E can significantly reduce its levels once defrosted. Foods containing vitamin E exposed to heat and air can turn rancid. Many common sources of vitamin E, such as bread and oils are nowadays highly processed, so that the vitamin E content is significantly reduced or missing totally, which increases storage life but can lower nutrient levels. Vitamin E is an antioxidant which defensively inhibits oxidative damage to all tissues. Other vitamin losses from food processing include vitamin B1 and C.
9. Convenience Foods
A diet overly dependent on highly refined carbohydrates, such as sugar, white flour and white rice, places greater demand on additional sources of B-group vitamins to process these carbohydrates. An unbalanced diet contributes to such conditions as irritability, lethargy and sleep disorders.
10. Antibiotics
Some antibiotics although valuable in fighting infection, also kill off friendly bacteria in the gut, which would normally be producing B-group vitamins to be absorbed through the intestinal walls. Such deficiencies can result in a variety of nervous conditions, therefore it may be advisable to supplement with B-group vitamins when on a lengthy course of broad spectrum antibiotics.
11. Food Allergies
The omission of whole food groups from the diet, as in the case of individuals allergic to gluten or lactose, can mean the loss of significant dietary sources of nutrients such as thiamine, riboflavin or calcium.
12. Crop Nutrient Losses
Some agricultural soils are deficient in trace elements. Decades of intensive agriculture can overwork and deplete soils, unless all the soil nutrients, including trace elements, are regularly replaced. This means that food crops can be depleted of nutrients due to poor soil management. In one U.S Government survey, levels of essential minerals in crops were found to have declined by up to 68 per cent over a four year period in the 1970's.
13. Accidents and Illness
Burns lead to a loss of protein and essential trace nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Surgery increases the need for zinc, vitamin E and other nutrients involved in the cellular repair mechanism. The repair of broken bones will be retarded by an inadequate supply of calcium and vitamin C and conversely enhanced by a full dietary supply. The challenge of infection places high demand on the nutritional resources of zinc, magnesium and vitamins B5, B6 and zinc.
14. Stress
Chemical, physical and emotional stresses can increase the body's requirements for vitamins B2, B5, B6 and C. Air pollution increases the requirements for vitamin E.
15. P.M.T
Research has demonstrated that up to 60 per cent of women suffering from symptoms of premenstrual tension, such as headaches, irritability, bloated ness, breast tenderness, lethargy and depression can benefit from supplementation with vitamin B6.
16. Teenagers
Rapid growth spurts such as in the teenage years, particularly in girls, place high demands on nutritional resources to underwrite the accelerated physical, biochemical and emotional development in this age group. Data from the USA Ten State Nutrition Survey (in 1968-70 covering a total of 24,000 families and 86,000 individuals) showed that between 30-50 per cent of adolescents aged 12-16 had dietary intakes below two thirds of the recommended daily averages for Vitamin A, C, calcium and iron.
17. Pregnant Women
Pregnancy creates higher than average demands for nutrients, to ensure healthy growth of the baby and comfortable confinement for the mother. Nutrients which typically require increase during pregnancy are the B-group, especially B1, B2, B3, B6, folic acid and B12, A, D, E and the minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and phosphorous.
The Ten State Nutrition Survey in the USA in 1968-70 showed that as many as 80 per cent of the pregnant women surveyed had dietary intakes below two thirds of recommended daily allowances. Professional assessment of nutrient requirements during pregnancy should be sought.
18. Oral Contraceptives
Oral Contraceptives can decrease absorption of folic acid and increase the need for vitamin B6, and possibly vitamin C, zinc and riboflavin. Approximately 22 per cent of Australian women aged 15-44 are believed to be on "the pill" at any one time.
19. Light Eaters
Some people eat very sparingly, even without weight reduction goals. US dietary surveys have shown that an average woman maintains her weight on 7560 kilojoules per day, at which level her diet is likely to be low in thiamine, calcium and iron.
20. The Elderly
The aged have been shown to have a low intake of vitamins and minerals, particularly iron, calcium and zinc. Folic acid deficiency is often found, in conjunction with vitamin C deficiency. Fibre intake is often low. Riboflavin (B2) and pyridoxine (B6) deficiencies have also been observed. Possible causes include impaired sense of taste and smell, reduced secretion of digestive enzymes, chronic disease and, maybe, physical impairment.
21. Lack of Sunlight
Invalids, shift workers and people whose exposure to sunlight may be minimal can suffer from insufficient amounts of vitamin D, which is required for calcium metabolism, without which rickets and osteoporosis (bone thinning) has been observed. Ultraviolet light is the stimulus to vitamin D formation in skin. It is blocked by cloud, fog, smog, smoke, ordinary window glass, curtains and clothing. The maximum recommended daily supplement intake of vitamin D is 400 i.u.
22. Bio-Individuality
Wide fluctuations in individual nutrient requirements from the official recommended average vitamin and mineral intakes are common, particularly for those in high physical demand vocations, such as athletics and manual labor, taking into account body weight and physical type. Protein intake influences the need for vitamin B6 and vitamin B1 is linked to kilo joule intake.
23. Low Body Reserves
Although the body is able to store reserves of certain vitamins such as A and E, Canadian autopsy data has shown that up to thirty percent of the population have reserves of vitamin A so low as to be judged "at risk". Vitamin A is important to healthy skin and mucous membranes (including the sinus and lungs) and eyesight.
24. Athletes
Athletes consume large amounts of food and experience considerable stress. These factors affect their needs for B-group vitamins, vitamin C and iron in particular. Tests on Australian Olympic athletes and A-grade football players, for example, have shown wide ranging vitamin deficiencies.

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Iron Mineral 101

Iron Mineral 101
 by: Charlene J. Nuble
Iron is a mineral that is essential to the health and functioning of the body. Deficiencies in iron can have serious consequences for overall health and even energy levels. While iron is important for both sexes, it is of particular importance to women due to biological and reproductive factors. However, world wide, many people do not meet the minimum suggested daily intake of iron resulting in a variety of health problems that range from the mild, which simply increasing the daily iron intake could remedy, to the severe, which often require more complex treatments but could easily have been avoided by sufficient daily iron consumption.
Iron serves several purposes within the body. One of the most important functions of iron in the system is its role is oxygenating the blood. Another essential role of iron is energy metabolism. It is a factor of the neurodevelopment of babies as they grow and develop in the uterus. Iron also serves to promote the important functioning of the body's immune system particularly in the production of the white blood cells essential in fighting infection and disease. Iron is also essential in properly utilizing the B vitamins.
Women, because of their role in reproduction, need to be especially sure that their iron levels are sufficient especially during pregnancy as the healthy growth and development of their babies depends on it. Because of blood loss during menstruation, most women need to take a little extra precaution during that time period to make sure their iron levels stay at recommended levels.
Iron deficiencies can cause a variety of health problems. Anemia is by far the most common and it results in weakness, fatigue and, to the detriment especially of school children, an inability to concentrate properly. Oxygen is one of the most important life giving forces of the body and due to the essential role of iron in seeing to it that oxygen reaches all parts of the body, via the blood, general feelings of health and well-being rely on proper iron levels.
Dietary supplements that include iron, as well as iron enriched foods, play an important role world wide in achieving the recommended daily iron requirements of the human body. However, like any other dietary supplement or medicine, iron supplements must be used properly to be effective and to avoid inducing other serious health problems. Always remember also to couple your iron supplement drinking with ascorbic acid or vitamin C. This is to help the body absorb the iron more quickly.
An overdose of iron in small children can be fatal. Always keep iron supplements and vitamins that contain iron well out of the reach of children. A reminder for parents who wisely make use of a daily multivitamin and iron supplement for their children: if you are using those brightly colored, cartoon character types, always be sure to remind your children that those are powerful medicines and not merely candy. That way if the bottle is accidentally left down and the child does find it, they are less likely to overdose themselves with it and more likely to call it to your attention that you left it in their reach.
Iron is an essential nutrient for some of the body's very important functions and processes. For many years, dietary supplements have been a safe and trusted means of making sure to meet the recommended daily iron intake levels. When used properly, iron supplements are a good choice for helping to keep the body strong and healthy.

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