As we come across items of interest that might benefit you, we will include them here. Because the principals of this site are getting on in years, we are facing unexpected health challenges, ones that we never thought we would be dealing with, or that we unrealistically tried pushing off 'til "later."

Later is now here. The average American is in pretty bad shape going into later years. Ignoring one's need for exercise and a good diet at any age comes at a high prices. But ignoring the need for both as you get older is just not worth it. Who wants to live incapicated for five, ten or twenty years at any age, but when you are over 50 the complications are compounded by many factors.

New on our horizons are versions of alkaline therapies, including food choices. We just came across this chart, which ties in with Oxygen Therapy now included on our Reading List.

ALKALINE FOODS		ACID FOODS
General
Stick to salads, fresh vegetables and healthy nuts and oils. Consume plenty of raw foods and at least 4-8 glasses of clean, pure water daily (ideally enhanced with pH drops).		Avoid fatty meats, dairy, cheese, sweets, chocolates, alcohol and tobacco. Packaged foods often contain hidden offenders. Microwave meals are full of sugars and salts. Over-cooking removes nutrition.
VEGETABLES	FRUITS	MEATS	DAIRY
Asparagus Artichokes Cabbage Lettuce Onion Cauliflower Radish Swede Lambs Lettuce Peas Courgette Red Cabbage Leeks Watercress Spinach Turnip Chives Carrot Green Beans Beetroot Garlic Celery Grasses (wheat, straw, barley, dog, kamut) Cucumber Broccoli Kale Brussels Sprouts	Lemon Lime Avocado Tomato Grapefruit Watermelon (neutral) Rhubarb	Pork Lamb Beef Chicken Turkey Crustaceans Other Seafood (apart from occasional oily fish such as salmon)	Milk Eggs Cheese Cream Yogurt Ice Cream
	DRINKS	OTHERS	DRINKS
	'Green Drinks' Fresh vegetable juice Pure water (distilled or ionised) Lemon water (pure water + fresh lemon or lime). Herbal Tea Vegetable broth Almond Milk	Vinegar White Pasta White Bread Wholemeal Bread Biscuits Soy Sauce Tamari Condiments (Tomato Sauce, Mayonnaise etc.) Artificial Sweeteners Honey	Fizzy Drinks Coffee Tea Beers Spirits Fruit Juice Dairy Smoothies Milk Traditional Tea
FATS & OILS	SEEDS/NUTS/GRAINS	FATS & OILS	SEEDS & NUTS
Flax / Hemp Avocado / Olive Evening Primrose Coconut Oil Oil Blends (such as Udo's Choice)	Almonds Pumpkin Sunflower Sesame Flax Lentils Cumin Seeds Any sprouted seed	Saturated Fats Hydrogenated Oils Margarine (worse than Butter) Corn Oil Vegetable Oil Sunflower Oil	Peanuts Cashew Nuts Pistachio Nuts
OTHERS		CONVENIENCE FOODS
Sprouts (soy, alfalfa, mung bean, wheat, little radish , chickpea, broccoli etc) Bragg Liquid Aminos (Soy Sauce Alternative) Tahini		Sweets Chocolate Microwave Meals Canned Foods Powdered Soups Instant Meals Any Fast Food

 

ARTICLES to help you learn to care for/about yourself:

• Ward off Disease
• Good Cholesterol
• Most Effective Stress Relievers
• DNA Effectiveness (or Lack Thereof)

Forbes.com is a favorite site of D.A. Levy. They have just recommended Get Better Health, a website started by Val Jones, M.D. Oddly, in the midst of seeking optimum change and performance, so many of us neglect our health. As pointed out on Get Better Health, stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in the United States and the third leading cause of death. Worldwide, stroke is the second leading cause of death. Like heart disease and cancer, serious stroke disparities persist in America.

Sadly, too many of us "feed" the causes of stroke through unhealthy food (fried, fatty, Coca Cola), high tobacco and alcohol consumption, minimal (if any) coping mechanisms which do not eliminate stress, minimal or no excercise (which would help ward off the stress and absorb some of the junk food we eat). This leads to diabetes and a generally stressed system that cannot ward off dis-ease.

An article by Dr. Olajide Williams confirms my ongoing insistence that we all too often treat the disease and not the problem before it becomes a problem:

Over the last decade, most research dollars spent on stroke has focused on treatment and recovery. Researchers have spent millions trying to come up with new blockbuster treatments that reduce stroke burden or reverse it’s disabling impact. Therapeutic clot-busters have emerged with narrow time-windows within which they must be administered. Relaxing these time constraints have been the subject of even more research, and stroke recovery laboratories explore brain re-learning, neuronal plasticity, and cellular regeneration.

While I believe that we must continue to remain leaders of new and innovative treatments of disease, there is no doubt in my mind that the best return for our healthcare dollars is prevention. It is the only thing that can reign in the runaway disparities in healthcare and reduce the physical and economic burden of disease among all Americans.

And excerpted from ABCNews.com:

Researchers have discovered a treatment that, for the first time, appears to significantly reverse heart disease, the leading cause of death among Americans. Until now, the common way to treat heart disease has been the use of statin drugs to lower the body's harmful cholesterol, LDL. In this study, researchers focused on HDL, the "good" cholesterol that helps clear plaque from artery walls.

The discovery actually began more than 20 years ago in the town of Limone Sul Garde, in northern Italy. Doctors found that about 40 people in the town had exceptionally low levels of HDL. Whereas a healthy level of HDL is considered 40 and above, these people had an average HDL level of 17. Normally, you would expect people with so little good cholesterol to have severe heart disease and be dying of heart attacks in their 30s and 40s. But these people were living surprisingly full lives. Doctors discovered that what was in their blood was a unique form of good cholesterol called ApoA-1 Milano that appeared to be unusually potent.

Researchers in the United States turned this particular strain of good cholesterol into an experimental drug and gave it to 36 Americans with severe heart disease, people whose arteries were clogged with plaque. Eleven others received a placebo. Those given the placebo saw little change in their condition. But for those given the experimental drug, the result was dramatic.

"It was unprecedented," said Dr. Daniel Rader of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who reviewed the study. "This study shows that plaque regression occurred much faster and to a greater extent than we've ever seen before." After just five weekly infusions, researchers saw, on average, a 4 percent reduction in the amount of plaque on artery walls.

"Regression of 4 percent, while that might not seem like much, actually represents several years worth of plaque buildup in the coronary arteries," Rader told ABCNEWS. Researchers report there were no side effects from the treatment. The next step, they say, is to do larger and longer studies to see whether giving more of the drug reduces even more of the plaque. They also need to demonstrate that the treatment actually results in fewer heart attacks and deaths. Scientists say it could take another three to five years — but if all goes well, millions of Americans may have the kind of heart protection now enjoyed by a few dozen Italians.

So, before anything goes amiss, please consider a book such as Newly Expanded! The World's Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets. While the reviews on this book are mixed, and one doctor finds the information of questionable sources, it does include articles by two Nobel winners. It is best used as a reference book to search topics of interest to you and then to find the orignial sources of the information, which can be done generally via the internet. For me, the point of the book is that there may be an alternative to surgery for many ills. Again, two of those alternatives are exercise and diet; many doctors will tell you that there is no guarantee that surgery will cure what ails you, and it it is only a stop gap if you do not take care of yourself.

Good cholesterol: Top 5 foods from Mayo Clinic staff

Before you make other changes to your diet, think about cutting back on the types and amounts of fats you eat, which can raise your cholesterol. That way, you'll improve your cholesterol levels and health overall. When cutting fat from your diet, focus on saturated and trans fats. The American Heart Association Healthy Family Meals: 150 Recipes Everyone Will Love will help in these important life changes. Saturated fats, like those in meat and some oils, raise your total cholesterol. Trans fats, which are sometimes used to make store-bought cookies, crackers and cakes, are particularly bad for your cholesterol levels because they raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL), "good" cholesterol. Try to limit the number of calories you eat daily to less than 10 percent from saturated fat, and eliminate as many trans fats from your diet as possible.

If you'd like to improve your cholesterol level, first consider lifestyle changes: Lose excess pounds, eat heart-healthy foods, and include physical activity in your daily routine. If you smoke, ask your doctor to help you quit.

Oatmeal and oatbran

Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol. Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, apples, pears, psyllium, barley and prunes. Soluble fiber appears to reduce the absorption of cholesterol in your intestines. Ten grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas, you'll add about 4 more grams of fiber.

Walnuts, almonds and more

Studies have shown that walnuts can significantly reduce blood cholesterol. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts also help keep blood vessels healthy and elastic. Almonds and some other nuts appear to have a similar effect. According to the Food and Drug Administration, eating about a handful (1.5 ounces, or 42.5 grams) a day of most nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease.

Alll nuts are high in calories, so a handful will do. To avoid gaining weight, replace foods high in saturated fat with nuts. For example, instead of using cheese, meat or croutons in your salad, add a handful of walnuts or almonds.

Fish and omega-3 fatty acids

Research has supported the cholesterol-lowering benefits of eating fatty fish because of its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids also help the heart in other ways such as reducing blood pressure and the risk of blood clots. In people who have already had heart attacks, fish oil — or omega-3 fatty acids — significantly reduces the risk of sudden death.

Doctors recommend eating at least two servings of fish a week. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon. If you don't like fish, you can also get omega-3 fatty acids from foods like ground flaxseed or canola oil.

You can take an omega-3 or fish oil supplement to get some of the beneficial effects, but you won't get all the other nutrients in fish, like selenium. If you decide to take a supplement, just remember to watch your diet and eat lean meat or vegetables in place of fish.

Olive oil

Olive oil contains a potent mix of antioxidants that can lower your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol but leave your "good" (HDL) cholesterol untouched. The Food and Drug Administration recommends about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil a day to get its heart-healthy benefits. To add olive oil to your diet, you can saute vegetables in it, add it to a marinade, or mix it with vinegar as a salad dressing. You can also use olive oil as a substitute for butter when basting meat.

Some research suggests that the cholesterol-lowering effects of olive oil are even greater if you choose extra-virgin olive oil, meaning the oil is less processed and contains more heart-healthy antioxidants. Avoid "light" olive oils. This label usually means the oil is more processed and lighter in color, not fat or calories.

Foods fortified with plant sterols or stanols

Foods are now available that have been fortified with sterols or stanols — substances found in plants that help block the absorption of cholesterol. Margarines, orange juice and yogurt drinks fortified with plant sterols can help reduce LDL cholesterol by more than 10 percent. The amount of daily plant sterols needed for results is at least 2 grams — which equals about two 8-ounce (237 milliliters) servings of plant sterol-fortified orange juice a day.

Plant sterols or stanols in fortified foods don't appear to affect levels of triglycerides or of "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Nor do they interfere with the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins — vitamins A, D, E and K.

check with your doctor

And, of course, check with a medical practitioner if you think something is amiss . . . and while you converse with them, ask about natural cures for anything causing you aches and pains. You will find, sadly, that some doctors eschew anything other than what they have learned through their training and a few will actually become upset if you ask about natural cures.