Hialrious MyPlate Parody

How magnesium offers protection from radiation.

One would not normally think that magnesium deficiency can increase the risk of cancer yet we will find that just as severe dehydration or asphyxiation can cause death, magnesium deficiency can lead directly to cancer. It is known that carcinogenesis induces magnesium distribution disturbances and magnesium depletion. Magnesium deficiency is carcinogenic, and in the case of solid tumors, a high level of supplemented magnesium inhibits carcinogenesis.

Researchers from Japan's National Cancer Center in Tokyo have found that an increased intake of magnesium reduces a man's risk of colon cancer by over 50 percent. Several studies have shown an increased cancer rate in regions with low magnesium levels in soil and drinking water. In Egypt the cancer rate was only about 10 percent of that in Europe and America. because of an extremely high magnesium intake of 2.5-3g in these cancer-free populations, ten times more than in most western countries.

Iodine is obviously not the only substance for radiation threats. Magnesium is a vital mineral whose lack leaves us open to not only radioactive damages but also those from heavy metals and thousands of chemicals that we are commonly exposed to. Without sufficient magnesium, the body accumulates toxins and acid residues, degenerates rapidly, and ages prematurely.

Magnesium is a crucial factor in the natural self-cleansing and detoxification responses of the body. Magnesium is also necessary for effective chelation. It stimulates the sodium potassium pump on the cell wall and this initiates the cleansing process in part because the sodium-potassium-ATPase pump regulates intracellular and extracellular potassium levels. The healthy cell wall favors intake of nutrients and elimination of waste products.

The involvement of free radicals in tissue injury induced by magnesium deficiency causes an accumulation of oxidative products in heart, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle tissues and in red blood cells, leaving them more vulnerable to oxidative stress caused by radiation exposure. According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, low magnesium is associated with dramatic increases in free radical generation as well as glutathione depletion and this is vital since glutathione is one of the few antioxidant molecules known to neutralize mercury.

Deficiencies in basic minerals like magnesium can make all the difference between health and disease, between being able to withstand chemical, heavy metal and radiation exposure. Magnesium expert Dr. Sherry Rogers has indicated that there is as much as a 500-fold difference in the ability of individuals to detoxify the same chemicals and much of that will be true for radiation as well. A key marker of this difference is each individual's magnesium level. Deficiencies in magnesium will wreak havoc with our body's ability to detoxify and chelate heavy radioactive particles and explains much of the difference between one person withstanding radiation exposures and another person falling to radiation sickness.

According to Austrian physician Dr. Leslie Fisher, who has conducted research within his own clinics and the Department of Psychiatry, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, magnesium protects cells from aluminum, mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium and nickel, which explains why re-mineralization is so essential for heavy metal detoxification and chelation as well as radiation protection. Magnesium is essential for the survival of our cells but takes on further importance now where our bodies are being bombarded on a daily basis with heavy metals and radiation.

Xylitol wipes away tooth decay

Mothers can significantly reduce caries in their babies by wiping their mouths with wipes impregnated with xylitol, researchers reported here at the International Association of Dental Research 89th General Session and Exhibition. Evidence is growing that xylitol can fight caries, but exactly how this sugar alcohol affects the disease isn't well understood. Whereas older children and adults can chew xylitol gum, these very young children can't, so researchers are exploring the use of xylitol wipes. In their study, researchers assigned each mother to wipe her child's mouth 3 times a day with wipes which deliver 5.4 mg of xylitol, or a placebo. Examiners counted the number of surfaces with carious lesions and collected saliva samples at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year. After 1 year, there was a significant difference in the mean number of new decayed surfaces between the xylitol group and the placebo group.

Steve - xylitol can be used in moderation as a sugar substitute. Most xylitol is made from corn, so yf you have an intolerance to with corn, Emerald Forest brand makes Xylitol packets and Xylichew brand makes chewing gum derived from hypoallergenic birch bark. Xylitol shoudl be consumed in moderation because if over-consumed, it can cause loose stools.

Bonnie Reacts to MyPlate on WLS-TV

Chicagoans react to new MyPlate food guide.

Bonnie Minsky on MyPlate: One Glaring Omission

In general, MyPlate is a vast improvement from MyPyramid. There is, however, one glaring omission: healthy fats. One cannot exist optimally without healthy fats. In a perfect world, they should have cut down on the portion of grains and added a section for healthy oils. This was a huge misstep. Hopefully, they will put this in the next version.

That said, they have come a long way and the First Lady and Secretary Vilsack should be commended.

2011 MyPlate vs. Circle of Health. Which is Better?

2011, USDA's MyPlate















2004, Our Version of the Food Pyramid

Vitamin, mineral deficiency not taken seriously

Severe deficiency of the vitamins and minerals required for life is relatively uncommon in developed nations, but modest deficiency is very common and often not taken seriously. A new research published in FASEB Journal, however, may change this thinking as it examines moderate selenium and vitamin K deficiency to show how damage accumulates over time as a result of vitamin and mineral loss, leading to age-related diseases. Researchers tested whether selenium-dependent proteins that are essential from an evolutionary perspective are more resistant to selenium deficiency than those that are less essential. They discovered a highly sophisticated array of mechanisms at cellular and tissue levels that, when selenium is limited, protect essential selenium-dependent proteins at the expense of those that are nonessential. They also found that mutations in selenium-dependent proteins that are lost on modest selenium deficiency result in characteristics shared by age-related diseases including cancer, heart disease, and loss of immune or brain function.

Results should inform attempts to locate mechanistic linkages between vitamin or mineral deficiencies and age-related diseases by focusing attention on the vitamin and mineral-dependent proteins that are nonessential from an evolutionary perspective. "This paper should settle any debate about the importance of taking a good, complete, multivitamin every day," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "As this report shows, taking a multivitamin that contains selenium is a good way to prevent deficiencies that, over time, can cause harm in ways that we are just beginning to understand."

MSG linked to weight gain

Researchers performing a study on the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG), most often associated with Chinese food and after-dinner headaches, found that people who eat more MSG are more likely to be overweight or obese. And the increased risk wasn't simply because people were stuffing themselves with MSG-rich foods. The link between high MSG intake and being overweight held even after accounting for the total number of calories people ate. The implications for public health are substantial because MSG is one of the world's most widely used food additives.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed more than 10,000 adults in China for about 5.5 years on average. Men and women who ate the most MSG (a median of 5 grams a day) were about 30 percent more likely to become overweight by the end of the study than those who ate the least amount of the flavoring (less than a half-gram a day), the researchers found. After excluding people who were overweight at the start of the study, the risk rose to 33 percent.

The link between MSG and weight gain isn't clear, but it may have something to do with the hormone leptin, which regulates appetite and metabolism. MSG consumption may cause leptin resistance, so that the body cannot properly process the energy it receives from food.