Nuts and berries fight metabolic syndrome

Nuts and berries fight metabolic syndrome

by David Gutierrez

A number of recent studies have indicated that nuts and berries provide great advantages in averting metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms linked to heightened risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Preliminary results from a Spanish study involving 9,000 people suggest that a Mediterranean diet leads to improved levels of cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure, all linked to metabolic syndrome. In particular, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with 15 grams of walnuts, 7.5 grams of hazelnuts and 7.5 grams of almonds per day appeared to provide a long-term 50 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, more than the Mediterranean diet high in olive oil or the low fat diet. The research was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In another study, researchers found that people who supplemented their everyday diet with 2-3 ounces of pistachios per day for four weeks showed significantly improved cholesterol ratios, perhaps due to their increased intake of fiber and lower intake of saturated fat. This study was published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

“This research challenges the previously held belief that a low-fat diet is best for heart health. Studies now show that a diet with a moderate amount of healthful monounsaturated fat, like the kind found in pistachios, is a more effective way to prevent heart disease than reducing overall fat intake,” said lead researcher James Cooper.

In a long-term study of 34,000 post-menopausal women published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods such as berries was correlated with lowered incidence of cardiovascular disease over the course of 16 years.

An estimated 50 million people suffer from metabolic syndrome in the United States, placing them at a doubled risk of cardiovascular disease and five times the risk of diabetes compared with those who do not have the syndrome.

from: Truth Publishing International, LTD

Existential Question of the Day

QUESTION: “Where do the characters go when I use my backspace or delete them on my PC?”

ANSWER: The characters go to different places, depending on whom you ask:

The Catholic Church’s approach to characters: ” The nice characters go to Heaven, where they are bathed in the light of happiness. The naughty characters are punished for their sins. Naughty characters are those involved in the creation of naughty words, such as “breast”, “sex”, and “contraception”.”

Some Protestant sects believe that the characters’ destinations are predestined; and that it’s therefore not worth worrying about: “They’ll go where they’re supposed to go, according to the unknowable plans of the OEM.”

The Buddhist explanation: “If a character has lived rightly, and its karma is good, then after it has been deleted it will be reincarnated as a different, higher character. Those funny characters above the numbers on your keyboard will become numbers, numbers will become letters, and lower-case letters will become upper-case.”

The 20th-century bitter cynical nihilist explanation: “Who cares? It doesn’t really matter if they’re on the page, deleted, undeleted, underlined, etc. It’s all the same.”

The Mac user’s explanation: “All the characters written on a PC and then deleted go to straight to PC hell. If you’re using a PC, you can probably see the deleted characters, because you’re in PC hell also.”

Stephen King’s explanation: “Every time you hit the (Del) key you unleash a tiny monster inside the cursor, who tears the poor unsuspecting characters to shreds, drinks their blood, then eats them, bones and all. Hah, hah, hah!”

IBM’s explanation: “The characters are not real. They exist only on the screen when they are needed, as concepts, so to delete them is merely to de-conceptualize them. Get a life.”

PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) explanation: “You’ve been DELETING them??? Can’t you hear them SCREAMING??? Why don’t you go CLUB some BABY SEALS while wearing a MINK, you pig!!!!”

The key of immunity

“Keep in mind that the key of the secret lies in the resistance of the host.”
Louis Pasteur – world famous microbiologist

There are several syndromes which can be traced back to a single cause, that is the weakened resistance of the body. Simple cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, nasal sinusitis, infections of the urinary tract as well as recurrent viral infections – including herpes appearing around lips – can all be the result of insufficient immune functions. In such cases diseases are mostly caused by pathogens which are present in other people’s bodies as well, but they are kept under control or destroyed by their healthy immune system. What’s more, the same person can be enfeebled by a bacterium that otherwise would not cause any problem. Besides the development of autoimmune and malignant diseases and allergies, less obvious complaints like decreased activity or depressive mood are also the result of the weakened defense system. Physical and mental problems then mutually strengthen each other.

The worst solution is to take some medication soon after a symptom appears. It is far more expedient to reactivate natural defense system, which in turn will be able to cope on its own with every pathogen. The extract of cat’s claw (Una de gato), a tropical creeper well known in South-American and Asian jungles is especially efficient in activating the immune system. The vinelike creeper has been named after the small thorns at the base of its leaves, reminding of cat’s claw. Some cultures refer to the plant as the “Sacred Herb of the Rain Forest”. It has been used in traditional medicine for at least 2000 years.

The Austrian Klaus Keplinger was the first scientist to publish an essay on this herb in the early 1970s. He has stated that cat’s claw contains large amounts of biologically active agents, that have anticancer, antimutagenic, antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects. Its active agents are different alkaloids that powerfully increase the production and activity of lymphocytes, as well as help phagocytes in eliminating alien cells, pathogens and impurities. Besides, cat’s claw is a diuretic and antifebrile. It promotes the parasympathetic functions of the sympathetic nervous system, helps in relaxing. In Europe it has become popular primarily in blocking the development of malignant tumors.

The active agents of cat’s claw is well complemented by zinc. This unique trace element is essential for the functioning of immune system. People following diets high in cereals and low in animal protein are often zinc deficient, as phytic acid originating from cereals binds zinc and inhibits its absorption from the intestinal tract. Zinc is involved in carbohydrate, protein, lipid as well as energy metabolism. It participates in cell multiplication and growth, as well as in the functioning of 300 different enzymes.

There is a directly demonstrable connection between zinc deficiency accompanying being underfed and high mortality rate in developing countries. The frequency of infant mortality may be as much as 50 or 500 times higher in ill children than in well fed ones. In spite of vaccinations, due to serious zinc deficiency immune system is no longer able to produce antibodies. The same risk is faced in case of exaggerated slimming diets.

Moreover, zinc accelerates wound healing, plays an important role in the functioning of reproductive organs, regulates blood sugar levels and has anti-inflammatory effects, supports prostate health and among others prevents the development of benign prostate hyperplasia. For different reasons, elderly persons, children, adolescents and athletes may all require the activation if the immune system. For this the best method is the cure composed as above.

Warning!

• Immunaid is not recommended to people allergic to any kind uncaria species, in early chidlhood, before surgical interventions, to patients with autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, AIDS) and for patients suffering in tuberculosis.
• It should not be taken by pregnant and breast feeding women as well. Those taking prescriptioin drugs (especially against arrythmia and hypertension, e.g. heparin) should take it with special care.