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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Antioxidants Key to Improving Kidney Functions
Improving kidney function after damage already has taken place is a tricky thing. Some steps can be taken to relieve symptoms, to some extent by neutralizing free radicals that might have caused the damage initially, but repairing organs as intricate and vital as kidneys is no mean feat.
Free radicals, a common culprit for many health ailments, can be neutralized by consuming antioxidant-rich substances such as some antioxidant supplements, fruits and vegetables, and some healthy chocolate products.
One new medicine, Coenzyme Q10, has been documented in early studies to decrease the creatinine level of patients taking dialysis treatments by 29 percent within 12 weeks, and decrease their blood urea nitrogen levels by nine percent over the same time frame. These improvements were significant enough to remove nearly 50 percent of those in the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine-reported test group from the need for dialysis treatments. Dialysis machines are expensive units built to filter toxins from the blood of patients with failing kidneys, and are associated with many adverse side effects.
Some facts about kidneys and kidney disease include:
* Humans have two bean-shaped kidneys, one on each side of their lower middle back
* Each kidney weighs about one quarter pound
* Each kidney contains about one million nephrons, units comprised of glomerulus and tubules
* Glomerulus are tiny filters, or sieves that remove waste products from the blood
* Tubules, lined with highly functional cells, process what passes through the glomerulus, reabsorbing water and chemicals the body needs
* Creatinine is a waste product in blood generated by muscle activity … Healthy kidneys remove creatinine from the body, but malfunctioning kidneys cause creatinine levels to rise, which can lead to fatigue, loss of appetite, anemia, and heart disease
* There are five stages of kidney risk, ranging from normal to kidney failure
* The standard test for kidney health is the Glomular Filtration Rate, a rate reached after testing one’s creatinine level and pairing it with variables such as age, race, and gender
The key to improving kidney functions is to be proactive and consume large amounts of antioxidants every day. Still, the earlier any kidney disease is detected, the better the chance of slowing or stopping its progression. Periodic Glomular Filtration Rate tests to monitor kidney functions can be a healthy thing.
by Rocky Wilson
Author of Sharene - Death: A Prerequisite For Life
Owner of Healthy Chocolate website
Monday, August 24, 2009
Chocolate For Health
Chocolate for health?
Right.
When I was introduced to healthy chocolate I was skeptical to say the least. I’ve seen things come to market and then leave just as fast when their real secrets are uncovered.
I figured this healthy chocolate business to be just another disappointment in a long string of “get rich quick schemes.” All were the same minus the fact that my son somehow found something in this chocolate. That was different.
Oh, he had been involved in his share of multi level businesses in the past. The difference this time was his energy and enthusiasm for the product. Quite contagious, so much so that I decided to bite, no pun intended.
However, before I share my own personal testimony it is important that you understand a bit about my past.
My history with automobiles has been rough to say the least.
* 6 car wrecks
* 2 total outs
All as passenger with knees slamming into glove box. Ouch!
My knees have always taken the worst of the beating. As a result I have very little cartilage left in my poor knees. Thus when I walk up or down stairs my knees have a mind of their own by deciding when they will or will not collapse on me.
At least they did, and then chocolate.
Yes, healthy chocolate is indeed making the difference for me. I decided to give healthy chocolate a try just to prove that it did not work, unfortunately, or should I say fortunately it did. My buckling knees no longer are buckling in my four-story house and the pain? Well, the pain is gone.
To know that glucocameen is a thing of the past for me is reason enough to stay the course with this healthy chocolate. However, that is just the start of my story, not the end.
I went to the dentist recently. Yes, the dentist.
What does that have to do with this awesome product?
Well, he recently told me that I would need to have a root plaining. That didn’t sound fun, though it did sound downright painful.
I put it off as long as I could. Hey, I know when to procrastinate. Finally I decided I needed to take care of my teeth and went back. I was told that the deep pockets I had had were gone.
I was then informed by my son of the dental report on chocolate that was available on YouTube. There is a direct correlation between this chocolate and improved dental hygiene. Yes!
The procedure was no longer necessary.
Eat chocolate instead of experiencing painful dental drills? Where do I sign up? Oh, yeah, I already am.
I’d tell you about the energy that this product has brought to my life but I have to run.
Bottom line for this 75 year old is that eating chocolate for health works. If it works for me just think of the possibilities for you.
By Sally Sturman
===> http://BodyByChocolate.com
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Chocolate for Kidneys
My biggest health issue prior to chocolate was my kidneys.
Prolonged use, more than 20 years, of a drug doctors thought was beneficial to my body came to a head in 2000 when it was discovered how much damage that drug had done to my kidneys.
The use of the drug was stopped immediately, but the damage was done.
My nephrology doctor is amazed how my kidneys have stabilized, but the side effects remained for about nine years. Primarily it was the exact problem many expect of older guys, where we simply have to stay close to bathrooms. Road trips were taken with constant vigilance for Rest Areas, and good movies in theaters regularly were interrupted because I'd have to leave for the bathroom. Knowing my weakness, I'd often leave earlier than I needed in order to be back in my seat when the best action took place.
I don't know when the change came, but I do know after consuming healthy unprocessed chocolate for about four months, I drove 210 miles to visit my father in Oregon and only had to stop once to go to the bathroom. Too, staying through my seat throughout an entire movie no longer presents a problem.
I'll have some news to tell my nephrology doctor when next we meet.
By Rocky Wilson
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Is Healthy Chocolate Really Healthy?
Is Healthy Chocolate Really Healthy?
By Jean Kelsey
Is healthy chocolate really healthy? It really does sound like an oxymoron. In fact when people hear that term they laugh. Why? They have not yet heard or seen or even had a chance to taste it. So what makes it so healthy anyway? Looking back to years gone by to view societies like the Aztecs and Mayans, one can see that they were always healthy and had endured very little illness. These people had a steady diet of raw Cacao which they used for a multitude of things from medicine, money or just drinking.
Looking at superfruits that are available in the world, the Acai berry tops the list. When raw cold pressed Cacao is blended with Acai and adding rich dark Belgium chocolate we now have ‘healthy chocolates’. So how healthy is it? To give you an idea, one piece is equal to eating 2 ½ cups of raw spinach or 3 cups of blueberries. It is meant to be added as a supplement and it is not a replacement for your fruits and veggies. If you don’t have time to eat right, then eat healthy chocolates to help deliver what your body needs. *You only need to eat 3 a day to gain all the healthy benefits from it, and how hard can that be for all the chocoholics out there!
Historically, chocolate was alway healthy until the dutch processing came along about in the 1700’s 67-80% of all the beneficial antioxidants that were present in the Cacao were lost because of heating. Healthy chocolates retains the level of antioxidants because they are ‘cold pressed’.
The world is evolving and the American diet has been getting its hands slapped because of how we eat. Illness is a topic in the news as it relates to diabetes, obesity, cancer and overall general health. We are far behind in the world of healthy eating, and it’s great to know that there is a whole food available and a brilliant product to help people *balance their unhealthy diets. People that invest in their health are the ones that have wealth. So is healthy chocolate really healthy? The answer is a undoubtedly yes!!
You can find out a lot more healthy chocolate information by visiting Jean Kelsey’s Body By Chocolates.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Beta-carotene Supplementation and Cancer Synonymous for Some
Although the natural pigment beta-carotene is healthy to humans in small and large doses, for those who smoke and/or drink heavily there’s a frightening correlation between consumption of beta-carotene supplementation and cancer.
It’s thought that beta-carotene produced pharmaceutically, aka supplements, unlike healthy beta-carotene produced by Nature, causes metabolism fluctuations within the human cell that lead to higher incidences of some types of cancer, especially cancer of the lungs. In contrast, beta-carotene taken in from food sources such as sweet potatoes, cilantro, carrots, and winter squash are high in antioxidants, thus reduce the risk of certain cancers.
Beta-carotene is one of many provitamins capable of being converted into active vitamin A. Although studies about beta-carotene remain inconclusive regarding the pigment’s impact on many diseases and human conditions, it is known that beta-carotene can be converted to retinol, an essential component of vision that in turn can be converted into retinoic acid, a factor in growth and cell differentiation.
Additional information about beta-carotene and beta-carotene supplements includes:
* One area where beta-carotene supplements excel is in fighting erythropoietic protoporphyria,
a rare inherited genetic disorder that can cause painful skin sensitivity to sunlight, gallstones, and liver dysfunction
* Beta-carotene supplements can increase the risk of death to asbestos-exposed people
* Patients with high beta-carotene intake in their diets decrease bronchitis and shortness of breath in male smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder .. Beta-carotene supplements may increase cancer rate among same group
* Increased dietary intake of beta-carotene may reduce adverse effects in children undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoblast leukemia
The colorful pigments (or chemicals,) in fruits and vegetables, the group known as carotenoids of which beta-carotene is the most common, are healthy when consumed as food in the human body. However, artificial beta-carotene supplementation and cancer can be bedfellows one might try to avoid.
by Rocky Wilson
Author of Sharene - Death: A Prerequisite For Life
Owner of Healthy Chocolate website
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Things to Know About Beta-carotene
In basic terms, all you need to know about beta-carotene is that it’s the naturally occurring pigment that provides color in fruits and vegetables.
Yet, dig deeper, and you learn that beta-carotene includes antioxidant qualities helpful in the battle against cancer, heart disease, and aging. Too, beta-carotene includes immune-enhancing qualities that stimulate cell-to-cell communication; which is another anti-cancer quality of beta-carotene because poor communication between cells often leads to cell overgrowth, hence cancer.
Among the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables one should eat each day, foods high in beta-carotene include sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, spinach, turnip greens, winter squash, collard greens, cilantro, and fresh thyme.
Additional information about beta-carotenes include:
* Beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and gamma-carotene are considered provitamins because they can be converted to active vitamin A
* Beta-carotene is one of about 50 provitamin A carotenoid compounds … among total of about 600 carotenoids in all
* Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant, protecting the body from free radicals
* Although studies are young, the highest concentration of beta-carotene in any organ of the human body is in the corpus luteum, the progesterone-producing follicle that remains after a woman ovulates
* High intakes of beta-carotene-rich foods can result in yellowish discoloration of palms and soles of feet, carotenodermia, which includes no toxic side effects
* Lightly steaming carrots and spinach can improve the body’s ability to absorb beta-carotene, yet uncooked fruits and vegetables normally work best
* Carotenoids are fat-soluble substances, thus require some dietary fat for proper absorption through the digestive tract
* The term “carotene” initially was coined in the 19th Century by Wachenroder, a German scientist
What the medical community knows about beta-carotene is that it protects cells from free-radical damage, provides a source for vitamin A, enhances the immune system of humans, and helps in the proper function of a woman’s reproductive system.
by Rocky Wilson
Author of Sharene - Death: A Prerequisite For Life
Owner of Healthy Chocolate website
