Need help with Acne?

The Root Cause of Acne Your Doctor Will Never Tell You About...

Posted By Dr. Mercola |


Your teen's months of prom planning are finally in place, complete with dinner reservations, the perfect gown, the dream date… and the dreaded last-minute acne flare-up! It's another crushing blow from this notorious villain that manages to crash every momentous adolescent event. If you're the parent of an adolescent, "heartbreak by acne" is an all-too-familiar scenario, making your emotionally fragile teen want to hide under his bed until semester's end.
Acne affects the majority of adolescents worldwide to some degree, and is a major source of embarrassment for many.
But it isn't just teens who are afflicted—one in five American adults also suffer from acne, for whom the psychological toll is no less significant. Acne affects about 85 percent of Americans at some time in their lives and is the most common skin disorder in the U.S.A. Experts report that many people underestimate the self-consciousness and social stigma that come with having acne.
Typically, those suffering from acne feel self-conscious, embarrassed and helpless. For many acne sufferers, the embarrassment can lead to low self-confidence, feelings of alienation and social withdrawal.
It's not hard to understand, then, why many people spend so much time and money trying to find a solution to their acne affliction. After trying a slew of ineffective over-the-counter products, many look to their physician for an answer. Most physicians quickly reach for their prescription pads. But acne medications have potentially harmful side effects, and attempt to treat acne's symptoms while completely ignoring its underlying cause.
Even though these drugs are strongly promoted and professed to be safe by physicians and drug companies alike, I am firmly opposed to using them as a first line defense against acne. The solution, moms and dads, is to take your adolescent to the farmer's market instead of to the drug store, because acne's biggest offender is the American diet.
Pharmaceutical Treatment of Acne is Big Business
Acne is one of the most common skin problems for which people seek the advice of a dermatologist. For such a common condition, it is astonishingly misunderstood and mistreated by medical professionals. One of the few things authorities can agree on is that most people get the type of acne called acne vulgaris, an inflammatory bacterial condition that commonly appears on the skin of your face, neck, shoulders, back and chest, sometimes leading to painful lesions.
But this is where the consensus ends.
When treatment after treatment fails and acne keeps reappearing, it's likely your doctor will call your acne condition "chronic." What this really means is, the treatments are the wrong ones! The underlying cause of your acne problem has not been addressed…
So, instead of addressing the cause your medical provider will likely adhere to the official government Guidelines of Care for Acne Vulgaris Management, put forth by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This outlines the conventional acne treatment protocol, involving topical and systemic antibiotics, steroids and hormonal agents (including oral contraceptives), and Accutane—one of the most dangerous drugs ever developed.
The above recommendations have been fully approved by the American Academy of Dermatology as the current roadmap for acne treatment—they are extremely influential, as they set the treatment standard at clinical, corporate, and governmental levels. It is astounding that the seventh and final item on their list of therapies is called "Dietary Restrictions (Not Recommended)"Their agenda is clearly NOT addressing the cause of your acne, but rather in merely managing it.
Managing it means ongoing visits to your dermatologist, and continued profits for the medical and pharmaceutical industry.
The consequences of these guidelines are as expected—aggressive promotion of drugs, backed by increased corporate spending, biased federal regulations, misguided medical practice, and continued public deception.
Overview of Conventional Acne Treatments
1. Topical treatments (lotions, creams, and gels)—often the first thing a physician will prescribe
2. Oral antibiotics (tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline, and erythromycin)—usually prescribed for moderate to severe acne
3. Accutane (isotretinoin) and its generic equivalents—reserved for severe acne cases
Topical treatments are claimed to reduce oil production, increase skin cell turnover, and kill off bacteria, which in combination supposedly reduce inflammation. Examples are tretinoin (Avita, Retin-A, Renova) and adapalene (Differin), which are all derived from vitamin A.
I am ok with topical Retin A, which is most likely beneficial and probably prevents and even reverses several types of skin cancers. However, I strongly urge you to avoid Accutane and its generic kin.
Avoid One of the MOST Dangerous Drugs Ever Made
Accutane is a highly controversial drug yet incredibly remains the industry standard for severe acne. Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, manufacturer of Accutane, has spent most of this century in court defending itself against lawsuits from people whose health has been irreparably damaged by this menacing drug.
Roche has lost six out of six lawsuits and was recently ordered to pay $25.16 million in damages to an Accutane user who developed inflammatory bowel disease as a result of the drug. Due to generic competition and the exorbitant cost of defending personal injury lawsuits, Roche stopped selling the drug in June 2009.
However, the generic form of Accutane (isotretinoin) is equally deadly and remains available in the marketplace under the names Claravis, Sotret and Amnesteem. More than two million people have taken Accutane, despite the fact that it is known to cause depression, suicide, inflammatory bowel disease, and 100 percent guarantee of birth defects if taken by a pregnant woman.
In 2004, brain scans showed that people taking Accutane suffer a 21 percent decrease in frontal brain activity, the part of the brain that plays a critical role in mood and social interaction. These brain changes may explain the depression, suicidal and aggressive behavior, and psychotic reactions reported by some Accutane users.
Is reducing your acne worth that?
Even official regulation policy acknowledges the real danger of Accutane. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned physicians and consumers about reports of "depression, psychosis, and rarely suicidal thoughts and actions" related to the use of Accutane. Patients using Accutane reported to the FDA that these psychological symptoms improved after stopping Accutane therapy, but worsened with re-start of the drug.
In light of this evidence, the labeling of Accutane was changed to strengthen the warning about its risk for causing depression. Isotretinoin now has the strongest warning available for any drug category—and given a FDA Pregnancy Category X rating..
If you are taking isotretinoin and become pregnant, you are virtually guaranteed to be damaging your baby. Accutane is extremely teratogenic (causing damage to a fetus).
According to the Mayo Clinic:
"Isotretinoin is associated with severe birth defects, so it can't be taken by pregnant women or women who may become pregnant during the course of treatment or within several weeks of concluding treatment. In fact, the drug carries such serious potential side effects that women of reproductive age must participate in a Food and Drug Administration-approved monitoring program to receive a prescription for the drug."
In addition to teratogenic and psychological adverse effects, Accutane (isotretinoin) users have reported the following negative effects:
Increased levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in your blood
Increased liver enzyme levels and liver damage Erectile dysfunction
Headaches and brain swelling Disturbances of your central nervous system Seizures
Damage to skin and mucous membranes Premature epiphyseal closure Hyperostosis (excessive bone growth) and bone demineralization Neutropenia, agranulocytosis, and rhabdomyolysis (blood disorders)
Development of inflammatory bowel disease
Damage to your eyes including cataracts Hearing impairment
Pancreatitis Heart attack and stroke Allergic vasculitis
Antibiotics for Acne: Doing More Harm than Good
Many dermatologists prescribe long-term antibiotic treatments for acne. Even though oral antibiotics are widely promoted, I suggest you avoid these medications, as they will inevitably cause more problems than they solve.
Every time you take an antibiotic, you kill your beneficial bacteria along with the problematic ones. This can set the stage for yeast infections, as well as resistant bacterial strains.
Antibiotic resistance is a serious and growing problem today. This includes the antibiotics prescribed for acne, such as erythromycin, which is becoming increasingly ineffective as more strains of bacteria have adapted to it. Increasing numbers of physicians are beginning to pull away from treating acne with antibiotics, or at least limiting the duration of their use. Besides antibiotic resistance, antibiotics are not without risks themselves.
For example:
• Erythromycin can cause damage to your teeth or skeleton.
• Doxycycline is associated with photosensitivity.
• Minocycline is known to cause pigment deposition in your skin (most often in acne scars), mucous membranes and teeth, and occasionally autoimmune hepatitis (a lupus-like syndrome) and serum sickness-like reactions.
And ALL oral antibiotics are associated with vaginal candidiasis, as most women will attest. The problem with all of these drug treatments is, they don't correct the underlying reason you have acne—which is why relapse is so common. Acne occurs when your body falls out of balance, so the goal must be to regain homeostasis. This can be achieved through simple lifestyle modifications.
The Truth is, Acne is one of the Easiest Problems to Treat Naturally
Just like other chronic diseases running rampant in Western society (like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity), acne is primarly a disease of the Western world.
More proof is continuing to emerge that the root cause of acne is not bacteria or genetics, but environmental factors—particularly your diet. Acne is much less of a problem in non-Westernized societies, where refined carbohydrates and sugar are consumed in much lower amounts. Solid evidence exists that diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates are the primary CAUSE of acne.
We now know that a low-grain or no-grain diet will very likely clear up your skin, permanently! Antibiotics are unnecessary because correcting your diet creates an internal environment that does not ALLOW bacterial overgrowth to occur.
After diet, the other major factor is stress.
Part of a holistic plan for preventing acne flare-ups is managing your stress. We know that stress is a major factor in infections of any kind. So why aren't physicians lining up to give you the good news? Well, they can't "sell" you a healthful diet. The only one who will reap the benefits from that is you!
Grain-Free Diets Can Clear Up Your Acne FOR GOOD!
Not all carbohydrates are created equal. Carbohydrates can be categorized into the following types:
• Simple carbohydrates are sugars, such as those found in candy, soda, and baked goods. Your best bet is to strictly limit those in your diet—working toward eliminating them completely. Be especially careful to avoid all high fructose corn syrup, which is a major component of sodas and processed foods.
• Complex carbohydrates are found in natural whole foods such as beans, nuts, whole grains, and vegetables. Although beans, nuts and grains contain more nutritive value than simple carbohydrates, you will need to limit them if acne is a problem for you.
Your body "prefers" the complex carbs found in vegetables to the complex carbs found in grains, because your body handles their digestion differently. Vegetable-carbs are slow to break down into simple sugars, with minimal insulin impact, whereas digestion of grain-carbs raises your insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1).
Higher IGF-1 levels can lead to increased male hormones, which cause your pores to secrete more sebum, a greasy substance that traps acne-promoting bacteria. IGF-1 also causes skin cells (known as keratinocytes) to multiply, a process associated with acne.
This is why most grains should be avoided if you have acne issues.
The research holds this up.
In a 2007 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, young men (ages 15 to 25) with acne problems were placed on low-glycemic diets for 12 weeks, showing significant improvements in acne and insulin sensitivity.
Similar findings were shown in this 2002 study.
Simply eliminating grains, sugars (particularly fructose), cereals, potatoes, corn, rice, pasta, processed foods, etc., radically improves acne for most people. Fruit contains a fair amount of fructose, so it should be consumed in very limited quantities if you are predisposed to acne. And fruit juices should be strictly avoided since the sugar is very concentrated in them. (Vegetable juices are great, though, especially green juices.)
So, how many carbs is too many? Nutritional Typing can give you your answer.
Knowing your Nutritional Type will help you determine the ideal amount of carbohydrates you should be eating with each meal. By learning to analyze your reactions to the foods you eat, you can begin to fine-tune each meal to the ratios of proteins, fats and carbs that are just right for you. For a simple FREE tool to help you determine your Nutritional Type, see this link.
If you incorporate these dietary changes, not only will your acne subside, but also your complexion will become more radiant and youthful.
Can Gluten Make Your Acne Worse?
Gluten in wheat and other grains may be contributing to your acne symptoms if you have a gluten intolerance, which many people do. This is a separate issue from the insulin effects already discussed. Gluten is a prime suspect if you have rosacea, a growing problem, especially for Baby Boomers.
According to The Gluten Free Diet:
"A person who is gluten intolerant cannot digest gluten, so the body will not recognize it when it is eaten and therefore treats it as a foreign body when trying to digest it.
Because the body of a gluten intolerant person cannot process gluten properly, the small intestines become damaged slowly over time causing digestive issues. The gluten intolerance can produce other symptoms and push the toxins through the skin such as acne."
Since gluten sensitivity is so pervasive anyway it would make loads of sense to try a a gluten-free diet for one month and see if your acne or any other health symptoms improve. This shouldn't be too difficult if you are already implementing a low-grain or no-grain diet, which minimizes sources of gluten.
The Milk-Iodine-Acne Connection
You may already know that I am an advocate of raw milk for its vast nutritional benefits in general. However, there is a cautionary statement for you, IF you are an acne sufferer. Milk generally contains a fair amount of iodine, although there is less in raw milk than pasteurized milk. Iodine is known to aggravate acne.
Several studies document this relationship as farmers often feed their cows iodine-fortified feed to prevent infection.
Therefore, if you drink milk, you should seek to choose raw over pasteurized—this is true, regardless of whether or not you have issues with your skin. Since raw milk naturally contains iodine at healthier levels, it is less likely to aggravate your acne than pasteurized milk—but the potential still exists for even raw milk to trigger flare-ups. In the interest of eradicating your acne once and for all, then, it seems wise to eliminate milk and other dairy products from your diet altogether.
There are no studies of which I am aware investigating the relationship between raw milk and acne. If you want to test it out for yourself, you can try consuming raw, organic, grass-fed milk, and if it seems to be making your acne worse, then eliminate it from your diet.
Many Skin Care Products Only Contribute to the Problem
What you put on your skin is as important as what you eat. In fact, what you apply topically is readily absorbed through your skin, which is really a semi-permeable membrane through which substances pass directly into your body.
Many of today's skin care products and cosmetics are nothing more than a toxic mélange of harsh chemicals, which cause more skin problems than they solve. And when it comes to acne, these chemicals can seriously inflame an outbreak, or prevent one from healing.
Why do so many cleansers, lotions and potions contain these potentially hazardous ingredients?
Because they're cheap, readily available, and easy to dilute.
When it comes to the skin care industry, anything goes. The Environmental Working Group estimates 99 percent of personal care products contain more than one ingredient that has never been evaluated for safety. It's a self-regulated industry—an industry that operates on "the honor system" but has a multitude of dishonorable players.
So you have to be a meticulous, well-educated label reader to know what you're getting.
You should spend five minutes every day cleansing your face, which removes the impurities that collect on your skin during a typical day and clog up your pores. And ladies, please never sleep in your makeup. It's also advisable to exfoliate your skin once or twice per week. But do so gently, especially if you are experiencing an outbreak, and never pull or rub your skin aggressively.
You should use pure, safe, natural skin care products—preferably organic ones. Apply your skin care products to warm skin, which maximizes absorption.
And once you've cleansed, exfoliated and moisturized, take a deep breath and… rela-a-a-a-x.
Relaxing Your Way to Clearer Skin
Stress can potentially worsen just about every condition, including acne. It's important to learn how to manage your stress, BEFORE it becomes overwhelming. It is even more important to teach your children how to do this when they're young, before stress accumulates unabated and begins to take a toll on their health.
Recent studies substantiate the hypothesis that stress can aggravate acne.
One study involving college students found a connection between acne flare-ups and stress from final exams. Researchers found that subjects who had the most stress during examination periods also had the worst acne outbreaks, suggesting emotional stress from external sources is a significant factor.
While it has been argued that the stress associated with acne is an effect of acne rather than a cause, the above researchers believe this new evidence proves otherwise—that it's the stress that is exacerbating the acne, not vice versa.
Additionally, stress and fatigue can lead to adrenal burnout, where your adrenal glands become depleted. This can worsen your acne as well and perpetuate higher stress levels.
So how do you deal with the ever-present stress in today's demanding world?
My favorite tool is the Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT. EFT involves tapping your body's energy meridians with the tips of your fingers to clear emotional blocks, thus restoring balance to your mind and body. EFT is a powerful de-stressing technique that is easy for adults and children to learn. It can even relieve physical complaints such as chronic pain, allergy symptoms, and more.
You could also add in other proven stress-busters, such as yoga and meditation.
You Can Take Control of Your Skin Health
Remember, your complexion is a reflection of your overall health. Don't forget to incorporate these essential factors into your acne-busting plan:
• Sugars and Grains: This is probably the single most important step you can take to improve your skin health. If you can eliminate all sugars and grains for a few weeks there is a major likelihood you will notice rapid improvement in your complexion.
• Water: Drink plenty of fresh, pure water every day. Hydrating your body facilitates cell growth and regeneration, elimination of wastes, and sloughing away dead skin cells. Hydration will also improve your skin tone.
Every day, drink enough water so that your urine is a pale yellow color. If your urine is bright yellow, you probably need to drink more water (unless you take B vitamins, which themselves turn urine bright yellow).
• Exercise: Getting plenty of high-intensity exercise helps your body flush out toxins, including those in your skin's pores. Plus, exercise is vitally important to all other aspects of your heath. If you happen to have access to an infrared sauna, this can be helpful, because the more you sweat, the more you flush unwanted debris and contaminants out of your pores.
• Sleep: Did you know that a good night's sleep can decrease your stress and lead to clearer skin? Your body's time for healing and rebuilding is at night while you sleep, and this applies to your skin. Sleep is also required for good energy and mood.
• Proper balance of bacteria: This is especially important if you have been on antibiotics, because those drugs indiscriminately kill off the beneficial bacteria in your gut, without which you cannot have a strong immune system. You can reestablish your bacterial balance by taking a high quality probiotic supplement, and by incorporating naturally fermented/cultured foods into your diet.
• Vitamin D: This important nutrient is crucial for maintaining a healthy immune response, and most people are deficient in it. Without adequate vitamin D, your body cannot control infection, in your skin or elsewhere. Exposing large areas of your skin to appropriate amounts of sunshine is the best way to optimize your vitamin D levels, or use a safe tanning bed. You should expose your skin until you just barely begin turning pink, which indicates you've generated the optimal amount of vitamin D for the day.
If you don't have access to regular UV exposure, the next best thing is an oral vitamin D supplement, accompanied by regular monitoring of your vitamin D levels with a blood test.
If you change your diet and lifestyle in the ways I've recommended, you can expect significant improvement in the health and appearance of your skin. Plus, those same strategies will lead to improvements in your overall health, as well as relieving your bank account of expensive acne drugs that don't offer any real or lasting solution to your skin's woes.
Remember lifestyle changes are not a "quick fix," but over the long run, they reap endless rewards!
Sources:
Acne Resource Center
Guidelines of Care for Acne Vulgaris Management
Mayo Clinic
Bloomberg February 16, 2010
Drugenquirer May 28, 2010
Arch. Dermatol. December 2002
Amer J Clin Nutr July 2007
Archives of Dermatology 2003

Great info on alergies and Honey and more...

Fresh Evidence... Could 1 Teaspoon per Day Tame Your Allergy Problems? Posted By Dr. Mercola
Many allergy sufferers believe that locally produced honey can alleviate symptoms. The idea is that bees become covered in pollen spores when they from one flower to the next -- spores which are then transferred to their honey.
It is thought that eating that honey, even just a spoonful a day, can build immunity through gradually exposure.
For some reason the New York Times recently chose to report on this topic citing the negative results of a nearly decade-old study, stating:
"In the study ... the scientists followed dozens of allergy sufferers through the springtime allergy season. The subjects were randomly split into three. One consumed a tablespoonful daily of locally collected, unpasteurized and unfiltered honey; another ate commercial honey; and a third was given a corn syrup placebo with synthetic honey flavoring.
After tracking the subjects' symptoms for months, the scientists found that neither of the honey groups saw improvements over the placebo group."
Interestingly enough, a study published earlier this year came to a completely different conclusion!
This brand new study assessed the effects of the pre-seasonal use of birch pollen honey or regular honey on symptoms and medication during birch pollen season.
A total of 44 patients with diagnosed birch pollen allergy consumed either the birch pollen honey or regular honey daily from November to March. The control group consisted of 17 patients who were just using their usual allergy medication to control symptoms.
The study found that, during birch pollen season, compared to the control group, the patients using birch pollen honey experienced:
• 60 percent reduction in symptoms
• Twice as many asymptomatic days
• 70 percent fewer days with severe symptoms
• 50 percent decrease in usage of antihistamines
The New York Times article linked below may require a subscription to view. It may, however, be possible to view it in its entirety by using a web search.
Sources: New York Times May 9, 2011 ; Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology February 2002;88(2):198-203 ; International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 2011; 155(2): 160-166
Asthma is a growing problem, both for children and adults. In the last two decades, the incidence of asthma has increased by more than 300 percent, and it now affects about 20 million Americans.
Locally produced honey is believed by many to be a viable alternative treatment, despite the lack of scientific evidence of its effectiveness. However, before throwing the idea out as being bogus due to this lack, it's worth noting that precious few studies have ever been done on local honey as an asthma remedy. And lack of evidence is not to be equated with evidence of lack of efficacy.
I had to conduct extensive searches just to find the references I will provide later in this article. There is however, a rather large body of anecdotal evidence—people who have tried it with great success. And anecdotal evidence can be just as important when considering a treatment. For example, many drugs are prescribed off label, not because there have been extensive studies done showing beneficial results, but because "word spreads" that a certain drug "appears to provide benefit" for health problems unrelated to its approved use.
The Theory of Local Honey as an Asthma Treatment
The theory itself actually appears quite sound.
The idea is that locally produced honey, which will contain pollen spores picked up by the bees from local plants, can act much in the same way as a natural type of vaccine. By introducing a small amount of allergen into your system, your immune system is activated and over time can build up your natural immunity against it.
Why should the honey be locally produced?
Because your allergies are activated through exposure to pollens present in your local area. Different states, for example, can have wildly varying types of plants, grasses and other foliage, each of which can cause allergic reactions in different people.
The typical recommendation is to take about a teaspoon-full of locally produced honey per day, starting a few months PRIOR to the pollen season, to allow your system to build up immunity.
What Does the Science Say?
The study featured by the New York Times, published all the way back in 2002, found that local honey offered no benefit over a placebo.
However, a far more recent study, published this year, in fact, differs in its conclusion.
This study "assessed the effects of the pre-seasonal use of birch pollen honey (birch pollen added to honey) or regular honey on symptoms and medication during birch pollen season." One of the primary differences between these two studies is that the latter narrows it down to one specific allergen (birch).
A total of 44 patients with diagnosed birch pollen allergy consumed either the birch pollen honey or regular honey daily from November to March. The control group consisted of 17 patients who were just using their usual allergy medication to control symptoms. From April through May, the patients recorded their symptoms and use of medication daily.
The study found that, during birch pollen season, compared to the control group, the patients using birch pollen honey experienced:
• 60 percent reduction in symptoms
• Twice as many asymptomatic days
• 70 percent fewer days with severe symptoms
• 50 percent decrease in usage of antihistamines
Interestingly enough, there were few differences between the two honey groups (those who took regular honey, versus those who took honey that contained birch pollen.) However, the birch pollen honey group used less histamines than those who used regular honey.
The authors concluded that:
"Patients who pre-seasonally used birch pollen honey had significantly better control of their symptoms than did those on conventional medication only, and they had marginally better control compared to those on regular honey.
The results should be regarded as preliminary, but they indicate that birch pollen honey could serve as a complementary therapy for birch pollen allergy."
Honey for Hay Fever
Another source of information comes from a short book, published in 1990, called Honey and Hay Fever: A Report on the Treatment of Hay Fever with Honey. The abstract states:
"[A]n account of a small clinical trial involving 21 patients known to suffer from hay fever is given. The patients were advised to eat 10-20 grams of honey each day for a period lasting from autumn 1987 up to and through the following hay fever season. In some instances honey comb cappings were also eaten. The patients filled in detailed reports on any symptoms experienced during the trial and these are summarized in a table.
The mean age of the 16 patients who reported beneficial effects was 42.6 years, compared with 33.2 years for those who reported no benefit. The patients who reported benefit had suffered from hay fever for longer (average 24.8 years) than the other 5 patients (17 years)."
Although I do not own this book, so I can't specify the benefits or how substantial these benefits were, it appears that a significant majority, 16 out of 21, did report some form of beneficial effects from honey. In this case, it appears as though regular honey, as opposed to locally produced honey, was used. But as the results from the study above indicate, regular honey may impart some benefits in and of itself, regardless of whether it's local honey or not…
Two Important Warnings
While I believe there's truth to the anecdotal claims that local honey can help reduce symptoms of asthma, it's important to be aware that honey itself can also trigger in some cases severe allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock. So clearly you should not attempt to use honey if you've ever experienced an adverse reaction to honey in the past. Also be careful and use it very sparingly in the beginning until you've confirmed that you can tolerate it.
Another important point to remember is that honey is high in fructose, which, in excessive amounts, typically about 70-80% of honey is fructose and it can exacerbate pre-existing insulin resistance and wreak havoc on your body.
Each teaspoon of honey has nearly four grams of fructose so carefully add the total grams of fructose (including fruits) that you consume each day, and stay below 25 grams of total fructose per day. This is particularly important if you suffer from signs of elevated insulin, such as:
• Overweight
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Diabetes
But as long as it's used in moderation, eating raw honey is likely to promote health, and may indeed help alleviate asthma symptoms.
The MOST Important Allergy "Treatment" You Need to Pay Attention to
While I believe you certainly could try using local honey to reduce your asthma symptoms, there's another dietary/lifestyle factor that plays an absolutely CRUCIAL role in asthma, namely vitamin D. In fact, recent research suggests that vitamin D deficiency may be a primary underlying cause of asthma. This means that many are needlessly suffering with a potentially life threatening ailment, since vitamin D deficiency is easily remedied.
It's important to remember that you will likely need far more than the recommended daily allowance, which is a mere 200 to 600 units a day, depending on your age. You really need to make sure you're getting therapeutic levels, which is between 50-70 ng/ml.
Ideally, you'll want to get your vitamin D from safe sun exposure.
Beware that using sunscreen when outdoors effectively shields your skin from making any vitamin D. Another alternative is using a safe tanning bed, or if neither of those options are available, an oral vitamin D3 supplement.
If you get your levels to about 60 ng/ml there's a strong likelihood -- especially if you combine it with exercise and balancing out your omega 3 and omega 6 fats as described below -- that you will not experience asthma anymore.
Additional Safe and Effective Strategies to Treat Asthma
Although asthma is a serious disease, safely treating your asthma is not a complicated affair. Optimizing your vitamin D levels is the first step, but there are other basic strategies that can help treat the root of the problem as well.
In my experience, the following strategies are highly effective when treating asthma:
• Increase your intake of animal-based omega 3 fats – I can't emphasize enough the importance of getting sufficient amounts of high quality animal-based omega 3 fats in your diet.
Although I strongly believe we all need plant-based omega 3 fats, the difference is that most people do not possess the metabolic machinery to rapidly convert the ALA in these plants to the higher order fats DHA and EPA, which are potent anti-inflammatories.
Although I still recommend fish oil in some instances, I believe krill oil is an even better source of omega 3 fats for most people.
• Reduce your intake of omega 6 fats – In addition to adding omega 3 fats to your diet, you also want to reduce the amount of omega 6 fats you consume because the ratio between these two fats is very important.
Many don't realize that about a century ago, people only consumed 1-2 pounds of plant-based omega 6 fats per year. Today, the average American is consuming about 75-80 pounds a year of these vegetable oils, such as corn oil, soy and safflower oil.
When you eat processed foods daily, the balance between omega 3 and omega 6 fats will become distorted, which can cause the type of inflammation that leads to asthma.
• Consider the hygiene hypothesis – There's a tendency in our modern culture to be obsessive about cleanliness, especially in children. However, this may not be as healthy as initially thought. It appears that being exposed to common bacterial and viral infections as a child can be instrumental in providing the stimulus to your immune system to prevent asthma naturally.
• Get regular exercise – Exercise (especially out in fresh air if you're an asthmatic) is actually crucial, as it helps to moderate insulin levels. It increases your insulin receptor sensitivity, and as a result your body produces less insulin, which tends to optimize it.
You can also use allergy testing to build up your immune system. However, my experience is that conventional testing does not work very effectively and there is a fair amount of risk. A far better test would be provocation neutralization testing, which is an intradermal skin test.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has a list of physicians who are trained in this highly effective technique.
As for natural remedies, you can try some Butterbur (Petasites hybridus). This perennial shrub has been used since ancient times to treat a variety of conditions. As far back as the 17th century, butterbur was used to treat coughs, asthma, and skin wounds. Researchers have since identified the compounds in butterbur that help reduce symptoms in asthma by inhibiting leukotrienes and histamines, which are responsible for symptom aggravation in asthma.
Also remember that pasteurized milk products are notorious for making asthma worse.

Veggies, veggies, veggies

Can these Vegetables Fight Breast Cancer? Posted By Dr. Mercola


A new study has found that a compound in parsley and other plant products, including fruits and nuts, can stop certain breast cancer tumor cells from multiplying and growing.
In the study, rats with a certain type of breast cancer were exposed to apigenin, a common compound found in parsley and other plant products. The rats that were exposed to the apigenin developed fewer tumors and experienced significant delays in tumor formation.
Science Daily reports:
"Apigenin is most prevalent in parsley and celery, but can also be found in apples, oranges, nuts and other plant products. However, apigenin is not absorbed efficiently into the bloodstream, so scientists are unsure of how much can or should be ingested."
Sources:
Science Daily May 10, 2011
Cancer Prevention Research April 19, 2011



A healthy lifestyle, one that includes eating plenty of fresh, raw vegetables, can not only help prevent cancer, it may help treat it as well. This study from University of Missouri researchers is the latest to show that compounds in plant foods, in this case one called apigenin, are natural cancer fighters.
The study found that rats with breast cancer developed fewer tumors and had delays in tumor formation when exposed to apigenin, a compound found naturally in parsley, celery and many other plant foods, such as apples, oranges and nuts.
How do Veggies Help Fight Breast Cancer?
The apigenin in celery and parsley appears to block the formation of new blood vessels within tumors, thereby cutting off their nutrient supply and slowing or stopping their development. This healing, restorative power of vegetables has been researched and known for some time, but remains largely obscured and overshadowed by the massive marketing of pharmaceutical drugs.
For example, one 2001 study revealed that women who consumed at least 2.5 servings of fruit and vegetables daily as adolescents were 46 percent less likely to develop ovarian cancer. I can't think of any drug that can beat those prevention odds.
As a general rule, when it comes to eating veggies the greater the variety and the larger the volume, the better. Tailoring your vegetable consumption to your nutritional type is also recommended to take your health to the next level.
But aside from celery and parsley, broccoli and even more so, broccoli sprouts, have also emerged as powerful cancer fighters. Sulforaphane, a type of isothiocyanate compound found in broccoli, has been found to potentially help treat breast cancer by targeting cancer stem cells, which fuel the growth of tumors.
More Support for Cancer-Fighting Veggies
The isothiocyanate in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli sparks hundreds of genetic changes, activating some genes that fight cancer and switching off others that fuel tumors.
As stated in a study published in Carcinogenesis, sulforaphane has been shown to reduce the incidence and rate of chemically induced mammary tumors in animals. It also inhibits the growth of cultured human breast cancer cells, leading to cell death.
Said lead author Olga Azarenko:
"Breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women, can be protected against by eating cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and near relatives of cabbage such as broccoli and cauliflower."
Other studies have confirmed the protective benefits of these vegetables for other types of cancer as well, such as:
• Bladder cancer – Researchers found that the higher the intake of cruciferous vegetables, the lower the risk of bladder cancer in men
• Lung cancer – Researchers found that men with detectable amounts of isothiocyanates in their bodies had a 36 percent lower chance of developing lung cancer over 10 years
• Prostate cancer – This study, published in PLoS ONE in 2008, discovered that just a few additional portions of broccoli each week could protect men from prostate cancer
An Easy Way to Eat More Veggies
Despite the well-known health benefits of veggies, a Consumer Reports survey found that only 30 percent of Americans eat five or more servings of vegetables or fresh fruit daily.
If you want to increase your veggie consumption, one of the absolute easiest and most efficient ways to do so is to juice your vegetables.
Not only will juicing help your body absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables by making them easily digestible, but you're also avoiding the risk of damaging any of their sensitive micronutrients through cooking, which destroys micronutrients by altering their shape and chemical composition.
It also allows you greater freedom to add a wider variety of vegetables to your diet that you may not normally enjoy eating whole. This way, you're working with the principle of regular food rotation, which will lessen your chances of developing food allergies, while also getting a wider variety of nutrients.
Celery and parsley happen to be two of the easiest vegetables to juice and they are delicious when combined with leafy greens and limes. When juicing your veggies I recommend also eating the pulp. I typically add freshly chopped onions and avocados, plenty of Himalayan salt, some balsamic vinegar and four lightly poached eggs so it really is a full meal that allows me to get all of the nutrients from the vegetables.
For more in-depth guidelines and information about juicing, review the juicing section of my nutrition plan.
More Tips for Breast Cancer Prevention
One woman in eight who lives to age 85 will develop breast cancer, and 200,000 new cases will be diagnosed each year in the United States, making it three times more common than other gynecological cancers.
Unfortunately, the current medical paradigm is relatively clueless about what causes breast cancer and how to effectively prevent and treat it.
In the largest review of research into lifestyle and breast cancer, the American Institute of Cancer Research estimated that about 40 percent of U.S. breast cancer cases could be prevented if people made wiser lifestyle choices. I believe these estimates are far too low, and it is more likely that 75 percent to 90 percent of breast cancers could be avoided by strictly applying the recommendations below.
• Avoid sugar, especially fructose. All forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer. Fructose, however, is clearly one of the most harmful and should be avoided as much as possible.
• Optimize your vitamin D. Vitamin D influences virtually every cell in your body and is one of nature's most potent cancer fighters.
Vitamin D is actually able to enter cancer cells and trigger apoptosis (cell death). When JoEllen Welsh, a researcher with the State University of New York at Albany, injected a potent form of vitamin D into human breast cancer cells, half of them shriveled up and died within days. The vitamin D worked as well at killing cancer cells as the toxic breast cancer drug Tamoxifen, without any of the detrimental side effects and at a tiny fraction of the cost.
If you have cancer, your vitamin D level should be between 70 and 100 ng/ml. Vitamin D works synergistically with every cancer treatment I'm aware of, with no adverse effects. I suggest you to watch my one-hour free lecture on vitamin D to find out what your optimal vitamin D levels should be and how to optimize them.
• Get plenty of natural vitamin A. There is evidence that vitamin A also plays a roll in preventing breast cancer. It's best to obtain it from vitamin A-rich foods, rather than a supplement. Your best sources are organic egg yolks, raw butter, raw whole milk, and beef or chicken liver.
However, beware of supplementing as there's some evidence that vitamin A can negate the benefits of vitamin D. Since appropriate vitamin D levels are crucial for your health in general, not to mention cancer prevention, this means that it's essential to have the proper ratio of vitamin D to vitamin A in your body.
Ideally, you'll want to provide all the vitamin A and vitamin D substrate your body needs in such a way that your body can regulate both systems naturally. This is best done by eating colorful vegetables (for vitamin A) and by exposing your skin to sun every day (for vitamin D).
• Avoid charring your meats. Charcoal or flame broiled meat is linked with increased breast cancer risk. Acrylamide—a carcinogen created when starchy foods are baked, roasted or fried—has been found to increase breast cancer risk as well.
• Avoid unfermented soy products. Unfermented soy is high in plant estrogens, or phytoestrogens, also known as isoflavones. In some studies, soy appears to work in concert with human estrogen to increase breast cell proliferation, which increases the chances for mutations and cancerous cells.
• Improve Your Insulin Receptor Sensitivity. The best way to do this is by avoiding sugar and grains and making sure you are exercising, especially with Peak 8.
• Maintain a healthy body weight. This will come naturally when you begin eating right for your nutritional type and exercising. It's important to lose excess body fat because fat produces estrogen.
• Drink a quart of organic green vegetable juice daily. Please review my juicing instructions for more detailed information
• Get plenty of high quality animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. Omega-3 deficiency is a common underlying factor for cancer.
• Curcumin. This is the active ingredient in turmeric and in high concentrations can be very useful in the treatment of breast cancer. It shows immense therapeutic potential in preventing breast cancer metastasis. It’s important to know that curcumin is generally not absorbed that well, so I’ve provided several absorption tips here.
• Avoid drinking alcohol, or at least limit your alcoholic drinks to one per day.
• Breastfeed exclusively for up to six months. Research shows this will reduce your breast cancer risk.
• Avoid wearing underwire bras. There is a good deal of data that metal underwire bras increase your breast cancer risk.
• Avoid electromagnetic fields as much as possible. Even electric blankets can increase your cancer risk.
The majority of breast cancer is preventable, but in the event you or anyone you know is diagnosed with cancer, I strongly encourage you to listen to my interview with Dr. Nick Gonzalez, a physician focused on alternative cancer treatment using a three-pronged nutritional approach.

Related Links:
The Cancer Treatment So Successful - Traditional Doctors SHUT it Down
Scientists Show How Certain Vegetables Combat Cancer
Breast Cancer Breakthrough - Cut Your Risk of Death in Half

I have said this for years, Esp the lifestyle strategies

Is it Time to Boycott This 'Anti' Cancer Charity?
Posted By Dr. Mercola

Mammography The 130-page document linked below explains in detail why the American Cancer Society may be far more interested in accumulating cash than curing any disease. The ACS has close ties to the mammography industry, the cancer drug industry, and the pesticide industry.

It is riddled with conflict of interest.

And in fact, according to the report, the ACS has a reckless, if not criminal record on cancer prevention. Over and over again, they have promoted drugs and screening while ignoring environmental causes.

The report states, in part:

"The ACS ... [has] long continued to devote virtually exclusive priority to research on diagnosis and treatment of cancer, with indifference to prevention, other than faulty personal lifestyle, commonly known as 'blame the victim,' ... Not surprisingly, the incidence of cancer over past decades has escalated".

Sources: Prevent Cancer (pdf)


Dr. Mercola's Comments:

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is:

"[A] nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy, and service."

That sounds all well and good, and a lot of people put their faith in this organization and dutifully participate in its highly publicized National Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign each year, which includes the widespread promotion of mammography screening.

Little do they realize that the ACS is doing precious little to combat cancer, at best, and may actually hinder real progress, at worst…

Rampant Conflicts of Interest

In the report titled AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY—More Interested In Accumulating Wealth Than Saving Lives, Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, plainly lays to bare the many conflicts of interest that hamper the effectiveness of this organization.

For example, the ACS has close financial ties to both makers of mammography equipment and cancer drugs. But that's just for starters. Other conflicts of interest include ties to, and financial support from, the pesticide-, petrochemical-, biotech-, cosmetics-, and junk food industries—the very industries whose products are the primary contributors to cancer!

Once you realize that these conflicts of interest are there, it becomes quite easy to understand why the ACS never addresses the environmental components of cancer, and why information about avoidable toxic exposures are so conspicuously absent from their National Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns.

"This is no accident," Dr. Epstein writes. "Zeneca Pharmaceuticals--a spin-off of Imperial Chemical Industries is one of the world's largest manufacturers of chlorinated and other industrial chemicals, including those incriminated as causes of breast cancer.

Zeneca has also been the sole multimillion-dollar funder of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month since its inception in 1984, besides the sole manufacturer of Tamoxifen, the world's top-selling anticancer and breast cancer "prevention" drug, with $400 million in annual sales.

Furthermore, Zeneca recently assumed direct management of 11 cancer centers in U.S. hospitals. Zeneca owns a 50 percent stake in these centers known collectively as Salick Health Care."

It's no small irony that Tamoxifen has been found to cause cancer and increase risk of death, while several top-notch preventive strategies and many safe and effective cancer treatments are ignored.

The ACS, along with the National Cancer Institute, virtually exclusively focus on cancer research and the diagnosis and the chemical treatment of cancer. Preventive strategies, such as avoiding chemical exposures, receive virtually no consideration at all.

"Giant corporations, which profited handsomely while they polluted air, water, the workplace, and food with a wide range of carcinogens, remain greatly comforted by the silence of the ACS. This silence reflected a complex of mindsets fixated on diagnosis, treatment, and basic genetic research, together with ignorance, indifference, and even hostility to prevention."

"Not surprisingly, the incidence of cancer over past decades has escalated, approximately parallel to its increased funding," Dr. Epstein writes.

Many also do not realize that when they donate money to the American Cancer Society, the majority of it may never go further than the bank accounts of its numerous well-paid executives.

Cancer Recommendations Based on Profit, Not Superior Science and Results

The two major cancer "prevention" strategies that the ACS continuously pushes, regardless of what the science says, are:

Mammography
Sun avoidance

Unfortunately, they're DEAD wrong on both accounts. Mammography has been shown to be an avoidable potential cause of breast cancer itself, and sun exposure has in recent years been proven to be essential for the prevention of cancer, including skin cancer. Why would they advocate what could be cancer-promoting behavior?

Follow the money!

"Indeed, despite promises to the public to do everything to "wipe out cancer in your lifetime," the ACS has failed to make its voice heard in Congress and the regulatory arena," Dr. Epstein writes.

"Instead, the ACS has consistently rejected or ignored opportunities and requests from Congress, regulatory agencies, unions, environmental and consumer organizations to provide scientific evidence critical to efforts to legislate and occupational, environmental, and personal product carcinogens."

The Two Myths of Cancer

Dr. Epstein also points out two glaring myths perpetuated by the American Cancer Society:

Dramatic progress has been made in the war against cancer, and
Rising cancer mortality statistics are primarily due to smoking and an aging population

Meanwhile, global cancer rates have doubled in the last three decades, and their "war on cancer" strategy completely ignores, and oftentimes denies the obvious links between cancer and toxic exposures through pesticide-laden foods, toxic personal care products, cancer-causing medical treatments and drugs, and industrial pollution.

This despite the fact that we know far more about these influences today than ever before in history—in fact, there is evidence suggesting that cancer is a recent man-made disease caused primarily by toxic overload.

Cancer is on the Rise, and Toxic Chemicals are MAJOR Factors

According to the latest statistics compiled by the American Heart Association, cancer surpasses heart disease as the top killer among Americans between the ages of 45 to 74. The odds are very high that you or someone you know has cancer or has died from it.

Environmental/lifestyle factors are increasingly being pinpointed as the culprits, such as:

Pesticide- and other chemical exposures Pharmaceutical drugs Processed and artificial foods (plus the chemicals in the packaging) Wireless technologies, dirty electricity, and medical diagnostic radiation exposure
Obesity Stress Poor sleeping habits

Lack of sunshine exposure and use of sunscreens

Genetics have more or less been ruled out as a primary factor, although diet, lifestyle and toxic exposures have been found to turn genes on or off that contribute to the development and malignancy of cancer.

Still, focusing on research into the genetic underpinnings of cancer along with screening methods that can also cause harm cleverly avoids the obvious, which is finding the underlying contributing factors so that people can avoid them!

The "problem" with that solution is that it would put tremendous financial strain on all the industries that support the ACS…

American Cancer Society has Financial Interests in Mammography

The health risks of mammography have been discussed since the early 1990's when Dr. Epstein began speaking out about them. As for how these misguided mammography guidelines came about,

Epstein has previously said:

"They were conscious, chosen, politically expedient acts by a small group of people for the sake of their own power, prestige and financial gain, resulting in suffering and death for millions of women. They fit the classification of "crimes against humanity.""

As Dr. Epstein points out in his report, ACS' role in the promotion of mammography is far from altruistic as the Society has numerous ties to the mammography industry, which includes but is not limited to:

Five radiologists have served as presidents of ACS
ACS commonly promotes the interests of mammogram machine and film manufacturers, including Siemens, DuPont, General Electric, Eastman Kodak and Piker
The mammography industry not only conducts research for the ACS and its grantees, its representatives also serve on ACS advisory boards, and donates considerable funds.
DuPont, who makes mammogram film, is also a substantial backer of the ACS Breast Health Awareness Program; produces educational films; and aggressively lobbies Congress for legislation promoting the nationwide availability of mammography services.

Unfortunately, what the American Cancer Society is not making clear in their heavy mammography marketing materials are the risks involved, some of which may actually raise your risk of breast cancer, particularly if you follow the ACS' recommended regimen of yearly mammograms starting at the age of 40.

In 2009, revised mammogram guidelines were issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF); a group of health experts that makes preventive health care recommendations based on their review of published research.

They found that the benefits of mammogram screening do not outweigh the risks for women under the age of 50. Therefore, they recommend that women wait to get regular screenings until the age of 50, and only get one every other year thereafter. The ACS did not modify their recommendations however, and still recommend yearly mammograms starting at 40.

There ARE Safer Screening Options

Many still believe that mammography is the only breast cancer screening method out there. This is highly unfortunate, and I urge you to educate yourself and your female friends and family members on this matter.

The reason you may not have heard about this option is because it's not financially tied to the ACS or any other public health agency. It's called thermographic breast screening, and works by measuring the radiation of infrared heat from your body and translating this information into anatomical images.

Thermography uses no mechanical pressure or ionizing radiation—the two factors that can contribute to the creation of breast cancer.

It detects the potential for cancer by imaging the early stages of angiogenesis -- the formation of a direct supply of blood to cancer cells, which is a necessary step before they can grow into tumors of size. This early diagnostic power is yet another major benefit of thermography.

Breast Cancer Prevention Tips

"The verdict is unassailable. The ACS bears a major decades' long responsibility for losing the winnable war against cancer," Dr. Epstein writes.

Reforming the ACS is, in principle, relatively easy and directly achievable. Boycott the ACS. Instead, give your charitable contributions to public interest and environmental groups involved in cancer prevention. Such a boycott is well overdue and will send the only message this "charity" can no longer ignore."

I agree. It's profoundly sad that one of the so-called leaders against cancer simply will not spread the word about the many ways women can help prevent breast cancer in the first place, and ignores research into safer alternative screening methods and treatment of cancer, choosing instead to protect the financial interests of the biggest contributors to the toxic overload that's at the root of this growing problem.

Cancer Advancements that Need to Become Mainstream Knowledge

In the last 30 years the global cancer burden has doubled, and is estimated to nearly triple by 2030. We must begin to take cancer prevention seriously. Three cancer advancements in particular merit special mention. These advancements have not yet been accepted by conventional medicine, and they must be.

Number 1: Radically Reduce Your Sugar Intake—Normalizing your insulin levels is one of the most powerful physical actions you can take to lower your risk of cancer. Unfortunately, very few oncologists appreciate or apply this knowledge today. The Cancer Centers of America is one of the few exceptions, where strict dietary measures are included in their cancer treatment program.

Chronic insulin resistance will cause major damage in your body. The most recognized of these is diabetes, but that is far from the only one. As Ron Rosedale, M.D. said in one of my most popular articles, Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects:

"It doesn't matter what disease you are talking about, whether you are talking about a common cold or cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis or cancer, the root is always going to be at the molecular and cellular level, and I will tell you that insulin is going to have its hand in it, if not totally control it."

The good news is that controlling your insulin levels is relatively straightforward. First, limit your intake of processed foods, grains and sugars/fructose as much as possible to prevent your insulin levels from becoming elevated in the first place.

Number 2: Vitamin D—There's overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that vitamin D deficiency plays a crucial role in cancer development. Researchers within this field have estimated that about 30 percent of cancer deaths could be prevented each year simply by optimizing the vitamin D levels in the general population. Countless people around the world have an increased risk of cancer because their vitamin D levels are too low due to utter lack of sun exposure...

On a personal level, you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure. And if you are being treated for cancer it is likely that higher blood levels—probably around 80-90 ng/ml—would be beneficial.

The health benefits of optimizing your levels, either by safe sun exposure (ideally), a safe tanning bed, or oral supplementation as a last resort, simply cannot be overstated. In terms of protecting against cancer, vitamin D has been found to offer protection in a number of ways, including:

Regulating genetic expression
Increasing the self-destruction of mutated cells (which, if allowed to replicate, could lead to cancer)
Reducing the spread and reproduction of cancer cells
Causing cells to become differentiated (cancer cells often lack differentiation)
Reducing the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, which is a step in the transition of dormant tumors turning cancerous

To learn the details on how to use vitamin D therapeutically, please review my previous article, Test Values and Treatment for Vitamin D Deficiency.

Number 3: Exercise—If you are like most people, when you think of reducing your risk of cancer, exercise doesn't immediately come to mind. However, there is some fairly compelling evidence that exercise can slash your risk of cancer.

One of the primary ways exercise lowers your risk for cancer is by reducing elevated insulin levels, which creates a low sugar environment that discourages the growth and spread of cancer cells.

Controlling your insulin levels and optimizing your vitamin D level are two of the most powerful steps you can take to reduce your cancer risk. For example, physically active adults experience about half the incidence of colon cancer as their sedentary counterparts, and women who exercise regularly can reduce their breast cancer risk by 20 to 30 percent compared to those who are inactive.

Additionally, exercise improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. Your immune system is your first line of defense against everything from minor illnesses like a cold right up to devastating, life-threatening diseases like cancer.

The trick about exercise, though, is understanding how to use it as a precise tool. This ensures you are getting enough to achieve the benefit, not too much to cause injury, and the right variety to balance your entire physical structure and maintain strength and flexibility, and aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels. This is why it is helpful to view exercise like a drug that needs to be carefully prescribed to achieve its maximum benefit.

It's important to include a large variety of techniques in your exercise routine, such as strength training, aerobics, core-building activities, and stretching. Most important of all, however, is to make sure you include high-intensity, burst-type exercise, such as Peak 8. Peak 8 are exercises performed once or twice a week, in which you raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, and then you recover for 90 seconds.

These exercises activate your super-fast twitch muscle fibers, which can increase your body's natural production of human growth hormone. For detailed instructions, please see this previous article.

Additionally it is likely that integrating exercise with intermittent fasting will greatly catalyze the potential of exercise to reduce your risk of cancer and stimulate widespread healing and rejuvenation.

Additional Anti-Cancer Strategies

Additional lifestyle guidelines that will help protect you against cancer include:

Get appropriate amounts of animal-based omega-3 fats.
Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.
Eat as many vegetables as you are comfortable with. Ideally, they should be fresh and organic. Cruciferous vegetables in particular have been identified as having potent anti-cancer properties. Remember that carb nutritional types may need up to 300 percent more vegetables than protein nutritional types.
Have a tool to permanently erase the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. My particular favorite tool for this purpose, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique.
Maintain an ideal body weight.
Get enough high-quality sleep.
Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.
Reduce your use of cell phones and other wireless technologies, and implement as many safety strategies as possible if/when you cannot avoid their use.
Boil, poach or steam your foods, rather than frying or charbroiling them.

Mom's, Daughter's, Grandaughters, Neighbor's and friend's

The Breast Cancer Breakthrough that's Making Experts Angry
Posted By Dr. Mercola

The use of mammograms has dropped following recommendations by a medical task force that women in their 40s may not need to get breast cancer screenings every year. Studies suggest that fewer physicians are recommending annual mammograms for women in their 40s, and that fewer patients in that age group are getting screened.
In November of 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federal advisory board, said that yearly mammograms should not necessarily be automatic at age 40. They did recommend routine mammography screenings every two years for women ages 50 to 74.
CNN reports:
"Mammograms are less effective in detecting growths in younger women, whose breasts may be denser. The screening gets better with older women because breast tissues change over time. As a result, some women experience false positives, anxiety and unnecessary biopsies because of mammograms, according to data."
Meanwhile, more and more clinical studies are showing that an alternative, noninvasive breast cancer screening test – thermography – could soon become the initial breast screening tool for pre-menopausal women.
Sources:
CNN May 2, 2011
Health News Review Mary 3, 2011
International Seminars in Surgical Oncology April 2005
European Journal of Surgical Oncology June 2010



When the 16-member U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said annual mammograms weren't necessary for women under age 50, and that screenings were recommended only every two years after that, the breast cancer community all but fell apart. Protests erupted from surgeons and radiologists to cancer advocacy groups like the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Since two of the task force's members represent the insurance industry, and since the industry looks to the task force for guidance in what tests insurance will cover, critics claimed that money and conflicts of interest swayed the decision to reduce mammography screening recommendations.
I agree. Money and conflicts of interest probably are involved here – but not the way you might think.
Breast Cancer Screening is a Booming Business
According to a 2008 report by market analysts Medtech Insight, breast cancer screening is a $2.1 billion-a-year business that is projected to compound by 5.4 percent a year through 2013 as Baby Boomers start regular breast cancer screening.
The core of this market, Medtech said, centers on mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound. Anticipating the surge years ago, imaging providers started spending hundreds of thousands of dollars – and in some cases, millions – on new breast radiology equipment, specialty services, and clinics.
The outlook was so good that Imaging Economics, an online economic adviser to radiologists and health care executives, was already reporting in 2003 that breast cancer screening was a "booming business." And it was: with annual mammograms recommended for everybody over age 40, the bottom line was absolutely guaranteed in the breast imaging department, from mammography, to ultrasound, to MRIs, to stereotactic biopsies, to radiographic-guided lumpectomies.
And then the Preventive Services Task Force had to go and "ruin everything." With the task force's new guidelines paradigm, the breast screening bull market was about to bust. Naturally, the imaging industry was furious:
"If the USPSTF guidelines were followed to the letter, then imaging centers would face a dramatic decrease in mammography volume across the entire age spectrum of women," Imaging Economics reported in January 2010. "For centers that focus on women's health and breast imaging, especially, this could be a devastating blow."
Of course, as is all too frequently occurs, the concern and emphasis is on loss of personal income NOT on what best serves the patient or how to adjust their business model to make it a win-win for them and the patient. When it comes to business decisions, it seems what is best for the patient nearly always is factored out of the equation.
So what happened?
They urged breast screening specialists to work harder to keep their volume up, Imaging Economics advised them to talk to their patients and tell them about women in their 40s and 50s who have been affected by breast cancer. For example, a center in New Jersey sent out letters to all its patients stressing the importance of annual screening, despite the task force's recommendations – and it worked.
The key to keeping radiologists' doors open, Imaging Economics said, was to emulate this New Jersey center, and continually educate patients, referring physicians and the public at large about "the value of mammography as a screening tool for breast cancer."
Beware -- The Price You Pay Could be Your Life
I've shared with you on many occasions my concerns about the safety and effectiveness of mammograms. Time and again, studies published in prestigious medical journals are progressively showing that mammography isn't all it's made out to be – and the task force indicated that this is what they were thinking when they changed the screening guidelines.
I'm sure it also knew that mammograms miss up to a third or more of all breast cancers, as reported by Medscape, depending on the composition of your breast tissue and the type of cancer that might be lurking in there. And secondly, the task force certainly found that mammography and its subsequent tests, such as MRIs and stereotactic biopsies – actually can CAUSE cancer.
The task force also had to have known that false positives from mammograms – a diagnosis of cancer when it turns not to be cancer – are notorious in the industry, causing women needless anxiety, pain and, often, invasive and disfiguring surgical procedures.
It's true.
What the Imaging Industry Doesn't Want You to Know
What the imaging industry doesn't want you to know, but what the U.S. Preventive Task Force evidently saw, is that mammography not only is sadly lacking in accuracy, but it can be dangerous as well.
If you're new to the Mercola website, I urge you to click on the links above, and read this information for yourself, to get some background on what I'm talking about. You may be asked to register to read the Medscape link, but it's free and the information is priceless.
Then take a peek at some of these other sites, which show that the imaging industry is definitely downplaying the downside of mammography:
• Radiation risks from routine mammography pose significant cumulative risks (over time) of causing breast cancer , according to the Cancer Prevention Coalition
• Lower-energy X-rays provided by mammography result in substantially greater damage to DNA than would be predicted, and suggests that risk of breast cancer caused by exposure to mammography radiation may be greatly underestimated, the BreastCancerFund.org reports
• The slightest scratch can cause cancer cells to crawl to the wound – for example, the spot where a stereotactic biopsy or lumpectomy is performed, Science News Magazine writes
• Several researchers have argued that trauma to the breast – including compression from a mammogram -- can rupture cysts that can disseminate invasive cancer cells – Bnet.com
Of course, mammography proponents will argue that these findings are only theoretical. But the bottom line is they're only trying to protect their bottom lines by denying the truth – and the price you pay may be your life, if you're one of the women whose mammograms miss the cancer, or if you end up being one of those whose cancer could have been caused by the procedure itself.
The Imaging Industry Admits that Thermography is a Viable, Safe Alternative
Interestingly, in 2003, at the same time it was heralding the radiology boom in breast cancer screening, Imaging Economics also talked about thermogaphy as a safe, viable, noninvasive, pain-free alternative to mammography.
Admitting that thermography isn't a new kid on the block – the FDA approved its use in 1982 – Imaging Economics announced that several companies had new thermography products in the pipeline. "By itself, thermography is 86 to 90 percent effective for detecting breast cancer," the agency quoted one of the owners of this "new" technology. When you consider that the task force said that mammography alone can misdiagnose up to 56 percent of women ages 40 to 49, those statistics are pretty impressive.
Adding to the proof, Imaging Economics added:
"Clinical Thermography of Colorado opened its doors in July 2002 and uses Meditherm's (Lake Oswego, Ore.) Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging system. Scans (thermography) are non-invasive and complete in 15 minutes; physicians trained to read thermograms read the scans offsite.
"Marshall notes, "Physician acceptance has been higher than I anticipated." In fact, some local physicians are referring patients for thermography. One surgeon recognized the value of thermography after a patient elected a double mastectomy based on her thermogram, which revealed abnormal patterns in both breasts. After the surgery, the surgeon found that the patient's thermogram matched the pathology report.
"A number of patients are women who have had mastectomies and need to monitor remaining breast tissue, but don't want to be compressed during a mammogram. Other patients have cancer and want to monitor their condition."
And this comes from the very industry that is quaking in its shoes about mammograms going by the wayside! When you add the fact that some radiologists are now training in thermography in anticipation that in the future it may be the "first signal" for finding a developing tumor, and that thermography has become a college unto itself, it shows that maybe the U.S. Preventive Task Force knows more than the industry would like you to think.
As Usual, the FDA Stands in the Way
Aside from trade associations like the AMA, the Society for Breast Imaging, and the American College of Radiologists (ACR) – people who have lots to lose in the way of mammogram dollars – the FDA, as usual, is taking its time reviewing thermography's new evidence as a first-line defense against breast cancer. Currently the FDA classifies thermography only as a Class I medical device that can be used as an adjunct to mammography.
As a result, insurance companies and Medicare have refused to endorse and pay for thermography for breast cancer screening. They all cite numerous studies showing a presumed low effectiveness of the procedure – but those studies ARE MORE THAN 10 YEARS OLD.
When you review more recent studies, you'll find that the thermography has well-known benefits.
In fact, a study published in 2009 in the Journal of Medical Systems and the National Institutes of Health's PubMed reported that thermography aided by the latest analytical software sensors is 94.8 percent accurate – or nearly twice as effective as mammography! With more and more recent studies supporting these numbers, it has to make you wonder what the FDA is thinking by refusing to admit the good that it is.
Thus, the FDA is denying women – and men, because men get breast cancer too – this potentially life-saving procedure!
What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
I don't have to recite another litany of studies that show that thermography is an extremely safe and useful tool, particularly in women with dense breasts. The point is that thermography is a safe, viable alternative that can help you get reliable, accurate information for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of breast cancer.
Not only that, it can detect inflammation of other kinds in other places in your body, from your heart to your teeth to your circulatory/vascular system, and more – all in a procedure that doesn't involve touching or invading your body in any way. It's cost-effective in that it can help you make lifestyle and treatment choices you might not have with other procedures, including mammography.
And, it's risk-free and provides you with instant feedback – in other words, no need for a return appointment just to hear the results.
The important thing is that it still is an FDA-approved procedure, and you still have the choice to consider it as part of your annual health prevention plan.

Related Links:
Why Mammography is NOT an Effective Breast Cancer Screen
Breast Cancer Breakthrough – Cut Your Risk of Breast Cancer in Half
Avoid Routine Mammograms if You Are Under 50
The Breast Cancer Screening Mistake Millions Make

healthy eyes (very large read but well worth it)

The Most Important Food for Healthy Eyes (No, it's Not Carrots)
Posted By Dr. Mercola


Do you have any idea what causes wild Pacific salmon to have its color? It is one of the hottest new nutrient discoveries from a marine algae called astaxanthin, which is a far more powerful cousin of beta-carotene.
If farm raised salmon don't eat this or are not given artificial colors, they are a dark grey fish. Also, you might not know that baby flamingos are born white and they don't become pink until they start eating food with astaxanthin in it.
It is clearly one of the most amazing supplements I have ever learned about, the only one that exceeds it, from my perspective, is vitamin D.
Astaxanthin belong to a class of naturally occurring pigments called carotenoids which have powerful antioxidant properties that are crucial for your health. Carotenoids are the compounds in your foods that give them that vibrant cornucopia of color,from green grasses to red beets, to the spectacular yellows and oranges of your bell peppers..
There are more than 700 naturally occurring carotenoids, but most people are familiar with only a few. Right now, you probably have about 10 different carotenoids circulating through your bloodstream. Other carotenoids are easily obtainable through a good diet rich in fresh organic produce. However, astaxanthin is harder to come by.
Astaxanthin is in a League of Its Own
Astaxanthin is produced only by the microalgae Haematoccous pluvialis when its water supply dries up, forcing it to protect itself from ultraviolet radiation. It's the algae's survival mechanism—Astaxanthin serves as a "force field" to protect the algae from lack of nutrition and/or intense sunlight.
There are only two main sources of astaxanthin: the microalgae that produce it, and the sea creatures that consume the algae (such as salmon, shellfish, and krill).
Astaxanthin is now thought to be the most powerful antioxidant found in nature.
Astaxanthin not only provides the color to salmon but is also the reason salmon have the strength and endurance to swim up rivers and waterfalls for days on end.Their diets are high in this pigment, which concentrates in their muscles and makes them one of the "kings of endurance" of the animal kingdom.
Astaxanthin is leaps and bounds more powerful than beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein, other members of its chemical family. It exhibits VERY STRONG free radical scavenging activity and protects your cells, organs and body tissues from oxidative damage.
Astaxanthin's unique "antioxidative artillery" provides for an impressive array of health benefits, including improving cardiovascular health, stabilizing blood sugar, boosting your immune system, fighting cancer, improving endurance and athletic performance, improving fertility—and even protecting you from sunburn.
But for the purpose of this article, I will focus on the benefits specifically related to your eyes, brain and central nervous system.
What Makes Astaxanthin Special?
There are many properties that make this carotenoid unique. Here are the main differences:
• Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C, 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
• Astaxanthin is far more effective than other carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin E and 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.
• Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system and reducing your risk for cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
• Astaxanthin is soluble in lipids, so it easily incorporates into cell membranes and protects them from oxidative damage.
• It's a potent UVB absorber and reduces DNA damage.
• It's a very potent natural anti-inflammatory.
In terms of how this powerful nutrient can benefit your eyes, brain and central nervous system, astaxanthin has been shown to be protective against:
• Glaucoma
• Cataracts
• Retinal arterial occlusion
• Venous occlusion
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD)
• Cystoid macular edema
• Injuries to the brain and spine
• Inflammatory eye diseases (i.e., retinitis, iritis, keratitis, and scleritis)
• Parkinson's, Huntington's and Lou Gehrig's (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and other types of dementia
And how about some more great news?
There have been no adverse reactions found for people taking astaxanthin, that is right, there is no toxicity. The only known side effect if you consumed too much is that you would turn pink for awhile...
Why "Eat Your Carrots" Was Good Advice!
When you were a child, odds are you were told, "Eat your carrots—they're good for your eyes." There is some truth to that old adage, as carrots contain carotenoids—many of which are important for your eyes. Vitamin A, or retinal, is vital to your retina—without it, you would simply go blind.
But vitamin A is another nutrient that is readily available from your diet.
Your retina is a highly light and oxygen rich environment, needing a large force of free radical scavengers to prevent oxidative damage there.
Two carotenoids, zeaxanthin and lutein, are actually concentrated in the macula of your retina to help combat these free radicals. The concentration of these two pigments in your retina is what gives it its characteristic yellow color. (The macula is actually called the "macula lutea" which literally means "yellow spot.")
It is interesting that your eye preferentially concentrates zeaxanthin over lutein in the central macular retinal area (called the fovea), where the greatest amount of light impinges—and zeaxanthin is a more effective singlet oxygen scavenger than lutein. Your body seems to naturally "know" this and accumulates it where it's most needed!
Leading Causes of Blindness: Macular Degeneration and Cataracts
Although zeaxanthin and lutein do provide benefits to your eyes, science is now revealing that astaxanthin is the ULTIMATE carotenoid for eye health and prevention of blindness. Blindness is an enormous problem worldwide.
These statistics might disturb you:
• Age related macular degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of blindness for people over the age of 50.
• Sixty million people suffer from ARMD worldwide, and 10 million are blind.
• Severe, irreversible vision loss affects 30 percent of people over the age of 55.
• Cataracts are another major cause of blindness, affecting more than 20 million people in the US alone. Cataracts are caused by lipid peroxidation of the epithelial layer of the lens. Although they can have other causes, most are related to aging.
• Cataracts result in 3 million cataract surgeries every year.
Substantial evidence exists that most eye and brain diseases result from oxidation and inflammation in those vital organs. Free radicals and singlet oxygen wreak havoc over time, eventually leading to problems such as macular degeneration, blindness, and Alzheimer's disease.
As you age, your body loses some of its ability to produce the high levels of antioxidants it needs to counter the everyday assault on your tissues and organs by pollution, contaminants in food and water, household chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, and the high levels of stress in modern life.
Your eyes are now subjected to much higher levels of oxidation than our ancestors experienced. Not only are there more contaminants in today's environment, but the depletion of our ozone layer is causing more intense sunlight than ever before, which directly exposes your eyes and skin to more free radicals.
Clinical studies tell us that photic injury from the cumulative effect of repeated "photic insults" and the resulting gradual loss of photoreceptor cells is a major cause of ARMD. Free radicals and singlet oxygen oxidize fatty acids in your retina, compromising your retinal cell membranes and causing damage to your retinal cells.
Once your retina is damaged, it cannot be replaced.
Therefore, anything you can do to cut your losses from these photic insults will reduce your risk for developing macular degeneration and other diseases. Antioxidants that cross the blood-brain-retinal barrier to reach the inner eye are crucial to protect you from increasing numbers of free radicals as you age.
How Astaxanthin Protects Your Retina—Research is Pouring in!
Scientists have studied the most common carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, and astaxanthin) and compared their respective abilities to protect the retina. But none perform to the degree that astaxanthin does, in terms of potency as a free radical scavenger and permeability across the blood-brain-retina barrier.
In studies, canthaxanthin was actually found to be potentially damaging to the eye as it caused eye inclusions, which can lead to retinopathy, so this carotenoid was ruled out as a supplement.
Dr. Mark Tso of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University has aptly demonstrated that astaxanthin is the clear winner when it comes to protecting your eyes.
He discovered that astaxanthin easily crosses into the tissues of the eye and exerts its effects safely and with more potency than any of the other carotenoids, without adverse reactions.
Specifically, Tso determined astaxanthin could ameliorate or prevent light induced damage, photoreceptor cell damage, ganglion cell damage, and damage to the neurons of the inner retinal layers. Other researchers (Shimidzu et al, Bagchi, Martin et al, and Beutner) have since confirmed Dr. Tso's finding that astaxanthin is the most powerful antioxidant ever discovered for eye health, giving your eyes an additional layer of long-term protection.
For example, eye fatigue, eyestrain, blurring and diplopia (aka "double vision," caused by unequal action of your eye muscles) are problems for many people today who work in front of computer displays for long periods of time.
A 2002 Japanese study by Nagaki set out to examine the effects, if any, of astaxanthin on these types of visual problems among computer workers.
They found that giving these workers just 5 mg of astaxanthin daily for four weeks resulted in a 46 percent reduction in eyestrain and improved eye focusing. Another Japanese study by Nakamura in 2004 found similarly positive effects on eyestrain at doses of 4mg, and even better effects at 12mg. In fact, there are now NINE different human clinical astaxanthin studies published in the area of eye fatigue, all showing positive results.
Additional studies have demonstrated that natural astaxanthin supplementation can also help with a wide range of other common eye issues, including the following:
• Reducing eye soreness, dryness, tiredness and blurred vision (Shiratori 2005 and Nagaki 2006)
• Preventing eye fatigue from occurring in healthy people (Takahashi and Kajita 2005)
• Improving retinal capillary blood flow (Yasunori 2005)
• Improving your eye's ability to focus by enabling the lens to more easily adjust
• Improving depth perception by 46 percent (Sawaki 2002)
• Reducing ocular inflammation (Suzuki 2006)
But astaxanthin's performance doesn't end with your eyes—studies are suggesting it may have equally astounding benefits for your brain!
Your Brain on Astaxanthin
Less research has been done about the effects of astaxanthin on your brain than the extensive work related to your eyes. However, what has been done shows great promise. Most of the research to date has been performed on rats.
Blood pressure is a causative factor for many brain and eye diseases.
A study at the International Research Center for Traditional Medicine in Japan found astaxanthin reduced blood pressure in hypertensive rats after only five weeks of supplementation. Researchers discovered the nutrient appears to have a neuroprotective effect in ischemic mice—mice whose blood flow to the brain was obstructed.
This finding offers hope that astaxanthin may be protective against stroke.
If plaque builds up in your carotid arteries, the blood flow to your brain can be compromised, since your carotids are the primary arteries serving your brain. This arterial obstruction can lead to many different serious conditions, including stroke and dementia.
Other studies showed the following:
• Astaxanthin may improve memory in vascular dementia (Hussein 2005)
• Astaxanthin may boost intelligence
• Astaxanthin may prevent brain damage due to ischemia (Kudo et al 2002 and Oryza Company 2006)
There are also indications that astaxanthin can potentially improve recovery from spinal cord and other central nervous system injuries. Although scientific studies to date have been restricted to animal models, the results are nevertheless exciting and demonstrate great promise for humans.
Make Sure Your Astaxanthin is the Natural Variety from Marine Algae—NOT Synthetic
Synthetic (laboratory-made) astaxanthin is now commonly used worldwide to supplement fish feeds in order to obtain the desired pinkish to orange-red color.
Please avoid synthetic astaxanthin because it's made from petrochemicals.
Some aquaculture companies are beginning to use natural astaxanthin instead of synthetic, even though it costs more, because it's better for the health of the animals, and it's far superior for pigmentation. Animals fed fish food with natural astaxanthin have higher survival rates, better growth rates, better immunity, fertility and reproduction.
Unfortunately, synthetic astaxanthin still dominates the farmed salmon industry worldwide.
If your salmon label does not read "wild" or "naturally colored," you're probably going to be eating a coloring agent somewhat closer to motor oil than antioxidant. Natural astaxanthin is more than 20 times stronger as an antioxidant than synthetic astaxanthin.
Wild salmon are 400 percent higher in astaxanthin than farmed salmon, and 100 percent of their pigment is natural astaxanthin, rather than synthetic. Plus, wild salmon have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than the farmed version. Just make sure to get wild Pacific salmon.
But even if you are successful in purchasing genuine wild salmon, there is the problem with high levels of mercury and other unwanted toxins, not to mention the skyrocketing prices.
Final Recommendations
You may recognize the name astaxanthin because I have mentioned it in reference to krill oil, my favorite source of animal based omega-3 fatty acids. One of the reasons I am such a fan of krill is that it naturally contains astaxanthin..
But, as high as it is, new research suggests you could enjoy even MORE benefits by further increasing your astaxanthin, even if you are already taking a krill oil supplement. If you decide to give astaxanthin a try, I recommend starting with 2 mg per day. If you are on a krill oil supplement, take that into consideration; different krill products have different concentrations of astaxanthin, so check your label.
Astaxanthin is in a number of our products including krill, Eye Support Formula and Astaxanthin with ALA.
Reference:
Natural Astaxanthin: King of the Carotenoids
By Bob Capelli with Dr. Gerald Cysewski
ISBN-13: 978-0-9792353-0-6
ISBN-10: 0-9792353-0-8
Related Links:
The Most Powerful Nutrient Ever Discovered for Eye Health
Scientists Discover an Amazing and Simple Way to Improve Your Vision…
Four Tips to Protect Your Eyesight as You Age

Four Tips to Protect Your Eyesight as You Age
Posted By Dr. Mercola |
Of all the five senses, most people would least want to lose their sight. Eyes provide not only a window to the world, but also a means to discovering new things. As such, losing their eyesight is one of the common concerns that people have as they age. Let's first be clear that simply aging doesn't mean that your eyesight will diminish, as there are plenty of people in their 80s and beyond who still have good eyesight. However, as you age changes can indeed occur that may weaken your ability to see.
For those who are fortunate enough to have their eyesight, here are some tips to help keep your eyes strong and in good health no matter what your age.
Take Fish Oil Regularly
A fat found in fish called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may help protect and promote healthy retinal function. DHA is concentrated in the eye's retina and has been found to be particularly useful in preventing macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness.
I don't recommend eating fish due to the concerns of mercury and other toxins that have been found in fish from oceans, lakes and streams and farm-raised fish. The exception is fish that you have had lab-tested to ensure it is free from contamination.

The best choice is to take a high-quality fish oil, or cod liver oil, regularly. Both fish oil and cod liver oil are rich in DHA and EPA, and the fish oils I recommend are purified to the highest standards so you don't need to worry about contaminants. At this time of year you will likely benefit from cod liver oil, which contains vitamin D that many are deficient in at this time of year, but you will want have your vitamin D levels tested to be sure.
Get Plenty of Lutein
Lutein is a carotenoid found in vegetables and fruits. While beta-carotene, another carotenoid, is commonly thought of as important for vision health, lutein may be even more important.
Lutein, which is found in particularly large quantities in green, leafy vegetables, acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells from free radical damage. If you eat a healthy diet, you should receive more than enough lutein from the food you eat.
Unfortunately, most Americans don't eat enough healthy foods and therefore don't get enough lutein. This is particularly true if you rely on fast food as a staple part of your diet.
This is easily remedied by adding lutein-rich foods to your diet. Some excellent sources include kale, collard greens, spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts and egg yolks, particularly raw egg yolks. Egg yolks also have zeaxanthin, another carotenoid, in an equal amount to lutein. Zeaxanthin is likely to be equally as effective as lutein in protecting eyesight.
It is important to note that lutein is an oil-soluble nutrient, and if you merely consume the above vegetables without some oil or butter you can't absorb the lutein. If you are consuming vegetable juice, it would be wise to use cod liver oil in the juice to maximize your lutein absorption, as well as the absorption of other important nutrients like vitamin K.
Eat Dark Colored Berries
Not only do berries taste great, but also the compounds that give them their dark color are great for your health. The European blueberry, bilberry, is known to prevent and even reverse macular degeneration, and bioflavonoids from other dark-colored berries including blueberries, cranberries and others will also be beneficial.
They work by strengthening the capillaries that carry nutrients to eye muscles and nerves.
Avoid Trans Fat
A diet high in trans fat appears to contribute to macular degeneration. Trans fat may interfere with omega-3 fats in your body, which are extremely important for your eye health.
Trans fat is found in many processed foods and baked goods, including margarine, shortening, fried foods like french fries, fried chicken and doughnuts, cookies, pastries and crackers.