100,000 Person Study Reveals That This Causes Early Death

Author: Laura Lewitzky
Is it possible that your house is a lethal enemy to your health? Strangely enough, there is one common substance that people have in their home at all times and it can do more harm than good.

Even though it has been stated that milk is harmful for children to consume, this beverage still remains popular. Consuming pasteurized milk can be extremely dangerous, although the dairy industry keeps reassuring us in the quite opposite. This has caused a major revolt in scientists and researchers who decided to do something about it.

Recently, a mass study of thousands of Swedish people has shown that cow’s milk has a degenerating effect on health if it is consumed constantly. The same research was published and it has discovered this effect in 61,433 women at the age from 39-74 in a 20 year time, and in 45,339 men of similar age in an 11 year time. What they discovered was that the consumption of cow’s milk can cause bone fracture or even lead to an early death.

Women who consumed 3 or more glasses of milk on a daily basis have subjected themselves to a double risk of dying prematurely, unlike women who only consumed one glass a day. One glass of milk is an approximate 200ml (6.7 oz) serving and it has a 16 percent high chance of causing one bone fracture.

Milk pasteurization results in creating calcium carbonate, which needs a chelating agent to approach the cells. This way, the body extracts the calcium from the bones and calcium carbonate is insulated. This process leads to osteoporosis.

All pasteurized dairy products contain very little, almost no magnesium which is essential for the suitable calcium absorption. The minimum amount of calcium to magnesium ratio should be 2 to 1 and ideally 1 to 1. Whenever the ratio of these two is 10 to 1, the milk faces a problem.

The human skeleton contains over 99 percent of the total body calcium, where mechanical severity is provided. Pasteurized dairy products reduce calcium intake more than usual and the skeleton performs as a reserve system. If the skeletal calcium is overused, this results in osteoporosis.

The general belief is that dairy is beneficial for the bones and teeth, and because of that we were taught to consume it regularly, as our parents did before us. That is why Americans have one of the highest risks of osteoporosis in the world alongside people from the U.S., Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand, who have the highest rates of osteoporosis.

Milk pasteurization is tested via negative alpha phosphatase test. Enzyme phosphatase is completely destroyed when milk has been heated to 165 degrees and when the pasteurization is complete. The dangerous thing about this enzyme is that it absorbs the calcium-rich minerals. Phosphatase is considered as the third most profuse enzyme found in raw milk; this shall mean that people who consume raw milk are more exposed to bone solidity than others.

Insulin is, actually, a growth hormone found in pasteurized milk and is also known as Growth Factor One (IGF-1). The same hormone is known to feed and encourage cancer cells. IGF-1 is found in all milk and it is the main reason for the increased growth and generation of breast, prostate and colon cancers. According to some studies, one pint of dairy elevates the IGF-1 levels and it can cause a 10 percent increase in postmenopausal women who consume 3 servings of milk a day.

People continue to consume milk due to the belief that pasteurization makes it healthier. However, when milk is heated it actually destroys many useful bacteria which destroy the dirt, pus, and dirty dairy practices. Dairy factories usually use heat ranging from 100-175 degrees during this process. Evidences show that 44 percent of 125 pasteurized milk samples contained as many as 2200 harmful organisms per cubic cm.

http://www.houseofhealth.us/100000-person-study-reveals-this-causes-early-death/

The longer babies breastfeed, the more they achieve in life – major study

Brazilian study of 6,000 babies from all backgrounds since 1982 finds those who breastfed were more intelligent, spent longer in education and earned more
 Children who had been breastfed for 12 months had an IQ that was four points higher than those breastfed for less than a month, researchers found.

 Photograph: Getty Images
Sarah Boseley Health editor
Breastfed babies are more likely to turn into well-educated and higher-earning adults, according to a major long-term study.

Researchers in Brazil have followed nearly 6,000 babies from birth for the past three decades, enabling them for the first time to get an idea of the long-term effects of breastfeeding. Nearly 3,500 of them, now 30-year-old adults, accepted an invitation to be interviewed and sit IQ tests for the purpose of the study. Those who had been breastfed proved to be more intelligent, had spent longer at school and earned more than those who had not been. And the longer they were breastfed as a baby, the better they tended to be doing.

It is already known that breastfeeding can increase a child’s IQ by a small amount. The question that Dr Bernardo Lessa Horta from the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil wanted to answer was whether this translated into greater intelligence and better prospects as an adult.

“Our study provides the first evidence that prolonged breastfeeding not only increases intelligence until at least the age of 30 years but also has an impact both at an individual and societal level by improving educational attainment and earning ability,” he said.

The study found babies who had been breastfed for six months, as recommended by the WHO, got most of the benefits enjoyed by those who were fed for longer. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
 The study found babies who had been breastfed for six months, as recommended by the WHO, got most of the benefits enjoyed by those who were fed for longer. Photograph: Katie Collins/PA
It is not just the age of the participants that makes this study unusual. Horta says it is free of the major complication of most breastfeeding studies because, when it began in 1982, it was not just the more affluent and educated mothers who breastfed in Brazil. Breastfeeding was not limited to one socio-economic group. It was, he says, evenly distributed across the social classes. So the higher achievers at the age of 30 did not come from better-off homes.

Nonetheless, in analysing their results, now published in the Lancet Global Health journal , they took account of family income at birth, parental schooling, genomic ancestry, maternal smoking during pregnancy, maternal age, birthweight and type of delivery to try to avoid any of those factors skewing the results.

They found that all the breastfed babies had greater intelligence, as measured by a standard IQ test, had spent more years in education and had higher earnings. But the longer they had been breastfed, the greater the benefits. Children who had been breastfed for 12 months had an IQ that was four points higher than those breastfed for less than a month, had nearly a year’s more schooling and earned around £70 a month more – about a third more than the average income level.

Horta acknowledged he could not completely rule out the possibility mothers who breastfed helped their babies’ development in other ways. “Some people say it is not the effect of breastfeeding but it is the mothers who breastfeed who are different in their motivation or their ability to stimulate the kids,” he told the Guardian.

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But, he said, there is evidence from other studies of the nutritional value of mother’s milk, rich in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that are essential for brain growth. Some studies have suggested babies with a particular genotype are more likely to get the IQ benefit from breastfeeding than others. Horta and colleagues are now looking to see whether that applies in their cohort.

Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is recommended by the World Health Organisation. Horta said babies who had been breastfed for six months got most of the benefits enjoyed by those who were fed for longer. “Mothers should breastfeed for as long as possible,” he said, but he recognised that extended breastfeeding is not always easy for women. Less than a quarter of new mothers in the UK are still exclusively breastfeeding by the time the baby is six weeks old.

Dr Colin Michie, chair of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s nutrition committee, said: “It’s widely known that breastfed babies are better protected against chest and ear infections, are at less risk of sudden infant death and are less likely to become obese, but it’s interesting to see the benefits of breastfeeding for a prolonged period of time not only benefit the baby in the early years, but also translate into increased intelligence and improved earning ability later in life.

“It is important to note that breastfeeding is one of many factors that can contribute to a child’s outcomes, however, this study emphasises the need for continued and enhanced breastfeeding promotion so expectant mothers are aware of the benefits of breastfeeding. Furthermore, once mothers have given birth, we must ensure they are properly supported to continue breastfeeding for as long as they are able to.”

• This article was amended on 18 March 2015 because an earlier version referred to long-chain polyunsaturated acids. This has been corrected to say long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/18/brazil-longer-babies-breastfed-more-achieve-in-life-major-study

Sharpen The Brain for....Focus

Sharpen The Brain for....Focus

Food-Mood Connection: How You Eat Can Amp Up Or Tamp Down Stress

By ALLISON AUBREY

Eat more when you're stressed? You're not alone. More than a third of the participants in a national survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health said they change their diets during stressful times.

And many of us are quick to turn to either sugary foods or highly refined carbohydrates such as bagels or white pasta when the stress hits.

Stress-Busting Foods

• Eggs
• Dark, leafy greens like kale or Swiss chard
• Pumpkin seeds
• Fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like sardines, salmon or canned tuna
• Flaxseed
• Dark chocolate

"There can be a bit of a vicious cycle," says David Ludwig, a professor of pediatrics and nutrition at Harvard University and a researcher at Boston Children's Hospital. "When we feel stressed we seek foods that are going to comfort us immediately, but often times those foods lead to surges and crashes in hormones and blood sugar that increase our susceptibility to new stresses."

Now, of course, we can't control lots of the events and circumstances that lead to stress. But, Ludwig says, "our body chemistry can very much affect how that stress gets to us."

He points to a study he and some colleagues published in the journalPediatrics several years back.

They gave teenage boys different types of breakfast meals. One included protein-rich eggs, while another meal included high-fiber, steel-cut oats. A third meal of instant oatmeal was highest on the glycemic index, a measure of how quickly sugar is absorbed and how soon a food is likely to make you hungry again.

"After the highly refined instant oatmeal, blood sugar soared but then crashed a few hours later," Ludwig says. "And when that happened the [stress] hormone adrenaline, or epinephrine, surged to very high levels."

Ludwig says the links between food and mood are complex. And just as there are individual differences in susceptibility to diseases, there are differences in response to food, too. Not all of us are equally sensitive to foods like instant oatmeal, high on the glycemic index.

Given what we know about how different foods affect the risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, "why should it be so surprising that the nature of the foods we eat can also affect our emotional and mental well-being?" Ludwig says.

So, if eating lots of refined carbs and sugar may exacerbate our responses to stress, are there other types of food that make us more resilient? Researcher Joe Hibbeln of the National Institutes of Health believes the answer is yes.

"I think there's a very strong connection between what you eat and your mood," Hibbeln says.

He has spent the past two decades investigating links between the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and emotional health.

"One of the most basic ways that omega-3s help to regulate mood is by quieting down the [body's] response to inflammation," Hibbeln says.

When you get walloped by something, whether it's a virus or an emotional stressor, you want to bounce back as quickly as possible, he notes.

"You can either be good at weathering stress or you can be brittle. And omega-3s make your stress system more flexible," Hibbeln says. He points to studies showing that omega-3s can help protect neurons against the damage that can be done by chronic stress.

He also points to clinical trials that have found that omega-3s may help control depressive symptoms. And a study of schoolchildren in England linked omega-3s to more pro-social behavior.

Hibbeln knows that some people shy away from fish due to the cost, so he points to affordable options such as canned light tuna and sardines, which are good sources of omega-3s. There are also plant-based sources of omega-3s, such as flaxseed and chia seeds.

Now, clearly, omega-3s aren't the only food that's good for our emotional health.

Drew Ramsey, a psychiatrist at Columbia University and author of The Happiness Diet, says a nutrient-rich diet is best for beating stress.

He points to his favorite stress-busting breakfast: scrambled eggs mixed with kale (or other greens) and topped with pumpkin seeds.

With this meal, you're covering all your bases, Ramsey says. The eggs are a good source of B vitamins and protein, which can be more satiating than a carb-based breakfast. The greens are incredibly nutrient-dense, and are a good source of vitamin A, vitamin K and potassium.

And the pumpkin seeds are a good source of magnesium — which is thought to play a role in fending off anxiety — and zinc, which may help boost the immune system.

For dessert, go for dark chocolate, which can have "an acute affect on mood," Ramsey says. He points to a study that found cocoa flavanols can help boost mood and sustain clear thinking among adults who are engaged in intense mental efforts — like students cramming, or journalists on deadline.

In addition, dark chocolate has been shown to improve vascular health by increasing blood flow and reducing inflammation.

The bottom line? The foods we choose can't magic away stress. But Ramsey says he believes "there is a very, very strong connection between food and mood."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/14/329529110/food-mood-connection-how-you-eat-can-amp-up-or-tamp-down-stress

A Big Butt Is A Healthy Butt: Women With Big Butts Are Smarter And Healthier

BY SEAN LEVINSON

Scientists from the University of Oxford have discovered that women with larger than average butts are not only increasingly intelligent but also very resistant to chronic illnesses.

According to ABC News, the results found that women with bigger backsides tend to have lower levels of cholesterol and are more likely to produce hormones to metabolize sugar. Therefore, women with big butts are less likely to have diabetes or heart problems.

And having a big butt requires an excess of Omega 3 fats, which have been proven to catalyze brain development. The researchers also found that the children born to women with wider hips are intellectually superior to the children of slimmer, less curvy mothers.

Eyeonthenut reports that the team analyzed data from 16,000 women.

From ABC News:

“Professor Konstantinos Manolopoulos, who leads the team at the University of Oxford, says that women with more fat on the buttocks have lower levels of cholesterol and glucose.”

Having a big butt also favors leptin levels in the female body, which is a hormone responsible for regulating the weight, and the dinopectina, a hormone with anti-inflammatory, vascular-protective and anti-diabetic attributes.

The adipose tissue of the buttocks traps harmful fatty particles and prevents cardiovascular disease.

Eyeonthenut also cites similar studies conducted by universities in California and Pittsburgh not too long ago that discovered that women with bigger butts, wide hips and smaller waists may even live longer as well.

*This study did not include fake butts. 

We already know girls with big butts are smarter and healthier, but they also have some things only they will understand.

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/big-butt-healthy-butt-study-says-women-big-butts-healthier/

How Meditation Affects The Brain

May 16, 2014 | by Lisa Winter

photo credit: Nadir Hashmi

Humans have meditated for thousands of years, for religious purposes or just to quiet the mind. There are many meditation techniques but for the most part they can be lumped into two broad categories: non directive (mind wanders freely) and concentrative (suppresses random thoughts). Any differences in how the body responds to each type have not been well known prior to this study. A new study led by Svend Davanger from the University of Oslo has investigated what happens in the brain during meditation versus casual resting. The results were published in an open access format in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Acem meditation came about in the 1960s in Norway as a non-religious technique that focuses on mentally repeating a word in order to relax the mind and body. Acem does not seek to reach any particular state of consciousness, but instead allows thoughts to come and go from the mind as they become absorbed by the mantra. 

The study used 14 participants who are experienced in Acem and they underwent functional MRI (fMRI) to measure brain activity during three different states: nondirective meditation, such as Acem which allows fleeting thoughts provided the mantra is repeated; open monitoring, which allows the person to experience whatever random thoughts come into their head; and focused attention, in which the person deliberately tries to prevent random thoughts and focuses solely on their breathing. 

The ability to reduce the number of times the mind wanders during focused attention exercise has been heralded as a benefit of long-term experience with meditation. That assertion typically comes from those who self-report the amount of time they are on task, and not from studies that have actually tracked the amount of time the person meditating is able to focus thoughts. This study found that when the participants were asked to push a button and track when they were no longer thinking about their breath, the more experienced meditators didn’t really have much of an advantage over those that were newer to it. During the 20 minutes it took to complete the fMRI, the participants pressed their buttons about once every 80 seconds.

The results found that activity was significantly increased in the areas of the brain associated with emotions and memories during the non directive meditation, compared to the focused meditation. This was an unexpected result, as the it was assumed that actively concentrating would have increased brain activity.

"I was surprised that the activity of the brain was greatest when the person's thoughts wandered freely on their own, rather than when the brain worked to be more strongly focused," said lead author Jian Xu in a press release. "When the subjects stopped doing a specific task and were not really doing anything special, there was an increase in activity in the area of the brain where we process thoughts and feelings. It is described as a kind of resting network. And it was this area that was most active during nondirective meditation.”

"Meditation is an activity that is practiced by millions of people. It is important that we find out how this really works,” Davanger said. “In recent years there has been a sharp increase in international research on meditation. Several universities in the US spend a great deal of money to research in the field. So I think it is important that we are also active.”

The left images show the brain during concentrative meditation, while images to the right show the brain during nondirective meditation. Credit: Norwegian University of

Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/brain/how-meditation-affects-brain#VtOX8gKOpmqFmjeK.99