A Natural Environmental Health Facts Ezine

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"A NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FACTS Ezine" Here to Inform and Help You Become Healthier and Happier while Achieving Quality Longevity!

http://www.antibiotic-alternatives.com
Email Lena
928-636-9425
Sunday November 06, 2005
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=> IN THIS ISSUE!
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==> Editors' Ranting & or Warnings
==> Something To Think About
==> Health Thought for the day!
==> Showcase Health Spotlight
==> Monthly Spotlight Ads
==> Today's Health Tip
==> Food of The Week
==> Health Today
==> Environmental Report
==> Life Changing Information

Yesterday afternoon and evening was spent in Phoenix celebrating one of my many sisters-in-law 75th birthday which turned out to be a real family reunion as they came from all across the western United States. It's really nice to be able to have a family so large and loving. Today I am going to relax with a good book and take it easy to recuperate... I'm finding out that having fun can be tiring to these old bones... Enjoy your day... By the way, the woodpecker hasn't been around for two days so maybe he's decided to knock on someone else's wall, so haven't had to resort to any of your suggestions...

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Take charge of you and your family's health before it takes charge of you!
Lena

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Something To Think About
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Can You Truly Trust A Drug?

I'm not at all sure that is possible at this time in the medical world... Who can we believe? What happened to truly caring about people? When did money become the prime object of medicine? Now that the world is brain washed to believe that the traditional medical world is the only place to receive help for a medical condition, they can pretty much do as they please and the ill ones believe it!

This headline "New Diabetes Drug May Triple Death Risk" brought me into anger big time!

That's a headline from WebMD Medical News, and needless to say, it's not the kind of advance buzz you hope to get if you're the manufacturer of a new drug.

The drug is called Pargluva (a joint effort from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck) and it's purported to control blood glucose by improving insulin effectiveness, lowering triglycerides and raising HDL cholesterol. All well and good until researchers from the Cleveland Clinic (CC) reviewed Pargluva studies submitted to the FDA as part of the drug's approval process. The Cleveland assessment: Pargluva is associated with an "excess incidence" of heart attack, stroke and congestive heart failure.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) rushed the CC review into the spotlight, posting it online five weeks ahead of scheduled publication. And then a JAMA editor delivered a second roundhouse punch with an editorial noting that subjects who received Pargluva were three times as likely to develop cancer as subjects taking placebo or another drug.

Now...ready for the kicker?

All of this happened several weeks after an FDA panel reviewed the same studies and voted 8-1 to recommend approval of the drug.

In late September - just two days before the JAMA article appeared - FDA officials told B-MS/Merck that Pargluva was "approvable" (the FDA generally rubber stamps the recommendations of its panels). According to the Washington Post, the agency noted that the safety issue required additional information, but there was no specific request for a new study to examine safety.

So it seems the FDA may not be applying stricter safety criteria after all. But I wouldn't necessarily count on the Cleveland Clinic to take a permanent role as a safety watchdog, sniffing through the studies of all drugs submitted to the FDA for approval. The Washington Post isn't clear on exactly why the CC team singled out this particular drug for such careful scrutiny. One of the CC researchers has lead high-profile studies that were sponsored by Pfizer, so I can't help but wonder if drug company rivalry provided at least part of the motivation for the investigation.

It will be interesting to see how much squirming goes on at the FDA as this drama plays out. Maybe FDA officials will ask for an additional safety trial. Or maybe they'll allow B-MS/Merck to start marketing Pargluva immediately, along with a black box warning to inform the estimated 16 million type 2 diabetics in the U.S. that this drug may be a life-saver...if it doesn't kill them.

In a logical world where decisions weren't based on gigantic corporate profits, dangerous drugs would simply be put aside and safety would be paramount. But we don't live in that world. So one thing is certain: When this "approvable" drug is finally stamped with an official OK (any bets that it won't be?), it will provide doctors with one more handy pill to perpetuate the mainstream habit of simply writing a prescription to address health problems, rather than aggressively investigating and treating the root causes of those problems.

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Aloe Allure

Aloe vera's claim to fame may be providing relief from burns, but that's certainly not all it's good for.

Researchers at Texas A&M University in College Station found that the sugar that makes up aloe vera can speed the healing time of wounds by reducing inflammation, preventing the breakdown of growth factors that promote healing, and stimulating the cells that destroy dead or dying tissue. It also aids new blood vessel formation.

Because wound healing can be a problem in the elderly, aloe vera can help. Use fresh gel from a plant on superficial wounds once a day.

Those Green Leaves Of Health!

When making my lunch of wilted greens. I dropped my leaves into the skillet of hot Olive Oil, Rice Vinegar, chopped celery and sweet chopped onion my mind went back to Popeye and Olive Oil, the cartoon characters that were so popular in my children's childhood. And remembered the muscles Popeye sported and wondered if that could possibly be true? Would these great green leaves build muscles. Hence this weeks great green food, Spinach!

A few years ago my then six year-old granddaughter said, "No way am I eating spinach, it tastes nasty!" We coaxed her into trying it, knowing that fresh spinach, cooked or not, doesn't resemble the taste of canned, that she had tried before. Her remarks after eating a whole serving was "Look everybody, take a picture, I'm eating spinach and it's good!" The grandchildren eat a lot of spinach when at our house and like it fixed in various ways.

History behind it; Spinach originally came from Persia - now known as Iran - where its name was called "aspanakh". By the 1300s, it had spread to Europe and Britain where it was particularly popular during Lent. It was being cultivated in North America by the early part of the 19th century. Was used in medieval times by artists to produce a green pigment for illuminated manuscripts. It is one of the few non toxic natural green pigments, and is still used today as body paint.

Spinach is a cool season crop and belongs to the goosefoot family along with Swiss chard and beets. Spinach is low in calories, and is a good source of vitamins and minerals, especially iron. Spinach was, supposedly, the first frozen vegetable to be sold.

But does it build muscles as Popeye spouted?

Scientists say those green leaves help reduce your risk of age-related macular degeneration, cancer, heart disease and neural tube defects. Also said to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and cataracts. And the healthy dose of potassium and calcium found in spinach can help regulate your blood pressure. The benefits of spinach do not stop there! Spinach and other leafy greens also provide folic acid, which is known to reduce the risk of neural tube defect and heart disease. Some studies have gone so far as to say it even improves memory. Calorie for calorie, leafy green vegetables like spinach with its delicate texture and jade green color provide more nutrients than any other food. Although spinach is available in grocery stores here throughout the year their season runs from March through May and from September through October when it is the freshest, has the best flavor and is most readily available.

I suppose Popeye was right because of all the great energy and muscle building minerals and vitamins spinach contains. That being the minerals; Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese and Selenium. Along with the vitamins C, E, B-12, A, B-6, Folate, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folic acid, Pantothenic acid and Retinol.

If you do not grow your own, it can be found fresh in most grocery stores, in the U.S., year round either bunched or as leaves. Shop for vivid, dark green spinach with firm leaves and stems, organic should be preferred. Avoid those with excessively thick, tough or woody stem ends. Smooth-leaf spinach is most often sold in bunches. Medium and Savoy varieties are more likely to be found loose or washed and partly stemmed in packages. I usually have a few jars of organic spinach in my canning cabinet of fruits and vegetables, grown by my husband each year, except for this year. He failed to plant enough for me and the prolific bugs and worms that love it as well.

Cleaning tip: It is imperative that fresh spinach be washed many, many, many times to removed dirt and little crawly creatures that love to invade those organic leaves.

It's relatively perishable and should be wrapped and stored in the refrigerator. It's best eaten as soon as possible after purchase or picking.

My Simple Wilted Salad that started the thought on spinach:

Enough for one person!

6 cups fresh, clean spinach leaves
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Seasoned Rice Vinegar
cup chopped fresh sweet onions
1 Rib of celery chopped and/or cup chopped bell pepper

Heat Olive oil and vinegar in a deep skillet, large enough to hold the initial six cups of spinach, placed over a medium hot burner. Add onions and celery, sauté for about two or three minutes ( I like the onions and celery to still have a crunch to them). Add spinach and toss constantly until all leaves are coated with olive oil and vinegar and wilted. Remove from burner and serve warm as a salad or side dish!

My mother always made her wilted salad with fresh mixed loose leaf lettuce and spinach greens with regular vinegar and sugar, which was a different flavor

Eat your spinach and be healthy!
Lena

Have Fun - Get Out Those Square Dance Clothes!

You should get more exercise, but really can't get interested in walking a treadmill or running around without actually going anywhere? If so, consider square dancing.

The music is lively, the people are fun, and you can work off a few extra calories while you're at it.

According to the Journal of Applied Physiology, an evening of square dancing uses up 420 kilocalories for a 150-pound man and 390 kilocalories for a 120-pound woman.

And you don't have to be in top shape to enjoy square dancing. According to the standards of the American Heart Association, even people with mild heart disease can safely enjoy an evening of square dance.