Are you obese or overweight and don’t exercise much? Do you eat more refined grains and sugars than you should? Don’t fool yourself. You’re heading toward type-2 diabetes. Unless, that is, you already have it.

Type-2 diabetes comes with a host of possible side effects. These include painful neuropathy and blindness. And it often leads to heart disease. But that’s not the worst news. A number of studies suggest that one of the risk factors for diabetes makes you more susceptible to another deadly disease. And trust me. This is one illness you want to avoid.

A group of researchers from the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association recently brought this association to the attention of the medical community. They conducted a large study and published the results in the journal Cancer Causes & Control. They found that women with diabetes are at an increased risk for getting certain cancers. (In men, the opposite is true. Diabetes actually protects against prostate cancer.) So if you’re a couch potato who eats a typical American diet with white sugar, white flour, and white rice, don’t think that eating some fruits and vegetables will cancel out your risk for diabetes and cancer. It won’t.

This study was not the first to make this association between diabetes and cancer, but it’s one of the largest. Researchers followed more than 16,700 diabetics over eight years and compared their incidence of cancers with that of more than 80,000 healthy non-diabetics. They concluded that women with type-2 diabetes are at an increased risk for hormone-related cancers because they tend to have high levels of circulating insulin. And high insulin plus high hormones equals a higher risk for hormone-related cancers.

That’s right. The estrogen in diabetics causes insulin-like hormones to circulate throughout the body. Both insulin and insulin-like growth factors can promote many kinds of cancer.

A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (December 30, 2009), examined the association between breast cancer and insulin. It found that women with the highest insulin levels were at a higher risk for getting breast cancer than women with the lowest insulin levels.

Dr. Gabriel Chodick, head researcher for this study, explains, “The interaction of diabetes and female hormones appears to exaggerate the risk and make certain organs like the uterus and ovaries more receptive to certain kinds of cancer.” There’s a connection between diabetes and breast, bladder, liver, pancreatic, ovarian, and endometrial cancers.

Overweight women have higher amounts of estrogen than thin women. And many postmenopausal women with low estrogen take estrogen hormones. If you’re overweight, your first step is to lose weight to naturally reduce excess estrogen stored in fat tissues. Evaluate your need for hormone therapy with your doctor. Take only the smallest amount you need. You may not need hormones at all.

There’s more you can do to lower your risk for cancer and improve your blood sugar regulation like eating a diet high in fiber and low in refined carbohydrates and getting regular exercise. Here are some ways to address excessive insulin so you can reduce your risk for two serious chronic illnesses at once.

Quick fix solutions

Vitamin D enhances the production and secretion of insulin. You can reduce insulin resistance by correcting a vitamin D deficiency. This deficiency is common, especially in people with both type-2 diabetes and various cancers. One study found that getting enough vitamin D can lower your risk for type-2 diabetes by up to 40%.

Conventional medicine says you’re deficient if your vitamin D levels are lower than 15 ng/dL. If you’re below 15-29 ng/dL, you have insufficient levels. The problem is that these levels are a joke. According to the Vitamin D Council, our vitamin D levels should be 60-80 ng/dL.

Additionally, some medications rob your body of vitamin D. These include Pepcid, Maalox, Procardia, Alli, and statins. You can find a more complete list in pharmacist Suzy Cohen’s excellent book, Diabetes Without Drugs (Rodale Press, 2010). She also includes some little-known science on natural treatments to control diabetes and prevent its complications. I heartedly recommend her book to anyone concerned about diabetes.

Get a blood test to check your level of vitamin D. If it’s lower than 60 ng/dL, take 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day and re-check in four months. It’s just about impossible to get sufficient vitamin D from sunlight even if you’re outdoors a lot. Supplements are your best bet. You can order a simple at-home vitamin D test from ZRT Labs (866-600-1636).

Antioxidants do more than destroy the harmful free radicals that can lead to cancer. They also improve insulin sensitivity in insulin- resistant overweight adults. Antioxidants also enhance the effect of Metformin, a drug many diabetics take to suppress the liver’s production of glucose.

Unfortunately, most people with type-2 diabetes don’t get enough antioxidants. That’s because they don’t eat enough fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans), nuts, and seeds.

This is easy to correct. Simply keep apples, nuts, and cans of beans on hand. Use them for snacks or add them to pre-packaged salad greens. You’re more likely to eat them if you don’t have to do a lot of preparation and you have these foods in your kitchen.

Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables every day — with an emphasis on fruits low in sugars. I also suggest you add an antioxidant formula like Reduloxin (800-791-3395) to your supplements.

Greens — Eating more kale and spinach can improve your blood-sugar regulation and insulin levels. You need to cook kale. But spinach (and dark green lettuce) need only a quick rinse before you eat them. Very easy. All greens contain chlorophyll and other nutrients that protect against both diabetes and cancer. If you’re not eating enough greens, take a supplement like ProGreens (800-791-3395), a powder made with organic grasses. You can add it to a breakfast smoothie or diluted fruit juice.

In one study, Spirulina significantly lowered fasting blood glucose and long-term glucose regulation. In another double-blind placebo-controlled study out of India, tobacco chewers who took one gram of Spirulina a day for a year had a 45% remission of oral precancerous lesions. The placebo group had only a 7% remission.

If you don’t like to take the time to prepare a healthful diet, use supplements to boost your intake of nutrients. They will help regulate insulin. Baby steps are better than no steps at all. Cohen’s book can help you decide which supplements may be most beneficial for your particular condition. Meanwhile, get up and go for a walk today. Even if it’s just for 10 to 20 minutes.

Chodick, Gabriel, Anthony D. Heymann, Lena Rosenmann, Manfred S. Green, Shira Flash, Avi Porath, Ehud Kokia, and Varda Shalev. “Diabetes and risk of incident cancer: a large population-based cohort study in Israel.” Cancer Causes & Control, 2010; 21 (6): 879 DOI: 10.1007/s10552-010-9515-8.

Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2009 December;16(6):435-45.

The Surprising Cause of Many Digestive Disorders — And the Easiest Cure You’ve Ever Heard

o you have multiple bouts of diarrhea at the same time each day? Has your doctor said you have irritable bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, or fibromyalgia? If so, the source of your problem could be walking around your home, sitting in your lap, and even eating the scraps of food you accidently drop on the floor.
That’s right. Your pet could be the source of your digestive ailments. But you don’t have to give Fido away to fix your problem. All you need is a simple treatment you can do in your own home once a year. It works so well, you’ll be back to your old self in no time.

Actually, your pet isn’t the one giving you the problem. It’s something hiding inside it that’s doing the damage. You may have read some of my past articles on parasites. Parasites not only live in water and foods both here and abroad, but in our pet’s waste as well. Every time you pick up after your dog during its daily walks, or clean your carpet after an accident, you run the risk of exposure to parasites that can make you sick.

When most people think of parasites, they think of travel. Even if you’re very careful, it’s difficult to avoid picking up parasites when traveling overseas. It’s in the water you wash your face with and often in the foods you eat. Cooked foods aren’t even completely safe.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t give parasites a second thought. Only when we have persistent intestinal problems and have traveled out of the country do they come to mind. But a colleague of mine who travels a lot thinks we should do some kind of parasite cleanse every year whether we vacation in Mexico or Paris or just have pets. In fact, pets are an all too common source of parasites in humans.

Do you have parasites?

To find out if you have parasites, you may need to go to the trouble and expense of getting a parasite stool test from a reputable lab. Read my past articles on this subject, available on my website, for details on which labs to use and which tests to order. Most lab tests are, unfortunately, too limited or inaccurate. Using the right lab is essential.

The treatments I talked about in past articles are particularly effective in getting rid of nasty critters like the pork tapeworms I got from a trip to Asia. Your doctor can treat an infestation of hard-to-eradicate parasites with strong anti-parasitic drugs or herbs. But you don’t need a doctor to treat many other bugs, like Giardia from contaminated water. You can eliminate these bugs with a simpler and cheaper method. I suggest you use this method once a year.

A simple parasite cleanse that works

Next, detoxify. Whether or not you have pets, travel, or just want to take a precaution and eliminate unknown critters, here’s an inexpensive solution. It’s safe, easy to use, and found in most grocery stores. What’s more, researchers have proven that it eliminates parasites. If you have no symptoms, but may occasionally be careless around your pet’s droppings, you may want to use this easy, inexpensive parasite cleanse at least once a year.

You can find this anti-parasite substance in papaya seeds.

A study published in the Journal of Medicinal Foods (2007) tested a mixture of one teaspoon of air-dried papaya seeds blended with a little more than one tablespoon of honey, or honey alone, to 90 African children. These children had no symptoms to indicate they had parasites. But when researchers examined their stools under microscopes, they found seven different kinds of parasites.

One week later, they examined their stools again. More than 75% of the children who took the papaya seed and honey mixture had a stool clearance rate of between 71.4% and 100%, compared with 15% of those who took the honey alone. Incredibly, some of these children eliminated all of their parasites in one week. And all they took was a spoonful of honey mixed with dried papaya seeds!
There are many anti-parasite formulas on the market, available online and in health food stores. But none are as gentle and effective as the seeds from the papaya. So consider this simple remedy known in folklore and now backed by a good study. What do you have to lose besides unwanted critters?

To make this simple formula, buy some papayas at your grocery store. Remove the seeds and let them dry. Then mix one teaspoon of the dried seeds with one tablespoon of honey. Take the mixture once a day.

While this cleanse won’t stop every case of fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease, or IBS, it could significantly reduce your symptoms. And, if you have a digestive disorder caused by a parasite, this simple cleanse could be the cure you’ve been looking for.

Okeniyi, J.A., T.A. Ogunlesi, O.A. Oyelami, and L.A. Adeyemi. “Effectiveness of dried Carica papaya seeds against human intestinal parasitosis: a pilot study.” J Med Food, 2007 March;10(1):194-6.

Two Oils and a “Hot” Spice Can Reduce Inflammation as Effectively as Drugs

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for long, you may know that inflammation is at the root of just about every chronic illness. This includes everything from fibromyalgia, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes to all conditions that end in “itis.” But I’ve just discovered three new treatments that can really reduce inflammation.

What I’m about to tell you is extremely important because there’s no way to escape inflammation. There are literally dozens of causes, including a lack of sleep, diet, stress, infections, and even a form of cholesterol. But while inflammation is ever-present to some degree, you can reduce it, and by doing so boost your health and reduce your risk for numerous illnesses.

So finding inexpensive ways to keep inflammation at bay could significantly improve your quality and length of your life.

In the past, I’ve talked at length about particular supplements that have anti-inflammatory properties. These supplements, including Reduloxin (800-791-3395), can go a long way toward reducing inflammation. But you don’t have to rely on supplements alone. Your diet can offer a lot of protection as well.
For instance, I’ve mentioned in previous issues the spice curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric. It has tremendous anti-inflammatory properties. But curcumin isn’t the only food you can use to fight inflammation.

In fact, there are numerous plants that fight inflammation — some better than others. Recent studies have identified strong anti-inflammatory substances in two particular oils as well as in a spice you might not think of as having heat-quenching properties.

The best heat-quenching diet

The general rule of thumb is that animal fats are pro-inflammatory, while nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils are anti-inflammatory. A recent study conducted in Spain compared the anti-inflammatory properties of diets high in butter, nuts, and extra virgin olive oil — the fat that’s most prevalent in the Mediterranean diet. The researchers found a new beneficial effect in olive oil. The researchers believe that olive oil may be as powerful as anti-inflammatory drugs.

Other oils, like sunflower, soy, and canola oil, have a similar composition of fats as olive oil. But olive oil contains literally hundreds of other substances that have nothing to do with its fatty acids. The reseachers believe these substances are what make olive so effective in fighting inflammation.

You may have heard that the Mediterranean diet is among the most healthful diets in the world. But why is it so healthy? First, it’s low in red meat. Instead, you eat seafood several times a week. It’s also high in fresh vegetables and fruits, olive oil, and herbs or spices (instead of a lot of salt). And it includes some nuts. Use extra virgin olive oil daily in salad dressings, hummus, and stir-fried vegetable dishes cooked with only moderate heat. Then add some anti-inflammatory herbs in the form of essential oils.

The strongest anti-inflammatory herb

Essential oils are stronger than the herbs from which they’re made. And not all essential oils have the same anti-inflammatory properties. A study in the Journal of Lipid Research (January 2010) found six essential oils that suppress the inflammatory COX-2 enzyme. They are oils from thyme, clove, rose, eucalyptus, fennel, and bergamot. Of all of these, thyme was the most powerful, reducing COX-2 levels by nearly 75%!

The researchers also tested thyme oil for its antimicrobial activity along with seven other essential oils. Once again, thyme oil was the most powerful, eliminating pathogenic bacteria in just one hour.

My suggestion is to add thyme oil to your taste to a bottle of extra virgin olive oil and use it daily. It also will act as a preservative. You can find thyme oil in most health food stores and on the Internet.

An unusual anti-inflammatory

You may not think that a “hot” tasting spice would cool down inflammation, but one does. Researchers have tested it with people who have exercise-induced muscle pain. Inflammation is the cause of this pain.

The spice is ginger. And two studies conducted at the University of Georgia found that when you eat it daily, it reduces pain from exercise by 25%.

The researchers wanted to know whether or not ginger would be a more effective anti-inflammatory if they cooked it first. It wasn’t. It doesn’t matter if you eat it raw or cook it — it has the same effect.

This is good news, because ginger is an easy spice to add to your diet either in stir-fry and other main dishes, or in desserts and as a tea. If you like ginger tea and don’t want to fuss with grating the raw ginger root, look for Traditional Medicinal’s ginger teas in your health food store. I prefer it over other brands because each cup has the same amount of active ingredients.

I definitely think supplements can play an important role in reducing inflammation. But these foods prove your diet can help protect you from the damaging effects of inflammation too.

Hotta, Mariko, Rieko Nakata, Michiko Katsukawa, Kazuyuki Hori, Saori Takahashi, and Hiroyasu Inoue. “Carvacrol, a component of thyme oil, activates PPAR-gamma and suppresses COX-2 expression.” Journal of Lipid Research, January 2010.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/132929.php.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/184025.php.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/189359.php.

NUTRITION DETECTIVE

How to Increase Your Bone Density But Destroy Your Bones

If you’re taking bisphosphonates like Fosamax and Actonel, you are contributing to broken bones. These drugs will make your bones look dense on bone density tests. But the quality of bone is worse. I’ve said this before many times. And now, two new studies have come to the same conclusion.

The first study came out of Columbia University. It confirmed the long-term dangers of bisphosphonate use. In this study, the researchers found these drugs do improve the integrity of bones — but only in the short term. They found that the longer you take these drugs, the more brittle your bones become.

A second study compared the bones of women who took bisphosphonates with women who didn’t take the drugs. Both groups had bones that appeared to have the same structure. But the bones of women on bisphosphonates weren't as strong as those who didn't take them.

While bisphosphonates will increase bone density, researchers in both of these studies believe that bisphosphonates interfere with the body's natural process of building healthy bone. So instead of curing your osteoporosis, they make it worse — much worse.

What can you do?

Instead of taking drugs, take steps to encourage your body's ability to build healthy bones. That means increasing both bone density and bone flexibility. Here are two steps I've found to be very helpful. One is a supplement, Ultimate Bone Support. It contains strontium, among other bone-building ingredients. Strontium is particularly helpful in building strong, flexible bones when you combine it with calcium and magnesium. But you have to take strontium away from these minerals. So take Ultimate Bone Support on an empty stomach and calcium and magnesium with food.

If, at the end of a year, this isn't enough, add Calcitonin nasal spray, a prescription drug made from salmon. Like bisphosphonates, it can help build your bone density. But unlike bisphosphonates, Calcitonin won't make your bones brittle. Whatever you choose to do, make sure it's both effective and safe. Bisphosphonates are neither.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/181860.php.

LETTERS

Q: My wife took one tablet of Advanced Cholesterol Formula for a week and her cholesterol went from 304 to 340. She just began taking two tablets a day. We’ll check her cholesterol again after another week. Any reason why it went up? The test was fasting and she is on a good diet. — A. & P.E, e-mail

A: The proper dose for Advanced Cholesterol Formula is two tablets twice a day, not one tablet once a day.

Your wife began taking just one-fourth the amount it takes to reduce cholesterol levels. Then she increased it to just one-half the daily dose.

As if that wasn’t enough reason why ACF didn’t work, your wife didn’t take it long enough.

You need to take most nutrients, including this formula, for at least three months before you can reasonably expect to see a change. That’s why Advanced Bionutritionals offers a “no hassle” money back guarantee on all supplements sold through my newsletter.

I suggest your wife take the recommended dose for three months and then
re-check her cholesterol. If ACF isn’t giving her the results she wants, it may be due to stress or other cholesterol-promoting reasons.

Stress is a huge, little-known cause of high cholesterol. So is a congested liver. Most cholesterol is made in the liver. However, whatever the reason, she can always send back any remaining tablets or even the empty bottles for a complete refund.

Q: I’ve heard that resveratrol has estrogenic properties and that women with a history of estrogen-sensitive cancers shouldn’t take it. What do you say? — M.S., e-mail

A: Resveratrol, which comes from grapes, is one of dozens of natural substances with a weak estrogenic activity. Licorice, soy, flaxseeds, yams, lentils, and nuts are others. The phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogens) in these plants can have either pro- or anti-estrogenic effects. Indications are that plant-based estrogens from foods are actually protective.

There are no human studies yet on the estrogenic effects of resveratrol or other plant-based sources of estrogen.

It may be completely safe, but until we know more, I suggest that any woman with a hormone-sensitive condition who is looking to take antioxidants and has concerns about natural estrogens avoid taking resveratrol in supplements.
Wine, which contains very small amounts of resveratrol, should be safe.

There’s a difference between getting tiny amounts of estrogens from wine or
the yams and nuts in your diet, and getting more in higher quantities of a single nutrient.

I wouldn’t worry about the estrogens in our foods, but it’s easy enough to avoid them in supplements if you feel more comfortable not taking them.

After reading the literature, I personally feel comfortable taking resveratrol supplements and take two a day.