Erectile dysfunction (ED), defined as the inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance, affects up to one third of men at some point in their lives. The prevalence of ED in men younger than 59 years old is 12 %, and in men ages 60-69 it’s 22%, and in men older than 69 years old it’s 30%. ED may be a harbinger of undetected cardiovascular disease, so if psychological causes (e.g. anxiety, depression, guilt, stress, relationship problems) have been ruled out, an evaluation by a health care professional is recommended. ED may result from vascular disease, neurologic disease, hormonal imbalances/deficiencies, anatomical issues, drug or alcohol abuse, certain medications, or psychological issues. Obesity and smoking nearly double the risk for ED, while diabetics have a threefold greater risk. Other risk factors for ED include prostate surgery, high blood pressure, sedentary lifestyle, and advancing age.

Medications that may cause ED include opiate pain killers (e.g., vicodin), antihistamines, antidepressants, blood pressure medications (e.g., alpha blockers, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, clonidine), heart meds (e.g., digoxin, Norpace, gemfibrozil), diuretics (e.g., Aldactone, HCTZ), and sedatives (e.g., xanax, valium, clonazempam.

First line treatment for ED is a PDE5 inhibitor (e.g., Viagra, Levitra, Cialis); however, a third of men do NOT respond well to these medications. Losing weight, exercising, smoking cessation, and caffeine and alcohol avoidance are common first-line measures that have shown benefit. Since PDE5 activity is androgen-dependent, PDE5 inhibitors listed above are not likely to be helpful if the patient has an underlying low testosterone level that hasn’t been addressed.
Alternative supplements that are worth a try:

• L-arginine (see article in this newsletter)
• Panax Ginseng 900mg 3 times daily

Another note regarding testosterone levels in men:
Normal reference ranges for testosterone are quite large, and your doctor is not likely going to address your testosterone levels until they fall out of range (less than 300). Visit Test Yourself and see if you might have symptoms of low testosterone. If you feel that you have an issue with low testosterone, but your levels are in range, it may be that your blood level is not your normal, or that you have adrenal burn out, or that you have other metabolic derangements or nutritional deficiencies that are affecting your body’s utilization of testosterone.
Article by Dr. Mila McManus MD Information contained in this article is taken from American Family Physician Feb 1, 2010, volume 81, Number 3

The next time someone offers you a bottle of water, take a stand and say something clever like, “No thank you, I don’t believe in it.” This simple move will open up a conversation about the massive swindle that is bottled water ,and possibly persuade one more person to give it up entirely.
Even beyond the issues of your health and the environment, bottled water represents a novel form of privatization, in which private corporations have succeeded at making water a commodity. Private corporations should have no more control over the selling of water than they do the selling of our air supplies. Well, this is already occurring to some extent as corporations make a profit selling water — which at times even makes water less available to the people living in the area. Even public water supplies are being increasingly taken over by private corporations, and in some areas of the world are up for grabs by the highest bidder. This has been publicized in countries such as Bolivia, where residents battled police and the military to protect their water rights from the US-based Bechtel Corporation, but water privatization initiatives are being pushed all over the world, including in the United States.
If you’re interested in learning more, an excellent, eye-opening film on this topic is Thirst.
Getting back to bottled water, however, many, many Americans still drink it, believing it is somehow healthier than tap water. In 2008, U.S. bottled water consumption reached nearly 9 billion gallons, raking in revenues of more than $11 billion.
Are You Paying 1,900 Times More for Unhealthy, Earth-Damaging Water?
If you drink bottled water, yes, you are! Bottled water typically costs more than $1.50 per bottle, which is 1,900 times the price of tap water.Yet, that very same bottled water that you’re paying a premium for is, in about 40 percent of cases, simply bottled tap water, which may or may not have received any additional treatment.
On top of that, most municipal tap water must actually adhere to more strict purity standards than the bottled water industry. Further, while the EPA requires large public water supplies to test for contaminants as often as several times a day, the FDA requires private bottlers to test for contaminants only once a week, once a year, or once every four years, depending on the contaminant. An independent test performed by the Environmental Working Group revealed 38 low-level contaminants in bottled water, with each of the 10 tested brands containing an average of eight chemicals including disinfection byproducts (DBPs), caffeine, Tylenol, nitrate, industrial chemicals, arsenic, and bacteria. When you factor in other elements, like the chemicals that each from the plastic bottle and its impact on the environment, bottled water becomes a losing proposition no matter how you look at it.
Drinking From Plastic Bottles is Not a Wise Health Move
When drinking bottled water you need to think not only about the water but also about the bottle itself. Plastic is not an inert substance as its manufacturers would like you to believe. It contains chemicals like BPA and phthalates, which mimic hormones in your body. Even tiny concentrations can cause problems such as:
• Structural damage to your brain
• Hyperactivity, increased aggressiveness, and impaired learning
• Increased fat formation and risk of obesity
• Altered immune function
• Early puberty, stimulation of mammary gland development, disrupted reproductive cycles, and ovarian dysfunction
• Changes in gender-specific behavior, and abnormal sexual behavior
• Stimulation of prostate cancer cells
• Increased prostate size, and decreased sperm production
Anytime you drink from a plastic bottle you risk exposure, but if you leave your bottle of water in a hot car or reuse it, your exposure is magnified because heat and stress increase the amount of chemicals that leach out of the plastic.
About 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to manufacture water bottles each year around the world, and the processing itself releases toxic compounds like nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide and benzene. Further, according to the Sierra Club, the U.S. alone uses 1.5 million barrels of oil to make plastic water bottles, the majority of which then end up in landfills. In fact, 1,500 water bottles are thrown away every second! This massive waste is one reason why there is now a plastic “stew” twice the size of Texas swirling through the Pacific Ocean. Also extremely harmful to the environment is the way corporations are pumping water from underground aquifers. These natural springs serve as water sources for nearby streams, wells and farms, but the aggressive pumping can easily dry them out prematurely.

A Simple Solution is at Your Disposal
One you realize that many sources of bottled water is:
• No safer than tap water
• Extremely expensive
• Often contaminated by plastics chemicals
• Contributing to massive environmental harm
The choice to stop using bottled water becomes simple. Fortunately, the alternative to having pure water is also simple: filter your own at home.

What is the BEST Water in the World? There is no question in my mind that the absolute finest source of water in the world is NOT from an artesian well but from a gravity fed mountain spring that is obtained directly from where it has come out of the earth. It is filtered by the earth and structured and it is also not pasteurized or heated like nearly all commercial bottled waters. You see there are living organisms in water like algae that are actually beneficial for us but when you heat the water, just like pasteurizing milk, you damage it. So you are probably wondering the best way to find a gravity fed raw spring. Well fortunately there is a web site called Find a Spring.com which allows you to do so. The website also allows you to add a spring that is not currently in the database. You can include information about the spring’s temperature and location, and insert pictures or videos you took of the spring. Relax if you don’t live near a mountain though as just about any spring is better than all other available options. So if you are at sea level just use that local spring. Typically they are monitored by the local municipalities for contaminants. Most of these springs are FREE, that is right, the best water in the world and there is NO CHARGE for it. You can easily store ten five gallon jugs in most cars and it is a wonderful opportunity for you to regularly escape from the city get out in nature. If you don’t have the large water bottles you can easily find them online. Glass would be best but if you use those, it would be better to get the three gallon jars as the five gallon ones are too large and can easily break and you can hurt yourself. You can also find corks to stop the bottles at most hardware stores. Just bring the bottle in with you so it fits properly. If you do choose glass just make sure you wrap the bottles in your car with some blankets or towels so they don’t bang against each other and break. In my mind getting fresh raw spring water is one of the more powerful, inexpensive and phenomenal lifestyle adjustments you can make and I would strongly encourage you to try it.
Article obtain from www.mercola.com Edited by Dr. Mila McManus

Grass-Fed Beef In A Nutshell The health problems associated with diets high in Omega-6 and low in Omega-3 are cancer, heart disease, depression, obesity, insulin resistance, allergies, autoimmune diseases such as lupus and arthritis, diabetes, attention deficit syndrome, and the list goes on. These diseases are not associated with bacterial infections. They are all body failures, not from aging, but from improper diets. We know the positive health story for natural grass-fed beef is ironclad.

What About the Eating Experience? Beef “quality” grades (prime, choice, select, and standard) are supposed to compare the “eating experience.” The grade is based on fat content. The greater the quantity of intramuscular fat in the meat, the higher the grade. The higher the grade (more fat) the more tender the meat. (Fat is more tender than muscle!) But everyone knows that sometimes standard grades of beef (beef with low levels of visible fat) provide better eating experiences than some prime grades of beef. So the current grading system is not perfect. Yet it’s the measure the beef industry uses to sell beef to the consumer. Since this quality grading system is based on grain-fed fats (high Omega-6 tenderness as the most important aspects of meat. Alarmingly, it totally neglects the nutritional characteristics of the meat and the actual eating experience.

Unfortunately, what the “industry sells” is what the consumer believes it wants. Therefore industry wants the fattest grain-fed beef possible because Americans believe the beef with the most marbling and a close trim on the external fat is the best beef. Of course, a few consumers actually want healthy, nutritious food. But the vast majority really do not care. The want cheap and bland! The consumer’s fascination with bright-white saturated fat (which develops when cattle are fed grain) started about a century ago and industry picked up on this consumer preference. The feedlot industry then evolved on the back of the grain feeding concept. Therefore for the past 60 years the modern grain-fed beef industry has been promoting fat as the reason why beef has good flavor, why it is juicy, and why it is tender. All the while it has been promoting fat the beef industry has had to fight a rearguard action because many “modern” health problems have been linked to eating beef. But it wasn’t until just recently that scientists determined that it wasn’t just beef that caused the dramatic increase in health problems in the United States, but the feeding of grain in the production of all meat, poultry, dairy, and fish/shrimp products (plus the feeding of grain to people) and the dramatic reduction of Omega-3 fatty acids in the American diet that was a result. To this day the beef industry is still ignoring the grass-fed health conscience story. But the facts are overwhelming and in time the consumer will wake up and industry will change and provide the consumer with grass-fed meats. We know that there is at best a 10% correlation between intramuscular fat and tenderness. We know that studies comparing tenderness in grain-fed beef vs grass-fed beef have shown no significant differences. (Grass-fed beef is not as consistent because it is raised in an uncontrolled environment.) We know that in grain-fed beef the flavor is in the fat, and that the meat has very little flavor. We know that beef from cattle that graze lush grasslands definitely has flavor in the meat plus the visible fat. We know that fat is juicy, but meat can be juicy too, so fat isn’t needed for a juicy steak. We know that nutritionists say people shouldn’t eat excessive quantities of saturated fat. Yet they say the human body requires a proper balance of the right fats.

And we know that the proper balance of the right fats comes automatically from livestock grazing lush grasslands. That’s why we should eat their visible fat for our health! We know that diets high in Omega-6 fatty acids and low in Omega-3 fatty acids are very bad for human health. We know that grain-fed beef products have high ratios of Omega-6 fatty acids to Omega-3 fatty acids even when they are “extra lean.” (That’s because the fatty acids are components of all cell membranes.) We know that beef from cattle grazing lush grasslands is a natural source of Omega-3 fatty acids. And, unlike grain-fed beef, it is also high in CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid), beta carotene, and vitamins A and E. For a fact the consistency, flavor, look, smell, and texture of grass-fed beef differs from grain-fed beef. Therefore some consumers will have to learn to appreciate the differences if they are going to eat grass-fed beef. Others will like it immediately because it actually tastes like beef. Others will gladly learn to like it because it does a body good. In all cases folks will need to learn how to properly cook grass-fed meats. Yes, the time for Grass-Fed Beef and other Grass-Fed livestock products is now

Grain Fed Beef vs. Grass Fed Beef
Grain Fed Beef
• Added Hormones
• Fed Antibiotics
• Fed Grain
• Omega 3 Fatty Acid = 0.1
• Omega 6 Fatty Acid = 3.1
• CLA = 0.21
• Beta Carotene = 41
• Vitamin E = 1.3
• Vitamin A = 10
• Total Fat = High and Saturated
• Flavor is Bland/Pasty
• E. coli Danger is
High Grass Fed Beef
• NO Added Hormones
• NOT Fed Antibiotics
• NOT Fed Grain
• Omega 3 Fatty Acid = 1.22
• Omega 6 Fatty Acid = 1.08
• CLA = 1.46
• Beta Carotene = 87
• Vitamin E = 5.3
• Vitamin A = 52
• Total Fat = Properly Balanced
• Flavor is Original and Bold
• E coli Danger is Minimal
Article obtained from www.texasgrassfedbeef.com

The relationship between dietary multivitamin and multi-mineral intake and the risk of becoming overweight or obese was evaluated in a new study. In the United States, approximately 68 percent of adults are overweight or obese, and over 33 percent qualify as obese. Overweight and obesity are categorized based on body mass index (BMI), which is a calculation based on height and weight. Overweight is defined as a BMI between 25 and 29.9 and obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or greater.
In this new clinical trial, researchers analyzed the effect of supplementing multivitamins in a group of obese women. The subjects in this study included 96 obese Chinese women between 18 and 55 years of age. The women received a multivitamin and multi- mineral supplement daily or a tablet of 162 mg of calcium daily or a placebo for 26 weeks. The women were evaluated for body weight, BMI, waist circumference, fat mass and fat-free mass.
The researchers also evaluated blood pressure; resting energy expenditure, which is the amount of calories required by the body for a 24-hour period during a non-active period; and respiratory quotient(RQ), which is used to calculate basal metabolic rate. Additionally, blood tests, which measured fasting blood glucose, insulin levels, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, cholesterol (HDL “good” cholesterol), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL “bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides, were performed at the beginning of the study and after 26 weeks.
The results showed that the group receiving the multivitamin had significantly lower body weight, BMI, fat mass, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol compared to the placebo group. Additionally, the multivitamin group had higher resting energy expenditure and HDL cholesterol values. There was also a trend in the multivitamin and multimineral group showing reduced waist circumference and respiratory quotient. The group receiving calcium supplementation alone showed higher HDL cholesterol and lower LDL cholesterol compared to the placebo group.
The researchers concluded, “The results suggest that, in obese individuals, multivitamin and mineral supplementation could reduce body weight and fatness and improve serum lipid profiles, possibly through increased energy expenditure and fat oxidation. Supplementation of calcium alone (162 mg per day) only improved lipid profiles.”
Article obtained from complementary prescriptions newsletter

According to a new research study, refined sugar is far more addictive than cocaine — one of the most addictive and harmful substances currently known. An astonishing 94 percent of rats who were allowed to choose mutually-exclusively between sugar water and cocaine, chose sugar. Even rats who were addicted to cocaine quickly switched their preference to sugar, once it was offered as a choice. The rats were also more willing to work for sugar than for cocaine. The researchers speculate that the sweet receptors (two protein receptors located on the tongue), which evolved in ancestral times when the diet was very low in sugar, have not adapted to modern times’ high- sugar consumption. Therefore, the abnormally high stimulation of these receptors by our sugar-rich diets generates excessive reward signals in the brain, which have the potential to override normal self-control mechanisms, and thus lead to addiction. Additionally, their research found that there’s also a cross-tolerance and a cross-dependence between sugars and addictive drugs. As an example, animals with a long history of sugar consumption actually became tolerant (desensitized) to the analgesic effects of morphine. -Source PLosONE www.PLoSONE.org

This recipe makes 4-6 generous portions. You may eat the grapes in the salad but you should also use portion control and measure the grapes correctly when you add them ensuring you don’t exceed the 1 cup amount. If you eat ¾ to 1 cup of the salad, you will most likely only eat about 4-5 grapes at the very most, which does not elevate blood sugar.

From Dr. Mercola’s Newsletter For an in-depth education on the many dangers of GM foods, I highly recommend reading Jeffrey Smith’s books, Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. Smith documents at least 65 serious health risks from GM products of all kinds, including:
• Offspring of rats fed GM soy show a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce
• Male mice fed GM soy have damaged young sperm cells
• The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice have altered DNA functioning
• Several US farmers have reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties
• Investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffalos fed GM cottonseed products
• Animals fed GM foods have developed bleeding stomachs,potentially precancerous cell growth, damaged organs and immune systems, kidney inflammation, problems with blood and liver cells, and unexplained deaths
• Soy allergies have skyrocketed after the introduction of GM soy
• Genes from GM crops transfer to human gut bacteria, which might transform your intestinal flora into a living pesticide factory.
No one knows the full extent of what happens to the end product when you splice in new genes, and then eat that product for several generations. The only thing that is guaranteed is that it will create surprise side effects. However, according to Smith’s research, what we do know is that between 1994 and 2001 — the same time that GMOs flooded the market –food related illnesses DOUBLED. GMO foods can be:
• Allergenic
• Toxic
• Carcinogenic
• Anti-nutritional
It may also create brand new diseases that we’ve never seen before, in addition to spurring on the disease rate of some we already have, such as cancer. Moratorium Called on GM Foods! On May 19th, 2009, the The American Academy Of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) sent out a press advisory calling for Immediate Moratorium On Genetically Modified Foods and for physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible, and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks. They also advised that physicians should consider the role of GM foods in their patients’ disease processes. In their position paper, the AAEM states that several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM foods, including:
• Infertility
• Immune problems
• Accelerated aging
• Insulin regulation
• Changes in major organs
• Gastrointestinal changes and problems
The AAEM concludes, There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation, as defined by recognized scientific criteria. The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies. Educate your doctor!
Many physicians are still completely unaware of this problem, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with handing them a printout of the moratorium, or suggesting they take a look at the research. The Institute for Responsible Technology also offers two full audio lectures on the dangers of GMOs. They’re free, and you’re even allowed to burn them onto CDs to give away. Why not give a copy to the members of your family, friends, and yes, even your doctor? Playing with Technology We Don’t Fully Comprehend Dr. Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) explains the heart of why GM foods are so dangerous: The genome is remarkably dynamic and fluid, and constantly in conversation with the environment. This determines which genes are turned on, when, where, by how much and for how long. Moreover, the genetic material itself could also be marked or changed according to experience, and the influence passed on to the next generation. But when genetically modified rogue genes are inserted into a genome, it cannot possibly mimic the complex processes – the dance of life — that’s necessary for survival in nature.
The rogue genes inserted into a genome to make a GMO could land anywhere; typically in a rearranged or defective form, scrambling and mutating the host genome, and have the tendency to move or rearrange further once inserted, basically because they do not know the dance of life. That’s ultimately why genetic modification doesn’t work and is also dangerous.
Four Ways to Avoid GM Foods As stated by Smith, there are four main ways to avoid GM foods:
• 1.Buy organic
• 2.Only buy products that carry a Non-GMO label
• 3.Only buy products listed in the non-GMO shopping guide
• 4.Avoid products that contain these at-risk ingredients: Soy, Corn, Cotton, Canola
The offspring of these products include items such as maltodextrin, soy lecithin, and high fructose corn syrup. As for fresh produce, you’ll want to avoid some varieties of zucchini, crookneck squash, and papayas from Hawaii, as these are mainly GM. Other common GM-containing foods to avoid include:
• Milk containing rbGH
• Rennet (containing genetically modified enzymes) used to make hard cheeses
• Aspartame (NutraSweet)
Avoiding GM products in your diet means avoiding all of the foods and ingredients mentioned above, or choosing organic versions of them. If your diet consists largely of processed foods, you can be sure you’re eating about 70 percent GM foods, as the ingredients listed above (particularly corn and soy) are in a vast majority of all processed food products!
I highly recommend downloading the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, issued by the Institute for Responsible Technology. They also offer some helpful basic advice for how to avoid GMOs when eating in restaurants!

A recently published study evaluated the potential benefits of supplementation of EGCG, a constituent of green tea, on inflammation associated with an atherogenic (artery-plaque-promoting) diet. Elevated levels of inflammatory markers, such as cardiac C- reactive protein (cCRP), are strongly associated with increased risk of heart attack, predicting recurrent coronary events, sudden cardiac death and peripheral artery disease.

In this new study, rats were fed an atherogenic diet, an atherogenic diet plus daily EGCG, or a standard diet to serve as the control group. After 45 days, the rats were evaluated for inflammatory markers and hematological indicators of inflammation including cCRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), total white blood cell count (WBC), differential white blood cell count and platelet count.
The results showed that the rats fed the atherogenic diet had significantly increased levels of cCRP, ESR, total WBC, differential white blood cell counts, and platelet counts compared to the rats fed the standard diet. The group of rats fed the atherogenic diet plus EGCG administration showed significantly lower levels of the inflammatory markers than the rats fed the atherogenic diet alone. Furthermore, the rats fed the atherogenic diet had the highest levels of cCRP protein expression compared to either the rats fed the standard diet or the rats receiving EGCG.

The researchers concluded, “These results suggest that EGCG, a major component of green tea catechins, may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing inflammatory markers in rats fed an atherogenic diet.”
Article obtained from cpmedical.net

At last, a natural and delicious alternative to wheat and grain that’s packed with dietary fiber and is a good source of protein too!!
If you are serious about living healthier, then you will want to consider coconut as a regular part of your diet. Fortunately when it comes to coconut, there are endless ways to indulge! The best way to experience the many health-giving gifts of coconut is to use virgin coconut oil. It’s a small investment in your health that yields tremendous returns!
Virgin coconut oil is one of the smartest oils you can eat. Rich in lauric acid, coconut oil contains NO trans fat, strengthens your immune system and boosts your metabolism! Coconut flour is unlike any other consisting of 14% coconut oil and 58% dietary fiber! The remaining 28% consists of water, protein, and carbohydrate. If you haven’t tried coconut flour yet, here are some more excellent reasons to start:
• Coconut Flour is ideal for baking. It has fewer digestible (net) carbs than other flours, and it even has fewer digestible carbs than some vegetables!
• Coconut Flour is gluten-free and hypoallergenic. With as much protein as wheat flour, coconut flour has none of the specific protein in wheat called “gluten”.
This is an advantage for a growing percentage of the population who have allergies to gluten or a wheat sensitivity.
• Coconut Flour consists of the highest percentage of dietary fiber( 58%) found in any flour. Wheat bran has only is 27% fiber.
Coconut Flour can help you reach a healthy weight. Ideal for those who follow a low-carb eating plan, coconut flour works well as part of a weight loss program because it has high fiber, and foods with high fiber can help promote a feeling of fullness.
Whoever said “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” was definitely in the dark about the benefits of coconut flour!

Say YES to Your Favorite Foods Again with GLUTEN-FREE Coconut Flour!
Studies that show celiac disease, a genetic disease that is a severe form of gluten intolerance that results in intestinal complications, may affect as many as one in thirty-three people. Most people are unaware that there are many reactions to wheat, aside from celiac disease, that can cause health problems. Most of us are addicted to breads, bagels, pizza, pasta, waffles and pancakes and would rather die than give them up, and many people do just that – – die from the side effects of eating wheat! But eliminating gluten from your diet is no small task. The good news is that food manufacturers are finally realizing there’s a growing need for a variety of gluten- free breads and foods. The bad news is that large portions of commercially prepared gluten-free foods are made using soy flour. I cannot emphasize enough that soy is not the health food that you think it is. If you are still using soy, I urge you to consider how some studies are linking soy to serious health conditions including:
• Increased risk of breast cancer in women, brain damage in both men and women, and abnormalities in infants
• Contributions to thyroid disease, especially in women
• Weakening of your immune system
• Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
It appears that the tide is beginning to turn against the soy craze and many people are now wisely looking for healthier alternatives. Nut flour is becoming more popular but it is expensive and few people can afford to use it regularly. There are a variety of other flours like potato, garbanzo, and rice flour, but like soy, these can present a host of health challenges for many people too. Coconut flour is a healthy and delicious alternative for most anyone who is allergic to nuts, wheat, milk or other common foods that trigger sensitivities. Because so few people are allergic to coconut, it is regarded as hypoallergenic. If you are looking for a gluten-free way to make your favorite baked foods, coconut flour is a delicious, safe, healthy, relatively low-cost, and easy way to do it. You can make a variety of breads and pastries using little more than coconut flour, eggs, and coconut oil!

Coconut Flour: The Secret Weapon to Managing Your Weight
Food contains two types of carbohydrate: digestible and non-digestible. Digestible carbohydrate consists of starch and sugar and provides calories. Non- digestible carbohydrate is the fiber and provides NO calories. Coconut meat is composed primarily of non- digestible fiber with a beneficial amount of water and smart oil. Dietary fiber acts like a broom, sweeping your intestinal contents along your digestive tract aiding in elimination, regularity and helping to promote digestive health. Since you cannot digest the dietary fiber in coconut flour, you derive no calories from it. Studies have shown that an additional 14 grams of fiber daily (the amount in about ¼ cup of coconut flour) is associated with a 10% decrease in calorie intake and a resulting loss in body weight. The health benefits of dietary fiber include:
• Promotes heart health and supports your immune system
• Facilitates better digestion and promotes digestive comfort
• Promotes absorption of vitamins and minerals
• Assists in detoxifying your body
• Helps promote cholesterol health

Dietary Fiber Can Help You Support Blood Sugar Health While dietary fiber helps support a healthy weight, it also plays a role in supporting blood sugar health. Dietary fiber slows down the release of glucose and therefore requires less insulin to utilize the glucose and transport it into the cell where it is converted into energy. Foods rich in soluble dietary fiber are low glycemic index foods. In contrast, foods without dietary fiber allow for a fast release of glucose creating a need for more insulin. The excess glucose can also be stored in your body and increase your weight. One research study (at the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with the Philippine Coconut Authority) was done on bakery products supplemented with increasing amounts of coconut flour using human subjects. The study found that increasing levels of coconut flour in bakery products resulted in a lower glycemic index. Numerous studies like this one have shown that the abundance of dietary fiber found in coconut flour helps support blood sugar health and helps support a healthy weight. If you are interested in becoming more weight-conscious, adding coconut flour to your daily meals is a delicious and smart choice!

Cleansing the Body at an Important Time of Year
Our bodies have the enormous task of processing all of the chemicals that we are exposed to in our environment. During the holiday season, our bodies take on an even larger burden with increased intake of unhealthy food and drinks. Thus, the end of the year is an ideal time for detoxification, both to undo some of the damage we have incurred, and to get a head start on optimizing overall health for the New Year. The liver is an amazing organ primarily responsible for metabolizing all of the chemicals, toxins, and drugs we ingest. The liver also has various other functions such as producing numerous proteins and hormones, bile production, glucose regulation and storage, and cholesterol and triglyceride synthesis. In addition, the liver is the only organ capable of regenerating lost tissue.

Nearly one-third of the total body blood flow is pumped through the liver each minute. The liver filters this blood, including the blood coming directly from the intestines, which is carrying various chemicals, bacteria and nutrients. This filtration minimizes the amount of bacteria, toxins, chemicals, foreign proteins and antigen-antibody complexes in the blood prior to the blood entering the general circulation. The liver then processes these chemicals and toxins through multiple pathways.
Phase 1 reactions involve processing chemicals to prepare them for phase 2 of detoxification. Phase 1 metabolites are often highly reactive and potentially even more toxic intermediates. Phase 2 reactions involve conjugating these highly reactive molecules to render them harmless and ready for excretion in the urine or feces. An important enzyme in phase 2 detoxification is glutathione transferase, which
uses reduced glutathione to neutralize the reactive intermediates from phase 1 reactions. Ideally, phase 1 and phase 2 detoxification is in balance, and toxins, drugs, environmental and endogenous chemicals are metabolized and excreted from the body. However, imbalance in these two pathways can result in an increase of free radical production resulting in cellular damage and increasing the need for antioxidants to neutralize these free radicals. An individual’s ability to detoxify chemicals varies greatly, as research indicates that phase 1 detoxification not only decreases with aging, but research has also demonstrated a five-fold variability of phase 1 functioning in healthy individuals.

Decreased liver function for any reason can result in any number of symptoms including fatigue, allergies and chemical sensitivities, acne or broken blood vessels on the skin, intolerance to fatty foods or alcohol, changes in mood or weight, changes in cholesterol or triglyceride levels, nausea and constipation. Overt liver disease presents with more obvious symptoms such as yellowing of the skin, liver enlargement, itchy skin, dark urine, pale stool, easy bleeding, blood sugar problems and gallstones. Our constant exposure to environmental chemicals increases the demand on the liver. These chemicals are found in our air, food and water. Food additives and preservatives, pharmaceuticals, solvents, alcohol, tobacco smoke, herbicides, pesticides and heavy metals such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and nickel are only a few of the chemicals that adversely affect our health. In fact, even our water supply is loaded with chemicals including pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, pesticides and agricultural and industrial chemicals. An investigation by the Environmental Working Group detected 260 contaminants in U.S. public water supplies, and more than half of those chemicals are unregulated and without set safety standards.
(Please also see our supplement of the month- HeptoGen for help with Detoxification.)

Glutathione’s Crucial Role
Another method to enhance detoxification pathways is to increase levels of glutathione, a potent antioxidant required for proper detoxification of pollution, radiation, drugs, carcinogenic chemicals, heavy metals and other toxins from water and food. Reduced glutathione interacts with toxins such as heavy metals to make them less reactive and thereby less damaging to cells. In doing this, the glutathione becomes oxidized and is no longer functional. Thus, glutathione needs to be constantly replenished. In the liver, glutathione conjugation in the phase 2 detoxification pathway makes fat-soluble toxins water-soluble, allowing the toxins to be excreted in the urine. Toxins such as mercury are removed from the body by direct conjugation with glutathione.18 Glutathione can be depleted with increased free radical production during phase 1 detoxification, resulting in decreased glutathione conjugation in phase 2 detoxification and the build up of toxins and heavy metals in the liver. Liposomal Glutathione can be supplemented to increase glutathione levels and promote detoxification. Liposomes are a fat-soluble “bubble” that allows for increased absorption and protects the glutathione so it remains in the reduced or active state. Cells serve as a gathering place for most toxins because the toxins are able to pass through fatty membranes. Glutathione directly binds with toxins, especially if the correct type of enzyme is present. However, approximately 10-30 percent of the population is lacking this glutathione-enhancing enzyme.19 In these people, increasing glutathione through supplementation may help increase the chance of a glutathione molecule pairing up with a toxin. When glutathione binds with toxins, the combination becomes water soluble, allowing for its removal.

Helping Toxins Leave the Body
When undertaking a detoxification program, it’s important to also consume adequate fiber to help escort toxins out of the body. Fiber is necessary for proper bowel transit time by increasing the frequency of bowel movements. If toxins remain in the intestines for a prolonged period, as with constipation, the toxins are reabsorbed. Also, in the intestines, fiber binds to excreted toxins to help reduce reabsorption and promote toxin elimination. Furthermore, increased fiber intake helps positively balance the intestinal microflora, which aids in reducing endotoxin production from pathogenic bacteria.

Conclusion
With the New Year fast approaching, it is an ideal time to address detoxification. Optimizing liver health by using the botanicals and nutrients found in HepatoGen combined with Liposomal Glutathione will assist the body in detoxification of all of the chemicals and toxins we eat, drink and breathe. Furthermore, consuming a high-quality fiber supplement will help the body fully eliminate all toxins.
Article Written By Nieske Zabriskie, ND