With all the loads of scientific data available that soy is not a healthy part of anyone’s diet, it shocks me how many folks are still on the “soy is good for you” bandwagon – even people who should know better like your doctor!
I just got an email from a reader the other day who had been to multiple doctors, both holistic and conventional, and all but one of them were telling her that plenty of soy in her diet would help her menopause symptoms.
I had another shocking conversation recently with a doctor of Internal Medicine who had no idea soy was a potent goitrogenic food and actively suppressed thyroid function.
Be careful folks. It’s dangerous out there! You really need to do your research and be on your toes at all times when it comes to nutritional advice even from someone in a white coat!
For those of you who just sat down because you are so taken aback by the notion that soy is not actually the healthfood you thought it was, here are 170 scientific reasons to back up this assertion.
Fermented Soy Fine in Small Amounts for Some People
Please note that fermented soy in small, condimental amounts as practiced in traditional Asian cultures is fine for those who have healthy thyroid function. Only miso, tempeh, natto and traditionally brewed soy sauce fall under this category. In addition, if you want to sprinkle a few edamame on your salad or have a few small cubes of tofu in your miso soup from time to time, that is fine too. Just don’t make it a regular part of your diet!
If you have any sort of thyroid issues going on, however, it is really the best policy to avoid all soy all the time as soy is a potent goitrogen (thyroid suppressor) even if fermented.
Dangers of Soy #1
A 1991 study found that eating only 2 TBL/day of roasted and pickled soybeans for 3 months to healthy adults who were receiving adequate iodine in their diet caused thyroid suppression with symptoms of malaise, constipation, sleepiness, and goiters (Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi 1991, 767: 622-629)!
Still think munching on edamame instead of popcorn is a healthy habit?
Dangers of Soy #2
Six premenopausal women with normal menstrual cycles were given 45 mg of soy isoflavones per day. This is equivalent to only 1-2 cups of soy milk or 1/2 cup of soy flour! After only one month, all of the women experienced delayed menstruation with the effects similar to tamoxifen, the anti-estrogen drug given to women with breast cancer (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1994 Sep;60(3):333-340).
Dangers of Soy #3
Dietary estrogens in the form of soy foods were found to have the potential to disrupt the endocrine system with the effects in women similar to taking the breast cancer drug tamoxifen (Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 1995 Jan;208(1):51-9).
Dangers of Soy #4
Estrogens consumed in the diet at low concentrations were found to stimulate breast cells much like DDT to increase enzymatic activity which leads to breast cancer (Environmental Health Perspectives 1997 Apr;105 (Suppl 3):633-636).
Dangers of Soy #5
The soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein appear to stimulate existing breast cancer growth indicating risk in consuming soy products if a woman has breast cancer. (Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2001 Sep;35(9):118-21).
Dangers of Soy #6
Direct evidence that soy isoflavones genistein and daidzein suppress the pituitary-thyroid axis in middle-aged rats fed 10 mg soy isoflavones per kilo after only 3 weeks as compared with rats eating regular rat chow (Experimental Biology and Medicine 2010 May;235(5):590-8).
Dangers of Soy #7
Don’t eat soy when you are pregnant ladies! Scientific research has shown that the developing male fetus which is exposed to soy phytoestrogens may suffer from higher susceptibility to prostate cancer later in life (Prostate 1994;24(2):67-78).
Dangers of Soy #8
Keep that soy away from your daughters! Dietary genistein (soy phytoestrogen) in developing female rats had the effect of significantly accelerated puberty (Toxicol Sci 1999 Oct;51(2):236-44).
In addition, early exposure to soy is associated with less female typical play patterns in girls at 42 months of age (Environ Health Perspect v. 119(12); Dec 2011).
Dangers of Soy #9
Hey guys! Soy protein powder strips your masculinity! A study of 12 men aged 18 years and older experienced a 19% drop in serum testosterone in only 28 days when supplemented with 56 grams of soy protein powder over that same time period (Prev 2007;16:829—33).
Dangers of Soy #10
Do NOT feed soy formula to your babies! Female newborns who are orally exposed to genisin, the glycosylated form of genistein (soy phytoestrogen) experienced harm to the reproductive system in the form of “delayed vaginal opening… abnormal estrous cycles, decreased fertility, and delayed parturition.” (Environmental Health Perspective 2009 Dec;117(12):1883-9).
More information on the dangers of soy infant formula even if organic can be found in this article.
Convinced yet? I don’t know about you, but ten reasons is plenty for me! Still interested to see the remaining 160 reasons? My friend Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of the must read The Whole Soy Story, has compiled the rest of the list for you if you click here.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
- See more at: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/170-scientific-reasons-to-lose-the-soy-in-your-diet/#sthash.fHmQEr3E.dpuf
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the second most common type of infection in the body, sending more than eight million people to their health care providers every year in the US alone.1
Women suffer from UTIs far more often than men, and more than 50 percent of women will develop a UTI during her lifetime. For about 20 percent of women, the infection becomes recurrent and some will suffer from three or more UTIs a year.
This is concerning, as the treatment most often recommended by conventional medicine is antibiotics. For those with recurrent infections, low doses of antibiotics may be prescribed daily for six months or more which increase the risk of developing antibiotic-resistant strains.
Additionally, antibiotics kill even the friendly micro-organisms in your body, leading to major disruptions in health (including an increased risk of yeast infections, among other issues, in women). If you suffer from UTIs on occasion or more frequently, there's a natural treatment you should know about that is effective in more than 90 percent of cases.
D-Mannose Works As Well As Antibiotics in Preventing UTI Recurrence
In a study of more than 300 women with a history of recurrent UTIs, researchers treated the women with either two grams of D-mannose, 50 milligrams of an antibiotic, or no treatment daily for six months. D-Mannose is a naturally occurring sugar that's closely related to glucose.
Only 15 percent of those taking the D-mannose had a recurrent UTI compared to 20 percent for the antibiotic group (both of which were significantly lower than the no-treatment group).2 However, the incidence of side effects was significantly lower in the D-mannose group than the antibiotics group. Dr. Jonathan Wright was among the first to begin using D-mannose for UTIs some 20 years ago, and in his experience administering it to more than 200 patients, the treatment is 85-90 percent effective.
It works for treating acute UTIs, for prophylaxis in women prone to recurrent infections or for the prevention of post-intercourse UTIs, and it's safe for both adults and children. Dr. Wright recommends the following doses:
For treatment of UTIs: 1 teaspoon (about 2 grams) for adults, ½ to 1 teaspoon for children, dissolved in a glass of water and repeated every two to three hours. Continue for two to three days after symptoms have disappeared.
For preventing recurring infections: Start with the dosages listed above for treatment, then gradually reduce the dose, if possible.
For prevention of post-intercourse UTIs: Take 1 tablespoon one hour prior to intercourse and another tablespoon immediately afterward.
Why Does D-Mannose Work for Treating UTIs?
More than 90 percent of UTIs are caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli), which is normally found in your intestinal tract. Problems only arise when this ordinary bacterium is present in high numbers in places where it shouldn't be—like your urinary system.
When normal E. coli gets into your urinary tract and multiplies, you experience the usual signs and symptoms of a UTI:
Burning with urination
Frequent urges to urinate
Lower abdominal pain or aching
Blood in your urine (sometimes, but not always)
Cloudy urine
The cell walls of each E. coli are covered with tiny fingerlike projections called fimbria allowing them to "stick" to the inner walls of your bladder and even work their way upward to your ureter and kidneys.
Because they cling to your urinary organs, they can't simply be washed out when you urinate. These little fingerlike projections are made of an amino acid-sugar complex, a glycoprotein called lectin, which makes them sticky.
Lectin on the bacteria's fimbria binds to mannose, which is produced by your cells and covers the internal lining of your urinary organs. This mannose allows the bacteria to adhere to you—like Velcro. But as Dr. Wright explains, when you take D-mannose it sticks to the E. coli so it is can be effectively "rinsed" out by your urination:3
"Unfortunately for the E. coli, D-mannose 'sticks' to E. coli lectins even better than E. coli lectins 'stick' to human cells. When we take a large quantity of D-mannose, almost all of it spills into the urine through our kidneys, literally 'coating' any E.coli present so they can no longer 'stick' to the inside walls of the bladder and urinary tract. The E. coli are literally rinsed away with normal urination!"
Another potential theory for why D-mannose works may be its relationship to Tamm-Horsfall protein, a glycoprotein that plays a key role in your body's defense against UTIs. It has been suggested that D-mannose might work primarily by promoting the activation of Tamm-Horsfall protein.4
If You Have a UTI, Try D-Mannose First
The antibiotic pipeline is running dry as an increasing number of superbugs are outsmarting our antibiotics. We are at the beginning of the end of the antibiotic age, which will change modern medicine as we know it if overuse isn't curbed soon. So the use of antibiotics cannot be taken lightly, and along with transforming our use of antibiotics in agriculture, we must also reserve them for medical use only when absolutely necessary.
In the majority of cases, UTIs can be effectively treated without antibiotics by using D-mannose. This is why, if you have a UTI, you should try D-mannose first. It's important to note that D-mannose only works for UTIs caused by E. coli, This represents 90 percent (or more) of infections. If you want to be sure, your physician can order a urine culture to identify the bacteria present, so you'll know if yours is one of the minority of cases not caused by E. coli. As Dr. Wright explained:5
"D-mannose is very safe, even for long-term use, although most women (or the very occasional man) with single episodes of bladder or urinary tract infection will only need it for a few days at most. Although D-mannose is a simple sugar, very little of it is metabolized. It doesn't interfere with blood sugar regulation, even for diabetics. It creates no disruption or imbalance in normal body microflora. It's safe even for pregnant women and very small children. In the less than 10% of cases where the infection is a bacteria other than E. coli, antibiotics can be started in plenty of time."
The majority of urinary tract infections can be cured when symptoms first arise, or prevented altogether, using D-mannose and the hygiene steps outline below. Occasionally, despite preventative measures, a kidney infection can develop. If you suspect you have a kidney infection (symptoms include fever and pain in your back, side, groin, or abdomen) it might be necessary to see a physician and use an antibiotic so the infection does not spread to your kidney, where it can become life threatening or lead to the loss of the kidney.
What About Cranberry Juice for UTIs?
Many people are aware of the home remedy of drinking cranberry juice for UTIs, and this is because the active ingredient in cranberry juice is D-mannose. D-mannose can actually be derived from berries, peaches, apples, and some other plants. So why not drink cranberry juice instead of taking D-mannose in supplement form?
The amount of D-mannose in cranberry juice is significantly less, making it much less effective. Plus, cranberry juice is high in sugar, which adds stress to your immune system and can fuel the growth of pathogenic bacteria in your gut. Pure D-mannose is about 10-50 times stronger than cranberry, non-toxic and completely safe, with NO adverse effects.
Unlike the large amounts of fructose you'd get by consuming a lot of cranberry juice, D-mannose does not convert to glycogen or get stored in your liver. Only very small amounts of D-mannose are metabolized, so it doesn't interfere with blood sugar regulation or produce metabolic stresses. D-mannose is more like glucose, which every cell in your body is designed to use (but your body absorbs D-mannose much more slowly than glucose). Most of the D-mannose is filtered through your kidneys and routed to your bladder, then quickly excreted in your urine, making it ideal for people with diabetes or anyone who is not interested in drinking sugary fruit juice.
Natural Steps to a Healthy Urinary System
The most important factor in the overall health of your urinary tract is drinking plenty of pure, fresh water every day. Adequate hydration is extremely important for preventing UTIs (not to mention, is the number one risk factor for kidney stones). As a woman, there are additional hygiene steps you can take to maintain a healthy urinary tract:
Urinate when you feel the need. Don't resist the urge to go
Wipe from front to back to prevent bacteria from entering your urethra
Take showers instead of tub baths. Avoid hot tubs/Jacuzzis
Cleanse your genital area prior to sexual intercourse
Avoid using feminine hygiene sprays, which may irritate your urethra, and use only white unscented toilet paper to avoid potential dye reactions, or better yet—a bidet
In addition, a healthy diet is key in supporting your urinary tract health. Frequent consumption of fermented foods in particular, such as kefir, sauerkraut, and other fermented vegetables, is great for your overall health—including your urinary system.
While we are frequently warned about the perils of cholesterol, there exists quite a bit of evidence which links higher cholesterol levels with improved health outcomes and/or longevity in the elderly. These studies do not prove that cholesterol is conferringbenefit here (only that higher cholesterol is associated with improved outcomes). Nevertheless, it’s perhaps worth at least considering any truly protective role cholesterol may have.
One potentially fruitful avenue concerns the role of cholesterol in immunity. Toxins made by bacteria have been shown to bind to cholesterol, which effectively inactivates them. In one study, mice with genetically high LDL-cholesterol were found to be significantly less prone to death after injection with bacteria compared to mice with lower cholesterol levels [1].
A study out this week adds some support for the idea that cholesterol plays a positive role in immunity. In this study, the relationship between cholesterol levels and outcomes in individuals critically ill with an infection was assessed [2]. Overall, those who died had significantly lower levels of cholesterol compared to those who survived. Again, this sort of evidence does not provide the cholesterol confers benefit. However, it does at least support the idea that cholesterol might have some genuinely protective role.
Another recent study found similar results in individuals undergoing cardiac surgery [3]. Basically, what this research showed was that the higher someone’s cholesterol was, the lower their risk of succumbing to an infection after surgery. For those with the lowest cholesterol levels, rate of infection approached 20 per cent. For those with the highest cholesterol levels, rate of infection was zero.
Another interesting study assessed the potential role of cholesterol in immunity in humans [4]. This study took 21 individuals who had confirmed infection with tuberculosis (TB). All of the individuals were treated with standard TB medication (four antibiotics taken in combination) over a period of 8 weeks.
Of the 21 participants, 10 were given a cholesterol-rich diet (800 mg of cholesterol a day – about the amount of cholesterol found in 5 medium-sized eggs). The rest of the study participants were to eat a diet containing just 250 mg of cholesterol each day.
After two weeks of treatment, 80 per cent of those eating a high-cholesterol diet were free of TB infection, compared to only 9 per cent of the others. This difference was statistically significant. It should be borne in mind that the benefits from the diet may not have come from additional dietary cholesterol per se. The cholesterol came via enrichment of the diet with foods such as butter, beef liver and egg yolk. It’s possible, therefore, that the benefits came from other nutritional elements found in these foods, say. The authors of this study acknowledge this possibility.
Overall, though, the evidence does seem to point to cholesterol conferring benefits for immunity. This may go some way to helping explain the link between higher cholesterol levels and improved longevity in later life.
References:
1. Netera MG, et al. Low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice are protected against lethal endotoxemia and severe Gram-negative infections. J Clin Invest 1996;97:1366–72.
2. Biller K, et al. Cholesterol Rather Than PCT or CRP Predicts Mortality in Patients With Infection. POST ACCEPTANCE, 10 April 2014
3. Lagrost L, et al. Low preoperative cholesterol level is a risk factor of sepsis and poor clinical outcome in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Crit Care Med. 2014;42(5):1065-73.
4. Perez-Guzman C, et al. A Cholesterol-Rich Diet Accelerates Bacteriologic Sterilization in Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Chest 2005;127(2):643-51
Age-related bone loss is a serious condition. It not only increases the risk for fractures, but also increases the risk for death from heart and lung disease and all-cause death, especially if bone loss occurs quickly.1 This is why it’s so important to stay active as we age, as this can preserve bone mass and strength. We also need to obtain adequate amounts of calcium, magnesium, and vitamins D and K2 through diet and supplementation.
For many aging people, however, this still isn't enough. Bone loss continues despite all their efforts. This means that a lot of people end up taking prescription drugs called bisphosphonates. Unfortunately, although these drugs are effective at increasing bone density (but not necessarily bone strength), they also come bundled with a host of side effects. So what else can we do?
Melatonin - An Unlikely Natural Remedy
This is where melatonin comes into play. Yes, that’s correct … melatonin! The “sleep hormone” also protects our bones. This was first discovered in animal studies that showed melatonin’s potential effects as a bone mass regulator.
But these earlier studies were not done on older animals — in terms of bone health, older animals, including humans, is really the population we’re most interested in studying. Well, researchers have finally put melatonin to test with the appropriate population … in rats at least.
Old Rats, Old Bones and Melatonin
The aim of the study was to assess the effects of melatonin supplementation on bone mass and volume. Twenty 22-month-old male Wistar rats (that’s old for Wistar rats) were divided into two randomly assigned groups.
The first group was treated for 10 weeks with melatonin, whereas the second group was left untreated. Rat femurs were collected and analyzed.2 Rats treated with melatonin had higher bone volume and thickness in comparison to the control group. Histological analyses (bone tissues analyzed using microscopes) confirmed the increase of bone volume in melatonin-treated rats.2 Melatonin-treated rats also demonstrated higher bone stiffness and the ability to withstand greater tension, an indication of increased bone strength.2
Melatonin Protects Against Age-related Bone Loss
These compelling results are the first evidence indicating that melatonin supplements are able to exert beneficial effects against age-related bone loss in old rats, improving the structure and biomechanical properties of aged bones.
Who knows? Perhaps humans can reap the bone benefits too. Only time will tell!
A cancer diagnosis is probably just about the scariest news anyone could ever receive in their life. It can also be very confusing. There’s tons of information to weed through and it’s very easy to become overwhelmed, scared, and discouraged.
As such, here’s an attempt to simplify the basics of a critical component for anyone following a cancer diagnosis — your nutrition.
A healthy, nutritious diet is really important when you’re being treated for cancer. It can make a big impact on the outcome of your treatments and your quality of life. So, it’s essential that you take your diet very seriously during this time.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, we really hope this helps to take some of the guesswork out of the equation.
Eat Fresh Vegetables
According to research, eating fruits and vegetables could lower one’s overall risk of dying from cancer.1 So, they should form the foundation of your diet. In particular, pay extra attention to cruciferous vegetables (e.g. kale, broccoli, radishes, and cauliflower). They’re notable for their anti-cancer properties.
Specific compounds in cruciferous vegetables have been shown to kill ovarian, prostate, lung, and breast cancer cells in culture.2-5 In one study, eating broccoli was associated with an increased rate of survival in bladder cancer patients.6
Avoid Sugar
Avoid refined carbohydrates, sweets, and foods with added sweeteners. They contain simple carbohydrates which are quickly broken down into sugar.
Cancer cells thrive on sugar, and insulin (a glucose-transporter) is a growth factor for many tumors.7 In animal studies, low carb diets have been associated with slowed tumor growth.8
Be careful with juicing. It’s a great way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet, but it can also be a source of excess sugar (if you’re juicing fruits). Eat whole fruits instead.
Cut Back on Inflammatory Foods
Cancer is inflammatory in nature. In fact, it’s believed that 95% of cancers involve nuclear factor-kappa B, a key orchestrator of inflammation. 9 Cut back on animal products (meat, chicken, and dairy). They’re a source of omega-6 fatty acids and saturated fats. In the body, they’re processed and converted into 5-LOX, an inflammatory enzyme linked to cancer development and proliferation.10
Eat anti-inflammatory foods instead. Flax seeds, chia seeds, tart cherries, olives, soy, seaweed, dark fruits, berries, cold water fish, green tea, ginger, and nuts are just to name a few. And let’s not forget, omega-3s which help to ease inflammation.
Eat Immune Boosting Foods
Incorporate immune boosting foods into your diet. These include garlic, onions, ginger, green tea, yogurt, oats, barley, and mushrooms.
Maitake and shiitake mushrooms, for example, contain beta glucans and other polysaccharides with immune stimulating properties. These natural compounds activate key players in the immune system to prevent the proliferation and spread of cancer cells.11
Add Turmeric to Your Dishes
Add turmeric to your dishes. Not only does it add color, it adds nutritional value as well. Its key ingredient, curcumin, has been shown to fight cancer in a number of studies.12
Clinical trials are in the early stages, but so far compelling results have been seen for cancers of the breast, uterus, cervix, prostate, and GI tract.
Take Your Supplements
A variety of supplements may help during cancer treatments. For example, higher vitamin D levels have been associated with higher rates of survival among colorectal cancer patients.13 However, since supplementation can be tricky for cancer patients, it’s best to receive personalized suggestions before starting a new program. And just in case you didn't already know, we have a team of oncology health advisors on staff that can help with just that.
If you’d like some guidance, consider giving them a call at 1-800-226-2370 (yes, it's free)!
It’s no coincidence that our name is Life Extension. Our sole purpose is to find ways to extend the healthy, human life span. And if you haven’t noticed yet, it really is our passion.
Of course, eating healthy and exercising are top priorities for any anti-aging program, but we think there’s more to the story than that.
Nature has given us additional “tools” in the form of antioxidants to help fight and even reverse aging. As such, it’s no surprise that exploring them in depth has been a major focal point of ours for decades.
So what are our “favorite” antioxidants for helping to slow the aging process after all of these years? Below, we’ll dive into three key supplements that may just deserve this highly-coveted status.
First Things First: Why Do we Age?
Scientists aren’t exactly sure why we age, but multiple theories exist. One is the mitochondrial theory of aging. It states that the root cause of aging is oxidative stress to the mitochondria.
Mitochondria are the energy powerhouses of cells. Their job is to produce ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate), the energy currency of all cells. During production, however, free radicals are formed, an effect that damages mitochondria.
Through time, the mitochondria in your cells “take a beating” … their numbers eventually decrease, making you vulnerable to the effects of aging and disease. In fact, many diseases we associate with growing old (type II diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart failure, and cancer1-5) are actually associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.
Luckily, certain nutrients can help.
CoQ10 Extends the Lives of Animals
A house can’t run without energy, and neither can your body. That’s where CoQ10 comes into play. This vitamin-like substance helps the mitochondria “burn fuel” more effectively. It helps the energy transfer needed to make ATP. Without it, mitochondria become dysfunctional and aging accelerates.6 CoQ10 supplementation has been shown to extend the lives of different species. It lowers the oxidative stress inflicted on mitochondria. In one study, mice given CoQ10 lived 11.7% years longer,7 which is approximately 9 human extra years based on today’s life expectancy (78.5 years).
PQQ Helps Grow New Mitochondria
PQQ is an antioxidant found in all plants. Animals need it for growth and reproduction. Like CoQ10, it helps the energy transfer process of mitochondria. But there’s one thing that makes it very unique and important: it increases the number of mitochondria in cells.8
Studies show, animals deprived of PQQ present stunted growth, decreased immune function, and fewer mitochondria in their tissue.9-11 When given PQQ, these effects are reversed.
PQQ is also one of the strongest antioxidants around, hands down. It’s actually about 5,000 times more powerful at withstanding oxidation than vitamin C.12
Carnitine Decreases Death Rates
Carnitine is nearly found in all cells in the human body. It transports fats to the mitochondria where they’re “burned” for energy. With age, carnitine levels drop significantly leaving the mitochondria vulnerable to destruction.
Carnitine guards nerve cells against damage. A particular form called acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) prevents the accumulation of amyloid plaque, an abnormal protein implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.13 It also enhances cognition. In different studies, elderly people taking ALCAR show improved memory and mental status scores.14-15 Your heart needs carnitine to function optimally. Decreased levels weaken the heart, compromising function. In one study, heart attack survivors taking carnitine showed decreased blood pressure levels, improved lipids, and a decreased death rate compared to a placebo group (12.5% versus 1.2%).16
The Bottom Line
Aging starts at the cellular level — what we see on the outside is only a very small part of the picture. Powerful antioxidants such as Carnitine, PQQ, and CoQ10 have proven to be strong allies for optimizing cellular energy, which may very well be the key to living a long and healthy life.
Are you supplementing with these three antioxidants? We certainly are!
Do you have a chronic degenerative disease? If so, have you been told, "It's all in your head?"
Well, that might not be that far from the truth… the root cause of your illness may be in your mouth.
There is a common dental procedure that nearly every dentist will tell you is completely safe, despite the fact that scientists have been warning of its dangers for more than 100 years.
Every day in the United States alone, 41,000 of these dental procedures are performed on patients who believe they are safely and permanently fixing their problem.
What is this dental procedure? The root canal.
More than 25 million root canals are performed every year in this country.
Root-canaled teeth are essentially "dead" teeth that can become silent incubators for highly toxic anaerobic bacteria that can, under certain conditions, make their way into your bloodstream to cause a number of serious medical conditions—many not appearing until decades later.
Most of these toxic teeth feel and look fine for many years, which make their role in systemic disease even harder to trace back.
Sadly, the vast majority of dentists are oblivious to the serious potential health risks they are exposing their patients to, risks that persist for the rest of their patients' lives. The American Dental Association claims root canals have been proven safe, but they have NO published data or actual research to substantiate this claim.
Fortunately, I had some early mentors like Dr. Tom Stone and Dr. Douglas Cook, who educated me on this issue nearly 20 years ago. Were it not for a brilliant pioneering dentist who, more than a century ago, made the connection between root-canaled teeth and disease, this underlying cause of disease may have remained hidden to this day. The dentist's name was Weston Price—regarded by many as the greatest dentist of all time.
Weston A. Price: World's Greatest Dentist
Most dentists would be doing an enormous service to public health if they familiarized themselves with the work of Dr. Weston Pricei. Unfortunately, his work continues to be discounted and suppressed by medical and dental professionals alike.
Dr. Price was a dentist and researcher who traveled the world to study the teeth, bones, and diets of native populations living without the "benefit" of modern food. Around the year 1900, Price had been treating persistent root canal infections and became suspicious that root-canaled teeth always remained infected, in spite of treatments. Then one day, he recommended to a woman, wheelchair bound for six years, to have her root canal tooth extracted, even though it appeared to be fine.
She agreed, so he extracted her tooth and then implanted it under the skin of a rabbit. The rabbit amazingly developed the same crippling arthritis as the woman and died from the infection 10 days later. But the woman, now free of the toxic tooth, immediately recovered from her arthritis and could now walk without even the assistance of a cane. Price discovered that it's mechanically impossible to sterilize a root-canaled (e.g. root-filled) tooth.
He then went on to show that many chronic degenerative diseases originate from root-filled teeth—the most frequent being heart and circulatory diseases. He actually found 16 different causative bacterial agents for these conditions. But there were also strong correlations between root-filled teeth and diseases of the joints, brain and nervous system. Dr. Price went on to write two groundbreaking books in 1922 detailing his research into the link between dental pathology and chronic illness. Unfortunately, his work was deliberately buried for 70 years, until finally one endodontist named George Meinig recognized the importance of Price's work and sought to expose the truth.
Dr. Meinig Advances the Work of Dr. Price
Dr. Meinig, a native of Chicago, was a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II before moving to Hollywood to become a dentist for the stars. He eventually became one of the founding members of the American Association of Endodontists (root canal specialists).
In the 1990s, he spent 18 months immersed in Dr. Price's research. In June of 1993, Dr. Meinig published the book Root Canal Cover-Up, which continues to be the most comprehensive reference on this topic today. You can order your copy directly from the Price-Pottenger Foundationii.
What Dentists Don't Know About the Anatomy of Your Teeth
Your teeth are made of the hardest substances in your body.
In the middle of each tooth is the pulp chamber, a soft living inner structure that houses blood vessels and nerves. Surrounding the pulp chamber is the dentin, which is made of living cells that secrete a hard mineral substance. The outermost and hardest layer of your tooth is the white enamel, which encases the dentin.
The roots of each tooth descend into your jawbone and are held in place by the periodontal ligament. In dental school, dentists are taught that each tooth has one to four major canals. However, there are accessory canals that are never mentioned. Literally miles of them!
Just as your body has large blood vessels that branch down into very small capillaries, each of your teeth has a maze of very tiny tubules that, if stretched out, would extend for three miles. Weston Price identified as many as 75 separate accessory canals in a single central incisor (front tooth). For a more detailed explanation, refer to an article by Hal Huggins, DDS, MS, on the Weston A. Price Foundation website.iii (These images are borrowed from the Huggins article.)
Microscopic organisms regularly move in and around these tubules, like gophers in underground tunnels.
When a dentist performs a root canal, he or she hollows out the tooth, then fills the hollow chamber with a substance (called guttapercha), which cuts off the tooth from its blood supply, so fluid can no longer circulate through the tooth. But the maze of tiny tubules remains. And bacteria, cut off from their food supply, hide out in these tunnels where they are remarkably safe from antibiotics and your own body's immune defenses.
The Root Cause of Much Disease
Under the stresses of oxygen and nutrient deprivation, these formerly friendly organisms morph into stronger, more virulent anaerobes that produce a variety of potent toxins. What were once ordinary, friendly oral bacteria mutate into highly toxic pathogens lurking in the tubules of the dead tooth, just awaiting an opportunity to spread.
No amount of sterilization has been found effective in reaching these tubules—and just about every single root-canaled tooth has been found colonized by these bacteria, especially around the apex and in the periodontal ligament. Oftentimes, the infection extends down into the jawbone where it creates cavitations—areas of necrotic tissue in the jawbone itself.
Cavitations are areas of unhealed bone, often accompanied by pockets of infected tissue and gangrene. Sometimes they form after a tooth extraction (such as a wisdom tooth extraction), but they can also follow a root canal. According to Weston Price Foundation, in the records of 5,000 surgical cavitation cleanings, only two were found healed.
And all of this occurs with few, if any, accompanying symptoms. So you may have an abscessed dead tooth and not know it. This focal infection in the immediate area of the root-canaled tooth is bad enough, but the damage doesn't stop there.
Root Canals Can Lead to Heart, Kidney, Bone, and Brain Disease
As long as your immune system remains strong, any bacteria that stray away from the infected tooth are captured and destroyed. But once your immune system is weakened by something like an accident or illness or other trauma, your immune system may be unable to keep the infection in check.
These bacteria can migrate out into surrounding tissues by hitching a ride into your blood stream, where they are transported to new locations to set up camp. The new location can be any organ or gland or tissue.
Dr. Price was able to transfer diseases harbored by humans to rabbits, by implanting fragments of root-canaled teeth, as mentioned above. He found that root canal fragments from a person who had suffered a heart attack, when implanted into a rabbit, would cause a heart attack in the rabbit within a few weeks.
He discovered he could transfer heart disease to the rabbit 100 percent of the time! Other diseases were more than 80 percent transferable by this method. Nearly every chronic degenerative disease has been linked with root canals, including:
Heart disease
Kidney disease
Arthritis, joint, and rheumatic diseases
Neurological diseases (including ALS and MS)
Autoimmune diseases (Lupus and more)
There may also be a cancer connection. Dr. Robert Jones, a researcher of therelationship between root canals and breast cancer, found an extremely high correlation between root canals and breast cancer.iv He claims to have found the following correlations in a five-year study of 300 breast cancer cases:
93 percent of women with breast cancer had root canals
7 percent had other oral pathology
Tumors, in the majority of cases, occurred on the same side of the body as the root canal(s) or other oral pathology
Dr. Jones claims that toxins from the bacteria in an infected tooth or jawbone are able to inhibit the proteins that suppress tumor development. A German physician reported similar findings. Dr. Josef Issels reported that, in his 40 years of treating "terminal" cancer patients, 97 percent of his cancer patients had root canals. If these physicians are correct, the cure for cancer may be as simple as having a tooth pulled, then rebuilding your immune system.
Good Bugs Gone Bad
How are these mutant oral bacteria connected with heart disease or arthritis? The ADA and the AAE claim it's a "myth" that the bacteria found in and around root-canaled teeth can cause diseasev. But they base that on the misguided assumption that the bacteria in these diseased teeth are the SAME as normal bacteria in your mouth—and that's clearly not the case.
Today, bacteria can be identified using DNA analysis, whether they're dead or alive, from their telltale DNA signatures.
In a continuation of Dr. Price's work, the Toxic Element Research Foundation (TERF) used DNA analysis to examine root-canaled teeth, and they found bacterial contamination in 100 percent of the samples tested. They identified 42 different species of anaerobic bacteria in 43 root canal samples. In cavitations, 67 different bacteria were identified among the 85 samples tested, with individual samples housing between 19 to 53 types of bacteria each. The bacteria they found included the following types:
Are these just benign, ordinary mouth bugs? Absolutely not. Four can affect your heart, three can affect your nerves, two can affect your kidneys, two can affect your brain, and one can infect your sinus cavities… so they are anything BUT friendly! (If you want see just how unfriendly they can be, I invite you to investigate the footnotes.)
Approximately 400 percent more bacteria were found in the blood surrounding the root canal tooth than were found in the tooth itself, suggesting the tooth is the incubatorand the periodontal ligament is the food supply. The bone surrounding root-canaled teeth was found even HIGHER in bacterial count… not surprising, since bone is virtual buffet of bacterial nutrients.
Since When is Leaving A Dead Body Part IN Your Body a Good Idea?
There is no other medical procedure that involves allowing a dead body part to remain in your body. When your appendix dies, it's removed. If you get frostbite or gangrene on a finger or toe, it is amputated. If a baby dies in utero, the body typically initiates a miscarriage.
Your immune system doesn't care for dead substances, and just the presence of dead tissue can cause your system to launch an attack, which is another reason to avoid root canals—they leave behind a dead tooth.
Infection, plus the autoimmune rejection reaction, causes more bacteria to collect around the dead tissue. In the case of a root canal, bacteria are given the opportunity to flush into your blood stream every time you bite down.
Why Dentists Cling to the Belief Root Canals are Safe
The ADA rejects Dr. Price's evidence, claiming root canals are safe, yet they offer no published data or actual research to substantiate their claim. American Heart Association recommends a dose of antibiotics before many routine dental procedures to prevent infective endocarditis (IE) if you have certain heart conditions that predispose you to this type of infection.
So, on the one hand, the ADA acknowledges oral bacteria can make their way from your mouth to your heart and cause a life-threatening infection.
But at the same time, the industry vehemently denies any possibility that these same bacteria—toxic strains KNOWN to be pathogenic to humans—can hide out in your dead root-canaled tooth to be released into your blood stream every time you chew, where they can damage your health in a multitude of ways.
Is this really that large of a leap? Could there be another reason so many dentists, as well as the ADA and the AAE, refuse to admit root canals are dangerous? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Root canals are the most profitable procedure in dentistry.x
What You Need to Know to AVOID a Root Canal
I strongly recommend never getting a root canal. Risking your health to preserve a tooth simply doesn't make sense. Unfortunately, there are many people who've already have one. If you have, you should seriously consider having the tooth removed, even if it looks and feels fine. Remember, as soon as your immune system is compromised, your risk of of developing a serious medical problem increases—and assaults on your immune system are far too frequent in today's world.
If you have a tooth removed, there are a few options available to you.
Partial denture: This is a removable denture, often just called a "partial." It's the simplest and least expensive option.
Bridge: This is a more permanent fixture resembling a real tooth but is a bit more involved and expensive to build.
Implant: This is a permanent artificial tooth, typically titanium, implanted in your gums and jaw. There are some problems with these due to reactions to the metals used. Zirconium is a newer implant material that shows promise for fewer complications.
But just pulling the tooth and inserting some sort of artificial replacement isn't enough. Dentists are taught to remove the tooth but leave your periodontal ligament. But as you now know, this ligament can serve as a breeding ground for deadly bacteria. Most experts who've studied this recommend removing the ligament, along with one millimeter of the bony socket, in order to drastically reduce your risk of developing an infection from the bacterially infected tissues left behind.
I strongly recommend consulting a biological dentist because they are uniquely trained to do these extractions properly and safely, as well as being adept at removing mercury fillings, if necessary. Their approach to dental care is far more holistic and considers the impact on your entire body—not JUST your mouth.
If you need to find a biological dentist in your area, I recommend visiting toxicteeth.orgxi, a resource sponsored by Consumers for Dental Choice. This organization, championed by Charlie Brown, is a highly reputable organization that has fought to protect and educate consumers so that they can make better-informed decisions about their dental care. The organization also heads up the Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry.
February 26, 2014 | by Kris Gunnars | 105,131 views | 111 Comments
There is a lot of nonsense in nutrition.
One of the worst examples is the constant propaganda against meat consumption.
Here are 8 ridiculous myths about meat consumption and health.
1. Meat Rots in Your Colon
Some people claim that meat doesn’t get digested properly and “rots” in your colon.
This is absolute nonsense, probably invented by dishonest vegans in order to scare people away from eating meat.
What happens when we eat meat, is that it gets broken down by stomach acid and digestive enzymes.
In the small intestine, the proteins are broken down into amino acids and the fats are broken down into fatty acids.
After that, they get absorbed over the digestive wall and into the bloodstream. There’s nothing left to “rot” in your colon.
If you want to know what really “rots” in your colon, it’s indigestible plant matter (fiber)… from vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes.
The human digestive system doesn’t have the enzymes necessary to break down fiber, which is why it travels all the way to the colon.
There, it gets fermented (rots) by the friendly bacteria in the intestine, which turn it into nutrients and beneficial compounds like the short-chain fatty acid butyrate (1).
This is what keeps the friendly bacteria alive and many studies are showing that feeding these bacteria properly is incredibly important for optimal health (2, 3).
So, meat doesn’t rot in the colon. Plants do… and this is actually a good thing.
Bottom Line: The nutrients in meat are broken down and absorbed way before they reach the colon. However, fiber from plants does ferment (“rot”) in the colon, which is actually a good thing as it feeds the friendly bacteria.
2. Meat Is High in Harmful Saturated Fat and Cholesterol
One of the main arguments against meat, is that it tends to be high in both saturated fat and cholesterol.
But this really isn’t a cause for concern, because new science has shown both of them to be harmless.
Despite being seen as something to be feared, cholesterol is actually a vital molecule in the body.
It is found in every cell membrane and used to make hormones. The liver produces large amounts of it to make sure we always have enough.
When we get a lot of cholesterol from the diet, the liver just produces less of it instead, so the total amount doesn’t change much (4, 5).
In fact, in about 70% of people, cholesterol in the diet has negligible effects on cholesterol in the blood (6).
In the other 30% (termed hyper-responders), there is a mild elevation in LDL cholesterol, but HDL (which is protective) also goes up (7, 8).
The same is true with saturated fat, it also raises HDL (the “good”) cholesterol (9, 10).
But even when saturated fat and/or cholesterol cause mild increases in LDL, this is not a problem because they change the LDL particles from small, dense LDL (very bad) to Large LDL, which is protective (11, 12).
Studies show that people who have mostly large LDL particles have a much lower risk of heart disease (13, 14).
Therefore, it is not surprising to see that in population studies that include hundreds of thousands of people, saturated fat and cholesterol are not associated with an increased risk of heart disease (15, 16).
In fact, some studies show that saturated fat is linked to a reduced risk of stroke, another very common cause of death and disability (17).
When they put this to the test in actual human experiments, making people cut saturated fat and replacing it with “heart healthy” vegetable oils (which happen to lower cholesterol), it actually increases the risk of death (18).
Bottom Line: It is true that meat tends to be high in saturated fat and cholesterol, but this is not a cause for concern because they do not have adverse effects on blood cholesterol or increase the risk of heart disease.
3. Meat Causes Heart Disease and Type 2 Diabetes
Strangely enough, meat is often blamed for Western diseases like heart disease and type 2 Diabetes.
Heart disease didn’t become a problem until the early 20th century and type 2 diabetes only a few decades ago.
These diseases are new… but meat is an old food. Humans and pre-humans have been eating meat for millions of years (19).
Blaming an old food for new health problems makes absolutely no sense.
Fortunately, we do have two very large, very thorough studies that can put our minds at ease.
In a massive study published in the year 2010, researchers pooled data from 20 studies that included a total of 1,218,380 individuals. They found no link between consumption of unprocessed red meat and heart disease or diabetes (20).
Another major study from Europe that included 448,568 individuals found no link between unprocessed red meat and these diseases (21).
However, both of these studies found a strong increase in risk for people who ate processed meat.
For this reason, it is very important to make a distinction between the different types of meat.
Many studies apparently showing that “red meat” is harmful didn’t adequately make the distinction between processed and unprocessed meat.
Processed foods in general are pretty awful… this isn’t just true of meat.
Bottom Line: Many massive studies have examined the relationship between meat consumption, heart disease and diabetes. They found a strong link for processed meat, but no effect for unprocessed red meat.
4. Red Meat Causes Cancer
One common belief is that meat, especially red meat, causes cancer.
This is where things get a bit more complicated.
It is true that processed meat is associated with an increased risk of cancer, especially colon cancer (22).
But when it comes to unprocessed red meat, things aren’t as clear.
Although several studies suggest that even unprocessed red meat can raise the risk of cancer, review studies that pool the data from many studies at a time show a different picture.
Two review studies, one that looked at data from 35 studies and the other from 25 studies, found that the effect for unprocessed red meat was very weak for men and nonexistent for women (23, 24).
However… it does appear that the way meat is cooked can have a major effect on its health effects.
Several studies show that when meat is overcooked, it can form compounds like Heterocyclic Amines and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, which have been shown to cause cancer in test animals (25).
There are several ways to prevent this from happening… such as choosing gentler cooking methods and always cutting away burned or charred pieces.
So the answer is not to avoid red meat, but to make sure not to burn it.
Keep in mind that overheating can cause harmful compounds to form in many other foods. This is NOT exclusive to meat (26).
Bottom Line: The link between unprocessed red meat and cancer is very weak in men and nonexistent in women. This may depend on the way meat is cooked, because overheating can form carcinogens.
5. Humans Are Naturally Herbivores and Not “Designed” For Meat Consumption
Some vegans claim that humans aren’t “designed” to eat meat.
They say that humans are naturally herbivores like our primate ancestors.
However… this is completely false. Humans and pre-humans have been eating meat for a very long time and our bodies are well adapted to meat consumption (27, 28).
Our digestive systems really don’t resemble those of herbivores at all.
We have short colons, long small intestines and lots of hydrochloric acid in the stomach to help break down animal protein (29).
The length of different parts of our digestive system is somewhere in between the lengths typical for both carnivores and herbivores, indicating that humans are “designed” to be omnivores (30).
It is also believed that our consumption of animal foods helped drive the evolution of our large brains, which set us apart from any other animal on earth (31).
Humans function best eating both animals and plants. Period.
Bottom Line: Humans are well equipped to make full use of the nutrients found in meat. Our digestive system reflects a genetic adaptation to an omnivorous diet, with animal foods as a major source of calories.
6. Meat is Bad For Your Bones
Many people seem to believe that protein is bad for the bones and can lead to osteoporosis.
The theory goes like this… we eat protein, which increases the acid load of the body, then the body moves calcium from the bones and into the bloodstream to neutralize the acid.
There are in fact some short-term studies to support this. Increasing protein does lead to increased calcium loss from the body (32).
However, this short term effect does not appear to persist because the long-term studies show that protein actually has beneficial effects on bone health (33).
There is overwhelming evidence that a high protein diet is linked to improved bone density and a lower risk of osteoporosis and fractures in old age (34, 35, 36).
This is a great example of where blindly following the conventional wisdom in nutrition will lead to the exact opposite result.
Bottom Line: Despite protein causing increased calcium loss in the short term, the long-term studies show that a high protein intake is linked to improved bone density and a lower risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
7. Meat is Unnecessary
It is often claimed that meat is unnecessary for health.
This is actually kind of true… most of the nutrients in it can be found in other animal foods.
But just because we can survive without it, it doesn’t mean that we should… quality meat has many nutrients that are good for us.
This includes quality protein, vitamin B12, creatine, carnosine and various important fat-soluble vitamins, which vegans and vegetarians are often lacking in.
Whole foods like meat contain way more than just the standard vitamins and minerals that we’re all familiar with it. There are literally thousands of trace nutrients in there… some of which science has yet to identify.
The fact is, humans evolved eating meat and evolution designed our bodies with these nutrients in mind. They are an essential part of the immensely complex biological puzzle.
Can we live without meat? Sure… but we won’t reach optimal health, making use of all the beneficial nutrients that nature has provided us with.
Although we can survive without meat, the same could be said of most other food groups… including vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, eggs, etc. We just eat more of something else instead.
Quality meat is pretty close to being the perfect food for humans. It contains most of the nutrients we need.
There is even a study in the literature where two guys ate nothing but meat and organs for a year and remained in excellent health (37).
Of course, not all meat is the same. The best meat comes from animals raised on pasture, fed the types of foods they would eat in nature.
Unprocessed meat from properly raised, properly fed animals (like grass-fed beef) has a much better nutrient profile (38, 39).
Bottom Line: Some claim that meat is unnecessary. Although it is true that we can survive without it, there are still many nutrients in there that are important for optimal health.
8. Meat Makes You Fat
Meat is often believed to be fattening.
This seems to make sense on the surface because most meat is pretty high in fat and calories.
However, meat also happens to be one of the best sources of highly bioavailable protein. Protein is the most weight loss friendly macronutrient, by far.
Studies show that a high protein diet can boost metabolism by up to 80 to 100 calories per day (40, 41).
There are also studies showing that if you increase your protein intake, you automatically start eating less of other foods instead (42).
Several studies have found that by increasing the amount of protein in the diet, people automatically cut calorie intake by several hundred calories per day, putting weight loss on “autopilot” (43).
Eating more protein also tends to favour increased muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically active and burns a small amount of calories around the clock (44).
Also, let’s not forget that low-carb and paleo diets, which tend to be high in meat, lead to significantly more weight loss than diets that are lower in meat (45, 46).
If anything, the more you eat of high quality meat (and less of other foods instead), the easier it should be for you to lose weight.
9. Anything Else?
Are there any other myths about meat that you keep seeing pushed?
Feel free to add to the list in the comments!
ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) – Vegetarians may have a lower BMI and drink alcohol sparingly, but vegetarian diets are tied to generally poorer health, poorer quality of life and a higher need for health care than their meat-eating counterparts.
A new study from the Medical University of Graz in Austria finds that vegetarians are more physically active, drink less alcohol and smoke less tobacco than those who consume meat in their diets. Vegetarians also have a higher socioeconomic status and a lower body mass index. But the vegetarian diet — characterized by a low consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol that includes increased intake of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products — carries elevated risks of cancer, allergies and mental health disorders.
Vegetarians were twice as likely to have allergies, a 50 percent increase in heart attacks and a 50 percent increase in incidences of cancer.
The cross-sectional study from Austrian Health Interview Survey data and published in PLos One examined participants dietary habits, demographic characteristics and general lifestyle differences.
The most significant dietary habit difference between meat-eaters and vegetarians concerned their BMI and alcohol consumption – with both being higher for those who consume meat.
Many past studies have instead put an emphasis on the health risks associated with red meat and carnivorous diets, but this study points the other dietary direction. However, the researchers do caution that continuing studies will be needed to substantiate some of the rather broad dietary distinctions, associations presented in this current research.
Overall, vegetarians were found to be in a poorer state of health compared to other dietary groups. Vegetarians reported higher levels of impairment from disorders, chronic diseases, and “suffer significantly more often from anxiety/depression.”
Subjects who consumed lower amounts of animal fat were also linked to poor health care practices, such as avoidance of vaccinations and a lack of preventive care.
Chronic problems associated with vegetarians and people eating carnivorous diets rich in fruits and vegetables were linked to more frequent visits to doctors, which the study authors suggest requires public health programs to reduce the health risk due to their nutritional factors.
The researchers conclude: “Our study has shown that Austrian adults who consume a vegetarian diet are less healthy (in terms of cancer, allergies, and mental health disorders), have a lower quality of life, and also require more medical treatment.”
“Therefore, a continued strong public health program for Austria is required in order to reduce the health risk due to nutritional factors.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases for all dietary groups. A 2009 study from the CDC found that about 1 in 200 young Americans, or 367,000 US children, are vegetarians.
– Benjamin Fearnow
There is a lot of nonsense in nutrition.
