-Hello everyone and welcome back to my channel. Today I am very excited because, first of all, I have my best friend, Nutritional Consultant- Michael Burst; the second reason, because we’re speaking about one really interesting supplement that is called Lean Balance. We believe that this supplement should become part of your daily life. Michael is going to answer and explain many questions that I prepared for him, as shown below.
-Alright
T. - Michael, first tell our viewers what are the probiotics?
- So basically in a nutshell, Tatyana, probiotics are the “good bugs” for your tummy, which support digestion and all of your material that you're bringing in as fuel or food to become digested and eliminate through your system, but also allowing all of the nutrients to be taken out as well. So, if you're having a great diet, you don't want that to move through and not be able to have all of the nutrients that are coming with it.
-Yes, that is right. But now there are a lot of people confused between probiotics and prebiotics. Can you explain to us the difference between them?
-As I had said earlier, they are the good bugs. They are what breaks down your food or assist in it, but also probiotics or the “good bugs” are represented in anywhere from 40 to 60% of your gut health. That is in all your immune support. Prebiotics - I will give you this analogy, are almost like the fertilizer for the garden. You need prebiotics in your GI track to support the probiotic. You can't have one without the other, but that is the difference between a prebiotic, which you can refer to it as a fertilizer and the probiotic or the good bugs, but both need a healthy host and to survive off of each other.
-That's a nice explanation. Why do you think it's important to take probiotics nowadays?
-Because of the standard American diet (SAD) or for that matter, the diet across the world. Even if you are trying to eat organic or you are trying to eat a balanced diet and a modified elimination diet away from high carbohydrates and a low protein, or even vice versa. If you do not have these good bugs or probiotics, then you are not going to be able to absorb those nutrients. And then on top of that, again, the standard American diet is not what it used to be, so there is a lot of fast food. If your nutrient dense diet is reduced even tremendously, then you are not going to have the right bugs to break it down. We need supplementation to be able to help. Also, stress, alcohol, your food intake - there are a ton of different things that can affect your load of probiotics. If you have the right amount of good bugs or probiotics in your digestive track, they can be diminished just by stress or even for that matter, to think about how many people across the world now are on medications.
-Oh yeah.
M.-Prescriptions drastically reduce the amount of probiotics that you have, and that is why it is necessary to supplement.
-So literally the probiotic is going to help digestive tissues and digestive issues.
-That's correct. And again, even if you have an appropriate amount of prebiotics in your GI tract, and let's say you're only taking one medication, that medication reduces your amount (even if your diet is a hundred percent perfect) significantly. So, you have to supplement. These are something that every single person on the planet can benefit from.
-There is another question that I always hear from people. What are the billions and trillions? Not many people know how many billions or trillions, and what it means and why they must be in such large quantities. Can you explain to people how many strains should a probiotic contain, and if there is any advantage in taking multi-strain probiotics? How does it work?
-There are advantages to taking multi-strain probiotics, but what you need to look for in your probiotics is documented, researched information that is published on each strain. So it's great to have a multi-strain probiotic, but if you're looking for one single thing, or a very sharp specific reason to use a probiotic, you need to make sure that all the strains are researched and published. For example, the probiotic that we are discussing today - Lean Balance, is just one strain that is researched and published for improving body composition. Your daily probiotic that you are after, if you're all after just kind of a GI balance, needs to be a multi-strain and needs to be from strains that are researched and that are published. When it comes to reading labels and why that is so important: the two most common strains that are out there are bifido and lacto strains. Thousands of research studies on them. But if you are saying: I want this for candida overgrowth, or I want to improve body composition, you need to have the specific strain.
-That is true. I am very excited about these new probiotics that are coming out on the market probably in a couple of weeks, I hope. I wanted to let the people know how this probiotic is going to work on their body composition and how it is going to really reduce the fatty deposits in the body. So how do you think that would work?
-Lean Balance: the strain is BH 420 and that strain is shown along with a reduced caloric intake diet to have up to a 4.5% decrease in body composition. And that is just by altering your diet and taking the Lean Balance probiotics. This BH strain is specifically targeted at belly fat. So just by taking one capsule a day, and that can be 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after a meal, can help accumulate your goal of reducing body fat along with a modified elimination diet. Just one capsule.
T.-Really? You think only one capsule will do the trick?
-One capsule a day.
–Wow! That is very exciting. A lot of people I know, and I can hear this question right now, will say: I am already taking some live cultures. What is the difference between live cultures that people can get, let's say from consuming kefir, and the probiotics that we are talking about?
- Tatyana, that is a great question. There are a thousand reasons why you would want to take a live culture, but in this case you're saying – what is the difference? You want the live cultures so that they plant the seed, and yes, it is necessary to take a probiotic every day, but what you want to do is you want naturally for your GI tract to overcome and be able to recolonize itself after you use the seed of probiotics. What you want is for a live culture to plant that seed, so your own gut flora then manifests around it. You want a probiotic that has a higher manufactured amount than what you see on the bottle and therefore it allows for die off. Let's say you have a probiotic that is a 5 live billion strain. By the time that hits the shelf, it sits there, or it got its ride from wherever its manufacturing facility is to the outlet. You have to think of the die off because these are live strains. That is why it is very important to know your specific source, the guarantee, and the end result. The Lean Balance probiotic that you're offering has its guaranteed 10 billion live organisms, which is the BH 420 strain and that is a two year shelf life with no refrigeration.
-And I like that on the box it will show in a more understandable form, how much it is in milligrams. Because a lot of people understand milligrams much better than strains as an indication of the measurement.
-That's correct – it is 25 milligrams and 10 billion live organisms. The most important part is that at the time of manufacturing this particular probiotic, probably has, we estimate between 40 and 60 live billion organisms. Then at the end of the two years, that is when we guarantee the shelf life. So, we're guaranteeing all the way from the time you get it until the time of expiration, which is two years. 10 billion live organisms for your patients.
-That's great. Speaking about the shelf life, what is the best place to keep your open bottle of probiotics, or this particular probiotic? Do people have to refrigerate them, or keep it in the kitchen, under the open light? What would be your recommendation on that?
-The best maintenance for Lean Balance probiotics is going to be in a cool dry place, but they do not require refrigeration. And the reason that this particular probiotic does not require refrigeration, which probably sounds a little different compared to a lot of other probiotics that are on the market, is the amount of probiotics that are put in there for die off at manufacturing and the heat viability studies that are done that say you do not need to refrigerate. Now, that does not mean that you need to keep them in the trunk of your car in July and the Southeast, but as long as you keep them in a cool dry place, then you're still going to have the 10 billion that is on the package for Lean Balance.
-What if people are taking antibiotics? Let's talk about that. A lot of people are taking antibiotics nowadays and after the course of antibiotics, they might develop some sign of disbiosis. Is it a good idea to take this particular probiotic together with antibiotics, or does there need to be some time apart for them to work?
-That's a great question as well. If you have a candida overgrowth, there is a particular probiotic, by the way, which you carry, that is the appropriate bug for that disease state.
-If people are going to look it up on our website, it is called ARP, which stands for antibiotic resistant probiotics.
M.-There are different strains for different indication, so the ARP is a Saccharomyces boulardii, and that is the particular strain that you want to take to support your GI health through taking a course of antibiotics. Typically, a course of antibiotics is 10 days, and you would take two of your probiotics a day to balance your GI track and negate those side effects, that can be an unhappy tummy during the antibiotic course.
–But is it okay to take this probiotic; For example like, ARP, as it is good to take because the Saccharomyces Boulardii is good to take with antibiotics, because they do not cancel each other out.
-That's correct. And actually, the Saccharomyces help to negate the side effects from taking the antibiotics. Antibiotics are very difficult on your tummy.
-But the lean balance that we are talking today about, is it safe to take it together or would people have to wait until they finish the whole course?
-You can take it with antibiotics as well. It is not going to cancel out the effects. Is it going to negate the side effects of an antibiotic? Not as well as the other formula.
- I probably would recommend taking it separately, of course, not in one handful with antibiotics.
-That's correct. Whatever probiotics that you take, you need to take daily, because of the reasons we discussed earlier.
-Speaking of daily, do you have to take probiotics for life, or for several months? How long should people take probiotics?
-Whether it is your formula that we discussed to take with an antibiotic, or it's the Lean Balance to help melt away tummy fat, or if it's just an overall probiotic, they need to be taken daily. And the reason being, again, as we discussed, is that the American standard diet is not the same as what it used to be. All the fast food, stress, and medication go in and eat away at the good flora that you have. It is imperative to supplement with probiotics daily. The other thing is - just think of the most recent pandemic that we just survived – Covid-19. If you are taking any type of medication with that, you’re going to negate any of your good flora that you have, so you need to support that. They say 40 to 60% of your immune system, which is huge with a pandemic, is in the GI tract. So why would you not want to take something that supports it? You know, everything that you hear about Beta glucan or Vitamin C, all those things are great for your immune system, but very rarely do you hear about taking probiotics to support your immune system. That is 40 to 60% of your immune system, right here in the GI tract. That is why it is so important to take probiotics on a daily basis.
-That's what all scientists recently actually discovered that the GI tract is like this Microbiome, like a new organ that we have to work with, and it's one of the most important organs. Let me ask you something: why is it so important for people to get supplements and particular probiotic from reliable companies, from people that they know or from scientists that they know? Many people are saying that this one is expensive, and I can go to dollar store and spend only a dollar or two for a bottle, and it's going to be the same. And you are trying to say that this is completely different, and you see results from one and the other one does not work. Why is the difference so important? If the labels say the same thing, what is most important to pay attention to on a bottle? Are there ingredients or labels that the bottle does not have to have?
-There are several big reasons to utilize your supplements from a reputable company. Research is number one. Number two is bioavailability. Can this break through your body? Can your body except these ingredients? And number three, I think, is therapeutic dosing. You want to take enough of a bioavailable formula, and you want it to be able to break through. So if you have the most bioavailable ingredients that are out there, but you don't have enough milligrams, or you don't have the strength, or you're not relying on synergy, which means the incorporation of other ingredients to be able to break through your end result isn't going to be there. Now what we do hear a lot is that the doctors are saying: I want you to take this particular brand and the years of research that are behind it, and patients say: well, this looks to be the same on the label and I can get it from Amazon, and it's a heck of a lot less expensive. Those are all valid points, but when you think about something, I do not ingest or I'm not using my Duracell C batteries every day. When I take a multivitamin or a probiotic, I am ingesting that into my body every day, so I want it to have the best ingredients and I don't want it to come from Aisle C, which is three Aisles over from where I placed my Duracell battery order from. The other thing is, most of the warehouses that are out there, for all your e-fulfillment- Amazon, eBay, those are great sites for batteries, toilet paper, Sharpies. They are not the best source to get your supplements. And the reason being is, they are probably not climate controlled. And what are their safeguards? When you purchase supplements from a reputable company, which is where you get your supplements from, you put all this research into it because you are putting your name on it. Those are stored in a climate-controlled environment that are also specifically checked batch by batch. Not each lot, but each batch, so you have got bioavailability, you have got research that is published, and you have got therapeutic dosing, that is imperative to meet label claim.
-Yes, absolutely. I agree with you. Speaking about the quality of the product in each bottle that is supposed to give us health in the long run; Just last August I was driving past a store that just had a shipment delivered, and I witnessed as I drove to work and then back home from work, that all these boxes with probiotics were standing outside under the sun. Next day I went to that store and spoke to their manager and explained that you cannot keep these probiotics under direct sunlight for so many hours. They told me: it costs $1.99, what do you expect? There is nothing I could say to that. If you just think, for $1.99, if you count the cost of the bottle and the label, and I am not even talking about the ingredients inside, the price will not cover anything.
Now let's talk about impurities that this probiotic Lean Balance doesn’t have, like gluten or dairy.
-This particular strain of your Lean Balance is gluten free and it is dairy free, so if you have any allergies whatsoever, you will be fine by taking the gluten free and dairy free formula known as Lean Balance. The other big thing too is the delivery vehicle. This is in a capsule. And the veggie capsule that a Lean Balance is in is shown in a dissolution rate study to dissolve within 30 to 45 minutes, which leads us to a question: when do I take this Lean Balance probiotic? You can take it either 30 minutes prior to a meal or 30 minutes after a meal, and all you need is one capsule a day.
-After a meal is better for me, because I never know when I am eating, or when I will have time.
-Again, it does not need to be refrigerated.
-Yes. That is good. And my last question: will this formula help people lose weight and when people would see the results?
-Results should be seen within two weeks. The results that are the best and that are quoted throughout the research are reducing the caloric intake and having that diet support it, or a modified elimination diet, eliminating the Bojangles, the diet Coke, having a healthy diet, and then taking one capsule, either pre-meal or post-meal 30 minutes before or after. Normal circumstances show that within two weeks, there is a 4.5% to 5% of a decrease in body mass. Just by taking that one capsule and improving your diet.
-Do they need to exercise along with that?
-That is definitely a plus, but in the research that is published, there was actually no data that said that there was exercise included. There was just an improvement in dietary choices along with the reduced caloric intake diet and one capsule 30 minutes prior or 30 minutes post-meal.
-That is a great explanation. I guess we have covered most important questions regarding these new probiotics that are going to be on the market and will belong to my line – “Eurohealth™”. And for those of you who are interested, I am going to post a link in the comments under this video. You can click on this link for the website if you would like to get this probiotic and read little bit more about it.
DISCLAIMER: PLEASE GET ADVICE FROM YOUR PERSONAL MEDICAL DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING ANY PROCEDURES OR ALTERNATIVE HEALTH METHODS RECOMMENDED ON THIS SITE! NONE OF THE INFORMATION PRESENTED OR DISCUSSED ON MY WEBSITE/ VIDEO CHANNEL “TATYANA GALAXY PHD”, IS INTENDED TO REPLACE OR SUBSTITUTE PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENTS. EUROHEALTH-CLINIC SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES, LOSS, INJURY OR SUFFERING AS A RESULT OF ANY RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS SITE.
ANYTHING VIEWED OR HEARD ON MY CHANNEL SHOULD NOT BE SUBSTITUTED OVER ANY PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE. PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR TRUSTED HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEFORE TRYING ANY OF THE MENTIONED PRODUCTS/PROCEDURES.
MY WEBSITE www.europeandetox.com, MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL TATYANA GALAXY PHD AND I,TATYANA GALAXY PHD, ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR HEALTH CONDITION BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER CLEANSE AND ANY MISUNDERSTANDING.
In the beginning, I want to inform you that by physiology the gallbladder can not accumulate more than 12 gallstones. Rest of them reside in the liver.
SHOPPING LIST:
You can choose 24, 48, or 72 hours fasting with apple juice or malic acid. You can choose either one or alternate them.
* I would also advise diluting the Apple Juice/Cider with water about 50/50 as it has high natural sugar content.
* Also if you have Low blood sugar (Hypoglycemia) – fast only 1 day.
*Watch for greenish-yellow spots in the stool or just in the toilet. This is what was the purpose of this procedure.
Sincerely Tatyana Galaxy PhD @ Eurohealth Clinic
]]>The following article was copied word for word from a section found in the Life Extension Magazine, for Jan. 2012 which I highly respect and trust, making it one of my personal favorites. The Coffee that is mentioned in this article can be obtained by any person by either, directly from Life Extention Company or simply stopping by our Clinic “Eurohealth” or our store “Euromarket”.
Every morning, many of us sip our coffee with no real thought given to the beans behind the brew. But coffee beans are extraordinarily complex fruits containing over 1,000 compounds - only a handful of which have ever been individually investigated by scientists. Not only is coffee packed with antioxidants, but it is the greatest source of antioxidants in the American diet.
The average American coffee drinker consumes about 3.1 cups of coffee a day, but extensive research has found that higher volumes - as much as 4 to 12 cups daily - can help prevent most major killers, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, liver disease, and Alzheimer's disease.
For instance, in case-controlled human studies, compared to coffee abstainers, those who drank the most coffee cut their risks of breast cancer by 57% and diabetes by 67%.
In this article, you will learn about recent research into the benefits of coffee consumption, what's missing from most commercial coffee beans, and what people should do who are overly sensitive to coffee beverages.
Health authorities expressed alarm over the mushrooming epidemic status of diabetes after July 2011, study in Lancet shocked even experts with its estimate of 347 million diabetics worldwide. Then, theInternational Diabetes Federation presented evidence on September 13, 2011, that the real total is closer to 366 million.
Scientific studies have found that regular coffee consumption (with its chlorogenic acid content) lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by up to 67%. This appears to result from reduced levels of blood glucose, increased insulin sensitivity, and decreased storage of both fat and carbohydrate.
In one of a number of studies, a 2009 meta-analysis in the Annals of Internal Medicine combined data on over 450,000 people and found that every additional cup per day of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee lowered the risk of diabetes by 5 to 10%.
Many epidemiological studies show that the risk of diabetes drops directly according to the amount of coffee consumed. For instance, scientists found that overall risk is reduced by:
Scientists are beginning to learn how chlorogenic acid, a potent constituent of both raw and brewed coffee, can be directly tied to an anti-diabetic effect. The investigation has shown it substantially interferes with glucose synthesis and release in the body. It appears to accomplish this by inhibiting the pathway of glucose-6-phosphatase, a glucose-regulating enzyme, which in turn results in a reduction of sugar levels in the blood.
Chlorogenic acid also lessens the hyperglycemic peak associated with carbohydrate ingestion. This results in a downturn in insulin activity, and a reduced accumulation of adipose (fat-storing) tissue.
Unidentified compounds in coffee, as well as caffeine itself, may be boosting the preventive effect of chlorogenic acid against diabetes. Preliminary studies suggest that these chemicals may lower carbohydrate storage by 35% and improve insulin sensitivity.
Coffee was previously found to inhibit iron absorption. Later, in 2004, scientists found a direct link between reduced storage of iron in the body and a lower risk of diabetes type 2, independent of other risk factors.
Early studies are reporting an association between higher coffee consumption and a reduced risk of various cancers.
For instance, at a time when prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American men (after lung cancer), a promising study appeared in the June 8, 2011, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The research team reported that men who drank over 6 cups of coffee a day had an 18% lower risk of prostate cancer - and a 40% lower risk of aggressive or lethal prostate cancer. This effect was noted for decaffeinated as well as caffeinated coffee - indicating that compounds other than caffeine are responsible for this preventive effect. Constituents in coffee seem to improve insulin levels and sensitivity, hypothesized to play a role in prostate cancer progression.
With breast cancer ranked as the second leading cause of cancer death among American women (after lung cancer), potentially good news arrived recently in the form of a study finding that coffee consumption may help prevent a specific form of this disease. The May 14, 2011, issue of Breast Cancer Research reported that postmenopausal women who consumed 5 cups of coffee daily exhibited a 57% decrease in their risk of developing ER-negative (non-hormone-responsive) breast cancer, a form of cancer that is especially difficult to treat. This builds on an earlier study in which 2 or more cups of coffee per day was shown to delay the onset of breast cancer in women with a certain genetic type. Chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, phytoestrogens, and caffeine - all found in coffee - are suspected of playing a major role.
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the US overall (when the statistics for both sexes are combined).36 While colonoscopy screening is a useful tool for detecting cancers or pre-cancerous polyps, researchers have long hoped to find ways to prevent these cancers in the first place. The good news is that a large meta-analysis has reviewed the combined data from previous studies and found an overall 30% lower incidence of colorectal cancer among those categorized as heavy coffee drinkers. This confirms the findings from several earlier studies.
There is a 15% chance that patients who are diagnosed with an oral or pharyngeal cancer will be found to have another cancer somewhere in the same area of the body such as the larynx (voice box), esophagus, or lung. But early research suggests the promise of preventing these types of cancers from occurring. A case-control study found that individuals who consumed more than three cups of coffee daily had a 40% lower risk of oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal cancers, compared to those who drank one cup of coffee or less each day. A second study made the same strong connection.
For several decades, liver cancer has been on the rise among Americans. Liver cancer has become a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, due to higher rates in some other parts of the world. In recent years, however, studies have been accumulating that suggest a substantially reduced risk of this disease among coffee drinkers. In a 2005 study, for example, just one cup a day was associated with a 42% lower risk of liver cancer. A number of studies have reported similar conclusions.
Not all coffee provides the same powerful protection against chronic disease. Polyphenol availability varies with how long the beans are roasted and the roasting method itself.
Roasting method: All roasting destroys some polyphenols, the most important being chlorogenic acid. However, in a new patented roasting process, the coffee beans are soaked and drained prior to being roasted. Later, after roasting, the beans are deposited back into the same liquid in which they were originally pre-soaked, in a process designed to return substantial polyphenol content to the beans.
]]>By Dr. Mercola
If you like to snack on the occasional bag of microwave popcorn, it's probably the buttery flavoring that you crave.
This comes from an artificial flavoring called diacetyl, which is a natural byproduct of fermentation found in butter, beer and vinegar... and also a chemical made synthetically by food companies because it gives foods that irresistible buttery flavor and aroma.
Many companies who manufacture microwave popcorn have already stopped using the synthetic diacetyl because it's been linked to lung damage in people who work in their factories.
But now a new study at the University of Minnesota shows that diacetyl is not only a risk to workers' lungs... it may also pose a risk to your brain.
Researchers conducting test-tube studies revealed that diacetyl has several concerning properties for brain health. Not only can it pass through the blood-brain barrier, which is intended to help keep toxins out of your brain, but it can also cause brain proteins to misfold into the Alzheimer's-linked form known as beta-amyloid. It also inhibits mechanisms that help to naturally clear the dangerous beta amyloid from your brain.1
It's not known at this time whether eating diacetyl-containing foods (it's used not only in microwave popcorn but also in other snack foods, baked goods, pet foods, some fast foods, and other food products) increases your risk of Alzheimer's, but the finding that it may contribute to brain plaques linked to Alzheimer's at very low concentrations is concerning, to say the least.
How many other synthetic chemicals have we been told are perfectly safe, only to find out over time that they aren't. MSG and aspartame come to mind... but there are countless others as well.
Removing Diacetyl from Microwave Popcorn Doesn't Make it Safe...
As mentioned, diacetyl is known to cause serious, sometimes life-threating respiratory illness in microwave popcorn-plant and flavoring plant workers. Many companies, therefore, began to stop using the chemical in their products, replacing it with another ingredient called 2,3-pentanedione (PD), which is also used to impart a buttery flavor and aroma.
Now researchers have revealed that PD, too, can lead to respiratory toxicity similar to that caused by diacetyl.2 The chemical was also capable of pathologically altering the gene expression in rat brains, leading to neurotoxicity. The study's lead researcher noted:
"Our study is a reminder that a chemical with a long history of being eaten without any evidence of toxicity can still be an agent with respiratory toxicity when appropriate studies are conducted."
Not to mention, perfluoroalkyls (PFCs), which are chemicals used to keep grease from leaking through food wrappers, are widely used in microwave-popcorn packaging. These chemicals migrate into your food and are processed by your body, where they can disrupt your endocrine system and affect your sex hormones. PFCs have been linked to infertility, thyroid disease, cancer, immune system problems, and more.
About 86 percent of all corn crops grown in the United States are genetically modified (GM), which brings a new set of health concerns to your microwave popcorn. Interestingly, none of the popcorn is genetically engineered, however, just about all the other corn is, which is a great reason to avoid it. Additionally, as a grain, it will typically not promote good health for most people.
So-called "Bt corn" is equipped with a gene from the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which produces Bt-toxin – a pesticide that breaks open the stomach of certain insects and kills them. This pesticide-producing corn entered the food supply in the late 1990's, and over the past decade, the horror stories have started piling up.
Monsanto and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) swore that the toxin would only affect insects munching on the crop. The Bt-toxin, they claimed, would be completely destroyed in the human digestive system and would not haveany impact on animals and humans. The biotech companies have doggedly insisted that Bt-toxin doesn't bind or interact with the intestinal walls of mammals, and therefore humans.
However, the corn's Bt-toxin has been detected in the blood of pregnant women and their babies, as well as in non-pregnant women. Specifically, the toxin was identified in 93% of pregnant women, 80% of umbilical blood in their babies, and 67% of non-pregnant women tested.3 And there's plenty of evidence showing that the Bt-toxin produced in genetically modified Bt crops like corn is toxic to humans and mammals and triggers immune system responses. For example, in government-sponsored research in Italy, mice fed Monsanto's Bt corn showed a wide range of immune responses, such as:
Rats fed another of Monsanto's Bt corn varieties called MON 863, also experienced an activation of their immune systems, showing higher numbers of basophils, lymphocytes, and white blood cells.5 These can indicate possible allergies, infections, toxins, and various disease states including cancer. There were also signs of liver and kidney toxicity.
]]>What you need to know - and do - about belly fat.
By Sonya Collins. WebMD Feature. Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
Belly fat: Did you know that it's not just about your waist size?
It's also about your health. And you can do something about it, starting right now, at any size.
But first, let's be clear: This is not about fat phobia. Your body needs some fat. And it's not about judging yourself or anyone else, or trying to reach some unrealistic ideal.
Instead, it's about getting a handle on your fat - even the fat you can't see.
That's right: You have fat you can't see. We all do.
People store most of their fat in two ways:
Just under the skin in the thighs, hips, buttocks, and abdomen. That's called subcutaneous (under the skin) fat. It's the fat that you notice.
Deeper inside, around the vital organs (heart, lungs, digestive tract, liver, etc.) in the chest, abdomen, and pelvis. That's called "visceral" fat. It's so deep inside you that you can't notice it from the outside.
Many people are self-conscious about the fat they can see. But actually, it's the hidden fat -- the visceral fat -- that may be a bigger problem, even for thin people.
Fat doesn't just sit there. It makes "lots of nasty substances," says Kristen Hairston, MD, assistant professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Wake Forest School of Medicine. We all have visceral fat -- and it isn't all bad. It provides necessary cushioning around organs.
The problem is when there's too much of it. That's linked to a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and certain cancers (including breast cancer and colon cancer.)
When obese, a body can run out of safe places to store fat and begin storing it in and around the organs, such as the heart and the liver. “Fatty liver disease was, until recently, very rare in non-alcoholics. But with obesity increasing, you have people whose fat depots are so full that the fat is deposited into the organs,” says Carol Shively, PhD, professor of pathology-comparative medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. “Now there is much interest in fat being deposited around the heart, as well.” Now that you know more about the fat that we all have, it's time to take action.
You could get a CT scan or MRI if you want the most precise way to see where your fat is stored. But that's over the top. There's a much simpler method. Get a measuring tape, wrap it around your waist, and check your girth. Do it while you're standing up, and make sure the tape measure is level.
For your best health, you want your waist size to be:
Having a "pear shape," with fatter hips and thighs, is considered safer than the "apple shape," which describes a wider waistline. “What we’re really pointing to with the apple versus pear is that if you have more abdominal fat, it’s probably an indicator that you have more visceral fat,” Hairston says.
Even thin people can have too much visceral fat, though you'd never know it by looking at them. It's partly about their genes. Some people have a genetic tendency to store visceral fat. But it's also about physical activity. Visceral fat likes inactivity. For instance, a British study showed that thin people who maintain their weight through diet alone, skipping exercise, are more likely to have unhealthy levels of visceral fat.
So the message is, get active, no matter what size you are.
There are four keys to controlling belly fat: exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.
Exercise: Vigorous exercise trims fat, including visceral fat. It can also slow down the build-up of visceral fat that tends to happen over the years.
How much exercise does it take? Half an hour of vigorous aerobic exercise, done four times a week, a Duke University study shows.
What counts as "vigorous"? Jogging, if you're already fit, or walking briskly at an incline on a treadmill, if you're not yet ready for jogging. Vigorous workouts on stationary bikes and elliptical or rowing machines are also effective, says Duke researcher Cris Slentz, PhD.
Moderate activity – raising your heart rate for 30 minutes at least three times per week – also helps. It slows down how much visceral fat you gain. But to torch visceral fat, your workouts may need to be more vigorous. “Rake leaves, walk, garden, go to Zumba, play soccer with your kids. It doesn’t have to be in the gym,” Hairston says. If you are not active now, it's a good idea to check with your healthcare provider before starting a new fitness program. They'll probably be thrilled that you want to get started, and will check that you're ready for it. And forget spot-reducing. There aren't any moves that specifically target visceral fat.
Diet: There is no magic diet for belly fat. But when you lose weight, on any diet, belly fat usually goes first.
A fiber-rich diet may also help. Hairston’s research shows that people who eat 10 grams of soluble fiber per day, without any other diet changes, build up less visceral fat over time than others. That’s two small apples, a cup of green peas, and a half-cup of pinto beans, for example. “Even if you kept everything else the same but switched to a higher-fiber bread, you might be able to better maintain your weight over time,” Hairston says.
Sleep: Getting the right amount of sleep helps. In one study, people who got six to seven hours of sleep per night gained less visceral fat over 5 years, compared to those who slept five or fewer hours per night, or eight or more hours per night. Sleep may not have been the only thing that mattered -- but it was part of the picture.
Stress: Stress happens. It's what you do with it that matters. You probably already know that people tend not to make the best food choices when they're stressed. And when you've got chronic stress, that can be a problem.
Shively recommends getting social support (turn to your friends and family), meditating, and exercising as ways to handle stress. Signing up for a workshop or some counseling sessions can also help you tame your stress.
Short on time? “If you could only afford the time to do one of these things, exercise probably has the most immediate benefits, because it hits both obesity and stress response,” Shively says.
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