Here is your next pH question/response by Dr. Robert Young, as promised...
There are many more questions to follow. However, if you have a particular question about alkaline living that you would like answered now, go ahead and submit it on the next page.
Some folks have asked about how they can help others become informed about their health too, so we've added an area for affiliates.
Dr. Young's responds to a question about Supplements with Ionized Water and the impact it has on your health...
See for yourself here: (0:56 min)
http://www.vidmails.com/playback.php?t=MzA2OTk0ODMxMDEyNzE4NTExMTI1Mzg%3D
Monday, November 2, 2009
Acidic Processed Food Causes Depression
Eating a diet high in processed acidic food increases the risk of depression, research suggests.
What is more, people who ate plenty of alkaline vegetables, fruit and fatty fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found.
Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported.
The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression.
The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh or raw alkaline produce and more saturated fats and acidic sugars.
They split the participants into two types of diet - those who ate a diet largely based on whole foods, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and fish, and those who ate a mainly processed food diet, such as sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products.
After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different alkaline vs. acidic diets.
Those who ate the most whole raw alkaline foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole raw alkaline foods.
By contrast people with a diet high in processed acidic food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed acidic foods.
Although the researchers cannot totally rule out the possibility that people with depression may eat a less healthy diet they believe it is unlikely to be the reason for the findings because there was no association with diet and previous diagnosis of depression.
Study author Dr Archana Singh-Manoux pointed out there is a chance the finding could be explained by a lifestyle factor they had not accounted for.
"There was a paper showing a Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of depression but the problem with that is if you live in Britain the likelihood of you eating a Mediterranean diet is not very high.
"So we wanted to look at bit differently at the link between diet and mental health."
It is not yet clear why some foods may protect against or increase the risk of depression but scientists think there may be a link with inflammation as with conditions such as heart disease.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "depression is not something you get it is something you do with your lifestyle and dietary choices. When you choose a raw alkaline diet with daily exercise you remove the dietary and metabolic wastes from your body that can make you sick, tired and depressed."
Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "This study adds to an existing body of solid research that shows the strong links between what we eat and our mental health.
"Major studies like this are crucial because they hold the key to us better understanding mental illness."
He added people's diets were becoming increasingly unhealthy.
Dr. Young states, "the American and UK population are consuming acidic processed foods that creates an acidic burden on the organs that sustain life. The biggest problem is an acidic diet and lifestyle constipates the bowel which constipates the brain. And when you don't feel good you don't think good. It all starts in the bowel where you have more brain cells than in your head! Clear the bowel of acidic constipating beef, chicken, turkey, pork, bread and dairy products and you will clear the mind."
"The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated fats and sugars.
"We are particularly concerned about those who cannot access fresh produce easily or live in areas where there are a high number of fast food restaurants and takeaways."
Margaret Edwards, head of strategy at the mental health charity SANE, said: "Physical and mental health are closely related, so we should not be too surprised by these results, but we hope there will be further research which may help us to understand more fully the relationship between diet and mental health."
What is more, people who ate plenty of alkaline vegetables, fruit and fatty fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found.
Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported.
The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression.
The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh or raw alkaline produce and more saturated fats and acidic sugars.
They split the participants into two types of diet - those who ate a diet largely based on whole foods, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and fish, and those who ate a mainly processed food diet, such as sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products.
After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different alkaline vs. acidic diets.
Those who ate the most whole raw alkaline foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole raw alkaline foods.
By contrast people with a diet high in processed acidic food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed acidic foods.
Although the researchers cannot totally rule out the possibility that people with depression may eat a less healthy diet they believe it is unlikely to be the reason for the findings because there was no association with diet and previous diagnosis of depression.
Study author Dr Archana Singh-Manoux pointed out there is a chance the finding could be explained by a lifestyle factor they had not accounted for.
"There was a paper showing a Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of depression but the problem with that is if you live in Britain the likelihood of you eating a Mediterranean diet is not very high.
"So we wanted to look at bit differently at the link between diet and mental health."
It is not yet clear why some foods may protect against or increase the risk of depression but scientists think there may be a link with inflammation as with conditions such as heart disease.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "depression is not something you get it is something you do with your lifestyle and dietary choices. When you choose a raw alkaline diet with daily exercise you remove the dietary and metabolic wastes from your body that can make you sick, tired and depressed."
Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "This study adds to an existing body of solid research that shows the strong links between what we eat and our mental health.
"Major studies like this are crucial because they hold the key to us better understanding mental illness."
He added people's diets were becoming increasingly unhealthy.
Dr. Young states, "the American and UK population are consuming acidic processed foods that creates an acidic burden on the organs that sustain life. The biggest problem is an acidic diet and lifestyle constipates the bowel which constipates the brain. And when you don't feel good you don't think good. It all starts in the bowel where you have more brain cells than in your head! Clear the bowel of acidic constipating beef, chicken, turkey, pork, bread and dairy products and you will clear the mind."
"The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated fats and sugars.
"We are particularly concerned about those who cannot access fresh produce easily or live in areas where there are a high number of fast food restaurants and takeaways."
Margaret Edwards, head of strategy at the mental health charity SANE, said: "Physical and mental health are closely related, so we should not be too surprised by these results, but we hope there will be further research which may help us to understand more fully the relationship between diet and mental health."
Glamour India
Let me show you the modern
contemporary, chic,
and flashy world of the Lakme Fashion Week
It is a lavish display of
exquisite fabrics,
glamorous globetrotting gowns
and eye catching ensembles.
Our designers and models rub shoulders with
the barons of the fashion world
Fashion designing is a popular career among
It is a lavish display ofexquisite fabrics,
glamorous globetrotting gowns
and eye catching ensembles.
Our designers and models rub shoulders withthe barons of the fashion world
Fashion designing is a popular career among the younger generation these days.
But it is not for the masses.
Look to the Rose that blows about us
But it is not for the masses.
Look to the Rose that blows about us-" Lo
Laughing"she says,"into the World
I blow:
At once the silken Tassel of my Purse
Tear,and its Treasures on the Garden
throw."
This Worldly Hope men set their hearts
upon
Turns Ashes-or it prospers and
anon
Lighting a little Hour or two-is gone.
(The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam)
(The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam)
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Beginning of the End to the Human Male Species or Girls Will Be Girls And Boys Will Be Girls
Here's something rather rotten from the State of Denmark.
Its government yesterday unveiled official research showing that two-year-old children are at risk from a bewildering array of gender-bending hormonal chemicals in such everyday items as waterproof clothes, rubber boots, bed linen, acidic food, acidic drink, nappies/diapers, sunscreen lotion, moisturizing cream, hormones, birth and control pills.
The 326-page report, published by the environment protection agency, is the latest piece in an increasingly alarming jigsaw. A picture is emerging of ubiquitous chemical contamination driving down sperm counts and feminizing male children all over the developed world. And anti-pollution measures and regulations are falling far short of getting to grips with it.
Sperm counts are falling so fast that young men are less fertile than their fathers and produce only a third as much, proportionately, as hamsters. And gender-bending hormonal acidic chemicals are increasingly being blamed for the mystery of the "lost boys": babies who should normally be male who have been born as girls instead.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "boys are created in an alkaline environment. When acidic hormonal chemicals are introduced into the fetus via the blood of the mother the sex of the fetus will be altered from a boy to a girl. This change in sex or sexual preference is also shifted as acidic hormonal chemicals are introduced via the water and/or food."
The Danish government set out to find out how much contamination from gender-bending acidic chemicals a two-year-old child was exposed to every day. It concluded that a child could be "at critical risk" from just a few exposures to high levels of the substances, such as from rubber clogs, and imperilled by the amount it absorbed from sources ranging from acidic laced hormonal food to sunscreens.
The results build on earlier studies showing that British children have higher levels of gender-bending acidic chemicals in their blood than their parents or grandparents. Indeed WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund), which commissioned the older research, warned that the chemicals were so widespread that "there is very little, if anything, individuals can do to prevent contamination of themselves and their families." Prominent among them are dioxins, PVC, flame retardants, phthalates (extensively used to soften plastics) and the now largely banned PCBs, one and a half million tons of which were used in countless products from paints to electrical equipment and estrogen.
"Young boys, like those in the Danish study, could end up producing less sperm and developing feminised behaviour," states Dr. Young.
Research at Rotterdam's Erasmus University found that boys whose mothers were exposed to PCBs and dioxins were more likely to play with dolls and tea sets and dress up in female clothes.
And it is in the womb that babies are most vulnerable; a study of umbilical cords from British mothers found that every one contained hazardous chemicals. Scientists at the University of Rochester in New York discovered that boys born to women exposed to phthalates had smaller penises and other feminization of the genitals.
The contamination may also offer a clue to a mysterious shift in the sex of babies. Normally 106 boys are born for every 100 girls: it is thought to be nature's way of making up for the fact that men were more likely to be killed hunting or in conflict. But the proportion of females is rising, so much so that some 250,000 babies who statistically should have been boys have ended up as girls in Japan and the United States alone. In Britain, the discrepancy amounts to thousands of babies a year.
A Canadian Indian community living on ancestral lands at the eastern tip of Lake Huron, hemmed in by one of the biggest agglomerations of chemical factories on earth, gives birth to twice as many girls as boys. It's the same around Seveso in Italy, contaminated with dioxins from a notorious accident in the 1970s, and among Russian pesticide workers. And there's more evidence from places as far apart as Israel and Taiwan, Brazil and the Arctic.
Yet gender-benders are largely exempt from new EU regulations controlling hazardous chemicals. Britain, then under Tony Blair's premiership, was largely responsible for this – restricting their inclusion in the first draft of the legislation, and then causing even what was included to be watered down. Confidential documents show that it did so after pressure from George W Bush's administration, which protested that US exports "could be impacted".
Now the Danish government is planning to lobby to have the rules toughened up. It is particularly concerned by other studies which show that gender-bending acidic chemicals acting together have far worse effects than the expected sum of their individual impacts. It wants this to be reflected in the regulations, citing its discovery of the many sources to which the two-year-olds are exposed – modern slings and arrows, as it were, of outrageous fortune.
Its government yesterday unveiled official research showing that two-year-old children are at risk from a bewildering array of gender-bending hormonal chemicals in such everyday items as waterproof clothes, rubber boots, bed linen, acidic food, acidic drink, nappies/diapers, sunscreen lotion, moisturizing cream, hormones, birth and control pills.
The 326-page report, published by the environment protection agency, is the latest piece in an increasingly alarming jigsaw. A picture is emerging of ubiquitous chemical contamination driving down sperm counts and feminizing male children all over the developed world. And anti-pollution measures and regulations are falling far short of getting to grips with it.
Sperm counts are falling so fast that young men are less fertile than their fathers and produce only a third as much, proportionately, as hamsters. And gender-bending hormonal acidic chemicals are increasingly being blamed for the mystery of the "lost boys": babies who should normally be male who have been born as girls instead.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "boys are created in an alkaline environment. When acidic hormonal chemicals are introduced into the fetus via the blood of the mother the sex of the fetus will be altered from a boy to a girl. This change in sex or sexual preference is also shifted as acidic hormonal chemicals are introduced via the water and/or food."
The Danish government set out to find out how much contamination from gender-bending acidic chemicals a two-year-old child was exposed to every day. It concluded that a child could be "at critical risk" from just a few exposures to high levels of the substances, such as from rubber clogs, and imperilled by the amount it absorbed from sources ranging from acidic laced hormonal food to sunscreens.
The results build on earlier studies showing that British children have higher levels of gender-bending acidic chemicals in their blood than their parents or grandparents. Indeed WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund), which commissioned the older research, warned that the chemicals were so widespread that "there is very little, if anything, individuals can do to prevent contamination of themselves and their families." Prominent among them are dioxins, PVC, flame retardants, phthalates (extensively used to soften plastics) and the now largely banned PCBs, one and a half million tons of which were used in countless products from paints to electrical equipment and estrogen.
"Young boys, like those in the Danish study, could end up producing less sperm and developing feminised behaviour," states Dr. Young.
Research at Rotterdam's Erasmus University found that boys whose mothers were exposed to PCBs and dioxins were more likely to play with dolls and tea sets and dress up in female clothes.
And it is in the womb that babies are most vulnerable; a study of umbilical cords from British mothers found that every one contained hazardous chemicals. Scientists at the University of Rochester in New York discovered that boys born to women exposed to phthalates had smaller penises and other feminization of the genitals.
The contamination may also offer a clue to a mysterious shift in the sex of babies. Normally 106 boys are born for every 100 girls: it is thought to be nature's way of making up for the fact that men were more likely to be killed hunting or in conflict. But the proportion of females is rising, so much so that some 250,000 babies who statistically should have been boys have ended up as girls in Japan and the United States alone. In Britain, the discrepancy amounts to thousands of babies a year.
A Canadian Indian community living on ancestral lands at the eastern tip of Lake Huron, hemmed in by one of the biggest agglomerations of chemical factories on earth, gives birth to twice as many girls as boys. It's the same around Seveso in Italy, contaminated with dioxins from a notorious accident in the 1970s, and among Russian pesticide workers. And there's more evidence from places as far apart as Israel and Taiwan, Brazil and the Arctic.
Yet gender-benders are largely exempt from new EU regulations controlling hazardous chemicals. Britain, then under Tony Blair's premiership, was largely responsible for this – restricting their inclusion in the first draft of the legislation, and then causing even what was included to be watered down. Confidential documents show that it did so after pressure from George W Bush's administration, which protested that US exports "could be impacted".
Now the Danish government is planning to lobby to have the rules toughened up. It is particularly concerned by other studies which show that gender-bending acidic chemicals acting together have far worse effects than the expected sum of their individual impacts. It wants this to be reflected in the regulations, citing its discovery of the many sources to which the two-year-olds are exposed – modern slings and arrows, as it were, of outrageous fortune.
Yoga or Younga Yoga Is A Great Cancer Prevention and/or Complimentary Treatment
At major cancer centers across the country, patients are putting themselves in a better "position" to cope with their cancerous conditions.
Some of the biggest names in so-called cancer care -- M.D. Anderson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and Dana Farber among them -- now offer their patients classes in yoga.
In the past, physicians may have written off the complementary therapy as merely a trendy yuppie pastime. But today, researchers -- mainly psychologists -- are asking questions about the benefits of yoga in a variety of conditions, including cancer, asthma, sleep disorders, depression, and attention disorders.
Generally, the studies have shown that yoga improves quality of life and relieves stress and anxiety associated with these acidic conditions. Some researchers say the Ayurvedic therapy may have physiological mechanisms, like reducing cortisol levels, but those theories are still under evaluation.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "yoga, especially Young Yoga helps to move dietary and/or metabolic acids out of the acid catchers or connective tissue, including the muscles, and then through the pores of the skin. Since dietary and/or metabolic acids are causes of a cancerous tissue condition, when you move acid out of the tissues no more risk for cancer."
There is no denying that yoga is becoming a presence even in the ivory towers of academic medicine.
Alyson Moadel, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., has been tracking the effects of yoga on breast cancer patients at Montefiore Medical Center for the past eight years.
In 2007, Moadel reported early findings from the study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology -- patients who did yoga saw improvements in social and emotional well-being, compared with those who didn't.
When data on patients undergoing chemotherapy were excluded, yoga also significantly improved overall quality of life.
"I think it's going to be an important complementary modality," Moadel said. "I don't think it's the only one, but I think it is an important one for dealing with stress and anxiety."
Yoga classes are offered three times a week at Montefiore. Patients gather in a conference room for the seated yoga sessions, which include stretching in a mix of seated and standing poses for the first hour of the class. Then the instructor dims the lights for meditation, breathing, and relaxation.
Moadel said the study has been expanded to include patients with lung cancer and colorectal cancer as well. Most previous studies have focused on breast cancer patients, but other cancers have also been evaluated.
A small study of cancer patients in Japan published this year in the Journal of Palliative Medicine found yoga may be effective against anxiety. A recent study in Cancer found the complementary therapy improved sleep outcomes in lymphoma patients.
And at least one organization -- the Society for Integrative Oncology -- has issued guidelines recommending that the treatment "should be incorporated as part of a multidisciplinary approach for reducing anxiety, mood disturbance, and chronic pain, and for improving quality of life in cancer patients."
Investigators aren't limiting their questions about yoga to cancerous acidic conditions, though.
A German study found that yoga was superior to conventional motor training in a small population of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
An Australian study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders, concluded that yoga "may have merit as a complementary therapy for boys with ADHD already stabilized on medication."
Heather Peck, PhD, a school psychologist at the Bethany Community School in Bethany, Conn., and her colleagues at the University of Connecticut, performed a study last year on children with attention problems -- although not clinically diagnosed with ADHD.
After taking a yoga class in school, the children had improved attention that was comparable to that of their peers who didn't have attention disorders.
"We found significant effect sizes," Peck said. "Their levels of attention came up close to those of the rest of the kids in the class."
Sat Bir Khalsa, PhD, a neuroscientist at Harvard who researches the effects of yoga on sleep disorders, said the therapy promotes focus, which could help explain why it appears to be so effective in children with attention problems.
"What could be better for someone with ADHD than improving their awareness and attention skills?" he said.
Some researchers have looked into more physical effects of yoga. Peck's colleague at the University of Connecticut, Melissa Bray, PhD, assessed the therapy in asthma patients.
Bray found that it did improve lung function "to some degree," but it had a bigger effect on quality of life.
She said that improvements in posture may have played a role in promoting better breathing and airway function, but the relief of anxiety shook off a tremendous burden of the disease.
"You're surmising that you've changed a mental state," she said, emphasizing this idea is strictly an interpretation.
"No one really knows" what the potential mechanisms of yoga in improving asthma may be, she said. "We need studies to replicate our work."
Harvard's Khalsa agrees with Bray's interpretation.
"Many disorders have a strong stress component, and I think yoga acts on that," he said. It also "increases resilience and stress-coping capabilities" if practiced long enough.
Or it may work -- as in the case of ADHD patients -- by making them more aware of their condition.
"If you're depressed, how can you treat it if you're not aware of it?" he asked. "Yoga ... creates education between your mind and your body that wasn't there before. And education is the first step in any kind of intervention."
He said yoga bears some semblance to cognitive behavioral therapy.
"A lot of stress is due to dysfunctional thinking," he said. "Cognitive behavioral therapy trains you to be aware of those negative thoughts ... and to replace them with more neutral, rational thoughts. Yoga does something similar, but on a deeper level."
Some researchers say yoga may, indeed, have physiological effects.
Ted Gansler, MD, director of medical content for the American Cancer Society, said some studies have shown evidence of beneficial effects on the immune system. Others still in the works have noted effects on biomarkers including cortisol levels, which play a role in stress, and cytokine production, which plays a role in inflammation.
Dr. Young suggest, "yoga and Younga Yoga helps to reduce the acid markers of cortisol and cytokine. You cannot have inflammation or pain in the body without acid. I have noted this in the blood chemistry. When you are moving and stretching your connective tissues you are moving acid and when you are moving acid out of the body the result is you feel and think better."
Khalsa said the associations with decreased cortisol levels make sense, since yoga seems to work primarily by reducing stress.
Emotional responses are generated in the limbic system, he said, and many people with a troubling disease often become conditioned into being "hyper-responsive" to their environment -- which often involves high levels of cortisol.
"They interpret everything as a stressor," he said. "Yoga, on the other hand, engenders the relaxation response, and has the opposite effect on the limbic system."
But some researchers question whether yoga's benefits come from the fact that it is also exercise -- something that is "clearly beneficial" in most diseases, particularly cancer, Gansler said.
A 2008 study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention found that women who exercised after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis had both reduced overall mortality and mortality from breast cancer, compared with those who didn't exercise.
Another study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that exercise reduced the risk of cancer recurrence and mortality among survivors of late-stage colon cancer.
Few medical organizations have developed any kind of policy statement or guidelines as to whether physicians should recommend yoga to their patients. Most of their members seem neither to condone nor condemn the practice.
Sarita Dubey, MD, an American Society of Clinical Oncology official and oncologist at the University of California San Francisco, said she believes yoga "does support patients mentally and physically while they endure the challenges from their cancer and cancer treatments."
But Moadel said she doesn't see much support for yoga in the medical community just yet.
"I think there's a lack of understanding about it," she said. "They may worry that patients think it's an alternative medicine versus a complimentary modality."
Few of her patients are referred to Montefiore's program by physicians. Most find it through word of mouth or advertising.
"I would like to educate them more about how it's helping patients," she added.
Khalsa said negative perceptions among medical professionals may change as the "next generation" of researchers appear to embrace yoga. The fact that yoga research has been published in top journals such as Cancer and the Journal of Clinical Oncology may be proof of that.
Gansler said most physicians realize that a treatment with no harmful effects and a decent cost-benefit ratio "just makes sense."
"The cost is minimal, if anything," he said. "And there's minimal danger, unless you really overexert yourself."
"Yes, the evidence is imperfect," he added. "But it's still very promising that it has a good impact on quality of life and control of some symptoms."
Although the call for more research has been sounded, Khalsa said it may be a challenge because there isn't much funding for yoga studies.
In order for yoga to gain more credibility in the medical community, the literature needs to grow, he said.
"Research on yoga for therapeutic benefits really is in its infancy, and to look at how many studies are ongoing and being published, the temptation is to think that's a reflection of how good yoga is," he said. "And it may not be. We certainly need more research."
Dr. Young suggests, "exercise, including yoga or Younga Yoga is an important compliment to any cancer treatment. Why? Because it moves dietary and metabolic acids out of the tissues and thus helps to prevent or even reverse a cancerous condition."
Some of the biggest names in so-called cancer care -- M.D. Anderson, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and Dana Farber among them -- now offer their patients classes in yoga.
In the past, physicians may have written off the complementary therapy as merely a trendy yuppie pastime. But today, researchers -- mainly psychologists -- are asking questions about the benefits of yoga in a variety of conditions, including cancer, asthma, sleep disorders, depression, and attention disorders.
Generally, the studies have shown that yoga improves quality of life and relieves stress and anxiety associated with these acidic conditions. Some researchers say the Ayurvedic therapy may have physiological mechanisms, like reducing cortisol levels, but those theories are still under evaluation.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "yoga, especially Young Yoga helps to move dietary and/or metabolic acids out of the acid catchers or connective tissue, including the muscles, and then through the pores of the skin. Since dietary and/or metabolic acids are causes of a cancerous tissue condition, when you move acid out of the tissues no more risk for cancer."
There is no denying that yoga is becoming a presence even in the ivory towers of academic medicine.
Alyson Moadel, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., has been tracking the effects of yoga on breast cancer patients at Montefiore Medical Center for the past eight years.
In 2007, Moadel reported early findings from the study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology -- patients who did yoga saw improvements in social and emotional well-being, compared with those who didn't.
When data on patients undergoing chemotherapy were excluded, yoga also significantly improved overall quality of life.
"I think it's going to be an important complementary modality," Moadel said. "I don't think it's the only one, but I think it is an important one for dealing with stress and anxiety."
Yoga classes are offered three times a week at Montefiore. Patients gather in a conference room for the seated yoga sessions, which include stretching in a mix of seated and standing poses for the first hour of the class. Then the instructor dims the lights for meditation, breathing, and relaxation.
Moadel said the study has been expanded to include patients with lung cancer and colorectal cancer as well. Most previous studies have focused on breast cancer patients, but other cancers have also been evaluated.
A small study of cancer patients in Japan published this year in the Journal of Palliative Medicine found yoga may be effective against anxiety. A recent study in Cancer found the complementary therapy improved sleep outcomes in lymphoma patients.
And at least one organization -- the Society for Integrative Oncology -- has issued guidelines recommending that the treatment "should be incorporated as part of a multidisciplinary approach for reducing anxiety, mood disturbance, and chronic pain, and for improving quality of life in cancer patients."
Investigators aren't limiting their questions about yoga to cancerous acidic conditions, though.
A German study found that yoga was superior to conventional motor training in a small population of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
An Australian study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders, concluded that yoga "may have merit as a complementary therapy for boys with ADHD already stabilized on medication."
Heather Peck, PhD, a school psychologist at the Bethany Community School in Bethany, Conn., and her colleagues at the University of Connecticut, performed a study last year on children with attention problems -- although not clinically diagnosed with ADHD.
After taking a yoga class in school, the children had improved attention that was comparable to that of their peers who didn't have attention disorders.
"We found significant effect sizes," Peck said. "Their levels of attention came up close to those of the rest of the kids in the class."
Sat Bir Khalsa, PhD, a neuroscientist at Harvard who researches the effects of yoga on sleep disorders, said the therapy promotes focus, which could help explain why it appears to be so effective in children with attention problems.
"What could be better for someone with ADHD than improving their awareness and attention skills?" he said.
Some researchers have looked into more physical effects of yoga. Peck's colleague at the University of Connecticut, Melissa Bray, PhD, assessed the therapy in asthma patients.
Bray found that it did improve lung function "to some degree," but it had a bigger effect on quality of life.
She said that improvements in posture may have played a role in promoting better breathing and airway function, but the relief of anxiety shook off a tremendous burden of the disease.
"You're surmising that you've changed a mental state," she said, emphasizing this idea is strictly an interpretation.
"No one really knows" what the potential mechanisms of yoga in improving asthma may be, she said. "We need studies to replicate our work."
Harvard's Khalsa agrees with Bray's interpretation.
"Many disorders have a strong stress component, and I think yoga acts on that," he said. It also "increases resilience and stress-coping capabilities" if practiced long enough.
Or it may work -- as in the case of ADHD patients -- by making them more aware of their condition.
"If you're depressed, how can you treat it if you're not aware of it?" he asked. "Yoga ... creates education between your mind and your body that wasn't there before. And education is the first step in any kind of intervention."
He said yoga bears some semblance to cognitive behavioral therapy.
"A lot of stress is due to dysfunctional thinking," he said. "Cognitive behavioral therapy trains you to be aware of those negative thoughts ... and to replace them with more neutral, rational thoughts. Yoga does something similar, but on a deeper level."
Some researchers say yoga may, indeed, have physiological effects.
Ted Gansler, MD, director of medical content for the American Cancer Society, said some studies have shown evidence of beneficial effects on the immune system. Others still in the works have noted effects on biomarkers including cortisol levels, which play a role in stress, and cytokine production, which plays a role in inflammation.
Dr. Young suggest, "yoga and Younga Yoga helps to reduce the acid markers of cortisol and cytokine. You cannot have inflammation or pain in the body without acid. I have noted this in the blood chemistry. When you are moving and stretching your connective tissues you are moving acid and when you are moving acid out of the body the result is you feel and think better."
Khalsa said the associations with decreased cortisol levels make sense, since yoga seems to work primarily by reducing stress.
Emotional responses are generated in the limbic system, he said, and many people with a troubling disease often become conditioned into being "hyper-responsive" to their environment -- which often involves high levels of cortisol.
"They interpret everything as a stressor," he said. "Yoga, on the other hand, engenders the relaxation response, and has the opposite effect on the limbic system."
But some researchers question whether yoga's benefits come from the fact that it is also exercise -- something that is "clearly beneficial" in most diseases, particularly cancer, Gansler said.
A 2008 study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention found that women who exercised after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis had both reduced overall mortality and mortality from breast cancer, compared with those who didn't exercise.
Another study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that exercise reduced the risk of cancer recurrence and mortality among survivors of late-stage colon cancer.
Few medical organizations have developed any kind of policy statement or guidelines as to whether physicians should recommend yoga to their patients. Most of their members seem neither to condone nor condemn the practice.
Sarita Dubey, MD, an American Society of Clinical Oncology official and oncologist at the University of California San Francisco, said she believes yoga "does support patients mentally and physically while they endure the challenges from their cancer and cancer treatments."
But Moadel said she doesn't see much support for yoga in the medical community just yet.
"I think there's a lack of understanding about it," she said. "They may worry that patients think it's an alternative medicine versus a complimentary modality."
Few of her patients are referred to Montefiore's program by physicians. Most find it through word of mouth or advertising.
"I would like to educate them more about how it's helping patients," she added.
Khalsa said negative perceptions among medical professionals may change as the "next generation" of researchers appear to embrace yoga. The fact that yoga research has been published in top journals such as Cancer and the Journal of Clinical Oncology may be proof of that.
Gansler said most physicians realize that a treatment with no harmful effects and a decent cost-benefit ratio "just makes sense."
"The cost is minimal, if anything," he said. "And there's minimal danger, unless you really overexert yourself."
"Yes, the evidence is imperfect," he added. "But it's still very promising that it has a good impact on quality of life and control of some symptoms."
Although the call for more research has been sounded, Khalsa said it may be a challenge because there isn't much funding for yoga studies.
In order for yoga to gain more credibility in the medical community, the literature needs to grow, he said.
"Research on yoga for therapeutic benefits really is in its infancy, and to look at how many studies are ongoing and being published, the temptation is to think that's a reflection of how good yoga is," he said. "And it may not be. We certainly need more research."
Dr. Young suggests, "exercise, including yoga or Younga Yoga is an important compliment to any cancer treatment. Why? Because it moves dietary and metabolic acids out of the tissues and thus helps to prevent or even reverse a cancerous condition."
The Benefits of Eating Colorful Fruit and Vegetables
Although it is a well-known fact that most Americans do not eat enough alkaline fruit and vegetables, a new report shows that the color of fruit and veggies can be as important as the quantity.
Eight in 10 Americans are missing out on the health benefits of a diet rich in colorful alkaline fruit and vegetables, resulting in a phytonutrient or alkalizing buffering gap with potential health consequences, according to America’s Phytonutrient Report released today.
“Many phytonutrients are powerful antioxidants that can help fight the damage caused to our bodies’ cells over time that can lead to premature aging and disease,” said Dr. Stephen Fortmann, director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center at Stanford University. “The fact that Americans are falling short in phytonutrient-rich fruits and vegetables measured in the report is concerning.”
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "eating alkaline fruit and vegetables is the best way to build healthy blood, a healthy and a strong body."
America’s Phytonutrient Report looked at fruit and vegetable consumption in five color categories: green, red, white, blue/purple, and yellow/orange. The health benefits of phytonutrients are believed to come from the compounds that give these foods their vibrant reds, yellows, greens, and other rich colors.
Americans have a phytonutrient gap in every color category. Findings showed:
• The biggest phytonutrient gap was in the blue/purple fruit and vegetable category, where 88 percent of Americans fall short.
• Americans are doing a little better on getting phytonutrients found in green fruit and vegetables: 69 percent fall short.
• Seventy-eight percent of Americans are falling short in the red, 86 percent in white, and 79 percent in orange/yellow.
The report "illustrates that we need to think about more than just quantity when it comes to our fruit and vegetables,” said Amy Hendel, a registered physician assistant and health/wellness expert. “A daily dose of color could result in positive health benefits.”
The select phytonutrients analyzed within each color category included EGCG, isothiocyanate, lutein/zeaxanthin, and isoflavones for green; lycopene and ellagic acid for red; allicin and quercetin for white; anthocyanidins and resveratrol for purple/blue; and alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, hesperitin, and beta-cryptoxanthin for yellow/orange.
According to Dr. Young. "all phytocutrients are buffers of metabolic and dietary acid and thus protectors of the alkaline design of the body where true immunity against all sickness and dis-ease is found."
Although many people find it difficult to eat the recommended five to 13 servings of fruit and vegetables, Hendel suggests aiming for two fruits and/or vegetables from each of the five color categories on the phytonutrient spectrum a day. Thousands of phytonutrients are gaining attention in the nutrition world, Hendel said.
“Phytonutrients offer a wide range of potential health benefits from promoting eye, bone, and heart health to supporting immune and brain function,” she said.
"Some phytonutrients, such as lycopene from red tomatoes or cartenoids found in oranges and carrots, may sound familiar. Others, such as lutein found in greens such as avocado, spinach and broccoli or allicin found in garlic are just being recognized as the alkalizers and protectors of the body fluids and cells," states Dr. Young.
Eight in 10 Americans are missing out on the health benefits of a diet rich in colorful alkaline fruit and vegetables, resulting in a phytonutrient or alkalizing buffering gap with potential health consequences, according to America’s Phytonutrient Report released today.
“Many phytonutrients are powerful antioxidants that can help fight the damage caused to our bodies’ cells over time that can lead to premature aging and disease,” said Dr. Stephen Fortmann, director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center at Stanford University. “The fact that Americans are falling short in phytonutrient-rich fruits and vegetables measured in the report is concerning.”
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "eating alkaline fruit and vegetables is the best way to build healthy blood, a healthy and a strong body."
America’s Phytonutrient Report looked at fruit and vegetable consumption in five color categories: green, red, white, blue/purple, and yellow/orange. The health benefits of phytonutrients are believed to come from the compounds that give these foods their vibrant reds, yellows, greens, and other rich colors.
Americans have a phytonutrient gap in every color category. Findings showed:
• The biggest phytonutrient gap was in the blue/purple fruit and vegetable category, where 88 percent of Americans fall short.
• Americans are doing a little better on getting phytonutrients found in green fruit and vegetables: 69 percent fall short.
• Seventy-eight percent of Americans are falling short in the red, 86 percent in white, and 79 percent in orange/yellow.
The report "illustrates that we need to think about more than just quantity when it comes to our fruit and vegetables,” said Amy Hendel, a registered physician assistant and health/wellness expert. “A daily dose of color could result in positive health benefits.”
The select phytonutrients analyzed within each color category included EGCG, isothiocyanate, lutein/zeaxanthin, and isoflavones for green; lycopene and ellagic acid for red; allicin and quercetin for white; anthocyanidins and resveratrol for purple/blue; and alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, hesperitin, and beta-cryptoxanthin for yellow/orange.
According to Dr. Young. "all phytocutrients are buffers of metabolic and dietary acid and thus protectors of the alkaline design of the body where true immunity against all sickness and dis-ease is found."
Although many people find it difficult to eat the recommended five to 13 servings of fruit and vegetables, Hendel suggests aiming for two fruits and/or vegetables from each of the five color categories on the phytonutrient spectrum a day. Thousands of phytonutrients are gaining attention in the nutrition world, Hendel said.
“Phytonutrients offer a wide range of potential health benefits from promoting eye, bone, and heart health to supporting immune and brain function,” she said.
"Some phytonutrients, such as lycopene from red tomatoes or cartenoids found in oranges and carrots, may sound familiar. Others, such as lutein found in greens such as avocado, spinach and broccoli or allicin found in garlic are just being recognized as the alkalizers and protectors of the body fluids and cells," states Dr. Young.
Eating Animal Protein Shrinks Your Brain and Your Balls
Many recent studies have shown that diets rich in vegetables, fruit, nuts, and oily omega 3 rich fish are good for the brain and may delay the onset or slow the advance of Alzheimer’s dis-ease and shrink the organs the sustain life, including the reproductive organs causing infertility and impotence.
But a new study found that a diet high in animal protein will shrink your brain.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "animal proteins when ingested release strong acids in their digestion of uric, nitric, sulfuric and phosphoric that will not only shrink your brain but will also shrink your ovaries and your testes."
"One of the major contributing factors to dementia and infertility is the ingestion of animal proteins, such as chicken, turkey, duck, eggs, venison, beef and pork," states Dr. Young.
A research team from the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom studied four different types of diets on mice that were bred to express an acidic mutant from of human amyloid precursor protein (APP).
The body will buffer APP, an acidic protein producing amyloid plaque associated with Alzheimer’s and reproductive organ dis-ease. Mice were fed a regular acidic diet, a high-fat/low-carbohydrate or acid diet, a high-protein or high acid/low-carb diet, or a high-carb or high acid/low-fat diet.
The researchers then studied the mice's brains and bodies, evaluating the plaque buildup and differences in specific regions of the brain associated with memory deficit and Alzheimer’s.
Surprisingly, the mice fed the high-protein or high acid/low-carb diet had brains 5 percent smaller than mice in the other three groups, and areas of their hippocampus were less developed. The researchers speculated that the high-protein or acid diet may make the brain’s neurons, which transmit nerve impulses, more susceptible to the Alzheimer’s-associated plaques.
According to Dr. Young, "the strong acids from proteins cause a double loss of alkaline compounds in the body. If the body cannot eliminate these strong acids from urination, perspiration, defecation or respiration they will be buffered in the fatty tissues of the body, i.e., the brain. This will then lead to congestion and potential acidic organ and gland damage."
But what does this study mean for humans? "One wonders whether particular diets, if ingested at particular ages, might increase susceptibility to incidence or progression" of Alzheimer's, said lead author Sam Gandy, a professor at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The only way to know for sure would be double-blind clinical tests.
Dr. Young suggests, "a diet high in animal protein will result in the over-acidification of the blood and then tissues leading to ALL sickness and dis-ease."
"Ingesting any animal protein and their associated acids will congest the bowel, damage the intestinal villi, cause imperfections in the formation of blood and will eventually lead to loss of bone, liver congestion and ulceration, infertility, and brain damage," states Dr. Young.
According to Dr. Young, "the body needs little or no protein. The body needs chlorophyll to build blood, poly-unsaturated oil to create cell membranes and buffer metabolic and/or dietary acid, alkaline water to maintain its alkaline design and mineral salts for electrical conductivity and energy."
But a new study found that a diet high in animal protein will shrink your brain.
According to Dr. Robert O. Young, Director of Research at the pH Miracle Living Center, "animal proteins when ingested release strong acids in their digestion of uric, nitric, sulfuric and phosphoric that will not only shrink your brain but will also shrink your ovaries and your testes."
"One of the major contributing factors to dementia and infertility is the ingestion of animal proteins, such as chicken, turkey, duck, eggs, venison, beef and pork," states Dr. Young.
A research team from the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom studied four different types of diets on mice that were bred to express an acidic mutant from of human amyloid precursor protein (APP).
The body will buffer APP, an acidic protein producing amyloid plaque associated with Alzheimer’s and reproductive organ dis-ease. Mice were fed a regular acidic diet, a high-fat/low-carbohydrate or acid diet, a high-protein or high acid/low-carb diet, or a high-carb or high acid/low-fat diet.
The researchers then studied the mice's brains and bodies, evaluating the plaque buildup and differences in specific regions of the brain associated with memory deficit and Alzheimer’s.
Surprisingly, the mice fed the high-protein or high acid/low-carb diet had brains 5 percent smaller than mice in the other three groups, and areas of their hippocampus were less developed. The researchers speculated that the high-protein or acid diet may make the brain’s neurons, which transmit nerve impulses, more susceptible to the Alzheimer’s-associated plaques.
According to Dr. Young, "the strong acids from proteins cause a double loss of alkaline compounds in the body. If the body cannot eliminate these strong acids from urination, perspiration, defecation or respiration they will be buffered in the fatty tissues of the body, i.e., the brain. This will then lead to congestion and potential acidic organ and gland damage."
But what does this study mean for humans? "One wonders whether particular diets, if ingested at particular ages, might increase susceptibility to incidence or progression" of Alzheimer's, said lead author Sam Gandy, a professor at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The only way to know for sure would be double-blind clinical tests.
Dr. Young suggests, "a diet high in animal protein will result in the over-acidification of the blood and then tissues leading to ALL sickness and dis-ease."
"Ingesting any animal protein and their associated acids will congest the bowel, damage the intestinal villi, cause imperfections in the formation of blood and will eventually lead to loss of bone, liver congestion and ulceration, infertility, and brain damage," states Dr. Young.
According to Dr. Young, "the body needs little or no protein. The body needs chlorophyll to build blood, poly-unsaturated oil to create cell membranes and buffer metabolic and/or dietary acid, alkaline water to maintain its alkaline design and mineral salts for electrical conductivity and energy."
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