How Diabetes Destroys Your Body

What is type 2 diabetes exactly? How do you know if you are at risk for getting it or if you have it? This is important in a world being overrun by the diabetes epidemic. Globally, 183 million people — half of those with diabetes — don’t know they have it. Finally, what does diabetes do to your body if left untreated? You can’t come to grips with this frightening disease unless you begin to understand its implications.

What Is Type 2 Diabetes?

Your pancreas makes the hormone insulin. Under normal circumstances, insulin attaches to cells and opens the gate for sugar to enter through the cell membrane. Once inside the cell, the sugar you have consumed (in the form of sucrose, fructose, dextrose, maltose, corn syrup, caramel color, etc.) is either used or stored as glycogen (a sugar storage molecule) or converted into fat. But when you have diabetes, a metabolic imbalance prevents blood sugar from effectively entering into cells to be used properly. When blood sugar remains too high over time, it damages the cells and impairs the function of the heart, blood vessels, nerves, kidneys, immune system and skin. I’ll discuss more of this later.

In the case of type 1 diabetes (aka juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes), insulin is not made in sufficient quantities by the pancreas. In type 2 diabetes insulin levels rise but cannot be used by the cell membranes. In type 2 cells are considered to be resistant to insulin; and, like type 1 diabetes, sugar rises in the blood. High-circulating blood sugar levels damage the most vulnerable organ systems.

It is important to recognize that sugar and oxygen are the main energy sources for all cells. However, the body cannot process sugar properly unless there are an abundance of micronutrient vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, enzymes and antioxidant phytochemicals available. In other words, lack of nutrient-rich raw and cooked whole foods in your diet sets you up for chronic illness.

Other Risk Factors

Other factors besides a chronic excess of dietary sugars contribute to diabetes:

• Family history of diabetes in your immediate family or first-degree relatives.
• Excess body weight (obesity).
• Physical inactivity.
• Increasing age.
• High triglycerides (an early sign of a high insulin state).
• Skin tags, which have an 80 percent correlation with developing diabetes.
• Polycystic ovary disease, characterized by obesity, facial hair and fewer than normal menses.
• Giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
• Ethnicity: African-Americans, Native Alaskans, Native Indians, Asians, Hispanics and Pacific Islanders are all more vulnerable to diabetes.

Signs And Symptoms

If you have these signs or symptoms, you’ll want to see your doctor for more blood testing:

• Any symptoms of increased urination or excess thirst.
• Unusual weight loss.
• Recurrent blurred vision.
• Tingling/numbness in the hands/feet.
• Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal.
• Frequent infections.
• Low blood sugar symptoms: nausea, weakness or moodiness after meals.
• Known heart disease, hypertension or excess anger/depression.

Complications Of Type 2 Diabetes

If high blood sugar continues for more than about five years, the complications of diabetes start to be evident and are largely irreversible.

Eye Complications

• Glaucoma risk increases by 40 percent in untreated diabetes. This is a condition where pressure builds up in the eyeball, damaging the optic nerve and retina (the location where sensitive nerve endings detect images).
• Cataract risk increases by 60 percent in untreated diabetes. A cataract is a clouded defect of an otherwise normal clear lens.
• Diabetic retinopathy (non-proliferative and proliferative) results from damaged blood vessels and nerves of the retina.

Foot Complications

• Neuropathy: numbness at the ends of the toes. This also contributes to poor circulation and poor wound healing.
• Foot ulcers: a result of neuropathy and small vessel disease so that healing is poor.
• Amputation: Over many years, a “dead” toe, foot or lower limb necessitates amputation.

Skin Complications (linked to poor immune system function and poor tissue healing)

• Bacterial infections such as sties (glands of the eyelid), boils, abscesses and nail infections are very common.
• Fungal infections such as candidiasis (folds of skin, athlete’s foot, vaginitis).
• Dermatoses of various types such as dark coloration (acanthosis nigricans), raised red lesions (necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum) and diabetic blisters, for example.

Heart Disease And Stroke

• The risk of heart attack more than doubles in untreated diabetes.
• Compared with non-diabetic non-hypertensives who have no signs of cardiovascular disease, people with a combination of diabetes, hypertension and lab tests that indicate disease had a twelvefold increased risk of stroke, according to a study of more than 1,300 diabetic patients followed for six years as reported inArteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and vascular biology. ^[1]
• Hypertension is a risk factor that makes the heart attack risk even higher. The goal for a diabetic is below 120/70 mmHg.
• High LDL-cholesterol and low HDL-cholesterol levels are also heart attack risk factors.

Kidney Disease (Nephropathy)

• Once kidneys fail, ongoing dialysis therapy or a transplant surgery is required for patients to survive.

Peripheral Artery Disease

• Fatty deposits narrow or block blood vessels in the legs. This occurs in one out of every three individuals over age 50 with diabetes.

Stomach

• Gastroparesis often occurs: The stomach does not empty normally and can cause nausea and bloating.

Anyone will agree that diabetes can take its toll if left untreated. In my report next week, I’ll discuss standard medical treatment for diabetes. After that, I’ll explain how to go to the next level and actually reverse diabetes completely without prescription medications.

To longevity and feeling good,

Michael Cutler, M.D.

Bariatric Surgery Weakens Bones

Bariatric surgery helps people lose weight by restricting the amount of food they can eat.Research into this radical procedure, however, shows that it may interfere with bone formation.

Some experts believe bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment against obesity. In the U.S., the most common bariatric procedure is called “Roux-en-Y” gastric bypass, an operation that entails removing a large part of the stomach and bypassing part of the small intestine.

“Even though we don’t yet understand all the mechanisms, we can see that the more radical the procedure, the greater the bone loss long-term,” says researcher Malgorzata Brzozowska.

“In many situations significant weight loss is associated with bone loss, with or without surgery. The more invasive types of surgery appear to heighten bone turnover and the associated bone loss. This is thought to be caused not only by rapid weight loss and absorption of fewer vital nutrients like vitamin D and calcium, but possibly also by changes in hormones released by fat and the gut, and their impact on the central nervous system,” she adds.

Burn Calories With The Horror Movie Diet

Sitting through a horror movie can make you scream and sweat. And it may also help you burn off extra calories.

A study at the University of Westminster in England shows that if you watch a scary movie, the extra calories your fear eliminates can be significant. In this research, the average movie watcher burned more than 130 calories, about the amount you might find in half a candy bar.

According to researcher Richard Mackenzie: “Each of the ten films (we) tested set pulses racing, sparking an increase in the heart rate of the case studies. As the pulse quickens and blood pumps around the body faster, the body experiences a surge in adrenaline. It is this release of fast acting adrenaline, produced during short bursts of intense stress (or in this case, brought on by fear), which is known to lower the appetite, increase the basal metabolic rate and ultimately burn a higher level of calories.”

The 10 movies in the study included:

1. “The Shining”: burned 184 calories.
2. “Jaws”: burned 161 calories.
3. “The Exorcist”: burned 158 calories.
4. “Alien”: burned 152 calories.
5. “Saw”: burned 133 calories.
6. “A Nightmare on Elm Street”: burned 118 calories.
7. “Paranormal Activity”: burned 111 calories.
8. “The Blair Witch Project”: burned 105 calories.
9. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”: burned 107 calories.
10. “Rec”: burned 101 calories.

THE 9 BEST FOODS FOR WINTER

Slim down this season with cold-weather favorites

Just because it's winter doesn't mean you should skip the produce aisle. For starters, the cold months are the perfect time to branch out to bolder fruits and vegetables, and some of the best hit their peak just in time to snap your tastebuds out of their winter funk. Plus, Canadian scientists recently compared the cancer-protective properties of 33 vegetables and it turns out that some of the most powerful tumor fighters—brussels sprouts, leeks, beets, and kale—are available this time of year. Fill your fridge with The 9 Best Foods for Winter to stay healthy, fit, and happy all season long. Bonus Tip: Don't blow extra calories on steak! There are plenty of healthy options to be had—use this guide to Choose the Leanest Cut of Beef next time you're at the steakhouse.

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10 BEST FOODS FOR YOUR SKIN

Eat your way to a glowing complexion

A healthy and balanced diet can shield your insides from all sorts of bad health mojo. But it can also protect your outside. The right vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils, fish, teas, and chocolates can shield your skin from the ravages of the environment, time, and even cancer. To address every skin woe, from wrinkles, to acne, to dryness, stock up on The 10 Best Foods for Your Skin. And prepare yourself—bartenders might start asking for your ID more often. Bonus Tip: You've heard that eating breakfast can help you drop pounds, but certain tricks will maximize your morning meal's benefits. Follow these simple rules to Shed Pounds Eating Breakfast.

The Ultimate Antioxidant: Fight Premature Aging for Free   
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The Best Indicator of Heart Disease Risk (Not Your Weight)
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Court Shatters Monsanto's Contamination Story    
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Eating Loads of Carbs May Cause You to Lose Your Mind 
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THE TRUTH ABOUT "NATURAL" FOODS

Avoid the biggest label lie of all

When you grab a bottle of "all natural" cooking oil at the grocery store or a bag of "all natural" corn chips, you think you're getting an "all natural" product. But that depends on your definition of the word—and that of the people selling it to you. Paying more for natural products? Food corporations are ripping you off big time. Learn how to avoid food industry traps and find real, healthy food inThe Truth about Natural Foods.

The Ups And Downs Of Prolonged Sitting

How much do you sit? Six hours a day? Longer? If you work in an office, chances are the first thing you do when you arrive is sit down and turn on your computer. Later, when you get home, you may also sit down and turn on the TV. Sitting is comfortable, but it can also harm our health — significantly. However, there are ways to prevent and even reverse the potential damage.

Recent research has shed new light on the dangers of sitting. Some studies suggest that prolonged sitting every day significantly increases the risk of premature death — even noting that moderate exercise may not reduce this risk. Perhaps that’s because excess sitting often comes in a package with other health-robbing influences, such as prolonged stress, pro-inflammatory foods and dehydration.

Offices don’t help. Reduced natural light and increased artificial light affects serotonin and melatonin levels and, in turn, can challenge the immune, endocrine and circulatory systems. Poor circulation can lead to numerous chronic inflammatory issues including life-threatening blood clots, particularly in the legs. This is a big problem when flying long distances; pressurized airplanes exacerbate the problem.

Proper Sitting

So what does this mean? Should we give up sitting? Of course not, we simply have to be mindful sitters. Meditation practitioners sit for hours, moving intermittently, without endangering their health. So it’s not just sitting, but rather how we sit.

Offices are breeding grounds for chronic stress, which increases adrenal hormones and degrades the immune system. Also, because the heart is working slower, inflammatory stress hormones are not being circulated and metabolized, another potential danger. Over time, this process can trigger a whole cascade of chronic metabolic and circulatory problems: insulin resistance, weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

However, if we change the venue from an office to a meadow with fresh air, sunlight and the sounds of nature, then the story changes. We could sit for 11 hours, taking frequent, short exercise breaks. A seated, meditative state can lower blood pressure and enhance our sense of well-being. By simply changing the context, sitting can become a vehicle for healing and growth.

Take Steps — Literally

There are a number of ways to overcome the problematic effects of sitting:

• Get up and walk around every half-hour, every 45 minutes, every hour — whatever you can manage. The movement gets blood flowing and clears the head.

• Lie down and lift your feet above your heart. Even one minute can make a difference.

• Make sure you are properly hydrated with plenty of pure, filtered water and herbal teas. Hot water with lemon is an excellent drink to hydrate the body and support overall health.

• Take short walks during lunch. Walk before eating. That way, circulation aids digestion.

• Maintain a healthy, unprocessed diet with plenty of vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats to help control inflammation, increase circulation and support metabolic health.

• Use supplements that increase circulation. I recommend a Tibetan herbal formula, which incorporates costus root, neem fruit, cardamom fruit and other botanical ingredients to support circulation, immunity and antioxidant activity and help maintain healthy inflammation responses.

• Medicinal mushrooms such as Cordyceps, reishi, shitake, oyster and others also boost circulation and immunity and help maintain healthy inflammation responses.

• Specialized enzymes such as nattokinase and lumbrokinase increase circulation, reduce inflammation and support immunity.

Embrace A Positive Attitude

Good hydration, deep breathing and frequent movement can overcome the effects of too much sitting. However, a good attitude is vital. Meditation can help.

Place a stone or an inspiring message on your desk and look at it from a few seconds to a minute. Exhale into it and inhale from it. Concentrate on the object and your breathing. This practice can generate relaxation in about 30 seconds. When done regularly, it benefits numerous areas of health including cardiovascular, immune, endocrine and cellular well-being.

Yes, prolonged sitting can be dangerous. But it’s more than the act of sitting that’s problematic; it’s the environment, habits and attitudes that often go along with it. Mindful sitting, balanced with healthy nutrition and lifestyle choices, can bring benefits for the mind and body and, in fact, can heal.

Eat Fish Twice A Week Or More To Drop Stroke Risk

Eating plenty of fish has been linked to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, especially if you eat oily fish like sardines and salmon. An international analysis of 38 studies now shows that eating fish twice a week lowers your chances of suffering a stroke.

Fish and consumption of omega-3 fats were assessed using dietary questionnaires, identifying markers of omega-3 fats in the blood and recording use of fish oil supplements. A total of 34,817 cerebrovascular events were recorded during the studies.

After adjusting for several risk factors, participants eating two to four servings a week had a moderate but significant 6 percent lower risk of cerebrovascular disease compared with those eating one or fewer servings of fish a week, while participants eating five or more servings a week had a 12 percent lower risk.

An increment of two servings per week of any fish was associated with a 4 percent reduced risk of cerebrovascular disease.

Several reasons could explain the beneficial impact of eating fish on vascular health, say the researchers. For example, it may be due to interactions between a wide range of nutrients like vitamins and essential amino acids commonly found in fish.

In this study, levels of omega-3 fats in the blood and fish oil supplements were not significantly associated with a reduced stroke risk.

When Stress Hormones Make You Feel Better: Wake Up And Enjoy The Cortisol

When you go to bed feeling down, you may settle into the sheets comforted by the thought that “tomorrow is another day.” And research shows that you are right to count on that boost; your body helps you build stress hormone levels throughout the night to give you the oomph you need to face problems head-on in the morning.

Cortisol — a stress hormone that has been linked to depression, obesity and other health problems when chronically elevated — has been found to increase when people go to bed feeling lonely, sad or overwhelmed. After you awake, a cortisol rush helps you deal with problems and conflicts.

“You’ve gone to bed with loneliness, sadness, feelings of being overwhelmed, then along comes a boost of hormones in the morning to give you the energy you need to meet the demands of the day,” says researcher Emma K. Adam.

In the short term, the morning cortisol boost can be helpful and give you the energy you need to face the problems you went to bed dwelling upon; but some studies — mostly in lab settings — have shown cortisol to cause physical problems if it is at elevated levels for too long.

“Cortisol helps us respond to stressful experiences and do something about them,” researcher Louise C. Hawkley says. “It is necessary for survival — fluctuations in this hormone assist us in meeting the changing demands we face in our daily lives.”

Three Shocking Truths About Age Related Memory Loss

Most doctor's say there's nothing you can do to save your memory as you age.

See the proof behind this natural breakthrough and discover how it can help make sure you don't end up feeling like a "vegetable".

If you want to protect your mind and memory, watch this video now.

THE 8 CRUELEST FOODS YOU EAT

Learn the inhumane truth and discover kinder alternatives

By the time that cheeseburger arrives on your plate, it's hard to think about anything but how tasty it'll be. But when you trace the origins of each ingredient—the beef, the fried egg, the crispy bacon—some uncomfortable truths emerge. Fortunately, there's a way to eat your meals cruelty-free, andPrevention's rundown of The 8 Cruelest Foods You Eat tells you how. Bonus Tip: According to new research, diabetes can result when normal gut bacteria are thrown off balance by unwanted pathogens. Learn what to look for in Does Diabetes Start in Your Gut? courtesy ofPrevention.

Menopause isn’t Just a Female Problem

It’s remained a medical mystery for decades. Many doctors claim it’s still a myth. But the FACTS show this debilitating condition may affect over 5 million men in the U.S. alone.
Now breakthrough new research proves you don’t have to be one of them. Go HERE for details.

Nature’s “Aspirin” Prevents Heart Attacks and Strokes without the Side Effects?

Americans buy more than 44 million packages of aspirin a year to try and ward off heart attacks and strokes.

But that daily aspirin may be doing more harm than good. Sure, aspirin acts as a blood thinner. But it also strips away the stomach lining, causing ulcers and bleeding. And if ulcers aren’t bad enough, bleeding can occur inside the brain, resulting in death.

If you are one of the millions worried about having a heart attack there’s another alternative. Minus the bleeding, ulcers, and death.

New research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) found a natural alternative. Even the FDA deemed it safe and effective. So safe and effective, that they want it for themselves.

Dr. Robert Flaumenhaft, a professor at Harvard Medical School, led the study. His group of researchers administered this natural supplement orally to rats. And they discovered that this natural cure had anti-thrombotic properties.

Thrombosis is commonly known as a blood clot. Clots block blood flow to the brain and to the heart. This leads to heart attack and/or stroke.

Researchers tested over 5,000 compounds and this particular one proved to be the most potent.

What is this life-saving compound?

Your Normal Cholesterol… A Red Flag??

If you think you have NOTHING to worry about, it’s more important than ever you hear this information.  Go here to discover why everything you thought you knew about heart health is just plain wrong… and how Big Pharma’s lies may be slowly killing you...

Just recently, this weird but effective "fruit cancer cure" was featured on one of America's most popular health shows.

Click to Play Video

You can buy this fruit at the grocery store for a couple of dollars, yet amazingly one study shows it has the power to shrink cancer tumors 100% of the time!

If you missed the TV show, no problem. You can learn more about this fruit cancer cure simply by watching a FREE video presentation we've created for you...

Click here to watch it right now.

—Matthew Simons
Publisher, Nutrition & Healing

P.S. This video will be available for the next 24 hours, don't miss out again. Click here to watch it now while it's fresh on your mind.

Acupuncture For Prostatitis

If you are experiencing pain and other symptoms of prostatitis, perhaps you are wondering why you would subject yourself to being stuck with needles. However, study after study has shown that acupuncture for prostatitis is an effective (and, yes, nearly painless) way to manage this common prostate disorder.

What Is Prostatitis?

Prostatitis is a general term for inflammation of the prostate gland. Estimates of how many men experience prostatitis vary, but autopsy studies have placed the prevalence at 64 to 86 percent. ^[1] Of the four types of prostatitis (acute bacterial, chronic bacterial, chronic nonbacterial prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), and inflammatory prostatitis), CP/CPPS, by far the most common (90 percent to 95 percent of cases), ^[2] is also the one that responds to acupuncture.

CP/CPPS can last for weeks or longer; and it can recur again and again — each time subjecting men to symptoms such as painful ejaculation, lower back pain, urinary frequency, difficulty starting urination, burning with urination, pain at the shaft or tip of the penis and testicular pain.

Why Acupuncture For Prostatitis?

Few treatments are available for CP/CPPS; and for men who want an effective alternative to drugs and their side effects, acupuncture may be a logical choice. Here are the results of a few studies to set your mind at ease:

• In a study published in the American Journal of Medicine, the authors compared the use of acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for men who had chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Eighty-nine men were randomly assigned to receive either actual or sham acupuncture twice weekly for 10 weeks, with each session lasting 30 minutes. At the end of the study, 32 (73 percent) of the 44 men who had actual acupuncture had a positive response (based on their responses to the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index [NIH/CPSI]), compared with 21 (47 percent) of the 45 men in the sham group. In addition, 14 (32 percent) of the men in the acupuncture group still had a positive response 24 weeks after completing treatment, compared with only six (13 percent) in the sham group. ^[3]

• An earlier study conducted in Canada set out to determine whether acupuncture could improve problems with urination, pain and the quality of life in men with CP/CPPS. The 12 men in the study had not responded to standard therapies, such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs or alpha-blockers. Acupuncture treatment consisted of twice weekly sessions for six weeks, and at each session the men were treated at 30 acupuncture points. Based on NIH/CPSI scores, the men experienced a significant improvement in pain, urinary symptoms and quality of life after an average of 33 weeks of follow-up. The authors concluded that “acupuncture appears to be a safe, effective, and durable treatment in improving symptoms in, and the quality of life of, men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome refractory to treatment.” ^[4]

• Several reviews of the effectiveness of acupuncture for CP/CPPS have been done, and one of the most recent ones (August 2011) noted there is “increasing evidence that acupuncture could be a safe and effective treatment in managing CP/CPPS.” The reviewers explained that their evaluation of recent clinical research of acupuncture for CP/CPPS “could encourage health care providers and urologists to apply acupuncture for managing pains of CP/CPPS with standard treatment.” ^[5]

Acupuncture And Other Treatments

Acupuncture can be used along with other management approaches for CP/CPPS, including medications but especially natural and alternative treatments. Some of the natural treatments that may be helpful include a healthy diet, biofeedback, stress management techniques, regular exercise, sitz baths, avoiding alcohol and the use of selected natural supplements, among others. Be sure to consult your healthcare provider before you start acupuncture for prostatitis.