Safe Alternatives to Avoid Blood Clotting

By Bob Livingston • Apr 3rd, 2009

All seniors need to be aware of their blood clotting mechanism. If our blood clots too fast or too slow, we could have a medical emergency. It happens all the time.

When our blood sludges (thickens), we may not be able to get it thin fast enough to ward off a stroke or heart attack. It is better to err on the side of thin blood.

There are many natural blood thinners, but none of these have been known to cause overly thin blood. Each day I take fish oil, cod liver oil, Viobin, natto, garlic and gingko.

If you’re under the care of a doctor, they prescribe Heparin®, Warfarin® (Coumadin), streptokinase, and T-PA (tissue plasminogen activator.) And after most any heart procedure, Plavix® is the doctor’s drug favorite. They don’t tell us what Plavix® does to the skin. Coumadin increases the risk of bleeding under the skin and depletes the body of vitamin K which has an important natural blood clotting action.

Streptokinase has a very short-lived action and over time becomes less effective. Heparin® must be injected and it can lead to allergic reaction, high potassium blood levels, osteoporosis, low blood platelets and even hair loss. And a number of Heparin® batches were recalled last year. T-PA is only administered as an IV, is effective for a relatively short period and is very expensive.

Natural nattokinase (natto) is a favorite because it is packaged in very small capsules with no taste. It is a rich source of protein, vitamin B2 and vitamin K2. Mainly, it contains the enzyme natto. The enzyme natto has the ability to dissolve blood clots. This is known as fibrinolysis. The body produces an enzyme called plasmin which has fibrinolytic properties. But for a variety of reasons, its activity appears to diminish as we age. So the effect of natto is similar to plasmin, but research shows that it is four times more potent. It is a relatively safe clotbuster for most people. I love it because it has been used for at least a thousand years in Japan.

We need to be aware if we have an overactive clotting mechanism. It’s dangerous! It leads to a host of cardiovascular problems such as hardening of the arteries, heart attack, stroke, intermittent claudication (leg pain upon exerting), varicose veins and high blood pressure. It is also thought that an overactive clotting factor contributes to senility, infertility, impotence, hemorrhoids, eye conditions involving the retina and fibromyalgia.

The enzymatic activity of natto is not only fibrinolytic (dissolves blood clots), but also it is homeostatic. That is, not only does it break down existing clots, but it also works to prevent the formation of excessive amounts of fibrin and reestablish a healthy coagulation mechanism of the body.

Natto is a clot buster but unlike pharmaceutical clot busting agents, natto does not reduce the capacity of the body to form clots appropriately and quickly to stop bleeding. Pharmaceuticals thin blood to the point of hemorrhage—causing huge black bruised-looking places on the skin.

Coumadin depletes the body of vitamin K and therefore limits the capacity of blood to clot when it needs to.

Natto can be taken orally in capsule form that has a longer lasting action, costs less and has no negative side effects. In fact, it has positive side effects such as increased energy, new and better circulation, better vision, less joint and muscle pain and has been used to manage migraine headaches.

You can find natto at a natural supplement company.

Food Poisoning

Food poisoning: It's way more common than you think 

It occurred to me that haven't written much about the recent peanut-related salmonella outbreak – and that's in spite of the fact that it was responsible for killing nine people and sickening more than 640. The fact that I've only mentioned a public health nightmare of this magnitude in passing is telling. 

Think about it: this first decade of the 21st century has been rife with significant tainted food outbreaks. Last summer, there was another salmonella outbreak that sickened more than twice as many as this year's peanut scare – about 1,400 people. If you'll recall, that outbreak was traced to peppers and tomatoes imported from (surprise, surprise) Mexico. Before that, there was the panic over E. coli-tainted spinach. 

And if you think that this seems like a lot, here's the bad news: you don't know the half of it. A new study by the CDC estimates that as many as one in four Americans contract a foodborne sickness every year. Only a very few of these are widespread outbreaks. Usually it just results in stomach cramps, vomiting, or diarrhea that the victims sometimes don't even associate with something they ate. 

According to the CDC, as many as one in three of these cases is actually the result of food poisoning. There are a whopping 250 kinds of food-related illnesses out there, so it can be tough to dodge them all. 

The CDC's food poisoning expert Dr. Robert Tauxe believes that the U.S. has "one of the safest" food supplies in the world. But as we saw with the Mexican pepper and tomato outbreak, it's not always the U.S. food that's the problem. 

"Increasingly," Tauxe says, "Our food supply is the world's." 

But it's not necessarily the food that's always to blame. Often it's basic hygiene — or the lack of it. The widespread failure to simply have restaurant employees wash their hands results in the spread of infectious disease more often than just about anything short of biological warfare. 

In fact, research shows that a leading cause of food poisoning in the U.S. is residual fecal matter on the hands of restaurant employees who forget to scrub after, well… you know. Tens of millions get sick every year for this reason alone. 

Sadly, restaurants don't like to spend a lot of time examining their food-handling employees. They give them written instructions, according to the law in a particular state, and that's about it. 

If reading this is making you seriously re-think your food or restaurant choices — or even eating out at all — I don't blame you.

Almonds

Almonds Get an A+ for All-Around Good Health!

Almonds are considered to be a well-balanced food—and the most nutritious of all nuts! According to a study published in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation, this tasty little nut may lower your “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, while not affecting your “good” high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

In the study, both men and women who ate a handful—about one ounce—of almonds each day lowered their LDL by an average of 4.4 percent. And those who ate two handfuls a day decreased their LDL by a whopping 9.4 percent. And crunching these nuts caused no weight gain in any of the patients. So grab a handful today and reap the health benefits of almonds! 

Earwax

Ok, so this isn’t something you’ll hear about often, but the buildup of earwax could be keeping you from, well, hearing. Earwax – technically known as cerumen – is a mixture of secretions from glands in the ear canal, dead skin cells, and bits of hair that help clean, lubricate, and protect the ear. But sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. In fact, about 12 million Americans suffer from impacted earwax.

 

When wax becomes impacted, you can experience a reduction in hearing, the feeling that your ear is clogged, pain, and itching, and even an odorous discharge. But before you reach for that Q-Tip, be aware that trying to clean your ear often pushes it deeper into the ear canal. Instead, you can soften and liquefy hardened earwax by warming olive oil to body temperature. Hold your head to the side and place a few drops in your ear. Rub your ear gently, then tilt your head to let the oil run out. The drops should carry the excess wax out with them. You can also use a baby syringe to suck out the oil and wax. (If the wax doesn’t come out easily, see your doctor for professional removal.)

 

Done monthly, these techniques can keep earwax accumulation under control. Sounds like an easy and economical way to improve your hearing!

 

Yours in health and happiness,

 

Bonnie Jenkins 

Editor, Advanced Natural Medicine

Spring Cleaning

by:  Bonnie Jenkins

I’m a firm believer in spring cleaning. But I don’t limit my enthusiasm to cleaning my house. I also think it’s important to periodically clean the body, too. And spring is a great time to lighten your toxic load.

 

Detoxing can do just that – eliminate toxins, boost energy, and help you lose weight. But the Internet is filled with quick and radical detox plans that require fasting or harsh laxatives. Not only are these hard to stick with, they can be extremely hard on your body. Fortunately, you don’t have to do an intensive detox. Gentle everyday strategies can minimize your exposure to toxins and support your liver – the body’s primary cleansing organ.

 

The Downlow on Detoxing

 

In a perfect world, your body could flush out any toxins you encounter. But as industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals from our environment build up, the body has trouble keeping up. The resulting contamination, or “body burden,” has been linked to cancer and reproductive problems, among other health issues.

 

Toxins, substances that damage the structure or function of body cells and tissues, exist in the foods we eat, the liquids we drink, and the air we breathe. Some come from external sources, such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, pesticides, heavy metals, processed foods, preservatives, additives, and airborne allergens. Others are created internally, like free radicals and metabolic waste.

 

Even the most health-consious among us can be overwhelmed by these everyday toxins. Consider this: Before we are even born, synthetic chemicals and heavy metals of all kinds begin building up in our bodies. Once we do make our arrival, everything we use and everywhere we go contributes to our toxic load. But the following measures can help your body remove these toxins – and prevent the accumulation of future pollutants. As a result, you’ll feel lighter, think more clearly, and have more energy within a couple of weeks to a month.

 

Clean Your Plate

 

The foods you eat can either add to your overall body burden or support your body’s innate ability to detoxify itself. A high-sugar, high-fat diet – which is standard American fare – makes toxins stay in the bloodstream longer, and the more energy your liver expends to process high-fat foods, the less energy it has to complete its detoxification work.

 

One easy way to replace toxins with life-supporting foods is to go organic. Eating organic food when possible lowers your exposure to pesticides. Which conventional foods harbor the most toxins? According to the Environmental Working Group’s “dirty dozen,” the 12 most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes, pears, spinach, and potatoes. If you just opt for organic over conventional when buying these 12 foods, you’ll be making great strides toward halting the buildup of agricultural contaminants in your diet.

 

It’s also critical that you eat the recommended five to nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables. Dark leafy greens come packed with cleansing antioxidants and toxin-eradicating chlorophyll, while cruciferous vegetables are especially powerful because they stimulate production of the detox enzyme glutathione-s-transferases (GST). GST binds to heavy metals, solvents, and pesticides, and then ushers them out of the body through the stool.

 

What about protein? Conventional beef and poultry can be packed with growth hormones and antibiotics. But organic versions can be pricy. If you can’t buy organic at the meat counter, opt for “natural” meat and poultry, which is raised without dubious additives – and cut back on the amount you eat. You can fill in the gap with heart-healthy fish. A word of warning though: Avoid contaminated fish, such as farmed Atlantic salmon, flounder, or striped bass, which have high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and orange roughy, swordfish, and Chilean sea bass, which contain mercury. Wild Alaskan salmon, pacific halibut, trout, and albacore tuna, on the other hand, have low levels of mercury and high levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. For a complete list of the best and worst fish, go to oceansalive.org.

 

Love Your Liver

 

When healthy, your body works like a well-organized sanitation system to clean out accumulated toxins. The liver acts as the body’s filter, removing impurities from the blood and producing bile, which carries pollutants out of the body through the lungs, intestines, skin, or urine. This hardworking organ also produces essential enzymes that help break down toxins, rendering them harmless.

 

But because the liver doesn’t always show outward signs of sluggish operation until matters get serious (think cirrhosis and hepatitis), this hardworking organ needs the most love. Support the liver by taking cleansing herbs like artichoke leaf, which stimulates the production of bile; milk thistle, which strengthens liver cell membranes and promotes the production of glutathione; and tumeric, which boosts detoxing enzymes in the liver.

 

The liver also thrives with ample supplies of certain vitamins and minerals. To be sure you’re getting enough – at least the recommended daily amount – supplement your diet with vitamins A, C, and E, as well as the B vitamins, zinc, calcium, and selenium. A good-quality multivitamin/multimineral supplement will give you plenty of these essentials.

 

One Last Thing …

 

What you drink can also aid in detoxing your body. Downing plenty of water – at least eight 8-ounce glasses per day, and more if you’re active – help flush toxins out of your body. But don’t rely on the tap, or even bottled water. Municiple water can be the source of numerous contaminants, and bottled water often harbors bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical that accumulates in the body’s fatty tissue. Instead of worrying about what may be in your water, I’ve found that distilling the water yourself using a distiller designed to fit on your countertop is an easy and economical solution to providing a source of clean, pure water. Look for a distiller that vaporizes the water to remove contaminants and comes with a removable carafe that will fit in your refrigerator.

 

It’s also important to drink at least three cups of green tea a day (the equivalent of about one green-tea supplement capsule). One study recently found that green tea’s catechins boost production of glutathione enzymes, which help the liver get rid of cancer-causing toxins. As an extra bonus, the polyphenols in green tea also improve heart health, guard against certain types of cancer, boost overall immunity, and may even help prevent tooth decay.

6 Sure-Fire Tips to Prevent Glaucoma Naturally

by Dr. Mercola

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, and belongs to a group of eye diseases that damage your optic nerve, leading to vision loss. In its early stages, glaucoma may produce no symptoms at all, and it’s estimated that half of the more than 4 million Americans with glaucoma do not even realize they have it.

Because the vision loss caused by glaucoma comes on so gradually, it is sometimes called the “silent thief of sight.” Often, it’s not until the disease is at an advanced stage that the related vision loss becomes apparent, and by then your sight may suffer permanent damage.

This is why it’s so important to take steps now to help protect your vision, even if your eyesight is normal. I’ll be discussing exactly what you can do to help prevent and treat glaucoma later in the article, but first here’s a bit of background on this common eye problem.

What Causes Glaucoma?

The underlying causes of glaucoma are not completely understood, but typically the damage it does to your optic nerve is related to increased pressure in your eye. The pressure typically comes from a buildup of pressure from the aqueous humor, the watery fluid that is naturally present in your eyeball.

In a healthy eye, the fluid is regularly drained, however in those with glaucoma the drainage system doesn’t work properly, so the fluid gradually builds up in your eye, causing increased pressure. Over time, the increased pressure causes nerve fibers that are essential to vision to die.

Though less common, glaucoma can also occur when eye pressure is normal. It appears some people’s optic nerves may be sensitive to normal levels of eye pressure, or the glaucoma may be related to problems with blood flow to your eye, which may be caused by atherosclerosis -- the accumulation of plaques in your arteries -- or another circulation problem.

In the most common type of glaucoma, open-angle (chronic) glaucoma, side (peripheral) vision is usually affected first. In the later stages, glaucoma can lead to “tunnel vision,” where you can only see straight ahead, and can eventually lead to blindness. The symptoms are gradual and come on very slowly, so you may not realize your vision is being impacted until much later stages.

About 10 percent of those with glaucoma have what’s called angle-closure (acute) glaucoma, and in these cases a sudden rise in eye pressure can cause:

• Severe eye pain 

• Blurred vision 

• Sudden visual disturbances 

• Halos around lights 

• Reddening of the eye 

• Nausea and vomiting

This latter form usually requires immediate treatment.

Who is at Risk?

Anyone can get glaucoma, but there are factors that increase your risk:

• Certain ethnicities: Glaucoma is six to eight times more common in African-Americans than in Caucasians.[2] Mexican-Americans, Asian-Americans and Japanese-Americans are also at an increased risk. 

• Over 60 years old: The risk of glaucoma increases once you are over 60.

 

• Chronic diseases: Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and hypothyroidism all increase your risk.

 

• Family history: If someone in your family has glaucoma, it may increase your risk.

 

• Eye injury and nearsightedness: Eye injuries such as retinal detachment, eye tumors, eye inflammations and eye surgery, as well as nearsightedness, increase your risk.

 

• Use of corticosteroids: A prolonged use of these drugs appears to increase your risk, especially corticosteroid eye drops.

Making Sure Glaucoma is Diagnosed Correctly

 

Ophthalmologists typically rely on a simple "air puff" test to check for high pressure inside your eye. However, if you are getting screened for this disease, please make sure you also have your corneal thickness measured using a relatively newer test called pachmyetry.

  

Pachymetry, which measures corneal thickness, may be a more reliable indicator of the pressure inside your eye because the thickness of your cornea can significantly influence the readings on the air puff test.

If you have thin corneas, the instrument may give falsely low readings and may miss the diagnosis of glaucoma. If you have thick corneas the air puff test can actually misdiagnosis you as having glaucoma despite the fact that you have normal eye pressures.

 

Conventional Ways Lower Your Eye Pressure

Conventional medicine’s solution to glaucoma is typically drugs or surgery, or a combination of them. Often eye drops are given to glaucoma patients to use for life in an attempt to lower pressure inside of their eyes, but they come with a laundry list of side effects including:

• Blurred vision 

• Respiratory problems 

• Forgetfulness 

• Lowered heart rate 

• Burning or stinging in the eyes

Surgery also carries with it serious risks, among them an increased risk of cataracts.

Natural Ways to Lower Your Eye Pressure

You do have another option, though, as surprising as it may sound the same lifestyle changes that lower blood pressure typically also work to lower your eye pressure, thereby helping to prevent and even treat glaucoma without a risk of side effects.

 

The top two steps are:

1. Lower your insulin levels: As your insulin levels rise, it causes your blood pressure, and possibly also your eye pressure, to increase. In time this can cause your body to become insulin resistant, and studies show insulin resistance -- which is common in people with diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure -- is linked to elevated eye pressure.

The solution is to avoid sugar and grains, the two “food groups” that will inevitably cause surges in your insulin levels. Even whole, organic grains will rapidly break down to sugars, so they too should be avoided. So in addition to avoiding sugar, if you have glaucoma or are concerned about it, you’ll want to avoid foods like: 

• Breads 

• Pasta 

• Rice 

• Cereal 

• Potatoes

 

2. Exercise regularly: One of the most effective ways to lower your insulin levels is through exercise. A regular, effective exercise program consisting of aerobics, sprint-burst type exercises, and strength training can go a long way toward reducing your insulin levels and protecting your vision.

Other Tips to Keep Your Vision Healthy

As part of your overall program to keep your eyesight clear and problem-free, even as you age, make sure you are doing the following:

• Taking an animal-based omega-3 fat supplement. A type of omega-3 fat called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may help protect and promote healthy retinal function. DHA is concentrated in your eye's retina and has been found to be particularly useful in preventing macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness.

 

Omega-3 fat, including DHA, is found in fish, but I don't recommend eating fish due to the concerns of mercury and other toxins that have been found in fish from oceans, lakes and streams and farm-raised fish. Instead, my most highly recommended source for omega-3 fat is krill oil.

• Getting loads of lutein and zeaxanthin. Many have never heard of these two vision powerhouses, but they are incredibly important for your eyesight. Lutein, which is a carotenoid found in particularly large quantities in green, leafy vegetables, acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells from free radical damage. 

Some excellent sources include kale, collard greens, spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts and egg yolks, particularly raw egg yolks. Egg yolks also have zeaxanthin, another carotenoid, in an equal amount to lutein. Zeaxanthin is likely to be equally as effective as lutein in protecting eyesight.

It is important to note that lutein is an oil-soluble nutrient, and if you merely consume the above vegetables without some oil or butter you can't absorb the lutein. So make sure you’re eating some healthy fat along with your veggies,

 

Eggs yolks are also loaded with these nutrients but once the egg is cooked they tend to be damaged and non useful. So you can consume them raw by whipping them up in a shake or cooking them minimally as in sunny side or poach them with runny yolks.

• Avoiding trans fats:  Trans fat may interfere with omega-3 fats in your body, which are extremely important for your eye health. A diet high in trans fat also appears to contribute to macular degeneration. Trans fat is found in many processed foods and baked goods, including margarine, shortening, fried foods like French fries, fried chicken and doughnuts, cookies, pastries and crackers. 

• Eating dark-colored berries. The European blueberry, bilberry, is known to prevent and even reverse macular degeneration, and bioflavonoids from other dark-colored berries including blueberries, cranberries and others will also be beneficial. They work by strengthening the capillaries that carry nutrients to eye muscles and nerves.

However, because berries contain natural sugar they should be eaten in moderation to avoid upsetting your insulin levels.

Following the healthy lifestyle tips I’ve described above will go a long way toward protecting your vision, whether you’ve been diagnosed with glaucoma or simply want to keep your eyesight in top condition. If you have glaucoma, however, it’s especially important to eliminate those grains and sugars, get exercising, and consume animal-based omega-3 fat regularly in order to keep the disease from progressing.

7 Ways to Boost Energy

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

Fatigue is one of the biggest problems of modern life, but we're trying to fix that problem in all the wrong ways.

Trying to "get" or "find" energy is like trying to grab a fistful of water. If you want water (energy) to sit in your hand, you have to first create the conditions under which it's possible -- in the case of water, keeping your fingers tightly together and your hand cupped while open will do the trick -- but trying to grab the water will not. It's the same thing with energy. 

Energy isn't something you get or grab, but rather the by-product of certain conditions that allow it to show up in your life. If your health and attitude and body and mind are all aligned in the right way, there's nothing else for you to do but to feel energized. It's the natural "side-effect" of a healthy life -- it just comes with the territory.

Let's say you were a swimmer wearing a weight belt and you wanted to increase your time in the 50-yard freestyle. You could spend a lot of effort researching the latest titanium high-tech bathing suit -- which might add a second or two to your time -- but wouldn't it be a lot more effective to simply drop the weight belt?

 

Most of us are carrying around weight belts and looking to increase our energy with coffee and stimulants when in fact if we just dropped the weight belt we'd automatically go faster.

Some of the items on our weight belt are: too little sleep, disorganization, toxic relationships, high-carb diets, undetected food sensitivities, and all sorts of other facts of modern life that I discuss in detail in my book, The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy. In this article I'm going to suggest seven ways to help drop the weight belt from your energy tank. Do them and you may be surprised at what a boost in energy they give you.

1. Support your liver. You can help your liver do its job more effectively -- and boost your energy in the bargain -- by taking a daily dose of an herb called milk thistle. I consider the liver to be the most misunderstood and under-appreciated organ in the human body, because when it's not working right, the first thing to suffer is your energy. Giving the liver all the nutrients it needs to perform its daily tasks is one of the most important things you can do to boost your energy.

2. Get ten minutes of sun every day. "The sun gives you strength, lifts your spirits and is a source of energy", says my friend Al Sears, MD, author of Your Best Health Under the Sun. Like a growing body of health experts, Sears thinks we've become so sun phobic that we're missing out on the myriad mood-boosting and energy-enhancing benefits that vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin has to offer.

3. Disconnect for a day. One of the great energy drainers of the 21st century is information overload. We're deluged with stuff coming at us from emails, RSS feeds, blogs, social networking sites, TV, magazines, radio, fax machines, Blackberries... you get the picture. Knowledge may be power, but information overload is just... well, noise. Try a media-free day and feel your own energy accumulate -- rather than dissipate as you attend to millions of distractions.   Most of the chatter, when you think about it, won't make much difference in the long run anyway. (If you find the idea of disconnecting for a day a frightening thought, you are exactly the person who needs to do it the most!)

4. Try the "No-Frills, No-Excuses, Anytime-Anywhere" workout.  We all know that exercise helps with energy -- at least I hope we do -- but when it comes to working out,  time remains a big obstacle for many people. Here's my own "no excuses" lo-tech workout that you can do just about anywhere in as little as 15 or 20 minutes for an amazing boost in energy: 1) run a mile, 2) do some squats, 3) do some push-ups, 4) do some crunches. Stretch and go about your business refreshed and energized.  And if you can't go out and run the mile, do some jumping jacks in your office, or run the stairs.

5. Revive your "qi". Acupuncture is based on the precepts of traditional Chinese Medicine that says the body and mind are inextricably linked; that vital energy, or qi, regulates a person's spiritual, mental and physical health; that each of us is a delicate balance of opposing and inseparable forces called yin and yang -- and when that balance is disrupted, vital energy becomes blocked or weakened. When our qi (energy) is at optimal levels and flowing smoothly, we're ready to take on the world.  Spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically we're strong, healthy and energized. One terrific way to balance that energy is through acupuncture.

6. De-clutter and deep-six the energy drain. Here's a rule I've found to be a universal truth: your energy has a perfect inverse relationship to the accumulation of stuff you don't need. The more unwanted, unused, unneeded stuff you have cluttering up your life, the less energy you have. Believe it or not, the condition of your desk (and desktop) and office and living space actually reflects a lot of what's going on in your head.  If you take time to organize and de-clutter, you'll actually be freeing up a lot of psychic space, and that can really turbo-charge your energy.

7. Take the right supplements. While supplements don't really "give" you energy, they can correct metabolic issues that are draining it. They can also speed along certain pathways that are nutrient-dependent and that get sluggish (and energy draining) when those nutrients are in short supply. One terrific energizing nutrient is coenzyme Q10.  It helps transform fats and sugars into energy and is a potent antioxidant.