Aspartame – Not So Sweet After All

Posted on July 14, 2023 by marcia

Top Sweetener Officially Declared a Carcinogen

Analysis by Dr. Joseph MercolaFact Checked

July 14, 2023

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

The World Health Organization has finally gotten around to declaring the popular artificial sweetener aspartame a potential carcinogen
The ruling comes from sources with WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), who said aspartame will be listed as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” in July 2023
I’ve been warning about aspartame’s cancer-causing potential since 2010, so you can see just how long this danger has been known
For over a decade, researchers have been warning of aspartame’s neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity, stating reevaluation of aspartame consumption is “urgent and cannot be delayed”
A 2022 large-scale cohort study found people who consumed higher levels of artificial sweeteners had higher risk of overall cancer compared to non-consumers

The World Health Organization has finally gotten around to declaring the popular artificial sweetener aspartame a potential carcinogen.¹ I warned about aspartame’s cancer-causing potential on my site over 25 years ago, in my best-selling book, “Sweet Deception: Why Splenda, NutraSweet, and the FDA May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” in 2006, and in an article I wrote for The Huffington Post.² It’s since been deleted — but you can see just how long this danger has been known.

The ruling comes from sources with WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), who said aspartame will be listed as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” in July 2023.³ Additional findings from the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization’s Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which is in the process of updating its aspartame risk assessment, are also expected.⁴

Donald Rumsfeld’s Hand in Aspartame’s Approval

JECFA has vouched for aspartame’s safety for decades, stating since 1981 that it’s safe when consumed within accepted daily limits.⁵ It was 1981 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved aspartame.⁶ At the time, the late Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. secretary of defense, was chairman of G.D. Searle, aspartame’s manufacturer, and he was reportedly instrumental in its approval.

At a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, the FDA had refused to approve aspartame due to concerns that it could induce brain tumors.⁷ The late John Olney, a renowned neuroscientist who tried to prevent aspartame’s approval, also wrote a letter to the Board of Inquiry in 1987, warning of aspartame’s neurotoxicity, including the potential for brain tumors and damage to children’s brains.⁸ As reported by Rense.com:⁹

“The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld … vow to ‘call in his markers,’¹⁰ to get it approved.

On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan’s new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry’s decision.

It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame’s favor.

Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle.”

Aspartame’s Cancer Link Known for Decades

Despite aspartame’s approval, by 1987 a series of investigative reports raised concerns that the chemical’s approval was mired by conflicts of interest, poor quality industry-funded research and revolving-door relationships between the FDA and the food industry.¹¹

By 1996, a team with the department of psychiatry at Washington University Medical School questioned whether increasing brain tumor rates had an aspartame connection. “An exceedingly high incidence of brain tumors” has been identified in aspartame-fed rats compared to rats not fed aspartame, they explained, adding:¹²

“Compared to other environmental factors putatively linked to brain tumors, the artificial sweetener aspartame is a promising candidate to explain the recent increase in incidence and degree of malignancy of brain tumors.”

Then, in 2006, a study led by Dr. Morando Soffritti, a cancer researcher from Italy who’s the head of the European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, found that, even in low doses, animals were developing several different forms of cancer when fed aspartame.¹³

That year, the team concluded aspartame was a “multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg body weight, much less than the current acceptable daily intake” and stated a reevaluation of aspartame consumption was “urgent and cannot be delayed.”¹⁴

A 2007 follow-up study confirmed the findings of aspartame’s “multipotential carcinogenicity,” even at doses close to the acceptable daily intake for humans. Further, it also demonstrated that when lifespan exposure beginning in utero was assessed, aspartame’s “carcinogenic effects are increased.”¹⁵ In 2010, Soffritti and colleagues again warned that aspartame was a carcinogenic agent in rats and mice.¹⁶

Research Supporting Aspartame’s Carcinogenicity Is Widespread

These studies were only the beginning of the evidence showing aspartame’s cancer-causing potential. In 2012, Harvard researchers published a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which found:¹⁷

“In the most comprehensive long-term epidemiologic study, to our knowledge, to evaluate the association between aspartame intake and cancer risk in humans, we observed a positive association between diet soda and total aspartame intake and risks of NHL [non-Hodgkin lymphoma] and multiple myeloma in men and leukemia in both men and women.”

Adding further concerns over aspartame’s safety, U.S. Right to Know reported:¹⁸

“In a 2014 commentary in American Journal of Industrial Medicine,¹⁹ the [Cesare] Maltoni [Cancer Research] Center researchers wrote that the studies submitted by G. D. Searle for market approval ‘do not provide adequate scientific support for [aspartame’s] safety.

In contrast, recent results of life-span carcinogenicity bioassays on rats and mice published in peer-reviewed journals, and a prospective epidemiological study, provide consistent evidence of [aspartame’s] carcinogenic potential.’”

A 2020 study further supports the Ramazzini Institute’s (RI) original findings, revealing a statistically significant increase in total hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) and total leukemias and lymphomas in female rats exposed to aspartame.

“After the HLT cases re-evaluation, the results obtained are consistent with those reported in the previous RI publication and reinforce the hypothesis that APM [aspartame] has a leukemogenic and lymphomatogenic effect,” the researchers explained.²⁰

Again in 2021, a review of the Ramazzini Institute data further confirmed that aspartame is carcinogenic in rodents. The researchers noted that their findings “confirm the very worrisome finding that prenatal exposure to aspartame increases cancer risk in rodent offspring. They validate the conclusions of the original RI studies.”²¹

In response, they called on national and international public health agencies to reexamine aspartame’s health risks, particularly prenatal and early postnatal exposures.²²

WHO Warns Against Artificial Sweeteners for Weight Control

Aspartame’s cancer link is especially concerning given its prevalence in diet foods and drinks. Aspartame is used in 1,400 food products in France and more than 6,000 products around the globe. The chemical is commonly found in food products such as sugar-free gum, diet drink mixes and sodas, reduced-sugar condiments and tabletop sweeteners, including Equal and NutraSweet.²⁶

Its high level of sweetness — 200 times greater than sugar²⁷ — and low calories makes it popular among people looking to make their drinks and meals sweeter without the calories of a comparable amount of sugar.

But, in addition to labeling the artificial sweetener as possibly carcinogenic, in May 2023, even the beyond-corrupted WHO released a guideline advising not to use non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) for weight control because they don’t offer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children.²⁸

Previously, WHO conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that revealed “there is no clear consensus on whether non-sugar sweeteners are effective for long-term weight loss or maintenance, or if they are linked to other long-term health effects at intakes within the ADI.”²⁹

The systematic review also suggested “potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.” Even cancer was called out in analysis, which included 283 studies and found artificial sweeteners are linked to an increased risk of:³⁰

Obesity	Type 2 diabetes
High fasting glucose	All-cause mortality
Cardiovascular events	Death from cardiovascular disease
Stroke	High blood pressure
Bladder cancer	Preterm birth and possible adiposity in offspring later in life

Further, according to the WHO study:³¹

“Mechanisms by which NSS as a class of molecules might exert effects that increase risk for obesity and certain NCDs [non-communicable diseases] have been reviewed extensively and include interaction with extra-oral taste receptors, possibly with alteration of the gut microbiome.

Because sugars and all known NSS presumably elicit sweet taste through the TAS1R heterodimeric sweet-taste receptor, which has been identified not just in the oral cavity but in other glucose-sensing tissues, it is not surprising that such a group of vastly different chemical entities could be responsible for similar effects on health.”

from: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/07/14/aspartame-carcinogenic-effects.aspx?ui=f460707c057231d228aac22d51b97f2a8dcffa7b857ec065e5a5bfbcfab498ac&sd=20211017&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1ReadMore&cid=20230714_HL2&foDate=true&mid=DM1432971&rid=1855621420

Concerned About Your Blood Sugar?

Posted on July 3, 2016 by marcia

14 Early Warning Signs Your Blood Sugar Is Super High – Eat These Foods To Reverse It

bodymindsoulspirit | July 3, 2016

via WeeklyHealthLife,

Diabetes is a disease of high blood sugar in the system for longer time. This disease is riseing among people young and elder. It is always best to know about the symptoms if something like this is coming or not. If it runs in your family there are bigger chances of getting this disease in your system.

Here you can read about all the symptoms what are causing the diabetes and the high levels of sugar in the blood.

If you have recently gain weight, if you have stomach problems and feel hungry all the time, are very common symptoms of diabetes.

High blood sugar can be caused by: poor diet, lack of exercise, stress, health conditions and medications.

Regular symptoms can appear even if you don’t have diabetes. Many people don’t have these symptoms, or all of them, and still have diabetes. Here you can read about the symptoms that you need to look for and be aware so that you can check yourself or your close one for diabetes if you or them are showing this symptoms.

They are:

Dry mouth
Increased thirst
stomach problems
Impotence
Slow healing cuts and wounds
feeling hungry all the time
having dry or itchy skin
frequent urination
having problems with concentration
nerve problems
blurred vision
infections that keep coming back
weight gain
frequent fatigue and tiredness

There is a list called GI ( glycemic index) list that shows which food are containing carbohydrate and can raise the blood sugar. The high GI levels increase the blood glucose a. The scale is from 0 to 100. High GI in the food can be rapidly digested but the low GI are slowly digested. They also reduce the insulin levels and can help you control the weight.

Here is the GI list and you can see which one has the low or the high concentration of carbohydrate.

1 egg is 0
1 cup of broccoli is 10
1 medium yellow onion- 10
1 cup walnuts – 15
1 cup cashews- 22
1 cup cherries – 22
½ grapefruit0 25
yogurt- 23
sausage- 28
butter beans- 31
kidney beans- 34
medium apple- 38
1 cup spaghetti- 42
green grapes- 46
1 carrot- 47
orange- 48
banana- 52
peas- 54.

This scale is from 0 to 54 and it is considered to be low glycemic foods and can be consumed and digested with no problems. However, the scale from 54 and up to 100 are more glycemic and can be considered to be linked with high blood sugar.

brown rice, tablespoon honey – 55
oatmeal- 58
macaroni and cheese, white rice- 64

The scale between 55 and 69 is showing the medium level of glycemic foods.

Here are the high concentration glycemic foods and you need to avoid them from your regular use if you don’t want your blood sugar levels to rise.

white bread (one slice)- 70
2 cups popcorn- 72
doughnut- 76
rice cake- 78
medium baked potato- 85
corn flakes – 92
pure glucose- 100.

Source:http://www.naturalmedicinebox.net

from: http://www.bodymindsoulspirit.com/14-early-warning-signs-your-blood-sugar-is-super-high-eat-these-foods-to-reverse-it/

Considering Depression & Diabetes

Posted on June 15, 2016 by marcia

Depression and Diabetes: Too Much in Common

June 6, 2016

Dr. Emilie C. Wilson

Some healers, myself included, like to look for metaphors in medicine. A common metaphor used to understand diabetes is that the “diabetic patient lacks sweetness in her/his life”. While this is by no means meant to represent any individual patient’s experience with diabetes, some people do find an element of truth to this statement.

And when you consider that depression often coexists with diabetes, this statement gets even closer to home.

The medical community recognizes the relationship between elevated blood sugar levels and conditions such as heart and kidney disease; we now also recognize that elevated blood sugar and depression are also closely linked. Depressed patients are less likely to engage in effective self-care practices such as exercise and cooking nutritious meals from whole foods (foods that have one ingredient on their list/foods that come directly from planet earth: think fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, fish, meat), which only exacerbates their increasing blood sugar levels.

Our bodies do not like our blood sugar levels to be too high (or too low, for that matter). As blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas pumps out more insulin to siphon the sugar out of our bloodstream and into the cells of our bodies for use as energy, or to be stored for later as triglycerides, or fat-storage molecules. The problem is that if we constantly have high levels of insulin in our bloodstream, the cells in our body become “resistant” to insulin. Think of insulin as a stereo, playing a message to the cells that glucose is outside, can they please open their doors and let in glucose in? The cells get that message and open up their doors. If, however, there is lots of glucose and therefore lots of insulin, the message played by insulin gets louder and louder. In an effort to “plug their ears” from insulin’s now-very loud message, the cells open fewer doors, so less glucose can get into the cells, and more insulin must then be produced. This is a state of insulin resistance, which is a precursor to diabetes, and occurs in the early stages of type II diabetes.

Among several other effects, insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation have marked disruptive effects on sleep, and can contribute to the development of sleep apnea. Sleep is one of the most fundamental activities required for optimum mental health, so sleep disturbance feeds the negative spiral into worsening health for patients suffering from depression and diabetes.

By addressing lifestyle factors including diet (primarily, removing refined carbohydrates from the diet and adding in protective antioxidants and polyphenols from fruits and vegetables, as well as appropriate amounts of protein), exercise levels (implementing realistic movement goals appropriate for each patient), and sleep (making sure you’re getting restful, rejuvenating sleep), we at the Mind-Body Center aim to help you feel better mentally, emotionally, and physically. We’ve also noticed that weight loss, an alert mind, regular and sustainable energy levels, and clear skin happen to be pleasant side effects!

from: http://www.mindbodycenterforintegrativemedicine.com/#!Depression-and-Diabetes-Too-Much-in-Common/f7zb9/5748c3d20cf25d206f8bce03

Food, Nutrition, & Inner Knowing

Posted on November 28, 2015 by marcia

Originally published on Kelly Brogan MD.

With nutrition and wellness information omnipresent, it is important that we follow our inner guide and discover what works for us as individuals.

Forget about the Glycemic Index

We are so saturated with information. With stimulus. With advice. With authoritative edicts on health. A chain of gurus have come before me seeking to guide patients into the light of wellness. People are blinded by it, however. They feel confused, skeptical, and disenfranchised. And then they default to consensus and conformity around FDA standards of disease-care. There is a better way.

It involves awakening your inner guru. Getting in touch with your own inner compass.

This is necessary because there is no one just like you out there. No one has walked your path, accumulated your exposures. Grown and changed in response in quite the same way.

Modern medicine doesn’t acknowledge the vital importance of biochemical individuality. About how we are a unique collective of organisms, an ecology within that is connected to an environment without like a snowflake in a winter sky.

So, it only stands to reason that we would interact with our environments uniquely, and support ourselves through nature in a personal way. Nutrition is, perhaps, our most intimate dance with the living ecosystem of this planet.

Weston A. Price tried to tell us about individualized diets. Francis Pottenger tried to tell us about individualized diets. Dr. Nick Gonzalez tried to tell us about individualized diet. They were, in many ways, speaking a Truth that we weren’t quite ready to receive.

This is because we have been programmed, for decades to believe in an automated universe – one that could be explained neatly through scientific cause and effect – and one that interfaced with our robotic bodies in predictable ways. In this model, nature is “mostly stupid” as Alan Watts would say, in that it could be easily mastered and put in its place of subservience. Germs are tedious annoyances out to get us. Diseases are mistakes. Medications and vaccines are applied to one and all. And food is caloric fuel for our body machines.

When you look at food as part of our relationship with the living world beyond our skin, you understand that it is information, energetic, and complex in ways that we don’t have mechanisms to understand. This is why reductionist concepts like the “glycemic index” have always struck me as a misguided construct.

Now we have a brilliant study, perhaps one of the first of its kind, that decimates this false flag of nutrition consciousness. Published in Cell, an Israeli group of researchers followed 800 people with a prescribed diet for one week, assessing biological parameters from blood sugar to their microbiota. What they uncovered was a clear signal of Truth: the same foods affect different people differently!

Even obese, diabetic patients following formal dietary recommendations for a “healthy diet” found surprising information on the effects of foods such as tomatoes on their blood sugar. Of course, we know that there is more to the benefits of a diet than its benevolent relationship to blood sugar. We know that microbiota have a meaningful role in the metabolism and impact of foods on the body, and that food can directly impact the microbiota, enhancing strains required for its digestion.

We also know that the autonomic nervous system and associated individualized differences in pancreatic innervation can dictate whether one person thrives on a high carb (whole food) diet and another tanks on it. I’ll never forget the feeling of shattered nutrition dogma when Dr. Gonzalez discussed with me a patient of his whose insulin-dependent diabetes had resolved on a prescribed high carb vegetarian diet complete with multiple glasses of carrot juice daily. (We will be publishing this case soon!)

In summary, the Cell article authors state:

“Measuring such a large cohort without any prejudice really enlightened us on how inaccurate we all were about one of the most basic concepts of our existence, which is what we eat and how we integrate nutrition into our daily life.”

Because nutrition is one of the most basic concepts, our confusion is emblematic of how far we have come from intuitive living. This is why, the most profound healing involves a transformation of consciousness, a reclaiming of agency, a connectedness to the inner and out communities we thrive with, and a relationship to intuition.

I ask my patients, after 30 days of a whole foods, organic diet, to begin to observe their preferences for pastured red meat, fruit, and leafy greens. This observation requires mindfulness around eating and a daily practice of meditation (even a couple of minutes!) to clear the clutter so that you can actually feel what is best rather than reacting from your head. Because you are your own best healer.

from: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/heard-glycemic-index-forget-about-it-1?page=2

Health Benefits of Cayenne

Posted on September 30, 2015 by marcia

As Always, do your research:

Cayenne Pepper Stops a Heart Attack in 30 Seconds

Posted on September 30, 2015 By Liivi Hess

Did you know that there is one natural remedy that can protect against every leading cause of death in Western countries?

It’s time for a new go-to remedy to join the ranks of coconut oil, raw honey, and apple cider vinegar. Cayenne pepper has so many amazing benefits; it has the potential to fight chronic diseases and also help with acute conditions.

Cayenne pepper fights against heart diseaseHeart disease is a term used to describe several problems related to plaque buildup in the walls of the arteries. As the plaque builds up, the arteries narrow and make it more difficult for blood to flow, thus creating a risk for heart attack or stroke. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, and is also the leading cause of death worldwide.

Coronary heart disease costs the United States 108.9 billion dollars each year and is the most common type of heart disease. How much of this suffering and expense could be alleviated with the use of natural preventative remedies like cayenne pepper?

Cayenne pepper has long been used as a traditional treatment for cardiovascular and circulatory problems, as well as to help alleviate chronic pain and joint issues. The active compound, capsaicin, produces a sensation of heat which results in widening of the blood vessels and increased circulation. This helps the heart and circulatory system work more efficiently.

Since cayenne pepper stimulates a strong response in the body, herbal medicine experts even recommend its use for acute conditions such as heart attack. Veteran naturopathic doctors, Dr. David Christopher, Dr. Patrick Quillin and Dr. Richard Schulze have provided ample practical evidence to support the use of cayenne pepper as a remedy for heart conditions. One major scientific study published in the journal Circulation also backs up this idea.

When laboratory mice were induced to have a heart attack, a salve containing capsaicin was rubbed on the abdomen. It was found that the cayenne extract was able to prevent damage to the heart, with an 85 percent reduction in cardiac cell death caused by the episode.

Lead researcher Keith Jones, PhD, from the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics, stated that this is the most powerful cardioprotective effect ever recorded. The scientists believe that this protective effect is thanks to “pro-survival” pathways triggered by the capsaicin.

There are a number of beneficial compounds in cayenne pepper, which could explain its widespread benefits. The spice contains an impressive array of plant nutrients, like antioxidants and carotenoids, which lower LDL cholesterol and blood triglycerides. As well as widening the blood vessels for better circulation, cayenne also discourages platelet adhesion, which is the clumping of blood that can lead to dangerous clots.

While a human study on the ability of cayenne pepper to stop a heart attack would probably be considered unethical, holistic practitioners who have found themselves in an emergency situation report that drinking a cup of hot water with half to one teaspoon of cayenne pepper is able to stop internal bleeding and heart damage in a patient in less than one minute.

It is also possible to make a cayenne pepper tincture, which experts say can be dropped under the tongue of an unconscious person in an emergency situation. The ingredients of a tincture are as follows:

1 cup of cayenne pepper powder
1 to 3 fresh cayenne peppers
2 cups of vodka

Place the powder in a one-litre glass bottle and cover with alcohol. Blend up the fresh peppers with a little alcohol to make a thick mixture and add to the bottle. This mixture should be shaken regularly while it infuses for at least two weeks, or up to three months. After this time period, the tincture can be strained and poured into a dark glass bottle for indefinite storage.

This is a good remedy to use on regular basis to improve circulation, fight free radical damage, improve antioxidant status and gain important nutrients such as vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium and potassium. It is also wise to keep cayenne tincture on hand in case of acute accidents involving bleeding, or any unexpected cardiac episodes.

Cayenne pepper fights several types of cancer

Several scientific studies have found that among cayenne pepper’s many benefits is the ability to induce the death of cancer cells. This spice can be incorporated into a natural regimen to combat cancer. Research has been carried out in relation to several types of cancer, including leukemia, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer

Researchers have found that cayenne pepper, with its active compound capsaicin, is able to stop the proliferation of cancer cells and induce a process called apoptosis, which is essentially a programmed death of the dangerous cells.

Stroke may be preventable thanks to cayenne pepper

Stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases are among the top-five leading causes of death in our society. This refers to conditions involving the circulation of blood within the brain.

As we have already discussed, cayenne pepper is able to assist in the prevention of dangerous blood clots, and also improve circulation while halting an internal hemorrhage.

Stroke is caused by a lack of fresh blood delivery to brain tissues. Cayenne pepper can prevent this by invigorating mucus membranes and blood vessels so that clots are dissolved, which halts any further damage.

Cayenne pepper against diabetes

Diabetes is another widespread cause of illness and death, costing the health-care system billions of dollars each year. This suffering and expenditure is unnecessary because type 2 diabetes is a condition that can be prevented and managed with lifestyle changes.

Along with smart diet and lifestyle changes, cayenne pepper can help to manage blood sugar imbalances and diabetes. Studies suggest that capsaicin found in cayenne pepper influences the way that the body processes glucose in the blood. It also stimulates the digestive process and improves tissue sensitivity to insulin. The result is that less insulin is required to facilitate the delivery of glucose from the blood into tissue.

Try making your own cayenne pepper tincture as an important addition to your natural remedy arsenal. It also makes a great addition to your diet, adding lively spice and flavor to a variety of dishes. What do you like to make with cayenne pepper?

— Liivi Hess

Liivi is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and is training to become a doula. She inspires women to find peace and personal power by taking control of health and fertility naturally. Liivi‘s passion is ancestral nutrition and primal lifestyle design. She and her partner Will live between Toronto, Canada and Queenstown, New Zealand.

Sources:
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/66/6/3222.short
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10495-008-0278-6
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304383597003212
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/cayenne
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/cayenne-pepper-blood-sugar-5763.html

from: http://www.thealternativedaily.com/cayenne-pepper-stops-heart-attack/

More Reasons to Eat Black Seed

Posted on December 8, 2013 by marcia

Written By:

Sayer Ji, Founder

A year ago, we wrote an article about nigella sativa (aka black seed) titled, ‘The Remedy For Everything But Death.’ It described the research on the many ways in which black seed (nigella sativa) is a potentially life-saving medicinal food, and is one of our most popular articles, with over 225K social media shares.

Opening with, “This humble, but immensely powerful seed, kills MRSA, heals the chemical weapon poisoned body, stimulates regeneration of the dying beta cells within the diabetic’s pancreas, and yet too few even know it exists,” the article summarized the peer-reviewed and published research on 10 of the seed’s remarkable health benefits:

Type 2 Diabetes: Two grams of black seed a day resulted in reduced fasting glucose, decreased insulin resistance, increased beta-cell function, and reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in human subjects.[ii]

Helicobacter Pylori Infection: Black seeds possess clinically useful anti-H. pylori activity, comparable to triple eradication therapy.[iii]

Epilepsy: Black seeds were traditionally known to have anticonvulsive properties. A 2007 study with epileptic children, whose condition was refractory to conventional drug treatment, found that a water extract significantly reduced seizure activity.[iv]

High Blood pressure: The daily use of 100 and 200 mg of black seed extract, twice daily, for 2 months, was found to have a blood pressure-lowering effect in patients with mild hypertension.[v]

Asthma: Thymoquinone, one of the main active constituents within Nigella sativa, is superior to the drug fluticasone in an animal model of asthma.[vi] Another study, this time in human subjects, found that boiled water extracts of black seed have relatively potent antiasthmatic effect on asthmatic airways.[vii]

Acute tonsillopharyngitis: characterized by tonsil or pharyngeal inflammation (i.e. sore throat), mostly viral in origin, black seed capsules (in combination with Phyllanthus niruri) have been found to significantly alleviate throat pain, and reduce the need for pain-killers, in human subjects.[viii]

Chemical Weapons Injury: A randomized, placebo-controlled human study of chemical weapons injured patients found that boiled water extracts of black seed reduced respiratory symptoms, chest wheezing, and pulmonary function test values, as well as reduced the need for drug treatment.[ix]

Colon Cancer: Cell studies have found that black seed extract compares favorably to the chemoagent 5-fluoruracil in the suppression of colon cancer growth, but with a far higher safety profile.[x] Animal research has found that black seed oil has significant inhibitory effects against colon cancer in rats, without observable side effects.[xi]

MRSA: Black seed has anti-bacterial activity against clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.[xii]

Opiate Addiction/Withdrawal: A study on 35 opiate addicts found black seed as an effective therapy in long-term treatment of opioid dependence.[xiii]

Since then, the biomedical research on black seed has continued to flourish, with another 78 studies published and cited on the National Library of Medicine’s biomedical database MEDLINE over the past 11 months.

Here are 16 additional potential health benefits to add to the growing list:

Prevents Radiation Damage: Nigella sativa oil (NSO) and its active component, thymoquinone, protect brain tissue from radiation-induced nitrosative stress.[i]
Protects Against Damage from Heart Attack: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa has a protective effect against damage associated with experimental heart attack.[ii]
Prevents Morphine Dependence/Toxicity: An alcohol extract of nigella sativa reduces morphine-associated conditioned place preference, an indication of morphine intoxication, dependence and tolerance.[iii]
Prevents Kidney Damage Associated with Diabetes: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa has protective effects on experimental diabetic nephropathy.[iv]
Prevents Post-Surgical Adhesions: Covering peritoneal surfaces with Nigella sativa oil (NSO) after peritoneal trauma is effective in decreasing peritoneal adhesion formation in an experimental model.[v]
Prevents Alzheimer’s Associated Neurotoxicity: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa has protective effects on experimental diabetic prevents neurotoxicity and Aβ1-40-induced apoptosis in the cell model.[vi]
Suppresses Breast Cancer Growth: : A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa inhibits tumor growth and induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) in a breast cancer xenograft mouse model.[vii] [viii]
Exhibits Anti-Psoriasis Properties: The alcohol extract of nigella sativa seeds exhibit anti-psoriatic activity, consistent with its medicinal use in traditional medicine.[ix]
Prevents Brain Pathology Associated with Parkinson’s Disease: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa protects cultured neurons against αSN-induced synaptic toxicity, a pathology observed in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.[x]
Kills Highly Aggressive Gliobastoma Brain Cancer Cells: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa exhibits glioblastoma cell killing activity. [xi]
Kills Leukemia Cells: A thymoquinone from nigella sativa induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in vitro.[xii]
Suppresses Liver Cancer Growth: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa prevents chemically-induced cancer in a rat model.[xiii]
Prevents Diabetic Pathologies: A water and alcohol extract of nigella sativa at low doses has a blood-sugar lowering effect and ameliorative effect on regeneration of pancreatic islets, indicating its value as a therapeutic agent in the management of diabetes mellitus.[xiv]
Suppresses Cervical Cancer Cell Growth: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa exhibits anti-proliferative, apoptotic and anti-invasive properties in a cervical cancer cell line.[xv]
Prevents Lead-Induced Brain Damage: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa ameliorates lead-induced brain damage in Sprague Dawley rats.[xvi]
Kills Oral Cancer Cells: A thymoquinone extract from nigella sativa induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) in oral cancer cells.[xvii]

Why is such a powerful seed not yet on the radar of most medical and nutrition communities? We know sesame seed can beat Tylenol in reducing arthritis pain and can reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors in a manner that makes statin drugs envious, and we know flaxseeds shrink breast and prostate tumors, but black seed’s benefits are still largely under reported and underutilized.

Interestingly, despite this blind spot, and as if to confirm black seed’s immense potential as a healing agent, Nestlé, the Switzerland-based global food giant, filed a patent on patent on the use of nigella sativa to “prevent food allergies” in 2010 (Nestlé’s international patent publication WO2010133574). This obvious attempt to appropriate traditional knowledge and use claimed the plant seed or extract should be Nestlé’s intellectual property when used as a food ingredient or drug. According to a Third World Network Briefing Paper from July, 2012:

“The Swiss giant’s claims appear invalid, as traditional uses of Nigella sativa clearly anticipate Nestlé’s patent application, and developing country scholarship has already validated these traditional uses and further described, in contemporary scientific terms, the very medicinal properties of black seed that Nestlé seeks to claim as its own “invention”.

“Nestlé claims any use of an opioid receptor-stimulating compound to treat or prevent allergies, specifically thymoquinone and, more specifically, administration of thymoquinone in the form of Nigella sativa plant material (seeds).3 The type of food allergy of greatest focus is upset stomach and diarrhea.”

The good news is that no such patent has yet to win approval, and for now, this food is still freely available. For additional research updates, simply go to Pubmed.gov, and sign up for an automatic email update for the keyword “nigella sativa,” and you’ll be one of the first to learn about the new research being done on this amazing seed as it comes directly through the biomedical research pipeline.

from: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/16-more-reasons-black-seed-remedy-everything-death2

Garlic’s Benefits

Posted on August 4, 2013 by marcia

Six reasons garlic is an amazing healing superfood

Saturday, August 03, 2013 by: PF Louis

(NaturalNews) There’s a lot of data available in Natural News article archives and studies posted on science.naturalnews.com that confirm the validity of garlic’s “magic” with several health matters.

It seems very few take advantage of the small amount of raw garlic needed to preserve good health. Even when plagued with colds, flu, and other pathogenic sourced ailments, the antibiotic, antiviral virtues of garlic are mostly ignored.

Perhaps most can’t fathom how such a small food item can offer so much. But probably the taste of raw garlic or the breath’s odor from chewing it is the major turn-off.

Some sidestep the taste and smell of garlic by using garlic extract supplements. Kyolic is an aged garlic extract brand that is often used in clinical trials for garlic.

Small thin slices of a clove can be inserted in all types of food arrangements, making it easier to consume than just gnawing on a whole clove. But taking a clove with a spoonful of raw honey works too. Chewing parsley or cilantro minimizes garlic breath and adds another healthy component.

Whatever way one chooses, consuming two to four cloves of garlic daily offers more health benefits than most realize.

Six solid health reasons to use garlic daily

1) An active garlic compound, diallyl sulphide, is able to break through the tough membranes of bacteria better and faster than powerful antibiotics with dangerous side effects such as ciprofloxacin.

Comparative analysis was was done in two separate studies using raw garlic extracts on two types of food poisoning bacteria. So eating garlic can prevent most food poisoning bugs from sending you to the hospital. [1]

2) Animal (in vivo) testing has demonstrated garlic’s ability to minimize diabetes issues. It was determined that garlic influenced insulin activity rather than directly lowering blood sugar. [2]

3) In case fighting off food poison better than pharmaceutical antibiotics without side effects didn’t impress you, maybe its ability to wipe out the bacteria, yersinia pestis, which causes bubonic plague or black death, might get your attention.

Though bubonic plague is not common these days, there have been some isolated cases recently in Europe. But the point is that garlic’s antibiotic, antiviral, and anti-fungal power has a curative effect for many pathogenic diseases.

By consuming garlic daily, you provide your body with prophylactic (preventative) pathogenic protection to prevent actual infection. [3]

4) Cardiovascular health is enhanced with garlic. Garlic has demonstrated the power to lower blood pressure and homocysteine counts. Homocysteine levels are considered stronger markers for heart problems than cholesterol counts.

Garlic also dampens cholesterol oxidation, which actually causes most of the problems generally blamed on cholesterol.

Cholesterol that’s not oxidized is important for building nerve and brain tissue, as well as serving as the first level of converting UVB sun rays to vitamin D3. So limiting cholesterol oxidation makes more sense than limiting cholesterol.

Garlic dilates blood vessels to lower blood pressure, removes triglycerides, dissolves internal clots and arterial plaque, and prevents oxidation of important lipids that lead to cellular destruction. All without side effects, of course. [4]

Garlic also functions as a blood thinner, which some say is adaptogenic because it allows clotting when needed even while thinning. Aspirin can’t do that.

5) Garlic is a powerful anti-oxidant that bolsters the immune system, and it’s a cancer fighter. Several compounds other than garlic’s antibiotic allicin, including sulfur, selenium, and others contribute to cancer cell apoptosis (cellular suicide) which cancer cells don’t normally like to do.

Even if not diagnosed with cancer, most of us have some cancer cells floating around. It’s not a bad idea to keep them from gathering together. [5]

6) In the 1970s, Robert I. Lin, president of Nutritional International in Irvine, California, used garlic to detox lead from children successfully. That’s not a well know attribute of garlic, but it’s another reason everyone should use garlic often in our polluted environment. [6]

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041476_garlic_superfood_natural_healing.html#ixzz2b1SGvGNc

Dangers of Splenda

Posted on June 1, 2013 by marcia

Splenda (Sucralose) Found To Have Diabetes-Promoting Effects

2nd June 2013

By Sayer Ji

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

Promoted for decades as a “safe” sugar alternative, presumably to prevent or reduce symptoms of diabetes, Splenda (sucralose) has been found to have diabetes-promoting effects in human subjects.

The artificial sweetener sucralose, which is approximately 600 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), and marketed under a variety of brand names, such as Splenda, Cukren, Nevella and SucraPlus, has recently been found to have diabetes-promoting effects in human test subjects, despite containing no calories and being classified as a ‘nonutritive sweetener.’

A new study published in the journal Diabetes Care, lead by researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, set out to test the metabolic effects of sucralose in obese subjects who did not use nonnutritive sweeteners.

Seventeen subjects underwent a 5-hour oral glucose tolerance test on two separate occasions preceded by consuming either sucralose (experimental condition) or water (control condition) 10 min before the glucose load in a randomized crossover design.

The results were reported as follows:

Compared with the control condition, sucralose ingestion caused 1) a greater incremental increase in peak plasma glucose concentrations (4.2 ± 0.2 vs. 4.8 ± 0.3 mmol/L; P = 0.03), 2) a 20 ± 8% greater incremental increase in insulin area under the curve (AUC) (P < 0.03), 3) a 22 ± 7% greater peak insulin secretion rate (P < 0.02), 4) a 7 ± 4% decrease in insulin clearance (P = 0.04), and 5) a 23 ± 20% decrease in SI (P = 0.01).

In other words, a single dose of sucralose lead to a 0.6 mmol/L increase in plasma glucose concentrations, a 20% increase in insulin levels, a 22% greater peak insulin secretion rate, and a 7% decrease in insulin clearance, an indication of decreased insulin sensitivity.

They concluded:

These data demonstrate that sucralose affects the glycemic and insulin responses to an oral glucose load in obese people who do not normally consume NNS.

Discussion

Despite the fact that pre-approval research on sucralose found a wide range of adverse health effects in exposed animals [read article The Bitter Truth about Splenda], national and international food safety regulatory bodies, including the FDA, now consider it completely safe for daily human consumption.*

The same applies for synthetic sweeteners like aspartame, which despite its well-known link with brain damage and over 40 documented adverse health effects, is safety approved in 90 nations.

Industry influence largely accounts for the fact that synthetic chemicals like asparatame, neotame, saccharin and sucralose are being foisted onto the public as ‘safe’ non-calorie sweeteners, despite obvious research to the contrary, and the fact that stevia, the non-calorie natural alternative, has over 1500 years of documented safe use.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA), for instance, does nothing to hide its explicit partnership with McNeil Nutritionals, maker of Splenda, despite the obvious conflict of interest. On its website, the ADA describes McNeil Nutritionals as a “national strategic partner ” and lauds them as “committed to helping people and their families with diabetes by focusing on the overall nutritional needs of the diabetes community.” McNeil Nutritionals sponsors the ADA’s “Recipe of the Day,” along with a variety of educational tools and information for consumers and healthcare professionals.

Despite these cozy relationships, the research on sucralose’s adverse health effects continues to accumulate. Some of the more recent research on the chemical indicate that it may contribute to the following health and environmental problems:

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A researcher from UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark NJ, proposes that sucralose may be causing a global increase in cases of IBS, including both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. [i] In an article titled “What made Canada become a country with the highest incidence of inflammatory bowel disease: could sucralose be the culprit?”, author Xiaofa Qin describes how Canada, which once had one of the lowest rates of IBS in the world, attained the highest levels after being the first country in the world to approve the use of sucralose in thousands of consumer products in 1991.[ii]
Harms Gut Flora and Gastrointestinal Health: A 2008 study found that the administration of sucralose to rats at a dose far below the US FDA Acceptable Daily intake level resulted in: 1) a decrease in the numbers of a wide range of beneficial gut bacteria. 2) “increase in fecal pH.” 3) “enhanced expression levels of P-gp, CYP3A4, and CYP2D1, which are known to limit the bioavailability of orally administered drugs.”[iii]
Migraines: A report was published in the journal Headache in 2006 indicating that physicians should be mindful of the possibility that sucralose can trigger migraines.[iv]
Environmental Persistence: Like many persistent organic pollutants in the pesticide category, sucralose is exceptionally resistant to degradation, both through environmental processes (microbial degradation, hydrolysis, soil sorption) and advanced treatment processes (chlorination, ozonation, sorption to activated carbon, and UV radiation). Sucralose, after all, was discovered accidentally by pesticide researchers, and is chemically related to DDT, a chlorinated hydrocarbon. Some researchers now consider it an ideal “tracer of anthropogenic activity,” which is true also of lethal radioisotopes such as uranium 238 and plutonium 239, due to their resistance to degradation. [v] Indeed, recent research found that sucralose has a low rate of removal (11%) in drinking water tested that presently serves 28 million people.[vi]
Environmental Toxicity: Sucralose was recently found to alter the physiological and behavioral status of crustaceans, leading researchers to warn that the chemical will likely have wider ecological consequences.[vii

from: http://wakeup-world.com/2013/06/02/splenda-sucralose-found-to-have-diabetes-promoting-effects/

Dr. William Davis on Triticum Fever, Celiac Disease, Wheat Consumption

Posted on August 7, 2012 by marcia

Triticum Fever, by Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly

By William Davis at 2:10 pm Wednesday, Oct 26

Quick: Name a common food, consumed every day by most people, that:

• Increases overall calorie consumption by 400 calories per day
• Affects the human brain in much the same way as morphine
• Has a greater impact on blood sugar levels than a candy bar
• Is consumed at the rate of 133 pounds per person per year
• Has been associated with increased Type 1 Diabetes
• Increases both insulin resistance and leptin resistance, conditions that lead to obesity
• Is the only common food with its own mortality rate

If you guessed sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, you’re on the right track, but, no, that’s not the correct answer.

The true culprit: Triticum aestivum, or modern wheat.

Note that I said “modern” wheat, because I would argue that what we are being sold today in the form of whole grain bread, raisin bagels, blueberry muffins, pizza, ciabatta, bruschetta, and so on is not the same grain our grandparents grew up on. It’s not even close.

Modern wheat is the altered offspring of thousands of genetic manipulations, crude and sometimes bizarre techniques that pre-date the age of genetic modification. The result: a high-yield, 2-foot tall “semi-dwarf” plant that no more resembles the wheat consumed by our ancestors than a chimpanzee (which shares 99% of the same genes that we do) resembles a human. I trust that you can tell the difference that 1% makes.

The obvious outward differences are accompanied by biochemical differences. The gluten proteins in modern wheat, for instance, differ from the gluten proteins found in wheat as recently as 1960. This likely explains why the incidence of celiac disease, the devastating intestinal condition caused by gluten, has quadrupled in the past 40 years. Furthermore, a whole range of inflammatory diseases, from rheumatoid arthritis to inflammatory bowel disease, are also on the rise. Humans haven’t changed — but the wheat we consume has changed considerably.

Wheat Bellies

You’ve heard of “beer bellies,” the protuberant, sagging abdomen of someone who drinks beer to excess. That distinctive look is often attributed to alcohol consumption when in fact it’s just as likely to be caused by the pretzels — not just the beer — you’re downing after work. A wheat belly is a protuberant, sagging abdomen that develops when you overindulge in wheat products like crackers, breads, waffles, pancakes, breakfast cereals and pasta. Dimpled or smooth, hairy or hairless, tense or flaccid, wheat bellies come in as many shapes, colors, and sizes as there are humans. But millions of Americans have a wheat belly, and the underlying metabolic reasons for having one are all the same. Wheat contains a type of sugar called amylopectin A that raises blood sugar in an extravagant fashion. Eating just two slices of whole wheat bread, can raise blood sugar more than two tablespoons of pure sugar. This leads to the accumulation of visceral fat on the body, the deep fat encircling organs that is a hotbed of inflammatory activity. Inflammation, in turn, leads to hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and other conditions.

Wheat-consuming people are fatter than those who don’t eat wheat. Why? Among the changes introduced into this plant is a re-engineered form of the gliadin protein unique to wheat. Gliadin has been increased in quantity and changed in structure, such that it serves as a powerful appetite stimulant. When you eat wheat, you want more wheat and in fact want more of everything else — to the tune of 400 more calories per day. That’s the equivalent of 41.7 pounds per year, an overwhelming potential weight gain that accumulates inexorably despite people’s efforts to exercise longer and curtail other foods — all the while blaming themselves for their lack of discipline and watching the scale climb higher and higher, and their bellies growing bigger and bigger.

All of which leads me to conclude that over-enthusiastic wheat consumption is not only one cause of obesity in this country, it is the leading cause of the obesity and diabetes crisis in the United States. It’s a big part of the reason that reality shows like the Biggest Loser are never at a loss for contestants. It explains why modern athletes, like baseball players and golfers, are fatter than ever. Blame wheat when you are being crushed in your 2 x 2 airline seat by the 280-pound man occupying the seat next to yours.

Sure, sugary soft drinks and sedentary lifestyles add to the problem. But for the great majority of health conscious people who don’t indulge in these obvious poor choices, the principal trigger for weight gain is wheat.

And wheat consumption is about more than just weight. There are also components of modern wheat that lead to diabetes, heart disease, neurologic impairment — including dementia and incontinence — and myriad skin conditions that range from acne to gangrene — all buried in that innocent-looking bagel you had for breakfast.

Despite the potential downside of a diet so laden with wheat products, we continually bombarded with messages to eat more of this grain. The Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA, for instance, through their Dietary Guidelines for Americans, advocate a diet dominated by grains (the widest part of the Food Pyramid, the largest portion of the Food Plate). The American Dietetic Association, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, along with the Grain Foods Foundation, the Whole Grains Council, and assorted other agriculture and food industry trade groups all agree: Everyone should eat more healthy whole grains. This includes our children, who are being told to do such things as replace fast food with grains. These agencies were originally sidetracked by the “cut your fat and cholesterol” movement, which led to a wholesale embrace of all things carbohydrate, but especially “healthy whole grains.” Unwittingly, they were advising increased consumption of this two-foot tall creation of the geneticists, high-yield semi-dwarf wheat.

This message to eat more “healthy whole grains” has, I believe, crippled Americans, triggering a helpless cycle of satiety and hunger, stimulating appetite by 400 calories per day and substantially contributing to the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. And, oh yes, adding to the double-digit-per-year revenue growth of the diabetes drug industry, not to mention increased revenues for drugs for hypertension, cholesterol, and arthritis.

It is therefore my contention that eliminating all wheat from the diet is a good idea not just for people with gluten sensitivity; it’s a smart decision for everybody. I have experience in my heart disease prevention practice, as well as my online program for heart disease prevention and reversal, with several thousand people who have done just that and the results are nothing short of astounding. Weight loss of 30, 50, even 70 pounds or more within the first six months; reversal of diabetes and pre-diabetic conditions; relief from edema, sinus congestion, and asthma; disappearance of acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome symptoms; increased energy, happier mood, better sleep. People feel better, look better, eat fewer calories, feel less hungry, are able to discontinue use of many medications — just by eliminating one food from their diet — ironically a food that they’ve been told to eat more of.

It is imperative that we break our reliance on wheat. It will require nothing less than an overthrow of conventional nutritional dogma. There will be battles fought to preserve the status quo; the wheat industry and its supporters will scream, yell, and claw to maintain their position, much as the tobacco industry and its lobbyists fought to maintain their hold on consumers.

If the health benefits of a wheat-free diet sound hard to believe, why not conduct your own little experiment and see for yourself: simply eliminate all things made of wheat for four weeks — no bread, bagels, pizza, pretzels, rolls, donuts, breakfast cereals, pancakes, waffles, pasta, noodles, or processed foods containing wheat (and do be careful to read labels, as food manufacturers love to slip a little wheat gliadin into your food every chance they get to stimulate your appetite). That’s a lot to cut out, true, but there’s still plenty of real, nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruit, nuts, cheese and dairy products, meat, fish, soy foods, legumes, oils like olive oil, avocados, even dark chocolate that you can eat in their place. If after that 4-week period you discover new mental clarity, better sleep, relief from joint pain, happier intestines, and a looser waistband, you will have your answer.

from: http://boingboing.net/2011/10/26/triticum-fever-by-dr-william-davis-author-of-wheat-belly.html

Thinking About Celebrex? Check this out.

Posted on July 10, 2012 by marcia

(Comment: How about Zyflamend instead)

Pfizer ‘Cherry-Picked’ Celebrex Data, Memos Say

July 09 2012

New evidence in a lawsuit against Pfizer alleges that the drug company cherry-picked data on its drug Celebrex in a scheme to make the drug appear safer and more effective than it really is
Pfizer withheld critical data needed to assess the drug’s effectiveness, and newly unsealed documents showed this was all what appeared to be part of a carefully calculated plan by Pfizer execs
On a regular basis new studies appear that show the real risks of many medications, including popular varieties that are used by millions of people
The number of lawsuits that Big Pharma is settling―many of them out of court without going to trial―are rising, with settlement amounts in the billions
If you are still under the impression that drugs are the “answer” to your health complaints, you are likely being misled … and may be worsening your health by the day

By Dr. Mercola

Celebrex is a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) known as a COX-2 inhibitor.

Basically, it works by blocking COX-2 enzymes, which become overly active in your body when it becomes inflamed, and is widely used as a form of pain relief; in 2011, 2.4 million Americans received prescriptions for this drug.ⁱ

They may have thought twice, however, if they knew the truth behind how this drug came to be … a story that involves cherry-picking of data in attempts to make the drug seem superior to others on the market, when in fact it was not.

Also concerning: Celebrex is the only selective COX-2 inhibitor left on the market, as its close “cousins” were all pulled due to either their killing tens of thousands of people or to their unacceptably high heart risks …

Internal Memos Reveal Deception Surrounding Celebrex Data

New evidence in a lawsuit against Pfizer alleges that the drug company cherry-picked data on its drug Celebrex. Its claim to fame when it came on the market in 1998 was that it relieved pain without causing the gastrointestinal side effects common to other pain-relief drugs like ibuprofen.

Studies showed it didn’t necessarily relieve pain any better than the other drugs on the market, so Pfizer was counting on the gastrointestinal “ticket” to propel the drug into blockbuster status, and, in fact, used its easiness on your stomach as its primary selling point.

The problem was, Celebrex only appeared to be easier on the stomach because Pfizer, and its partner Pharmacia, only released the first six months of data from a year-long study. When the entire data set was looked at, the stomach “benefit” disappeared.

Folks this is what is called a blatant lie of omission and these companies do it on a regular basis. The system even encourages it. Contrary to what many people believe the FDA does no testing of drugs that are to be approved. Nor is there an objective third party that does tests. Rather the system the FDA employs has the drug company pay for and do the studies, and they only submit the studies that support the release of their drug. They are not required to submit failed ones.

That Pfizer withheld the critical data has been known for years, but newly unsealed documents showed this was all part of a carefully calculated plan by Pfizer and Pharmacia execs. While medical directors and scientists at the company expressed feeling uncomfortable with the “data massaging” and “cherry picking” of data, the powers that be moved full steam ahead with their deceptive marketing blitz.

Another reason that you might not be surprised about this report is that Pfizer purchased Monsanto and spun it off as subsidiary called Pharmacia in 1997.ⁱⁱ Most readers of this newsletter will instantly recognize that the bastion of evil, Monsanto, would not be out of place with this type of behavior.

The New York Times reported:ⁱⁱⁱ

“The documents suggest that officials made a strategic decision during the early trial to be less than forthcoming about the drug’s safety. They show that executives considered attacking the trial’s design before they even knew the results and disregarded the advice of an employee and an outside consultant who had argued the companies should disclose the fact that they were using incomplete data.

… The documents show that in February 2000, Pharmacia employees came up with a game plan on how they might present the findings once they were available … Another document, a slide, proposed explaining poor results through “statistical glitches.””

Do You Still Trust Celebrex?

Celebrex is still being widely used, often by arthritis patients who are desperate for pain relief. But even if you overlook the fact that it’s made by a company that clearly puts profits ahead of patients, it’s much harder to shrug off the very real risks it poses to your heart.

Remember, Celebrex is in the same class of drugs as Vioxx and Bextra, both of which were pulled from the market because of serious heart risks or killing tens of thousands of people. Celebrex may still be on the market, but it is not immune to these risks!

In 2006, the New England Journal of Medicine released a study that discussed “a significant increase in adjudicated serious cardiovascular events with the use of celecoxib [Celebrex] … an increase in risk by a factor of two or three for … myocardial infarction, stroke, congestive heart failure, or cardiovascular-related death.” The risk was so severe that it “prompted suspension of the administration of celecoxib …”^iv

Pfizer actually has a trial that’s ongoing right now that’s supposed to compare the heart risks of Celebrex to those of ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve). But though it was started in 2005, it’s not slated to be completed until 2014 … the same year the Celebrex patent expires (at which point the company’s profits for the drug will dwindle … making negative study results far less impacting).

It’s widely known, however, that this painkiller has been linked to increased risks of stomach bleeding, kidney trouble, and liver damage – along with other adverse reactions that can range from mild to deadly. And it’s not at all unusual for a drug company to play up the “fabulous benefits” of their products while conveniently glossing over the fatalities they’ve caused … what would be unusual is if they didn’t.

Common Diabetes Drugs Associated with Increased Risk of Death

New studies regularly reveal the true risks of many medications, including popular varieties that are used by millions of people. For example, an analysis of nearly 24,000 patients with type 2 diabetes found that three diabetes drugs — glipizide, glyburide, and glimepiride – caused a more than 50 percent greater risk of death compared to another diabetes drug, Metformin.^v The three drugs are known as sulfonylureas, which work by spurring your body to produce more insulin.

The drugs not only increased the risk of death among all patients, but among those with heart disease (which is common among those with diabetes), glipizide increased the risk of death by 41 percent, and glyburide by 38 percent compared to Metformin.

But simply switching to metformin, a drug that makes your body’s tissues more sensitive to insulin, is not the answer here, as type 2 diabetes can be effectively treated without medications in the vast majority of cases. In fact, drugs can’t cure diabetes, as they do nothing to address the underlying cause. To learn about the drug-free methods that can prevent, and reverse, diabetes, we published a report on this last month.

to read more, go to: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/09/lawsuit-against-pfizer-celebrex.aspx?e_cid=20120709_DNL_artNew_2

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