On Healthy by Nature this week: We talk with Dr. Guy Devin about energy – the kind of cellular energy needed for healing and optimum function. Dr. Andrew Shepherd will help us understand the benefits and how-to’s of detoxification. And we’ll talk to Karen Falbo, CN on the differences in kids’ chewable multivitamins. Hmmm, now where did I put my hour-stretcher? 1-800-281-8255.

Please join us in Dallas for a big event Tuesday, October 5th. There will be lectures, free mini-consultations and surprises. Those who are pre-registered will receive a special bonus. Details.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Cookware: More and more children are being found to have high cholesterol. An accident has called attention to one potential cause—non-stick cookware. After an industrial spill contaminated drinking water with chemicals, over 12,000 children and adolescents were studied by researchers at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. The BBC said, the chemicals, ”Perfluoroalkyl acids like PFOA and PFOS give non-stick pans heat resistance, and also come from the breakdown of compounds used in commercial food packaging and factory treatments for fabrics, carpets and stain-resistant clothing.” The study found a relationship between the blood levels of the chemical and unhealthy changes in cholesterol.¹

My 2 cents: That isn’t the first study to show an apparent link with increased cholesterol and even higher blood insulin in various age groups.² Veterinarians have long warned us not to use nonstick pans if we have birds in the house because the fumes they give off can be lethal. Read more. (Remember how miners used to take canaries into the mine as a crude indicator of toxic gases?) Do you think the veterinarians are over-reacting? Read what chemical manufacturer, DuPont has to say. In previous newsletters I’ve discussed the problems with the plasticizer BPA in food and beverage containers. It’s logical to treat all industrial chemicals as toxic until proven otherwise. The safest cookware choices seem to be glass and stainless steel. (Note: raw foods may not need packages and don’t need cooking.)

RESEARCH

Vitamins and colon cancer – Researchers in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health pooled data from 13 studies that covered 676,141 men and women. They found that “Vitamin A, C, and E intakes from food only were NOT associated with [reduced] colon cancer risk.” However, when supplements were combined with food there was a significant benefit from vitamins C and E as well as multivitamins. The scientists noted that multivitamins are sources of C and E as well as the B vitamin Folic acid, which they said has been determined protective against colon cancer.³

My 2 cents: I added the emphasis above because it is just so shocking. Not shocking that the vitamins were helpful but that the researchers had the courage to say so in print. (The Chair of that Harvard department, Dr. Walter Willett, is scheduled to be a guest on our show October 9.) I was surprised that the foods alone were not found to make a significant difference, but perhaps that’s because of the way foods are grown and handled today without regard to nutritional content. Or, possibly people exaggerate the healthfulness of their diets. Just maybe…

Vitamins and heart health – For 6 months subjects were given capsules with 500 mg Vitamin C, 200 IU Vitamin E, 60 mg CoQ10 and 100 mcg Selenium. They were compared to controls given a matching placebo. The researchers’ conclusion: “Antioxidant supplementation significantly increased large and small artery elasticity in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors. This beneficial vascular effect was associated with an improvement in glucose and lipid metabolism as well as decrease in blood pressure.” ⁴

My 2 cents: Well, there we go again with the fringe benefits of the natural approach. If you were working on heart health with these supplements, you might be benefitting the colon and vice versa. I wonder how much more dramatic the results might have been with had they used more therapeutic doses and better forms of the nutrients (e.g. the whole complex of vitamin E forms instead of just d-alpha tocopheryl succinate and selenium in the form of methylselenocysteine rather than L-Selenomethionine.)

Don’t suddenly stop medications. Consult your health practitioner. This newsletter is educational and not a substitute for professional advice. The statements in this newsletter have not been evaluated by the FDA. This information and any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

My first book : Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers. Subtitle: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments.

My latest book : Aloe Vera-Modern Science Sheds Light on an Ancient Herbal Remedy

Copyright 2010 Martie Whittekin, CCN

¹Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010 Sep;164(9):860-9. Perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctanesulfonate, and serum lipids in children and adolescents: results from the C8 Health Project. Frisbee SJ, Shankar A, Knox SS, Steenland K, Savitz DA, Fletcher T, Ducatman AM.

²Diabetes Care. 2009 Apr;32(4):702-7. Epub 2008 Dec 29. Association among serum perfluoroalkyl chemicals, glucose homeostasis, and metabolic syndrome in adolescents and adults. Lin CY, Chen PC, Lin YC, Lin LY.

³Cancer Causes Control. 2010 Sep 5. [Epub ahead of print] Intakes of vitamins A, C, and E and use of multiple vitamin supplements and risk of colon cancer: a pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies. Park Y, Spiegelman D, Hunter DJ, Albanes D, Bergkvist L, Buring JE, Freudenheim JL, Giovannucci E, Goldbohm RA, Harnack L, Kato I, Krogh V, Leitzmann MF, Limburg PJ, Marshall JR, McCullough ML, Miller AB, Rohan TE, Schatzkin A, Shore R, Sieri S, Stampfer MJ, Virtamo J, Weijenberg M, Willett WC, Wolk A, Zhang SM, Smith-Warner SA.

⁴Nutr Metab (Lond). 2010 Jul 6;7:55. Effect of long-term treatment with antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10 and selenium) on arterial compliance, humoral factors and inflammatory markers in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Shargorodsky M, Debby O, Matas Z, Zimlichman R.