My guest this Saturday on Healthy by Nature is Bill Sardi . He’ll teach us about a substance considered equal to calorie-restriction for its anti-aging benefits. It also powerfully protects our brains, hearts and cardiovascular systems. As if we needed more, scientists also seem to agree it is anti-cancer. Please don’t miss this important show. (It will also be in the archives.)

NEWS

The synthetic sweetener, Aspartame, has been given a warm and fuzzy new marketing name, “AminoSweet.” But don’t be fooled, it’s the same ingredient that I discuss in my article on artificial sweeteners . It’s what makes up “Nutrasweet ® ” and “Equal ® ”. (You probably guessed that I’m not a fan.)

RECENT RESEARCH:

Each of us has a unique assortment of bacterial colonies on our hands. Research, published mid-March in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said that crime fighters might be able to use as a “fingerprint”, the DNA of the bacteria we leave behind. It seems that we have roughly 150 species or families of bacteria on our hands and any 2 people only have about a 13% overlap. Within a few hours of hand washing the very same colonies come back!

My 2 cents: This is a pretty cool discovery, but I included it here because it is like the unique blend of critters in our digestive tracts. We have hundreds of strains (i.e. families) of bacteria and each has a different role in protecting our health (e.g. making several vitamins, detoxifying, etc.). So, that’s why I say over and over that it isn’t enough to just supplement a few strains of probiotics (friendly bacteria). Yogurt usually contains only one or two strains plus it has sugar that feeds the bad guys. Even supplement pills that have 8 or more strains still just scratch the surface. I recommend products that feed your own unique strains and improve the gut environment so that all the good guys thrive. Read more .