Secret Key to Weight Loss

This is one of the most important posts I have written on health so I want you to carefully read this.

My site has been around for over 10 years and from day one I have been extolling the importance of insulin in nearly all chronic degenerative diseases. Well now we have a landmark study confirming that insulin is the central part of the weight-loss equation.

There are over 200 million Americans who are overweight, and collectively they are carrying around an extra 5 BILLION pounds of excess fat.

What the Boston researchers specifically found was that those who secreted high insulin levels had a far more difficult time losing weight than those who secreted low levels of insulin.

I am very grateful that these researchers produced this landmark confirmation of insulin truth. Unfortunately, they completely blew the interpretation of what they found. So let me help you sort through the researchers’ confusion.

Like most scientists they want to attribute the problem to your genes. They want you to believe that 200 million Americans are heavy because they have flawed genetics that make them hypersecrete insulin.

Folks, nothing could be further from the truth.

The reason 200 million Americans are overweight is not because of flawed genetics that cause them to make excessive insulin. Hypersecretion of insulin is an effect -- NOT the cause. The reason 200 million are overweight is because they have impaired insulin receptor sensitivity.

Impaired Insulin Receptor Sensitivity
 
How do your insulin receptors stop working effectively?

Very simple.

This is a natural consequence that occurs when you don’t exercise and move the way you were designed to. Your body dynamically makes this adjustment because the receptors are not being used. This is very similar to what happens if you lie in bed for a few weeks; your muscles start to atrophy. Some have called this the “use it or lose it” phenomena.

So when your insulin receptors become desensitized the only way your body can adjust is to make MORE insulin. You become an insulin hypersecretor.

Why Is This Important?

Once your body releases insulin it immediately starts to inhibit your fat-burning hormone called hormone-sensitive lipase. This hormone is responsible for releasing fat into your bloodstream to be utilized as fuel. Once this enzyme is inhibited, your body is unable to burn fat and will then begin utilizing amino acids from your muscle and carbohydrates as fuel.

This will cause you to become abnormally hungry, which further feeds this vicious cycle.

The key is to have LOW levels of insulin so your body can produce large amounts of hormone-sensitive lipase and burn fat all day so you can look thin and slim.

You might want to pick up the paper edition of this week’s Time magazine as the online version of How the World Eats only shows one of the pictures from Japan, which for the most part is really healthy food. No wonder they live over 80 years. They show a picture of a family from Chad, which is virtually no food, and then a picture of food for a typical U.S. family.
This is one of the most powerful graphic illustrations as to why the United States has an obesity epidemic. Nearly all of the U.S. food (over 90 percent) was highly processed junk food. Of course, if you shop at a grocery store you probably see this all the time. It is shocking what people are putting into their bodies.

Processed junk foods will absolutely impair your insulin receptor sensitivity.

So What Can You Do?

The bottom line is very simple here, folks. Keep your insulin levels low, very low. You can measure this with an inexpensive blood test that nearly any doctor can draw for you. Your level should be about 2 or 3. The way you lower it to these levels is by exercising, avoiding processed foods and refined carbs, and by eating the appropriate amounts of carbs for your nutritional type.

This is NOT rocket science. If you apply these simple principles you will see dramatic and remarkable improvements not only in your ability to achieve your ideal weight but also in just about every other chronic degenerative disease.

Personally, I think it is criminal malpractice that fasting insulin levels are not aggressively monitored in all cases of cancer and heart disease, because they are central to the causes of both of these diseases.

Article Source: Dr Mercola at Mercola.com 

The Most Common Symptoms of a Brain Tumor

While some of these symptoms could signal a different health condition needing attention, below is a list of symptoms you may experience if you have a brain tumor. Very often, more than one of these symptoms will be present, aiding your doctor in making an accurate diagnosis. Eight of the most common symptoms of a brain tumor are:

Loss of balance   Persistent issues with balance, evidenced by clumsiness with respect to your arms and legs, as well as trouble with fine motor skills, may be signs of a brain tumor. If you previously had good coordination and suddenly begin to fumble and stumble when performing routine activities like reaching for a glass, tying your shoes or walking, you could have a brain tumor. "Symptoms are often dependent on the location of the tumor," explains Dr. Donald O'Rourke, neurosurgeon and director of the human brain tumor tissue bank at Penn Medicine in Yardley, Pennsylvania. "For example, if you have a tumor on your cerebellum — the part of your brain involved in coordinating sequences of movements — you may have trouble controlling your arms and legs."

Memory loss and language issues   Episodes of confusion and forgetfulness may be signs of a brain tumor, especially if they are accompanied by severe memory loss and language issues. As an example, suddenly forgetting the words for common objects like "ball" or "cup" or being unable to recognize words or numbers on a page may be signs of a brain tumor. Memory loss may be accompanied by changes in your speech, such as problems understanding or retrieving words, as well as slurring or stuttering.   "Language problems such as stuttering, difficulty naming objects or understanding what others are saying are key symptoms of a tumor in the frontal or temporal lobes, areas of the brain associated with motor function of speech and language comprehension," says Dr. Christopher Carrubba, a health care and medical education consultant from Jacksonville, Florida.

Mood and/or behavior changes   A dramatic change in mood and noticeable increases in risky and other acting out behaviors may be signs of a brain tumor. "Patients suffering from a brain tumor may develop depression, anger or anxiety, even if they don't commonly exhibit these types of emotions," says Dr. Sumeet Vadera, neurosurgeon at University of California Irvine Health. "This is related to tumor irritation or compression of portions of the frontal lobe, which is responsible for many of our personality traits." "A large, slowly growing tumor in the frontal lobe can even alter personality and judgment so far as to be mistaken for criminal behavior or psychiatric problems," notes Dr. Mike Chen, neurosurgeon and associate professor of neurosurgery at City of Hope hospital near Los Angeles. That said, uncharacteristic mood/behavior signs to look for that may indicate the presence of a brain tumor include: • Acting overtly sexual • Becoming increasingly and more easily agitated and angered • Engaging in risky behaviors • Showing less inhibition

Nausea and vomiting   While nausea and vomiting may be associated with many illnesses, unexplained, frequent nausea and/or vomiting has been associated with brain tumors. If you have persistent queasiness that has no apparent root cause —and especially if it is accompanied with headaches or other symptoms — be sure to make an appointment with your doctor to have it checked out.

One-sided weakness or numbness   If you experience weakness or numbness, particularly on one side of your body, you may have a tumor in the frontal lobe area of your brain. Very often, the tumor will present on the side of your brain opposite the bodily weakness or numbness. "The right motor cortex controls the left side of your body and the left motor cortex controls the right side of your body," says Chen. "If there are tumors anywhere along this pathway, these signals are completely disrupted, and the result is loss of function." If you notice one of your arms or legs suddenly is not responding the way it used to, this may be a sign a tumor is pressing on your motor cortex. Keep track of your symptoms and review them with your doctor.

Persistent headaches   While persistent headaches can be associated with a brain tumor, even doctors find it difficult to distinguish headaches or full-blown migraines caused by brain tumors and those resulting for other reasons. Bring any new, persistent headaches that do not respond to over-the-counter pain relievers to the attention of your doctor.   "The best indicator is a new daily headache that won't seem to go away," states Chen. "These headaches tend to get worse over time and are often present when you wake up in the morning, when intracranial pressure is high from lying in bed for … long periods of time." It's important to note the intensity of your headache pain is not necessarily correlated to the size or growth rate of the tumor. "A small, fast-growing tumor can cause as severe of a headache as a large, slow-growing tumor," says Dr. Santosh Kesari, neurologist, neuro-oncologist and chair of the department of translational neurosciences and neurotherapeutics at John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California.

Seizures   While seizures are related to other health conditions besides brain tumors, the sudden convulsions, changes in consciousness and involuntary movements known to characterize seizures may be attributed to the presence of a brain tumor. About seizures, researchers involved in a 2014 study published in the journal Oncologist said: "Seizures are commonly seen in brain tumors, usually in the range of 40 to 60 percent. They often represent the first clinical sign of a brain tumor and count as a favorable prognostic factor, although reappearance or worsening of seizures may indicate tumor recurrence." Seizures, which last only a short time, are caused by abnormal electrical activity in your brain. Of the many types of seizures, the kind you experience depends on the area of your brain that is sending out the abnormal electrical signals.

Vision changes   While your vision may change for any number of reasons, getting regular eye exams is one way to monitor changes in your brain that may signal the presence of a brain tumor. If you are experiencing blurred vision, double vision or a partial or complete loss of vision, you need to make an appointment with your eye doctor right away. Dr. Adam Rubin, optometry specialist in Gaithersburg, Maryland, once completed an eye exam for a 9-year-old boy complaining of severe headaches and blurry vision in one eye. About the exam Rubin stated, "Right away, I noticed his right pupil wasn't responding to light. That was alarming, and I continued looking more closely at the right eye." Upon further examination, Rubin noticed something even more troubling. "The optic nerve was completely discolored, a sign that can indicate a growth in that area. A tumor or large mass can press against the back of the eye, causing a pale-colored optic nerve head," he said. Given those concerns, Rubin referred the boy to a brain specialist who was able to identify the source of the issues — a benign tumor growing near the boy's pituitary gland.  Fortunately, it was surgically removed, and the boy regained his health. Types of vision changes known to signal the presence of a brain tumor include: • Double vision can be a symptom of a tumor in your brain stem • Loss of your ability to look upward can be caused by a pineal gland tumor • Partial or complete loss of vision could result from a tumor in the occipital lobe or temporal lobe of your cerebrum.

Article Source: Dr Mercola at Mercola.com 

Toxic Threats to Farmed Fish Food

Science reported that a worldwide assessment of the threat to the salmon market as a whole can be answered by the 13 persistent organic pollutants, including PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), known as one of the most toxic and environmentally persistent chemicals ever created.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes that PCBs (and there are dozens of trade names for them) don’t break down, can remain for long periods cycling between air, water and soil, travel long distances and can be taken up into the bodies of small organisms and fish.

“Studies in humans support evidence for potential carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic effects of PCBs,” it notes, but the list of potential health problems for humans and animals is frankly staggering. Sure, industries are now being regulated to more stringent laws, but once it’s out there, trying to take it back is no longer possible. The EPA site details a list of life-altering and hair-raising consequences PCBs can cause or impact:

Cancer	Immune system
Reproductive system	Nervous system
Endocrine system	Neurological effects

Keep in mind that PCBs are only one of many pollutants associated with farmed fish. One of the most treacherous is ethoxyquin, a chemical developed by Monsanto in the 1950s as a synthetic tire chemical. Ethoxyquin is found only in farmed salmon — not in wild.

It’s used as a rubber stabilizer, pesticide, preservative and antioxidant all in one, and is a suspected carcinogen that “caused chromosomal aberrations, holes and fractures in chromosomes” of human cells and “was chemically toxic, destroyed chromosomes and DNA,” according to a Norwegian newspaper review.

Because it prevents fat oxidation, it’s used in some animal feeds, including fish food. According to Nutraceutical Business Review, the European Food Safety Authority’s description of the chemical was pretty clear: Ethoxyquin is “considered to be toxic to aquatic organisms based on the acute toxicity data provided for fish, daphnia and algae.”

Article Source: Dr Mercola at Mercola.com  

Harmful Effects of Eating Certain Fish

Monterey Fish explains that the above ocean fish should be avoided, and includes King mackerel, barracuda, marlin, conger eel, jacks and Gulf of Mexico tilefish. Similarly, steer clear of certain wild freshwater fish, as well, including whitefish, pickerel, pike, walleye and lake trout due to potential mercury contamination. However, here’s an interesting twist to the narrative.

In some cultures, fish is on the menu far more often than in the U.S., especially Japan, a relatively small nation entirely surrounded by water. In fact, it’s consumed four to five times more there than in the U.S. The people have regularly consumed the largest tunas they could catch for centuries, so it’s very likely they accumulated large amounts of methylmercury, apparently without causing problems. But there’s more:

“A number of studies have found that the essential element selenium, high amounts of which are found in ocean fish, sequesters mercury, thus neutralizing its toxic effects. This may be the reason why studies have never shown an epidemic of child developmental problems in coastal populations whose diets have been comprised in large part of seafood.”

Further, the omega-3 fatty acids in healthy seafood, namely fresh-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring and anchovies, are essential for your overall health. If you do not eat fish for whatever reason, I recommend that you take a quality supplement to supply it.

My best recommendation is krill oil, which is animal based and contains the highly crucial EPA and DHA omega-3s your body needs. EPA and DHA are important for your heart and brain, cellular and mitochondrial function, bone health and mood regulation, as well as for healthy fetal development and pregnancy.

On the other hand, methylmercury poses the greatest threat to the nervous system while unborn babies and newborns are developing — their brains, immune and nervous systems and retinas, in particular. It easily penetrates the placenta, where the mercury concentration in red blood cells may be 30 percent higher than in those of the baby’s mother.

Article Source: Dr Mercola at Mercola.com  

Silent Health Benefits of Eating Fish

Although lead study author Audrey J. Gaskins, a research associate at Harvard, speculates that seafood might improve semen quality and egg release for ovulation, scientists can’t really say exactly what the mechanism is for the improved pregnancy rates in regard to higher fish consumption.

She notes, however, that if eating fish has anything to do with bringing couples together, it’s more of a behavioral pathway rather than a causal one. A reader commenting on the article suggested that it’s the selenium that may have something to do with the “baby-making merit” of eating seafood, and cited a study published in International Journal of General Medicine, which observes:

“A significant development in the last 10 years in the study of human infertility has been the discovery that oxidative sperm DNA damage has a critical role in the etiology of poor semen quality and male infertility. Selenium (Se) is an essential element for normal testicular development, spermatogenesis, and spermatozoa motility and function.”

Scientists in this study found that among 690 men suffering from idiopathic asthenoteratospermia (reduced sperm motility), who’d been given a combined supplement of 400 units of vitamin E and 200 μg of selenium daily for at least 100 days, 52.6 percent of the men (362 of them) had “significantly improved” sperm motility, morphology or both. There were also 75 cases of “spontaneous pregnancy.”

A case-controlled study in the U.K., published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, targeted the selenium status of women with a history of recurrent miscarriage and found evidence that selenium deficiency was also a factor when study participants who couldn’t carry a pregnancy to term were compared to women who’d had little or no trouble becoming parents.

While the researchers found that the “difference was seen in hair samples but not serum samples and therefore may not represent a simple nutritional deficiency,” there was also a “significantly greater proportion of women in the control group who ate cereals, vitamin supplements and liver or kidney.”

That said, it’s interesting to note that, according to Nutrition Data, while a 3.5-ounce (100-gram) piece of cooked beef liver contains 57 percent of the daily value or Reference Daily Intake (RDI) of selenium, the same amount of wild-caught Alaskan salmon provides 67 percent of the RDI in selenium.

Article Source: Dr Mercola at Mercola.com