BIG BENEFITS ARE SEEN FROM EATING LESS SALT

By Pam Belluck

New York Times

January 20, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/health/nutrition/21salt.html

In a report that may bolster public policy efforts to get Americans to reduce the amount of salt in their diets, scientists writing in The New England Journal of Medicine conclude that lowering the amount of salt people eat by even a small amount could reduce cases of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks as much as reductions in smoking, obesity and cholesterol levels.

http://www.familyhealthguide.co.uk/meditation-switches-on-disease-fighting genes.html

Researchers attribute these changes to a phenomenon they call the ŒRelaxation Effect.¹ The researchers compared the genetic profile of individuals who were long-term practitioners of relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation to a control group of individuals who were not relaxation practitioners.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_wha...

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk. But we need to go a step further and further say: What is wrong with eating meat? Further, why sentient food is the best for yogiis and non-yogiis alike.

US scientists found that sulforapane increases the activity of the NRF2 gene in human lung cells which protects cells from damage caused by toxins. The same broccoli compound was recently found to be protective against damage to blood vessels caused by diabetes. Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have also been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Cell pollutants

In the latest study, a team from John Hopkins School of Medicine found significantly lower activity of the NRF2 gene in smokers with advanced COPD.

Vitamin E can be found in foods including wheat germ, soya, nuts, seeds, olives, and green leafy vegetables such as spinach and asparagus. Scientists have been examining the role vitamin E may play in preventing or treating certain health conditions including cancer and heart disease. But some research has indicated very high amounts of vitamin E can be harmful, raising one's overall risk of death. The UK's Food Standards Agency recommends that men should eat a healthy, balanced diet containing 4mg of vitamin E a day. For women the figure is 3mg a day.

"Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common problem among elderly people in the UK and has been linked to declining memory and dementia." Vitamin B12 can be gotten from Milk. Dr Susanne Sorensen, from the Alzheimer's Society said: "Brain shrinkage is usually associated with the development of dementia. The Oxford study looked at a group of people between 61 and 87, splitting it into thirds depending on the participants' vitamin B12 levels. Older people with lower than average vitamin B12 levels were more than six times more likely to experience brain shrinkage, researchers concluded.

This article is on the negative effcets of garlic. While everyone has heard of the medicinal effects of garlic, few know as to how garlic effects the brain negatively and should be avaoided as a regular food item. Yogiis have known this for thousands of years and that is why they have called it a tamasika (static) food.