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University of Illinois researcher Elizabeth Jeffery has learned how to maximize the cancer-fighting power of broccoli. It involves heating broccoli just enough to eliminate a sulfur-grabbing protein, but not enough to stop the plant from releasing an important cancer-fighting compound called sulforaphane. The discovery of this sulfur-grabbing protein in the Jeffery lab makes it possible to maximize the amount of the anticarcinogen sulforaphane in broccoli.

This is sad. Lose belly fat after a funeral. Weird as it sounded, that's how Melody finally got rid of belly fat and get toned abs. A must read.

"The common culprit is soy, a plant that contains chemicals with estrogen-like and anti-estrogenic properties - making it a nutritional minefield for breast cancer survivors. While Western diets are relatively low in soy - compared with the typical diet in Asia, where people eat soy daily - the percentage of Americans consuming soy at least once a week has increased from 15% in 1997 to 28% in 2003. In the meantime, studies on the effect of soy on breast cancer recurrence and mortality have been conflicting, with some showing that it can reduce risk, while others show an elevated rate of recurrent disease among high soy consumers. Now the largest study to date of soy's effect on breast cancer suggests that eating soy, even in large amounts, may not be harmful after all, and may even reduce recurrence and death from the disease. But while the findings are intriguing, not all doctors are ready to tout the benefits of tofu

Research has uncovered the fact that vitamin K also plays a crucial role in maintaining bone health. It was found that the amount of vitamin K required to halt bone absorption leading to osteoporosis requires much greater intakes than that required for blood clot regulation. Further, it appears that bone and vascular tissue (like coronary arteries) maintain a preference for a different form of vitamin K than that required for blood clotting regulation. Rather than vitamin K1 needed for clotting, vitamin K2 is the form preferred by bones and arteries (Schurgers LJ et al 2001). It appears that much of the information generated over the years for vitamin K focused on the K1 form, ignoring the K2 form necessary for bone and vascular health. Normal deposition of calcium occurs only in bone and in teeth. Abnormal deposition of calcium in the body occurs in three places: the inner lining of the arteries of the body (the intima) that causes atherosclerotic plaque; the muscle layer of arteries ("medial calcification"); and heart valves. K2 appears to be the form of vitamin K responsible for controlling these phenomena.

"I've always read that you should avoid coconut oil because of its high level of saturated fat. But I recently heard it is actually healthful and can help you lose weight. Is that true? Most nutritionists don't believe consuming coconut oil will help with weight loss -- the evidence is far from conclusive on that point. But most will also concede that the oil may not be the demon many think it is. To be honest, when it comes to nutrition research, the "truth" often seems elusive. Studies pronounce one verdict and then new findings point in another direction. That's simply the nature of the scientific process and the complexity surrounding nutrition and health. As long as we persist in hunting for more precise answers, we'll continue to encounter surprises. "

"Despite its dubious beginnings, fad-dieting gained mass appeal in the 19th century. In 1829, Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham touted the Graham Diet - centered on caffeine-free drinks and vegetarian cuisine, and supplemented by the eponymous Graham Cracker - as a cure for not just obesity but masturbation (and the subsequent blindness it was thought to cause.) The diet became so popular that the students of Oberlin College were forced onto it for a brief period in the 1830s before they successfully rebelled through mass dissent in 1841. Thirty-five years later, an English casketmaker named William Banting became famous by pioneering the concept of a low-carbohydrate diet, which helped him lose 50 lbs. He published his results in the 1864 "Letter on Corpulance," and the plan became so popular that "banting" became a synonym for dieting across Britain. "

"Women from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with insulin resistance showed marked improvement after taking vitamin D supplements, says a study. Von Hurst, nutrition lecturer at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Albany, conducted the study for her doctoral thesis. Insulin resistance is largely symptom-free and sufferers are unaware of their condition. 'Once it has fully developed into type-2 diabetes, it can be treated, but not cured,' says Von Hurst. Von Hurst says that while diet and exercise play a major part in the onset of type-2 diabetes, her findings reinforce the importance of vitamin D from the sun and supplements to prevent type-2 diabetes. She also found evidence of vitamin D increasing bone strength in older women. "

"(CBS) Your daily cup of java may deliver some unexpected health benefits. Studies have shown it may lower your risk for Type II diabetes and certain types of cancer (colon, mouth and throat), and protect against heart disease and cavities. Dr. Alanna Levine, a primary care physician, said on "The Early Show" researchers aren't sure exactly why coffee has these benefits, but speculated that perhaps the coffee has antioxidant properties. "

Charity is when those who have too much give a bit to those who have too little. These affluent givers tell themselves (and others) that their hearts bleed for you. At the same time, they are unable to resist telegraphing to you (and others) that they're intrinsically superior. Clearly, they're not obligated to help you. Your neediness is...well...yours. Your misfortune is not their doing, after all. Yet, they're compelled to be charitable; the impulse arises out of simple inborn nobility. But you are quite surely obligated to them. Being quite good and generous, your benefactors have, once again, won the game of "right living." You must be grateful that your deprivation even registered on their radar screen. In fact, you are really quite fortunate, quite lucky. Although I don't think this luck was what the good lord Jesus meant by "the meek shall inherit the earth."

Charity is when those who have too much give a bit to those who have too little. These affluent givers tell themselves (and others) that their hearts bleed for you. At the same time, they are unable to resist telegraphing to you (and others) that they're intrinsically superior. Clearly, they're not obligated to help you. Your neediness is...well...yours. Your misfortune is not their doing, after all. Yet, they're compelled to be charitable; the impulse arises out of simple inborn nobility. But you are quite surely obligated to them. Being quite good and generous, your benefactors have, once again, won the game of "right living." You must be grateful that your deprivation even registered on their radar screen. In fact, you are really quite fortunate, quite lucky. Although I don't think this luck was what the good lord Jesus meant by "the meek shall inherit the earth."

Excerpt: Coming soon to a grocery store near you: a speed-read nutrition label on the front of food packages that provides large-type icons that list the amount of calories, fat, sodium and sugars. New labels, called Nutrition Keys by the food industry that created them, were announced Monday by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Marketing Assn. The groups say they developed the labels in response to First Lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign that in part calls for an easier way for shoppers, especially parents, to make informed food choices. Aside from the four main icons, the industry groups may include "nutrients to encourage" -- such as icons for the amount of potassium, fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium and iron. (Note, small packages will have a calorie count icon only.) The new labels don't replace the nutritional label Americans have come to rely on for product information; rather, they add to it. The labeling will be phased in on packages by the end of the year. Not everyone thinks this is a great idea. One critic, author Marion Nestle, writes on her Food Politics blog: "Forget the consumer-friendly rhetoric. There is only one explanation for this move: heading off the FDA's Front-of-Package (FOP) labeling initiatives." Here's what the FDA currently requires companies to supply on food labels.

"Posted Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:01pm AEDT Updated Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:27pm AEDT Researchers are advising people with MS to take safe levels of vitamin D supplements. Researchers are advising people with MS to take safe levels of vitamin D supplements. (ABC News: Giulio Saggin, file photo) * Audio: New research shows Vitamin D may slow the progress of MS (The World Today) Australian scientists have found that Vitamin D may slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). Figures showing that people living in Tasmania are seven times more likely to develop MS than Queenslanders had suggested a link between sunlight exposure and the disease. "