According to Dr. Mark Stengler in his Bottom Line Natural Healing Newsletter of January 09, metabolism and weight control greatly benefit from resveratrol. Much current research is now being done. Preliminary studies show two areas of why longevity is extended. The first is believed due to the activity of the longevity gene, SIRT1; it is stimulated and activated. The second is correlated to oxidative damage . . . the mother of all degenerative diseases.

Robb and others in their research on the biochemistry and biophysics (published in that journal) found a 14 fold increase in the activity of MnSOD (SOD2). The significance of SOD2 is that it reduces oxidative damage due to free radicals which need electrons.

Needed electrons are stolen from weaker compounds, unless anti-oxidants are available.  Free radicals propel heart disease and produce cancer.  Free radicals cause oxidative damage; however, anti oxidants propelled by SOD2 reduce inflammation and inhibit degenerative diseases like cardiovascular and cancer.

SOD2 confers resistance to mitochondrial dysfunction and thereby directly helps heart strength. The mitochondria are the energy factories in all cells. The heart muscle needs at least 4 to 5 times the amount of energy that other cells need. Heart failure is reduced as well as definitely reducing the inflammatory effect of the free radicals.

Heart failure, due to lack of energy from the mitochondria, plus inflammatory atherosclerosis, are the primary factors in heart disease. Resveratrol enormously reduces heart disease. Resveratrol is the most plausible reason for increased life expectancy. (It inhibits other degenerative diseases, thereby also extending longevity)

In animal studies, mice fed unhealthy fats and free radical damaging diets, confirm that indeed oxidative damage was reduced by resveratrol and life expectancy was increased. In other words in spite of a lousy diet with exposure to free radicals, the resveratrol supplemented mice lived longer and had more physical endurance.

What are the health benefits that resveratrol researchers are finding? “Reduced heart attacks”, “Less damage from strokes”, “Improved cognition”, “Less fat accumulation”, “Enhanced immune system against viruses”, “Reduced cancers”, “Youthful endurance and physical activity”, and “youthful appearance”.

All degenerative diseases benefit from the reduction of free radicals; they are paramount to all degenerative diseases. A heart healthy diet and good supplements make sense for staying healthy and living longer.

Some scientists began to question is resveratrol alone the full cause of increased longevity? It turns out there is evidence of another factor.

Dr. Jay Rowen, M.D. reports in his June 2009 newsletter, Second Opinion, that there appears to be another factor in the red wine that contributes to longevity. It comes to light from research done at the University of California in Davis. Dr. Andrew Waterhouse, professor there, reports that ingredients called saponins are not only present in the resveratrol but also in the wine itself. They come from the wax in the wine skins.

Research shows that the saponins are plant sterols that are similar to cholesterol but are not harmful, but helpful to your health in two ways. They are a substitute for the cholesterol.  They hinder accumulation of it in the arteries plus they are antioxidants that reduce inflammation. Antioxidants reduce free radical damage that affects your DNA and genetic code. Damaged DNA produces sick cells that lead to all kinds of degenerative diseases.

The bottom line is this.  Resveratrol, found in the red grape skins and the red wine itself,  is shown to confer longer life expectancy. A small daily amount of red wine appears to be a health benefit.    This does not mean overindulgence in wine is a good thing because it can create health damage by cirrhosis of the liver and disruption of health in general.  At this point resveratrol supplementation is the best answer to longevity for most.  Researcher Dr. Carrie Doenell reports weight loss and energy improvement of 75 %.  She recommends a supplement of 125 mg daily…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: anti oxidants, free radicals, heart disease, mitochondria, resveratrol, SOD2

Resveratrol was an amazing new discovery that apparently enormously extended life expectancy in numerous studies, worldwide. A study in Burgundy France found the longevity of residents was 46% longer, in spite of a diet that consumed fats and other proven poor foods.  It was first believed that the resveratrol in the red wine grape skins, especially abundant in Burgundy, was the reason. There is more to it than that.

There is a flurry of current research that is investigating why this phenomenon of increased longevity is occurring. Harvard University, Mayo Clinic, UCLA Medical and many others are astonished by the powerful effect on life spans. There appears to be three main reasons that explain why grape skins are so effective in extending longevity.  They contain: 1. Resveratrol, 2. pterostilbene, and 3. powerful gene stimulation.

Resveratrol apparently causes stimulation of the longevity gene, SIRT1.  Pterostilbene lowers cholesterol, triglycerides, helps lower excess glucose, is anti-fungal and counteracts a substance called cytochrome P450. This latter is an enzyme that promotes disease when free radical oxidants are present.  Both resveratrol and pterostilbene are powerful anti-oxidants that reduce oxidative damage that is harmful to your body’s cells.

Robb and others in their research of biochemistry and biophysics find there is a 14 fold increase in the activity of SOD2.  Why this is significant is because SOD2 greatly reduces inflammatory free radical damage in the body’s biochemistry.  Oxidative damage is reduced because electron deficient substances are not allowed to cause as much free radical damage and its accompanying inflammation.

With the exception of hereditary or genetic caused diseases, all degenerative diseases are caused by inflammation. Cancer, heart disease, arthritis, kidney, fibromyalgia, diabetes,  Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s  are major ones most people are familiar with.

Free radical damage causes oxidative damage which translates into inflammation and cellular DNA damage, producing degenerative diseases.

“We know that most degenerative diseases are limited to free radical damage.”… James Balch, M.D.  In 1954 Dr. Denham Harmon said this: “A single common process, modifiable by genetic and environmental factors, was responsible for ageing and death of all living things.” This is truer today because of the increased insults to your body and its genetic code. Disease is produced by damaged DNA and inflammation.

Heart disease is the number one killer in the Western world.  Supplements are becoming available that enormously reduce the risk of heart disease and other degenerative diseases.

The research worldwide in Poland, Japan, France, here in the USA and other places validates the remarkably powerful effect of the ingredients in the red skin of grapes.   Unfortunately, only small amounts of the powerful, longevity producing ingredients are in grape skins.  The good news is supplements are now becoming available that contain resveratrol and most recently pterostilbene…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

P.S. Send a friend to read this on my blog:  http://naturalhealthsecrets.ws (copy & paste the link into your email)

P.P.S.  Comments on this post are welcome.

Technorati Tags: anti oxidants, free radicals, pterostilbene, resveratrol

Glutathione (GSH) is central to immune defense.  It functions to provide:

• A powerful antioxidant
• A potent detoxifier
• A co-factor in enzyme reactions
• “Go power” to the army of white blood cells who fight all invaders
• Amino acid transport to build and repair proteins
• Re-supply of electrons to antioxidants such as vitamins C and E.

Glutathione is a powerful anti oxidant that defeats free radicals which are at the root of all degenerative diseases. Free radicals cause oxidation and inflammation because they are hungry for electrons.  Their chemistry is deficient in one or more electrons.  If they cannot find willing donors, they steal electrons from weaker molecules.  This is enormously disruptive, even to the extent they can change the DNA and genetic code of your cells.  Just as iron rusts due to oxidation, so also do your cells degrade due to oxidation caused by free radicals.

At the vary least, free radicals make the individual cells sick.  At the worst they can cause cancerous tumors to form. Glutathione not only willingly supplies electrons to the greedy free radical compounds but it also helps repair and build proteins.  The joining of GSH with other compounds facilitates the conjugation and repair of proteins where needed.  This is especially important to the preservation of your DNA.

Vitamin C and vitamin E are also good donors of electrons to help fight disease caused by free radical damage.  They do “run out” of electrons but glutathione recharges and re-supplies these needed electrons.  They cannot re-supply themselves.

For those of you who are wondering about electrons…electrons are part of the structure of every atom. They are negatively charged particles that orbit around the central atom nucleus which has a positive charge.  They are much like our solar system.  They are so tiny they cannot be seen but have perpetual energy and are necessary for every function in your body.  All chemical reactions of the body involve electrons, without their availability the body would cease to function.

Toxins corrupt and tax  normal biochemical function. They preferably need to be excreted from your body, whole or in part,  or else they become stored in your fat… or react adversely with your chemistry. Glutathione (GSH) plays an enormous role in this regard.  Without electron exchange and flow, cells and ultimately the body, die.

Inflammation is at the root of all cardiovascular disease…heart attack and stroke. Inflammation is caused by the oxidative effects of free radicals, especially toxic compounds.  Unless neutralized, this inflammation produces atherosclerotic plaque formation, increased blood pressure and cardiovascular accidents (heart failure, heart  attack and stroke).

In numerous studies, glutathione is found to always be deficient when disease conquers your body. This includes cancer, arthritis, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, brain and kidney diseases as well as cardiovascular disease.

Whole foods, as opposed to packaged and preserved ones, especially raw cruciform vegetables, help provide the raw materials your body needs to manufacture glutathione. Toxins and junk food tax and take their toll causing increased disease… eliminate these foods...Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: anti oxidants, electrons, free radicals, glutathione, inflammation

If there is an abundance of bio-compounds that have free electrons to give… like vitamins A, C & E, plus bio-flavenoids in fruits and vegetables… they are satisfied.  Free radicals won’t then rob weaker compounds that your body needs. Another important anti-inflammatory and proven aid in both coronary heart disease and Alzheimer’s are the omega 3’s.  Let’s explore the omegas.

Exactly why omega’s are so powerful in preventing heart disease and Alzheimer’s is not fully clear but studies and statistics prove their efficacy. It is well accepted in mainstream medicine and in alternative medicine that abundant omega 3’s are huge in prevention of coronary heart disease.  Now Alzheimer’s prevention can be added. Omega 3’s are essential fatty acids that you body, and especially your brain, needs because the fat content of the brain is relatively high.

A recent study presented to the American Academy of Neurology found that high amounts of the omegas, along with vitamin E and folate,  greatly reduced Alzheimer’s… to the tune of 42%. Also in the equation was (surprisingly) increased vitamin B-12… without apparent benefit.  The study did not find a co-relationship of high B-12 levels alone with reduced Alzheimer’s.  Normally deficient vitamin B-12 is associated with compromised brain function in the form of dementia.  The explanation given was high levels of B-12 were present because of high meat consumption that also increased saturated fats.  Apparently the Omega 3’s were able to overcome the detrimental effects of the saturated fats, which are inflammatory, and the B-12 was irrelevant.

A prime example of omega 3’s overriding the negative effects of high fatty meat consumption and reducing coronary heart disease is found with the Eskimos.  They live almost exclusively on fish and fatty meat for months. Studies show that in spite of high consumption of fats they have almost no coronary heart disease.  The reason why clearly points to the high intakes of omega 3… that are found in fish and sea animals.

This validates the hue and cry of alternative doctors to “get your omega 3’s”.  They are most abundant in salmon and deep sea fish.  Also flax and hemp oil are good sources…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: alzheimer's, coronary heart disease, free radicals, inflammation, omega 3's

What is free radical damage?  It is oxidation of your body chemistry that can decrease your longevity by making body cells sick. How does this happen?  Free radical compounds are chemicals that are hungry for electrons.  They steal electrons from weaker compounds if electrons are not freely available from anti oxidants compounds.  What are some examples of anti oxidant electron donors?

Examples of willing electron donors are vitamins A, C and E.  Thousands of flavonoids from fruits and vegetables provide  good sources.  Poly phenols from phytonutrients of tea, coffee and even seaweed can be rich sources.

“We know that most degenerative diseases are limited to free radical damage.”… James Balch, M.D.  In 1954 Dr. Denham Harmon said this: “A single common process, modifiable by genetic and environmental factors, was responsible for ageing and death of all living things.” This is more true today because of the increased assaults on your body and its genetic code.  Disease is produced by damaged DNA and inflammation.

All tissues in the body are subject to degenerative disease. Heart disease is arguably the greatest loser  because it is the number one killer in the Western world. Number two cancer is a prime example of degenerative breakdown of health. There is a proliferation of toxic chemicals and substances that attack the mitochondria, nucleus and the DNA of every cell in the body, often altering the genetic code, causing aging and pre-mature death.

Nearly everyone knows the term “carcinogen” is associated with cancer. What this means is that certain substances, chemicals… can cause alteration of healthy cells which turn into cancer cells.  In layman’s terms, the mitochondria and genetic code of the cells get “screwed up”.  This spawns a misfit, rogue cancer cell.  If enough of these cancer cells proliferate and multiply, tumor cells develop. (anti-oxidants are helpful in preventing this)

Fortunately a healthy body is able to cope with and neutralize some free radical damage, even eliminating cancer and damaged cells.  Good supplementation, vitamins, and raw vegetables that are all proven anti-oxidants, are of enormous benefit.

There is a limit to what the body can handle in detrimental foreign substances. On a daily basis your body takes in toxins in the form of air, water,  food,  free radicals oxidants and  foreign substances.

Your body handles toxins each day, eliminating chemicals and foreign substances. Unfortunately our modern environment sometimes overwhelms your body with huge amounts  that are carcinogenic…cancer causing.  Other diseases like heart disease, arthritis and brain diseases are also propelled by free radical damage.

There are, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 80,000 toxic chemicals that we are exposed to. These foreign substances include, but are not limited to:  herbicides, pesticides (4 billion lbs. in USA per yr.), mercury, cadmium, aluminum, lead, solvents, asbestos, preservatives, trans fats, prescription drugs, cleaning agents, inhaled smoke and auto exhausts, cosmetics, ammonia, artificial food products and numerous biochemical pollutants.

These products cause inflammation and sometimes even genetic aberrations that can cause cancer and other degenerative diseases.

When your body is overwhelmed, then disease and dysfunction prevail. Ultimately life and longevity is compromised.  You lose health!

Water and air pollution are a major source of these noxious chemicals.  We further add to the toxic burden by consumption of excessive trans fats, sugar, alcohol, sodium, caffeine, nitrates, and other “foods” that overload our bodies. Normal function is impaired…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: anti oxidants, cancer, degenerative disease, free radicals, heart disease, longevity

We are 5% of the worlds population but consume 50% of the prescription drugs.  Are drugs the answer? You do the math!

We cannot control what the more than 600 drug lobbyist and the deluge of enormous profits  that drug companies generate. We can, however, live more healthy lives and extend our longevity by understanding the cause of aging and disease.

Aging is due to deterioration of cellular health.  This is caused by free radical damage. What is free radical damage?  It is inflammation caused by foreign substances (even some drugs & man adulterated foods).  Toxins and pollutants are obvious foreign objects that tax your body and shorten your life.

How do free radicals cause damage? These foreign substances pollute your body chemistry.  They steal electrons from essential bio substances in your body. One of the primary ways cellular health is affected is within the mitochondria of the cell.

The mitochondria are the energy factories in every cell and they also have DNA  that is affected. Chromosomes that carry the genetic code of your cells get shortened with the onslaughts of free radicals.  This reduces the health of the cells and their assimilation of essential nutrients the body needs. Health degrades.

When you are young, there is optimal function and less accumulation of cellular damage caused by the free radicals. The body is efficient and able to handle some ill effects without  noticeable degradation. There is a build up of tissues, called anabolism.  With age, catabolism occurs…a net loss of cells and function.  Your body becomes less efficient.

The type of food you consume can be an asset or detriment. Excessive amounts of sugar, salt, trans fats and preserved foods compromise health.  The needed nutrients (enzymes, phytonutrients and vitamins) are lacking.  The body becomes less efficient in its operation and aging and declining health ensue.

Raw fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains are so essential.  Why? Heat destroys the majority of enzymes at 126 degrees Fahrenheit.  (There are over 3000 enzymes used by the body)  It does not end there.  Certain minerals, especially magnesium (used in over 325 chemical reactions of the body) are necessary to assimilate the needed nutrients.  Vitamins A, C and E are also anti oxidants that work best with whole foods.

Numerous studies demonstrate reduced cancer, heart disease (#1 killer) and all inflammatory diseases diminish when abundant (3 to 5 servings a day) of fresh fruits and vegetables  are consumed. Nuts and whole grains likewise provide essential and auxiliary  nutrients, catalysts and minerals.

Other phytonutrients (from plants) in the form of flavenoids (sources of color there) are needed also. There is reportedly over 4000 flavenoids which are antioxidants that are believed to neutralized these inflammatory free radicals.  They come from fresh, raw fruits and vegetables.  Many have not been researched, but those that have, prove to be real allies to health and longivety.  They reduce free radical damage and health degeneration.

In summary what extends longevity?

1. Reduce sugar consumption (reports vary…from 136 to 157 pounds per person per year)  It is in every prepared food and beverage. It is a risk factor in heart disease, cancer and diabetes…leading killers.
2. Reduce salt (sodium) and increase potassium. (Excess sodium is associated with high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease)  The balance should favor potassium but is usually the opposite.  (Sodium is in virtually all prepared foods)
3. Reduce toxic exposures, like smoking (A high risk factor in heart disease and cancer)
4. Get adequate essential nutrients and vitamins. (with age more are needed because of a less efficient body) Take a quality multiple vitamin as you get older.
5. Take proven supplements: D-ribose,  L-Carnitine and CoQ-10 for energy and heart health.
6. Consume raw fresh fruits and vegetables that provide phytonutrients, enzymes, minerals  & flavenoids
7. Take  in essential fatty acids ( Omega 3’s ) from supplements like flax oil or deep sea fish oils.
8. Add resveratrol supplement that stimulates the longevity gene and is an anti oxidant.
9. Perform exercise and good weight control. (obesity is a high risk factor in many diseases and statistically shortens longevity)

Technorati Tags: aging, anti oxidants, free radicals, longevity, resveratrol, supplements, vitamins

Free radicals are chemical compounds that are deficient in electrons.  They are oxidative. Just as oxidation of iron causes rust, so also do free radicals damage your body chemistry.   They do so by stealing electrons from healthy bio compounds.  Free radicals are aggressive and hungry for electrons to complete their chemistry.

They don’t seem to care where they get the electrons or how much damage they cause. When they rob electrons from essential body compounds, the tissue from whence they came, suffers.   That is why anti oxidants with “spare” electrons are valuable to your body.

CoQ-10 is a powerful and essential antioxidant. The body does manufacture it’s own CoQ-10.  The major source is the liver but it can be produced by most cells of the body.  The problem is CoQ-10  naturally diminishes with age.  It is estimated that from age 20 to age 80 the levels of CoQ-10 diminish by 57%…leaving a level of only 43%.  Not only age, but toxins, drugs (especially cholesterol lowering drugs), all reduce the CoQ-10 levels needed.

How do you treat coronary heart disease?  It is not by lowering CoQ-10!

The statin (cholesterol lowering) drugs are especially bad for CoQ-10 because they block the production of not only cholesterol but also CoQ-10 in the liver.

Numerous studies clearly show two thirds of statin users are in heart failure. The heart is not strong enough to pump adequate amounts of blood.  Why? Because CoQ-10 is the spark in the energy chain needed for energy to the heart muscle.

The mitochondria are the energy factories found in every cell of the body.  It is here that carbohydrates, fats, even proteins  can ultimately be converted into ATP, your cellular energy.  CoQ-10 is essential to this process.

As researcher and cardiologist, Dr. Stephen Sinatra says, it is the spark that ignites your energy burn. Eighty percent of the CoQ-10 found in the body resides in the mitochondria.

The form of CoQ-10 is important because of the availability of electrons.  The most popular form is ubiguinone which is oxidized and only 4% bio available to your body. It does not have the available electrons to easily contribute like the ubiquinol form does.

Research show that ubiquinol is the  most powerful, oil soluble, anti oxidant that body can produce. Studies are confirming that the crystalline (non oil) and the ubiquinone (oxidized) form are very poorly assimilated by your body.  Hence we have , at best, a 4% bio availability for them.

Certain vitamins like C and E are also good antioxidants, so they easily lose their spare electrons.  The good news is that ubiquinol CoQ-10 replenishes or re-charges the vitamins.  In effect it recycles them for use again...Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: anti oxidants, CoQ-10, free radicals, ubiquinol, ubiquinone

Your heart beats relentlessly, typically 100,000 times a day moving 2000 gallons of blood throughout your body in a 24 hour period. When heart failure occurs, due to a weak  heart, not enough blood with nutrients and oxygen gets to all your cells.  In addition, toxins and wastes build up and produce dangerous inflammation.

What are the symptoms of heart failure?  Here are the typical symptoms:

• Shortness of breath upon physical exertion
• Swollen ankles due to poor circulation
• Extreme fatigue
• Chronic cough, sometimes bloody
• Extreme weight loss or weight gain due to fluid accumulation

Ultimately organ systems begin to fail due to nutritional deficiencies, lack of oxygen, toxin build up and accumulation of fluids.

There is rapid and widespread inflammation, accelerated by toxins and waste products. Dr. Russell Blaylock tells us increased levels of inflammation co-relate to increased levels of heart failure.  The tests that accurately measure blood inflammation are:

• CRP (C-Reactive Protein levels)
• 1L6  (Interleukin-6)
• TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor)

Research has shown that heart failure patients have as much as 12 times the level of TNF…severe inflammation to say the least!

Why is inflammation so significant? It is extremely destructive to heart tissue, both the muscle and the electrical conduction that paces the heart. Toxins have free radicals that produce electrons that bombard other molecules and  wreak havoc on the DNA. The DNA is the genetic code in every cell.  When the chemistry of DNA degrades, a sick or diseased cell is produced.

A whole separate issue is the fact that inflammation in the blood vessels produces an accumulation of dangerous atherosclerotic plaque that can cause a heart attack or stroke.  Unfortunately the standard treatment for both heart failure and heart attack is to prescribe drugs to diminish symptoms.  The root cause of heart failure is not even addressed. Reduction of risk factors with healthy diet considerations, vitamins, energy supplements like CoQ-10, D-Ribose & L-Carnitine are needed.  The elimination of toxins and inflammatory irritants like excessive animal fats, trans fats,  sugar, and smoking seem ignored.  Drugs do not heal, nutrition and healthy lifestyles do.

How does the large intestine (colon) factor into the equation of heart failure and blood inflammation? A condition called “leaky gut” is emerging as a very significant health issue for the heart and health in general.  The condition of leaky gut occurs when allergic foods or foreign substances irritate the lining of the colon.  This causes the lining to expand and become more porous.

With leaky gut, large undigested particles enter into the blood stream along with bacteria. This triggers a huge response, sometimes violent, that taxes the immune system and produces raging inflammation.  As already mentioned this causes damage to the heart and linings of the blood vessels.  This creates a downward spiral in health that can result in death if it is not reversed…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.

Technorati Tags: DNA, free radicals, heart failure, leaky gut