The Truth Behind Tea
Tea was at a point the miracle cure. Green Tea made it into nearly every home as the new "cure all", great marketing huh? Well, as an avid tea drinker myself, I decided to do some research on it today. After I found out everything I could about caffeine, I have opted to go back to my regular Dr. Pepper, it wasn't the caffeine in it that is so bad for me, it's the sugar. But I am also leaning toward drinking more Iced Tea. It's a southern tradition, and I drink it with a cup of sugar per gallon, which is much less sugar than my Dr. Pepper. I'm sure this is still to much, but I hate tap water and bottled is much the same. So, here is what I gathered:
A great tea website Tea Association of the United States
Whole Food Vitamins, Diet & Detox Plans, & More....
Tea was at a point the miracle cure. Green Tea made it into nearly every home as the new "cure all", great marketing huh? Well, as an avid tea drinker myself, I decided to do some research on it today. After I found out everything I could about caffeine, I have opted to go back to my regular Dr. Pepper, it wasn't the caffeine in it that is so bad for me, it's the sugar. But I am also leaning toward drinking more Iced Tea. It's a southern tradition, and I drink it with a cup of sugar per gallon, which is much less sugar than my Dr. Pepper. I'm sure this is still to much, but I hate tap water and bottled is much the same. So, here is what I gathered:
- Tea is the most commonly consumed beverage in the world after water.
- Green & Black are the most popular. Followed by Ginseng, Herbal, Oolong (red), Rooibos, White, and tons of other varieties and variations of the above.
- The degree of processing the leaves of camellia sinensis
determines whether a tea will be green, black or red (oolong). Green
tea is the least processed. Black the most, and red in between.
- Any tea derived from camellia sinensis has cancer fighting properties.
- The leaves of this plant contain chemicals called polyphenols, which give tea its antioxidant properties.
- Help protect cells from normal, but damaging processes. Oxidative Stress
- Oxygen is vital to life but it also but it also incorporates into reactive substances known as free radicals, the stuff that damages cells leading to heart disease and cancer
- Helps prevent bloood clots
- Helps lower cholesterol
- Helps to neutralize the enzymes that aid in tumor growth
- Helps to deactivate cancer promoters
- Helps to stimulate the immune system
- Help fight against mutagenic agents
- Delay aging
- Help fight high blood pressure
- Helps fight against viral and bacterial infections
- Help improve the functions of the digestive and excretory systems
A great tea website Tea Association of the United States
Whole Food Vitamins, Diet & Detox Plans, & More....
Drugmakers Warning was FDA's Idea
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Sunday, 10-12-08
When drug makers made a suprise announcement that they no longer recommend cough and cold remedies for children under 4, they didn't let on that it was the governments idea. And why at age 4 rather than 6 like pediatricians wanted? Because the FDA suggested that, too. FDA officials proposed the cutoff this year in private discussions with the industry, government and industry officials confirmed Friday. The maneuvering is an example of how government health officials and the industries they regulate seek to come to an accommidation behind the scenes on tricky issues. In this case, there is scant evidence that the widely used over-the-counter medicines really work in children. "There is a delicate dance between how much legal authority the FDA has and their use of the bully pulpit for getting some sort of comprimise," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commisoner. He and other pediatricians have asked the FDA to ban the cold products for children under 6. A panel of independent advisers to the FDA strongly seconded the recommendation. But the agency took a different approach. The FDA says it settled on age 4 after a careful data review and a vigorous internal debate. Emergency-room data show that most of the problems involve kids under 4, but the FDA would not release the hospital data. Still, some of the FDA's independent advisers question the under 4 recommendation. "There was no data suggesting that the drugs were effective in kids under 12," said Sean Hennesey, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. "I don't see how that's a fully rational approach to the problem."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Sunday, 10-12-08
What's wrong with synthetic supplements?
What’s wrong with Synthetic Supplements?Posted on: October 16th, 2007 by Heidi Dulay
Have you heard people laugh about Americans having the most expensive urine in the world? That's because the vitamins most Americans take are synthetic, and 90% of synthetic vitamins pass through the body unabsorbed.
A synthetic vitamin or mineral is a laboratory simulation of a simple version of the real thing. In the plant, the vitamin/mineral lives with many other vitamins, minerals and nutrients - the "cofactors" the body needs to absorb and use it.
If the cofactors are missing, as they are in synthetic vitamins, the body steals them from its organs, bones, muscles and other tissue. That's why taking synthetic vitamins/minerals over time can be harmful to your health. They deplete the body of other nutrients. For example, taking synthetic calcium regularly depletes the body of magnesium.
Multivitamins - blends of synthetic vitamins and minerals - don't remedy this problem. The concentrations of the vitamins and minerals in the formulas are rarely those found naturally in the plant. And many of their cofactors are missing. Some haven't even been discovered yet!
Synthetic vitamins are super-processed. They are usually manufactured at high temperatures and contain artificial or toxic ingredients, such as dyes, preservatives, coal tars, sugars, starch, and other additives. Kind of like paint or plastics.
Why would a manufacturer of health products do this? Aren't they in business to help us improve our health? Well, marketing concerns often overtake nutritional goals. Extending shelf life, making products look or taste better, meeting machine requirements, and lowering manufacturing costs, usually take precedence over nutritional value. The resulting supplements become pretty useless to us. Some experts say that they might even be dangerous over time.
3 Studies
#1. Study using synthetic beta carotene and Vitamin E halted. (reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1994) 29,000 male smokers were given synthetic beta carotene and synthetic Vitamin E. The study was stopped when rates of lung cancer, heart attacks and death increased.
#2. Birth defects increased for women on synthetic supplements (reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1995) 22,000 pregnant women were given synthetic Vitamin A. The study was halted because birth defects increased 400%.
#3. Men get thickened arteries on synthetic supplements (reported in Reuters Health, March, 2000). Men who took 500 mg of synthetic Vitamin C daily over 18 months showed signs of thickening of the arteries.
Dr. Zoltan P. Rona, M.D., says that while a healthy person will not drop dead immediately after ingesting synthetic supplements, "the long-term consequences of continuous, daily intakes are potentially dangerous." Reactions include fatigue, memory loss, depression, insomnia and potential liver disorders.
Half of US doctors use placebo treatments
Survey: Half of US doctors use placebo treatments
Interesting dilemma.Just in from London...
"About half of American doctors in a new survey say they regularly give patients placebo treatments - usually drugs or vitamins that won't really help their condition. And many of these doctors are not honest with their patients about what they are doing, the survey found.And therein lies the dilemma: to tell or not to tell?
"That contradicts advice from the American Medical Association, which recommends doctors use treatments with the full knowledge of their patients.
"It's a disturbing finding," said Franklin G. Miller, director of the research ethics program at the U.S. National Institutes Health and one of the study authors. "There is an element of deception here which is contrary to the principle of informed consent.""Placebos as defined in the survey went beyond the typical sugar pill commonly used in medical studies. A placebo was any treatment that wouldn't necessarily help the patient.
"Scientists have long known of the "placebo effect," in which patients given a fake or ineffective treatment often improve anyway, simply because they expected to get better..." Continued here. PDF in case
Experts don't know if the placebo effect would be undermined if patients were explicitly told they were getting a dummy pill.
Smoking, Even More Reasons 2 Kick The Habit
As I have recently decided to quit smoking, once again, I have found out some things. Quitting becasuse you ran out does not work. Cold Turkey sucks. And you have to really want to. So, with all these things in mind, I have done some research on how to quit, and more reasons why you should. As if any of us needed anymore?Smoking Rate Is Declining in U.S.
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Smoke Cigarettes
By Bill HendrickWebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Nov. 13, 2008 -- The percentage of Americans who smoke cigarettes has fallen below 20% for the first time since at least the mid-1960s, according to a new report.
The CDC says in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that the prevalence of smoking fell in 2007 to 19.8%, nearly a full percentage point from 20.8% in 2006.
"This is good news," Matthew McKenna, MD, MPH, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, tells WebMD. "But deaths related to cigarette smoking are still increasing. Almost one in five adult Americans smoke, and many former smokers are succumbing to their habit again."
Tom Glynn, PhD, director of International Cancer Control of the American Cancer Society, says the CDC report shows that major progress is being made in the government's war on smoking, but hard battles still loom.
"This is the lowest level since the late 1920s, at least," Glynn tells WebMD. "We've gotten back to where we were more than 80 years ago."
The CDC says cigarette smoking prevalence has been dropping steadily among Americans 18 and older since it began keeping records in 1965, when 42.4% smoked. The proportion dropped below 30% for the first time in 1987, when 28.8% of Americans smoked.
"We think the proportion is dropping because of excise taxes that make cigarettes more expensive, smoke-free laws [that apply to most workplaces], and the availability of counseling and medications," McKenna says.
In 2007, the CDC says 22.3% of adult males and 17.4% of adult women smoked. It says 19.8% of African-Americans smoked in 2007, and 21.4% of whites.
The CDC says 443,000 deaths annually are attributed to tobacco use.
Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death among men and women, kills about 157,000 Americans a year. A greater number of people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
Trying to Quit Smoking
"The most important thing people can do if they are smoking is to quit," McKenna says. "These studies show 30% to 40% of smokers try to quit, but chances of being successful without help are only 4% to 5%."
Progress would be better if more people were aware that their doctors could help and if they knew about a toll-free counseling "quit line" offering advice at 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669), McKenna tells WebMD.
The report also says that:
43.4 million Americans are smokers.
Smoking has declined over at least the past 40 years among all socio-demographic groups.
Smoking prevalence varies according to education levels. Smokers who had a general education development diploma had the highest prevalence rate at 44%. People with nine to 11 years of education had a prevalence rate of 33.3%, compared with 11.4% of those with college degrees and 6.2% with graduate degrees.
Mortality rates for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increased 8% from 2000 to 2005.
COPD deaths among women rose to 60,229 annually between 2000 and 2004, up from 56,363 between 1997 and 2001. Among men, annual deaths remained about the same in both periods at 58,000. COPD, which is treatable, is caused mainly by cigarette smoking, but also occupational hazards, air pollution, and secondhand smoke.
Exposure to tobacco smoke resulted in 5.1 million years of potential life lost during 2000-2004 and $96.8 billion in annual productivity losses ($64.2 billion for males, $32.6 billion for females.)
Smoking and Disease
McKenna tells WebMD that the three leading causes of smoking-related death are lung cancer, heart disease, and COPD. He says between 30% and 40% of smokers try to quit annually, but the success rate is only one in five.
It's unlikely, he adds, that the U.S. will reach its goal of reducing smoking prevalence to 12% in the next two years. But he says media campaigns, excise taxes, and rules implementing smoke-free environments are playing roles in reducing smoking.
Also, he says, "there are now more former smokers than active smokers."
Benefits for those who quit are significant, he says, because stopping smoking drastically reduces risks of cardiovascular disease and COPD.
Glynn says the American Cancer Society fears many people who've quit may start again because "they are thinking they are self-medicating for anxiety and economic difficulties."
He says studies "have shown that smoking in the movies" induces youths to smoke. Glynn also says nonsmoking women are getting lung cancer at higher rates than nonsmoking men, but the reasons aren't clear.
The CDC studies, Glynn says, reinforce that "if we raise taxes [on cigarettes] and continue to widen access to cessation treatment," prevalence will go down more.
Source: WebMD
Quit Smoking Interactive Tool
Smoking has cost me $3450 in the last 2 years, How Much Is It Costing You?
Find out why you smoke, what triggers it? This is step one Why Do You Use Tobacco?
For me I smoke in stressful situations, sitting in traffic is a big one for me. When I am bored, when I first wake up, after I eat, and on occasion so I don't eat. I use nicotene as a substitute for a meal.
What is your motivation? Why do You want to quit? Getting Ready to quit
I want to quit due to some health problems I have from smoking. I have ashtma that I never had as a child, and chronic bronchitis. I wake up wheezy and cannot take a long walk without being short of breath. I also want to try for a baby, and most important for me is to be able to have a healthy child. My dad smokes, so I started. I do not want my children to smoke. And I know if I do, more likely than not, they also will.
Finding what makes you not quit is important to actually deal with not quittng. This is my biggest: Nicotine withdrawal
When people use tobacco products on a regular basis, their bodies develop a need for nicotine. If they don't get nicotine, they start having nicotine withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal symptoms and cravings for nicotine vary from person to person. They often depend on how much nicotine a person is used to getting. The more nicotine the body is used to, the more severe symptoms are likely to be.
Symptoms of withdrawal include feeling:
Restless.
Irritated.
Angry.
Anxious.
Sad or depressed.
Hungrier than usual.
People going through withdrawal may find it hard to:
Sleep.
Deal with stress.
Concentrate.
Nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually begin about 24 hours after a person quits smoking or using tobacco products. Symptoms are the worst between 24 and 48 hours after the person quits. They can last from a few days to 4 weeks. The average length of time a person deals with withdrawal symptoms is 3 to 4 weeks. The craving for cigarettes and increased appetite can last for months.
Treatment for nicotine withdrawal includes medications, counseling or support groups, a nutritious diet, and regular exercise.
Quick Fact: People who smoke have more belly fat than non-smokers!
Setting Goals to quit is very important. I have said a thousand times, "I will quit in the morning", when the morning comes, I just can't do it. I make excuses for myself. "one won't hurt," "I still have a full pack," the list goes on. I learned I cannot just wake up one day and quit. I have to set a date, prepare myself, and do it.
Now, I have tried the patch, and in fact it did help, I quit for 3 weeks. I kick myself for picking it back up. I was dating a smoker, and the temptation got me. I have Chantix as well, it is pricey. It is effective, at least for me, but the cost was so high I could not really afford it. Zyban had similar effects for me as the Chantix, it made me phsically ill when I smoked. The #1 problem I had with pills is my history of depression. These are not a good choice for people with depression. Now the gum, at least to me, tasted terrible. I am trying the Commit losenge this time. As well as the patch. The most important thing to remeber, is it's not easy to quit, but it is possible.
http://www.webmd.com/ has great resources for smokers wanting to quit. I have included links to some of these in this post. I highly recommend reading some or all of these if you plan to quit.
I would also love to hear what other people have done, or are doing to quit. I have set my date for January 1st. This gives me the time I need to prepare both mind and body for this change. I would be more than happy to be a support for anyone else wanting to quit, please email me, and we can get a group set up for this! nchol@sbcglobal.net
