Artificial sweetener linked to weight gain

Most people who use artificial sweeteners, despite the uncertainty of health risks, do so to cut calories that would be added by eating regular sugar. It is assumed that no or little calories is a good thing and that it aids in weight loss, yet a new study suggests that using artificial sweeteners could actually make you gain weight.

The study, which was conducted by scientists at Purdue University, studied rats that were given food with natural glucose and food sweetened with saccharin. The study found that the rats that ate food sweetened with saccharin went on to eat more food, consume more calories, and put on more body fat and weight than those who ate the naturally sweetened food.

How is this possible? The researchers determined that the body may prompt itself to get ready to take in a lot of calories when it tastes sweet food. When the body does not get these calories it decides to eat more and expends less energy. The researchers believe this is a natural bodily process that gets interrupted by artificial, no (or low) calorie sweeteners. Not only do these sweeteners prompt the body to eat more, but they do not offer any nutritive qualities, which can also lead to overeating in an attempt to consume nutrients.
While the food industry has criticized this study, the researchers believe the data is very clear: artificial sweeteners lead to weight gain.







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Raw Foods and Food Enzymes

Mainstream medicine pretty much ignores the role of food enzymes in health and disease management and prevention. It’s unfortunate, since there are more than 3,000 types of enzymes which serve to speed up, slow down, alter, initiate, halt and catalyze over 4,000 biochemical reactions in the body. Enzymes are responsible for food digestion, respiration, detoxification of some organs, blood purification, transportation and assimilation of nutrients, cell renewal and repair and many, many other tasks. There are three types of enzymes: metabolic and digestive enzymes (produced by the body) and food enzymes.

If you talk to a raw foodist about nutrition, you’re likely to hear about enzymes right away. That’s because food enzymes are only found in fresh, raw and living foods. These foods are packed with their own enzymes for easy digestion, but are destroyed when heated above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. If you steam vegetables, some of the enzymes are preserved, but if you fry, microwave or bake your food, the enzymes are lost.

You may wonder why you need food enzymes if our body produces digestive and metabolic enzymes. While it is true that your body produces enzymes, it is helpful to consume food enzymes to allow your digestive system to rest and to allow your immune system to successfully carry out its functions. If you are not taking in any food enzymes your body can become overburdened and all your energy can be taken up by organ detox, blood purification and providing immune system back-up. If you are taking in food enzymes through raw, living foods or enzyme supplements, your body can concentrate on clearing the body of unneeded toxins in the bloodstream such as viruses, bacteria and disease causing cells. This is why many doctors prescribe a raw food diet to help people combating diseases, especially cancer, restore balance to their body.









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Losing Weight to Decrease your Risk of Cancer?

Could it be possible that obesity leads to cancer? Researchers seem to think so.

Researchers accumulated data from over 140 studies that covered more than 280,000 cases of diverse types of cancer and diverse populations from Asia, North America and Australia, to find out whether a high BMI (body mass index) could correlate with the occurrence of cancer. The subjects were followed from 9-15 years. What researchers found was that – yes- it appears that extra weight increases risk of various types of cancers.

The study was paid for by the University of Manchester, the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the British Medical Association.

While many doctors have suspected that obesity has an effect on breast and colon cancers, the study found that many other types of cancer may be affected by obesity. For instance, they found that men with a weight gain of around 33 pounds had a 52% risk increase for esophageal cancer, 33% increased risk for thyroid cancer and 24% increased risk of kidney and colon cancers.

They also found that women who gained 29 pounds increase their chances of developing esophageal cancer by 51%, gall bladder and uterus cancer by 60%, and are 34% more likely to develop kidney cancer.

While there is no proof that extra weight causes cancer, the study does bring up a lot of questions about whether eating right and staying healthy can affect your chances of developing cancer.

Although many studies will be done to see if obesity and cancer are linked, it is in everyone’s best interest to eat healthy, exercise and keep your weight - and possibly the chances of cancer and other diseases – low.






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Cannabis Causes Gum Disease

Over the years, many studies have identified the link between gum disease and cigarette smoking, but none have looked at the long term effects of cannabis smoking and gum disease – until now. An international team of experts followed the dental health of 1,000 heavy cannabis smokers and found that over one-third of them developed gum disease by the age of 32. The criteria to be deemed a ‘heavy’ smoker was that the participants smoked at least 41 times a year from the ages of 18 and 32.

The study was lead by Professor Murray Thomson from the University of Otago and included scientists from Duke University, the University of North Carolina and King’s College in London. What they found was that 29% of the people followed developed gum disease.

While the researchers realize that many cannabis smokers also smoke tobacco, even non-tobacco smokers developed gum disease. The researchers think that whether or not people develop gum disease from cannabis has less to do with the smoke itself, and more to do with the fact that cannabis is full of toxins that are absorbed into the bloodstream and affect the body’s ability to heal infected gums.







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Women’s G-Spot Found?

A recent study was done to determine whether the G-spot, a spot reported by many women as the source for powerful vaginal orgasms actually exists. The study was small, including only 20 women. Nine of the women reported powerful orgasms and eleven of the women did not have vaginal orgasms. The study was done by Italian scientist, Dr. Emmanuele Jannini, at the University of L’Aquila.

To determine whether the G-spot exists, Dr. Jannini used an ultrasound to measure the tissues between the vagina and the urethra, the spot where most women suggest the g-spot is found. Dr. Jannini found that the tissue was thicker in all nine women who reported having vaginal orgasms.

While this small study seems to prove that there is such a thing as a G-spot and that it is located in some women and missing in others, many doctors do not agree. Some have suggested that this tissue might be part of the clitoris, while others suggest that the tissue is thicker because the women are using those muscles to have orgasms, not due to the fact that the tissue is naturally thicker because a sensitive spot exists there.

More studies will need to be done to determine whether the women’s G-spot can actually be found.







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