It has already been shown that the phosphates in soft drinks and snack chips cause calcium to leach from the bones, linking them to osteoporosis and kidney stones. Now we can add cancer to that list.

Research conducted at Seoul National University has determined that inorganic phosphates have been associated with both the development and growth of lung cancer in laboratory rats. These effects were found at levels that mimicked our intake on a typical American/Westernized diet.

In a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers observed lung cancer tumors in mice fed with either a 0.5 percent or 1.0 percent phosphate diet. At the end of four weeks, the mice on the higher-phosphate diet had an increase in the formation of new lung tumors as well as an increase in the size of existing tumors. The researchers think it may be due to the role phosphates have in biochemical signaling pathways.

Although naturally occurring phosphates are necessary for human nutrition, the researchers noted that the consumption of phosphates in processed foods has more than doubled since the 1990s. Our hectic American lifestyle – which leaves little time or energy for home cooking – often forces us to rely on convenient pre-packaged foods and restaurant meals full of health-harming substances.

While food industry experts have downplayed this study, I would strongly recommend limiting your intake of inorganic phosphates. Doing so will help protect your bones, and could even lower your risk of lung cancer.

Stick to foods in their most natural state. Especially limit high-carb processed foods laden with cancer-causing phosphates. If you want to save on prep time for meals, choose precut veggies and salads and frozen vegetables. But always read the labels to make sure they have no additives.

[Ed. Note: Making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle can have a dramatic effect on your health. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn more here.]

Studies have confirmed that better magnesium levels help protect brain tissue from the damage that can be caused by any head trauma.

Magnesium acts as a natural calcium channel blocker, which makes it a principle nutrient for helping to control blood pressure. In the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study, researchers found that people who took in enough magnesium while on a calorie-controlled diet were able to lower their blood pressure. And this same calcium channel blocking effect plays a role in protecting the brain.

The brain operates on a balance between “excitatory” and “inhibitory” activity. A neurotransmitter called glutamate is the primary trigger for the excitatory activity. When brain cells are activated by glutamate, calcium ions rush in. This is fine as long as the excitation is kept under reasonable control. But too much calcium entering the cells can be deadly to brain tissue. That’s where the calcium channel blocking effect of magnesium comes in.

Magnesium is also known to help control glutamate levels, possibly because it blocks the primary excitatory receptor (NMDA). And it helps glucose metabolism in the brain. Together, these functions of magnesium prevent brain cell death.

As I mentioned above, magnesium doesn’t just protect your brain from physical injury caused by an accident. Over-excitation of the brain as a result of excessive glutamate activity is a major cause of neurodegenerative disease. Stress hormones promote excitatory activity, as do dietary sources of glutamate. Of course, we need to control the amount of stress we have in our lives and watch what we eat. But getting enough magnesium is also critical for prevention.

The recommended daily allowance for magnesium is 400 mg/day. However, I think 500 to 800 mg is necessary for most people. Beans, nuts, and seeds are good dietary sources of magnesium – but to get optimal levels, it’s helpful to take supplements too. At the LaValle Institute, we like magnesium taurate and magnesium glycinate in particular, because taurine and glycine are amino acids that also help calm the brain.

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn more here.]

MSG has been used for some time to “fatten up” lab rats for experimental purposes – but no one knew for sure if it had the same effect on people. So researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in China set out to study just that.

The researchers compared the MSG consumption of more than 750 Chinese men and women aged 40 to 59. (In China, MSG is commonly used in home cooking, as well as in restaurants and packaged foods. And, in fact, the study found that approximately 82 percent of the subjects used MSG when they prepared food at home.) Those who consumed the most MSG were almost three times as likely to be overweight as compared to those who did not use MSG, even when adjustments were made for physical activity, caloric intake, and other variables that could be related to weight gain.

The researchers are now trying to determine why MSG causes weight gain. One theory is based on the observation that when lab rats are given MSG, they eat more, indicating that MSG somehow influences appetite signals from the brain.

Another concern is the way MSG affects blood sugar. In a 2000 study published in the journal Physiological Research, normal rats were turned into insulin resistant rats by feeding them MSG. The MSG-treated rats also stored glucose as fat more readily than normal rats. 

Whatever the reason, it appears that one way to help control your weight is to reduce your intake of MSG.

In the U.S., most people do not use MSG in home cooking, though it is an ingredient in the flavor enhancer Accent. You are more likely to get MSG in restaurant food. You can’t control the way food is prepared when you eat out, but you can at least make sure you read the labels when you shop at the grocery store. Foods to watch out for include soups (especially Asian-noodle type soups) and salad dressings. Many flavor-coated foods – like ranch or barbeque flavored chips and nuts – also contain a significant amount of MSG. 

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn more here.

For expert advice on staying lean, fit, and healthy, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter.]

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As you know from reading ETR, eating carbohydrates and simple sugars causes a spike in blood sugar. The constant elevation of blood sugar can, and often does, end in insulin resistance. And when that happens, your body loses the ability to utilize the calories from the carbohydrates you eat.

It’s a cumulative effect: You eat carbs, your insulin levels rise but become less efficient at getting glucose into your cells to be used for fuel, and your body begins to store excess fat. This combination of elevated blood sugar, insulin, and increased fat tissue causes inflammation, which goes on to damage tissues in your body (e.g., the inside of your arteries). It is also connected to the production of a substance called insulin-like growth factor (IGF).

You probably know that insulin resistance leads to diabetes, heart disease, and strokes. But you may not realize how strongly insulin resistance and diabetes are linked to cancer.

A 2005 Italian study on the subject, published in the British Medical Journal, somehow escaped making headlines. The study looked at roughly 5,000 women. After adjusting for their health history and lifestyle factors and comparing those with and without diagnosed breast cancer, the researchers found that the women who consumed the most high-carb/high-sugar foods (like biscuits, pastries, and ice cream, as well as chocolate and simple sugars, including honey, jams, and jellies) had a significantly increased risk for breast cancer.

The researchers attributed their elevated risk to IGF. However, other studies – including one just published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute – are suggesting that insulin itself may be a bigger culprit.

So the message is pretty clear: Eating too many sweets and having elevated insulin levels raises the risk for breast cancer. Will you listen?

At LaValle Medical Institute, we educate our patients on the dangers of eating too many high-carb foods and sugars. We encourage them to focus, instead, on eating a high-fiber diet rich in non-starchy vegetables, organic animal proteins, fish, beans, nuts/seeds, and other healthy fats. Keep sugars under tight control, and gauge your intake of healthier carbs (like brown rice and fruit) by your blood sugar and insulin levels and your weight.

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn more here.

For expert advice on staying lean, fit, and healthy, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter.]

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We’ve long known that vitamin D is critical for building and maintaining strong bones. But a big surprise in recent years has been that vitamin D also plays a critical role in insulin regulation, making it important for the prevention of diabetes and heart disease. It’s also important for the regulation of your immune system, with studies linking low vitamin D levels to an increased risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancers, as well as to multiple sclerosis (an autoimmune condition).

It’s hard to get enough sunshine during the winter months. And in summer, many avoid exposure to direct sunlight because they’re concerned about skin cancer. In addition, drugs used to treat heartburn, acid indigestion, and ulcers can deplete the body’s stores of vitamin D.

What this means is that you have a good chance of being deficient in this critical vitamin.

It’s easy to restore the vitamin D your body needs. You can get it by spending a few minutes in the sun each day. You can also get it from food sources, especially eggs, fatty fish, and fish liver oils. And if you don’t like fish, there are supplements.

When taking supplements, avoid the old form of vitamin D (ergocalciferol). Vitamin D 3 (cholecalciferol) is the best form to use. Experts are now recommending that we get at least 1,000 IUs per day.

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn more here.

Dr. Al Sears and Jon Herring reveal the amazing, life-saving benefits of sunshine in Your Best Health Under the Sun.]

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You probably know that the battle against health-stealing and wrinkle-causing free radicals is best fought from the inside – with a low-sugar diet, for example, to reduce the damaging effects of AGEs (Advanced Glycation End products) on the tissues. However, another huge source of oxidative stress, our polluted environment, is harder to fight.

One of the most important – but rarely mentioned – defenses against environmental toxins is glutathione peroxidase, a.k.a. glutathione.

Glutathione is manufactured in the liver, and is often referred to as the most powerful antioxidant in the body. According to a 2003 article in Redox Report: Communications in Free Radical Research, glutathione not only instantly neutralizes free radicals, it is a key way for the body to detoxify chemicals in pollutants like fuel exhaust and cigarette smoke. Glutathione is also a powerful detoxifier of heavy metals, a known cause of rampant free radical activity. In other words, glutathione provides a powerful one-two punch against aging by helping to reduce the damage from free radicals and helping to eliminate toxins from the body.

Aging is associated with significant declines in glutathione. In addition, glutathione is depleted by many drugs, including acetaminophen and ibuprofen. It also becomes depleted simply because, due to increased demands by the environment, it can be used up about as fast as our bodies can make it.

So, what can you do to build up your glutathione levels?

Unfortunately, glutathione itself cannot be absorbed via the digestive tract, so it cannot be taken in supplement form. But cysteine is an amino acid that the body uses to make glutathione, and you can get cysteine from some foods – including most animal proteins, especially whey protein isolates and eggs – as well as from N-acetyl cysteine and SAMe. (I use both of these supplements extensively in my practice.)

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. To learn more about how to stop aging in its tracks and add more life to your years, click here.]

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The effects of stress on immune function are well known by psychologists. Just browse through the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, for example, and you’ll find plenty of proof that stress not only reduces the number of NK cells that you produce, it can hamper the ones you have. It has other effects on immunity, too – none of them good. 

Researchers at the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute studied a group of adult men who performed a high-stress task for 30 minutes. Not only did the men report increased feelings of tension, but their blood pressure and heart rate increased… and the effectiveness of their NK cells markedly decreased!

Some people think they thrive on stress, but they’d better think again.

One of the most effective things you can do for cancer prevention is to implement a stress management plan. Of course, it’s not really possible to eliminate everything that causes stress in your life – and that’s where adaptogenic herbs come in.

Adaptogenic herbs have traditionally been used to help prevent the physical imbalances that can result from stress. Some of my favorites are Astragalus, Holy Basil, Rhodiola, and ReloraO (a patented extract of two herbs that have long been used in Chinese medicine for their calming and health balancing effects). Astragalus and Rhodiola, in particular, have been found to increase NK cells. These herbs are not difficult to find. Just about every health food store and pharmacy sells them.

If you find yourself feeling stressed out day after day, don’t underestimate the long-term impact that can have on your health. Take action today, even if it is simply to pick up a good adaptogenic herb.

[Ed. Note: Keeping your stress under control is one key to good health. For expert advice on how to stay stress-free, what to eat to stay fit, how to lose weight, and much more, sign up for ETR's free natural health e-newsletter.

It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]

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Many migraine sufferers can name their trigger foods – often chocolate, nuts, red wine, or cheese. Until recently, no one had a good explanation for why those foods act as triggers. However, according to a recent study in an allergy and immunology journal, migraines, which can occur in as much as 18 percent of the population, may be caused by IgG food allergies. (An IgG allergic response is a delayed reaction – as opposed to the immediate response of an IgE reaction, such as hives or anaphylaxis – which occurs when a foreign substance like bacteria or a food protein enters the bloodstream.)

In the study, migraine sufferers were tested for 108 food allergens. In those who tested positive for IgG reactions to foods, the headaches were successfully treated without the use of migraine medications. The subjects simply avoided the foods they were allergic to. Unfortunately, IgG testing is rarely suggested to those who suffer migraines, even though it is readily available and relatively inexpensive.

While IgG food allergies have not been fully recognized in the past, newer information is set to change that. So if you suffer from migraines (or any of the other symptoms I mentioned above), food allergy testing – namely IgG or ELISA testing – may be the solution to your problem. For more information, visit our website at lmihealth.com or go to foodallergy.com/about.html or immunolabs.com.

[Ed. Note: Breakthroughs in the health industry are published almost every day. To know which ones can help you live a longer, healthier life, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter.

It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]

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Several studies over the last 10 years have found that moderate drinking actually may have some benefits. For instance, it seems to lower blood sugar and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But before you overindulge, remember that the healthy definition of “moderate” is pretty low. Furthermore, the definition of moderate is different for women than for men.

Moderate drinking means no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. One drink translates to 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that two-thirds of women and half of all men usually drink more than this.

Ladies, be especially cautious! According to the Harvard School of Public Health, one drink per day increases your risk of breast cancer by 10 percent – and two to five drinks per day increases your risk by 40 percent. The good news is that increasing your intake of folate may erase the cancer risk (according to an Australian study in the British Medical Journal). Foods high in folate include beef liver, spinach, great northern beans, asparagus, green peas, broccoli, avocado, lettuce, and turnip greens.

Once you exceed “moderate” (as defined above), your risks start to increase – linked to a 70 percent increased risk for high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and dangerous belly fat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So for better health this holiday season, try to keep your drinking down to the true definition of moderation. When it comes to alcohol, more is not better!

[Ed. Note: Facing the holiday season and all its unhealthy choices can be overwhelming. Let ETR's health experts help. You can get advice from fitness and nutrition experts - and their interpretations of the latest breakthroughs in health - in ETR's free natural health e-letter. Sign up today.

It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to your diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]

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The resulting insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar has been linked to an increased risk of developing Type II diabetes.

Medical guidelines don’t start labeling blood sugar a problem until it reaches at least 100 to 124 mg/dL, the current cutoff for pre-diabetes. But a study conducted within the Kaiser Permanente Health System and published in the American Journal of Medicine has determined that even lower levels are cause for worry.

Patients were sorted according to blood sugar levels of <85, 85-89, 90-94, or 95-99 mg/dL. Each one-point increase in blood glucose (BG) was paired with a 6 percent increase in the risk of developing diabetes. Those with BG levels from 90 to 94 mg/dL increased their risk by 49 percent, and those with levels from 95 to 99 mg/dL were 2.33 times more likely to develop the disease.

The results of this study don’t surprise to me. For years, I have been preaching that once your blood sugar starts climbing, unless you do something about it, you are going to become diabetic. But I’m happy to have a study that now quantifies that risk and backs up what I’ve observed clinically.

If you haven’t already done so, develop a strategy for limiting your intake of high-carb, high-sugar foods in the coming weeks. For instance, before going to a party, curb your appetite with a higher-protein snack, a bowl of soup, or a cup of hot tea. Whenever possible, opt for higher-volume, lower-calorie foods, such as vegetables with bean dip and lower-sugar fruits and vegetables. Go ahead and enjoy your favorite dessert – but take a small piece and share it with your spouse or friend. Better yet, volunteer to bring a healthy holiday dish to the party so you know you’ll have at least one healthy choice. Meanwhile, try to increase your exercise to rev up your insulin receptors and help your body better deal with the excess sugar you’re almost certainly going to be eating.

[Ed. Note: Facing the holiday season and all its unhealthy food choices can be overwhelming. Let ETR's health experts help. You can get advice from fitness and nutrition experts - and their interpretations of the latest breakthroughs - in ETR's free natural health e-letter. Sign up today.

It truly is possible to improve your health just by making wise choices when it comes to your diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]

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