Your Life-Your Choice ISSN 1488-0253 Issue 56 July, 2000 Letter From the Editor My editorial this week is for all of our subscribers who ever find themselves confused by all the various modalities of alternative medicine. Modalities refers to a specific holistic practice like reiki or aromatherapy or massage therapy. For definitions on various modalites go to: http://www.life-choices.com/guide.html We update and add to these modalities constantly. I am sure wherever you look, you will keep finding references to new and different modalities. I ran across one this week called “Juice Therapy” which we added to our guide. There are three types of juice therapy- Green Juices- made from a variety of alfalfa sprouts, cabbage, kale, dandelion greens, spinach and any other green vegetables, including wheatgrass. (to sweeten and dilute your green juice add fresh carrot and apple juice.) Although green juices have excellent health benefits, they should be consumed in moderation. No more than 8 to 10 oz daily. Vegetable Juices - Fresh vegetables are restorers and builders, helpful in boosting the immune system, removing acid waste and balancing the metabolism. They help to remove excess body fat. Included in this group are beets, cabbage, carrot, celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, turnip, spinach, watercress and wheatgrass. Use lots of carrots, they are the sweetest of vegetables, and great on their own or to add a more pleasant taste to other vegetable mixtures. The strong flavored veggies like broccoli, celery, onions, parsley, rutabaga, and turnips are used in small amounts. Add 1 clove of garlic per 2 glasses of juice. Fruit Juices: Help to cleanse the body and include cancer-fighting antioxidants. You can use any fruit, however remember to try new combinations. A great cleansing juice is watermelon (use with rind intact in your juicer). About 10-12 oz a day are recommended. Remember, the fresher the better. Drink immediately, do not store for later. Buy organically grown vegetables and fruit, if you can’t be sure they are organically grown, peel or thoroughly scrub and wash to remove chemical residues. You can buy a vegetable wash at health food stores to remove any chemical residues. Leave the skin on most fruits or vegetables, with the exception of grapefruits, kiwis, oranges, papayas, peaches and pineapples. The skins of oranges and grapefruits are quite bitter. Kiwi and papaya are tropical fruits and are not monitored for pesticide use in foreign countries. The skins of pineapples are too thick to be processed by most juicers. Use your common sense, and enjoy. We will provide some recipes in our recipe column this week for your enjoyment. Many thanks to our Source: Prescription for Nutritional Healing .. Second Edition ..Authors James F. Balch, MD, and Phyllis A. Balch, CNC Brigitte Synesael Editor of Your Life-Your Choice Make it your business to be informed! No one cares more about you than YOU. http://www.Life-Choices.com *********************************************** To advertise in Your Life-Your Choice newsletter, visit: http://www.life-choices.com/sponsor.html or mailto:admin@life-choices.com SUBJECT: Send Your Choice Advertising Rates ********************************************** Please visit our sponsors. They help to keep our newsletter free for everyone. ********************************************** GetSmart Vitamins.Com "Where Every Day is a Whole-Sale Day" GET YOUR FREE REPORT...THAT REVEALS... "The 7 Sneakiest Secrets Nutrition Companies Hope You Never, Ever Find Out About" http://www.getsmartvitamins.com/ ********************************************** Your Horoscope is Infinitely more than your “Zodiac Sign”! Astrology reveals your personal traits and the potential outcome of your choices. Astrology also provides a detailed past life afterglow portrait. The Child Analysis is designed as a guide for parents, to help with your child’s growth and upbringing, to emphasize and strengthen their assets. Adults, studying their own Child Analysis, examine the viewpoint of their own inner child and can gain new understandings to begin healing their own traumatic experiences from childhood. http://www.rightplace.net/astrology_ylyc/ *********************************************** ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Aspartame: the good, the bad and the ugly. 2. News Release from The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) 3. Talk to GARLIC =========================================== Section 1 Aspartame: the good, the bad and the ugly Article written by Kathy Jimenez Accidentally discovered in 1965, by James Schlatter a chemist of the G.D. Searle Company, aspartame is the most widely used low calorie artificial sweetener sold under the brand names "NutraSweet", "Equal" and "Spoonful". Currently, more than 100 million people around the world consume aspartame-containing products. It is added to Diet soft drinks, about 1,200 food products, chewing gum, and even children's vitamins as a sugar substitute. The American Dental Association has noted it "welcomes the development and FDA approval of new artificial sweeteners that are shown to be safe sweetening agents and flavor enhancers that can be substituted for sugar in the diet". Still, there are many others that oppose the consumption of aspartame because they fear it may be the cause of increasing neurological disorders, birth defects and even deaths. FDA toxicologist, the late Dr. Adrian Gross was one of the specialists on the FDA task force, which participated (under the direction of the FDA commissioner, Dr. Schmidt), in the 1975 FDA investigation of the quality of experimental studies carried out by or for the G.D. Searle & Company. Dr. Gross as well as the other task members in the investigation discovered that aspartame had not been properly evaluated, nor were the procedures and findings properly documented. In a letter addressed to Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum, Dr. Gross included two statements that were recorded in the task force report dated March 26, 1976. They read as follows: "We have noted that Searle has not submitted all of the facts of experiments to the FDA, retaining unto itself the unpermitted option of filtering, interpreting, and not submitting information which we would consider material to the safety evaluation of the product. Some of our findings suggest an attitude of disregard for the FDA s mission of protection of the public health by selectively reporting the results of studies in a manner which allays the concerns and questions of an FDA reviewer." Dr. John Olney of Washington University in St. Louis, a noted neuropathologist and psychiatrist, said, "animal studies were done showing a very high incidence of brain tumors in rats that had been fed aspartame in a two year feeding period." The doctor and his colleagues suspect aspartame to be implicated with brain tumors because the type of CNS (central nervous system) tumors found to be increasing most rapidly in the USA is the same kind of tumor found in the animal studies conducted on aspartame in the 1970 s. However, Dr. Philip Lavin of the Harvard Medical School said, "The increase in brain tumor incidence started well before aspartame marketing and sales" and Dr. Robert Moser, a medical consultant with NutraSweet said, "aspartame cannot cause a tumor because it does not reach organs intact". Yet, according to the Conference of the American College of Physicians, "we are talking about a plague of neurological diseases caused by this deadly poison". Aspartame is a molecule composed of three chemicals, aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Once ingested, the methanol (wood alcohol that has killed or blinded thousands of skid row drunks) encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin, converts to formaldehyde, then formic acid (ant sting poison). Formaldehyde (embalming fluid) is a deadly neurotoxin (substance that attacks nerve cells) which is grouped in the same class of deadly poisons such as cyanide and arsenic. Aspartic acid and phenylalanine are both amino acids (building blocks for proteins) nevertheless, when taken in their free form unbound to proteins and unaccompanied by other amino acids we use, they also become neurotoxins. Neurosurgeon, Dr. Russell Blaylock said, "the ingredients stimulate the neurons of the brain to death causing brain damage of varying degrees." Dr. H. J. Roberts, said, "consuming aspartame at the time of conception can cause birth defects". As per Dr. Louis Elsas, pediatrician professor of genetics at Emory University, "The phenylalanine concentrates in the placenta causing mental retardation". Dr. James Bowen says fetal tissue cannot tolerate methanol or phenylalanine. He calls NutraSweet "instant birth control". According to the NSDA (National Soft Drink Association), at 86 degrees Fahrenheit aspartame breakdown gets into high gear. The NSDA wanted aspartame outlawed from soft drinks. They drafted protest printed in the Congressional Record of May 7, 1985, describing aspartames instability. Many believe that aspartame accounts for over 75% of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA since 1982. These reports detail well over 10,000 complaints of 92 different symptoms. Numerous researchers and physicians have noted that it is often difficult for a consumer to link adverse reactions to aspartame because it tends to mimic or intensify various illnesses, such as, epilepsy, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer s, Parkinson s and many more. For over eight years the FDA refused to approve aspartame because of the seizures and brain tumors this drug produced in lab animals. When the safety of aspartame was considered by a Public Board of Inquiry (PBI) in 1980, it recommended that further studies be conducted to clarify the issue before aspartame could be considered acceptably safe for use. Both the PBI and the FDA staff scientists were, however, over-ruled by the incoming of FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr. who asserted that the brain cancer risk was minimal and that further research was not necessary and approved the use of aspartame in dry foods. In 1983 Commissioner Hayes, Jr. approved the use of aspartame in carbonated beverages then shortly after left the FDA for a position with G.D. Searle s Public Relations firm. On June 27, 1996, the FDA approved the use of aspartame as a "general purpose sweetener" meaning that aspartame can now be used in any food or beverage where standards of identity do not preclude its use. Despite many allegations that aspartame may be hazardous, there are still a number of organizations that believe that aspartame is safe for human consumption. These being, the FDA, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), the American Medical Association s Council on Scientific Affairs, Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and many more. For this reason, many researchers and scientists say that aspartame should undergo another two-year study conducted by a group of scientists not employed by the makers of aspartame in order to properly evaluate the artificial sweetener for human consumption. This article was written thanks to the quality information found within a new global health and medical search engine. The information contained within this search engine is continuously being filtered by a team of medical advisors in order to provide quality reliable and up to date information. For more in depth information regarding aspartame and symptoms caused by aspartame poisoning, you can lookup the following URL s on http://www.allhealthnet.com. : http://www.trufax.org/aspartame/barua.html, http://www.spiritual-endeavors.org/health/asparatame.htm, http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9611/18/nfm, www.dorway.com/testimo.html, http://www.web2.airmail.net/marystod/cancer.htm, www.aspartame.com/symptoms.htm, http://www.netreach.net/~webloft/AspartameAlert.html and many others (totaling 42 in the http://www.allheathnet.com medical search engine). ************************************************ Please visit our sponsors, they help keep our newsletter free for everyone. ************************************************ Get motivated! Become inspired to live life to the fullest with UnCommon Courtesy & Coaching's FREE motivational newsletter & quote service! Subscribe to our newsletter at: mailto:ucc-newsletter-subscribe@egroups.com Find out about our 50 inspirational quotation lists by visiting our website at: http://www.uncommoncourtesy.com/ ==================================================== Women! Household hints, parenting tips, ideas for pampering yourself, articles on time management, organization and more. Subscribe to The Balanced Woman. It's easy and it's FREE! Just send a blank email to TheBalancedWoman-subscribe@egroups.com *************************************************** Section 2 News Release from The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its approval of ActonelÒ (risedronate), a new therapy for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Sandra C. Raymond, NOF executive director, in commenting on the approval said, "With approval of ActonelÒ women now have another choice of therapy for this disabling disease. This therapy for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and its associated fractures will help at risk women remain active, strong and independent throughout their lives. This can only happen if women past menopause talk to their physicians to evaluate their bone health and, if appropriate, take action." "Osteoporosis is a ‘silent’ risk factor for bone fractures of the hip, spine, and wrist and other bones, just as hypertension is for stroke. Prevention, detection and treatment of osteoporosis should be a mandate of primary care, and a routine part of physicals", says NOF president, C. Conrad Johnston Jr., M.D. "Bone density tests are now widely available and should be offered to high risk women to detect low bone density before their bones weaken and fractures occur." Some risk factors include being female, being menopausal or postmenopausal, having a family history of osteoporosis, a personal history of fractures as an adult, a thin or small build, an inactive lifestyle, and low calcium intake. ActonelÒ also is approved for the prevention and treatment of the bone loss caused by corticosteroids, the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis. "Osteoporosis is a serious and common complication of prolonged corticosteroid therapy for men and women at any age," says Johnston. "Bone loss increases with the dose and duration of corticosteroid treatment. Anyone about to go on long-term corticosteroids at doses equivalent to 7.5 mg of prednisone or more, or anyone who has been on them chronically, should have a bone density test. This new treatment provides doctors with another therapy to offer their patients who must take corticosteroids." Osteoporosis -- a disease that gradually weakens bones and often leads to painful and debilitating fractures -- is a major public health threat for more than 28 million Americans, 80 percent of whom are women. Vertebral fractures lead to stooped posture, loss of height, chronic pain and disability, and cause compression of the lungs and stomach. Hip fractures are not only disabling, but can be life-threatening. Twenty percent of people die in the year following a hip fracture. This disease causes nearly 1.5 million fractures annually and costs this country nearly $14 billion each year. With more than 250,000 members, the National Osteoporosis Foundation is the only nonprofit, voluntary health organization dedicated to reducing the widespread prevalence of osteoporosis through programs of research, education, and advocacy. Our thanks to the NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone diseases National Resource Center. http://www.nof.org/welcome/welcome.htm ==================================== Section 3. Talk to Garlic ==================================== Dear Garlic Help!!!! my darling husband LOVES to renovate but everything he touches falls apart! I have doors hanging off hinges and wobbly cabinets, that I can overlook, BUT when he comes to bed full of sawdust I get turned off, it's ruining our love life, what shall I do? signed "Dusty" ******* Dear Dusty This is a classic in the Geraldines’ Handymans Journal. What do you do with sawdust anywhere? Heh-heh-heh, you VACUUM it up! Everytime your adorable hubby comes to bed covered in sawdust, get out the old Eurika and let-er-rip. Vacuums are really quite handy and please don’t forget to use all the interesting attachments to get into the crevasses. After you do this a few times, two things can happen. No more sawdust in the bed (he’ll start to take a shower before bedtime), or even better - an exciting new twist to your lovemaking! ****************************************** Like to talk to Garlic? Yes, men are welcome too: put "Dear Garlic" in Subject line. We can talk about anything. *Note that the Dear Garlic segment of Your Life-Your Choice is for entertainment purposes only. The advice is intended to tickle your funny bone so put your Sense of Humor hat on and let's take a look at the "lighter side" of life. After all, LAUGHTER is supposed to be the BEST medicine. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Disclaimer All material appearing in this newsletter is provided for educational purposes only. It is provided with the understanding that authors and contributors are not offering medical advice or services. We strongly encourage you to consult with your own physician regarding any recommendations with respect to your own medical condition. 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