Posts Tagged Blood test for cancer

Cancer cells in the body

Article – Anti-Angiogenesis

Vitamin D

Cancer and nutrition

Cancer …

According to the results of this study, the subjects who had the highest fruit and vegetable intake were 24% less likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and 16% less likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
(Am J Clin Nutr, 2009; 89(5): 1441-52.)

Dr. Ray’s Notes:
We briefly discussed the link between fruit and vegetable intake and cancer in our radio program last week, this study seems to confirm our findings and the findings of numerous studies to date. The data is nearly indisputable that fruit and vegetable intake is extremely important in the prevention of cancer. The question that we have yet to answer is just how much is enough to provide optimal benefits. A book called “The Enzyme Factor”, written by Dr. Shinya – the father of the colonoscopy – hypothesizes that these raw foods contain a “mother enzyme” that is responsible for health and vitality of our cells. Having performed thousands of colonoscopies he found that he could determine the relative health of the person simply by seeing the health of the patient’s colon. He then determined that the health of the colon was almost entirely related to the amount of fruits, vegetables and live food in the diet. In a nut shell, EAT TONS OF RAW HEALTHY FOODS!

The study included over a thousand men and women who had polyps removed during colonoscopy. Polyps are small benign growths in the colon which, when left untreated, can end up becoming cancerous. This means that the people who were included in this study had sick colons.

The subjects were randomly assigned to receive either folic acid or sugar-pill as placebo. In addition, the patients were randomly assigned to take low dose aspirin, regular dose aspirin or placebo. At the end of the study, scientists were disappointed to find that folic acid had no effect on risk of colon cancer. At this point the study should have been completed and published with the final result being “in this study, folic acid did not appear to decrease colon cancer risk in people with sick colons”. This result, however, does not make headline news…The researchers then continued looking and crunching numbers and found a non-statistically significant increase in prostate cancer risk. What this means is that the finding can not be proven to be anything more than bad luck rather than a cause-effect relationship. Of course, this non-significant finding became what the press caught onto even though most researchers would throw the finding away as just chance occurrence.

What does all this mean? The final conclusion is disappointing but not unexpected. When polyps are found in the colon, this means that you have a sick colon. The fact that the polyps were removed simply covers up the symptom of a sick colon. To expect one synthesized vitamin to make an impact on a complicated condition simply speaks to the ignorance of conventional medicine to natural approaches to health. Is it possible that folic acid plays a role in cancer prevention? We know it does. We know that folic acid deficiency results in significant damage to DNA which can certainly play a part in the development of cancer. However, if folic acid deficiency is not present then adding more folate to the biochemical soup of our bodies will not make a significant difference.

Does folic acid increase cancer risk? Most likely not, this study certainly does not convince me otherwise. However, let me take a devil’s advocate position. We know that folic acid exists as both an active form and an inactive form. The folic acid used in the study is in the “inactive” form and could potentially block the active form from doing its job. It would make more sense to supplement with an activated form of folic acid called methyltetrahydrofolate. This would negate the blocking effect of standard folic acid and provide more benefit. The take-home messages are:

1. Folic acid likely does not increase cancer risk. This study showed a possible trend which could be due to chance alone.
2. Many studies have found that folic acid may protect against certain cancers.
3. Folic acid is best taken in the activated form.
4. Eating foods high in natural folate is safe and beneficial to the body.

I recommend a fascinating book written by the doctor who developed the modern day colonoscopy. The book is called The Enzyme Factor and explains how a high enzyme diet, such as a diet high in raw fruits and vegetables, can reverse the damage to the colon and turn your overall health around.

The study data came from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study looking at the habits of nearly 300,000 men. After five years of follow-up, 10,241 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, including 8,765 with localized cancers and 1,476 with advanced cancers. The researchers found no association between multivitamin use and the risk of localized prostate cancer. But they did find an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer among men who used multivitamins more than 7 times a week, compared with men who did not use multivitamins. The association was strongest in men with a family history of prostate cancer and men who also took selenium, beta-carotene, or zinc supplements. “Because multivitamin supplements consist of a combination of several vitamins and men using high levels of multivitamins were also more likely to take a variety of individual supplements, we were unable to identify or quantify individual components responsible for the associations that we observed,” the authors write.

Comments: These findings are troublesome to many of us in the alternative world that use vitamins ourselves and recommend them for our patients. It is monumentally difficult to interpret the results of these “studies” when there is an inherent bias against using supplements coming from the people who analyze and fund these studies. I have gone through the study fairly thoroughly, and here are my issues with the results and conclusions drawn from the authors of the study…

1) The categories that they used to determine the “type” of multivitamin that was taken are weird… the respondents in the study were given 3 options to describe the multivitamin that they were taking: a “stresstab” type, a “therapeutic or theragran” type, and a “one-a-day” type. I can’t think of any redeeming value to any of those types of multi-vitamins and I can see where confusion about how to answer the question could arise. All of these “types” are designed to be taken once a day… so isn’t it possible that a respondent could have checked off more than one type, meaning that he was taking a therapeutic-type vitamin and he takes it once a day? The association reported was with men “who take a multivitamin more than 7 times a week.” That is an unusual occurrence if you think about it. Furthermore… I am not sure how I would have answered that particular question based on the multivitamin that I take. None of the 3 options even remotely describes the vitamins that I use (and the ones that I recommend for my patients) so isn’t it also likely that a respondent would have not responded?

2) There is no delineation to the quality of the multivitamins that were used. This is often the case with these sorts of studies. Isn’t it possible that the association noted is due to the synthetic, poorly designed multivitamins taken instead of multivitamins in general?

3) Self-reporting of this sort of information seems unreliable to me. The data from this study comes from the filling out of questionnaires and there are no safeguards against erroneous answers, regardless of the reasons why. If elderly people in Florida couldn’t figure out how to properly vote a few years ago, doesn’t it make sense that having elderly people filling out reams of questionnaires would also make mistakes or misrepresentations? I took part in a similar study through Hopkins with my then 12 year old son. We had to fill out questionnaires on a regular basis. Even though the reason for the questions were supposed to be hidden, it was obvious to both of us what the subject was and how easy it would have been to lie about eating habits, etc. I marveled at how they would be able to draw any useful conclusions based on how the study was conducted… I don’t see any difference here.

4) The family history of prostate cancer link. One of things that they noted in this study is that men with a family history of prostate cancer that reported “heavy multivitamin use” (again, in my opinion, this is an awful way to categorize multivitamin use and there are inherent problems in reporting it) showed an increase risk of advanced prostate cancer and fatal prostate cancer then those without a family history. This fact may point out a potential bias in the study… isn’t it possible that the folks that have a family history are more likely to take vitamins in the hopes of helping reduce that risk? If this is the case (and it makes sense to me) then it is the men at higher risk that are taking the multivitamins in the first place and that is why we see higher incidence of advanced cancers.

The bottom line is that more study needs to be done to understand the true ramifications of these findings and our supplementation habits. In the meantime, it makes sense to supplement with nutrients that are closer to (if not exactly like) the way we would get it from nature. In other words… food source nutrients may be the safer way to go. There are loads of options… don’t be afraid to ask us to help you find the best option for you!

In this study, which was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers evaluated the effect of a lon- term (5 years or longer) adult dose (greater than or equal to 325 mg daily) of aspirin on risk of cancer. The study, involving over 150,000 older men and women, found a 32% lower risk of colorectal cancer, a 19% lower risk of prostate cancer and a 17% decrease in the risk of breast cancer which could be attributed to chance.

Those who know me, know that I am not a fan of regular aspirin use for prevention of any disease. In my opinion, the risks simply do not outweigh the benefits. Daily aspirin is most popular for its use in prevention of heart disease, however, it is a little known fact that aspirin has never been shown to prolong anyone’s life! But you say, “Aspirin prevents heart attacks!” According to the research this is technically true, heart attack rates appear to be less for those who take a baby aspirin daily. The problem is, funeral rates are exactly the same! In fact, senior citizens who take aspirin daily have higher funeral rates meaning they die sooner! Let’s follow the logic, the fatal side effects of low dose aspirin cancel out the protective effect of aspirin on the nation’s number one killer – heart disease. Higher dose aspirin will most certainly have a higher risk of side effect, and cancer does not kill nearly as many people annually as heart disease. My belief is that the fatal side effects of daily, adult-dose aspirin will far outweigh the benefits. This doesn’t mean that we cannot make use of the information from this study!

Wherever there is chronic inflammation you have a significantly increased risk of cancer. We see this in the colon when people have chronic autoimmune conditions of the colon, with liver cancer in those with hepatitis, with cervical cancer with HPV infection and with esophageal cancer in those with chronic heartburn. We have a very fundamental understanding of the negative effects of inflammation on the DNA that may lead to mutations in cells which can result in a tumor over time. It then makes sense that if we can decrease inflammation, there should be a decrease in cancer risk and this is what we see. There are certain herbs and plant chemicals that have known anti-inflammatory effects without the potential side effects of aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen, naproxen and Celebrex. These herbs include ginger, turmeric, boswellia and rosemary, just to name a few. These compounds are commonly used for everyday aches and pains and seem to have significant anti-cancer benefit. A formula that we use which combines potent forms of these and other herbs can be found on www.illnessisoptional.com by clicking Here. Otherwise, use herbal formulas and cooking spices that contain more of these anti-cancer compounds. One other extremely important natural anti-inflammatory that we discuss often is omega-3 fish oil. The essential fatty acids found in fish oil are well known for their benefits in correcting inflammation. These essential fatty acids are also important for regulating cell division in addition to their anti-inflammatory effect. A suggested dose is at least 1800 mg of EPA and 1200 mg of DHA daily. Click here to get a product suggestion.

The second study tracked 36,282 postmenopausal women for seven years who were on calcium and vitamin D to determine if the supplements would offer any benefit as far as preventing invasive breast cancer. After the studies were wrapped up, the researchers found no benefit from either supplement program.

After the publishing of these studies, the press published news articles which were titled “No proof of vitamin C, D, E benefit” suggesting that these two studies prove the ineffectiveness of vitamins and antioxidants for promoting health. Obviously, this headline is both misleading and ridiculous.

The first study which evaluated the effectiveness of vitamin C and E in preventing heart attack or stroke used just 500 mg of vitamin C taken daily and 400 IU of vitamin E taken every other day. These doses are both very conservative and unlikely to offer significant benefit. The vitamin E used in the study was a synthetic vitamin E made from petroleum that is far inferior to natural, mixed tocopherol vitamin E formulas.

In the vitamin D study, just 400 IU of vitamin D was used in the study which studies have shown is not sufficient to improve blood vitamin D levels one bit. Our general recommendation for vitamin D is 2,000 IU daily and this dose may not even suffice. To properly evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin D, we would expect researchers to do vitamin D blood tests and then optimize the dose to achieve sufficient vitamin D blood levels. Research suggests that blood levels in the 50-60 range are considered optimal.

These studies were both heavily flawed. First, the doses of the vitamins were insufficient to positively impact health. This would be equivalent to evaluating the benefit of 1 capsule daily of amoxicillin in treating an infection when 3 capsules daily is the recommended minimum dose. In addition, using a synthetic vitamin E would be like using a chemical which resembles amoxicillin but isn’t quite the same and then making a final conclusion that “antibiotics don’t treat infections.” I hate to say it, but tax payers wasted millions of dollars on two studies which were doomed from the outset. There is an old saying that goes, “At first a new truth is ridiculed, then it is vehemently opposed and then it is accepted.” The good news in all of this bad news is it confirms our belief that we are in the second phase where the world of natural medicine is violently opposed which means that “acceptance” is right around the corner. Call, me optimistic…but that is my belief.

So let’s look at some recent studies that ended with a different conclusion to the above mentioned studies:
1. Circulation, 2007;116:1497-1503 – In this study performed at Harvard University, 39,876 women over the age of 45 were given either 600 mg of natural vitamin E or a sugar pill for a period of 10 years. The group that was given the natural vitamin E had a 21% lower risk of developing a life-threatening clot and the women who entered the study with a history of forming clots experienced a 44% decreased risk of additional clots. In addition, the group given vitamin E enjoyed an 8% lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke, a stroke that involves bleeding in the brain.
2. Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;167:1610-1618 – This was another study performed at the Harvard School of Medicine. In this study, researchers studied 8,171 women who were given either 500 mg of vitamin C daily, 600 IU of natural vitamin E every other day or 50 mg of beta carotene every other day. This study was similar in design to the study recently mentioned in the press. The researchers reported that the group who took the vitamin E enjoyed an 11% decreased risk of cardiovascular event. When the researchers only included people who consistently took the vitamin E, there was a 22% lower risk of heart attack, 27% lower risk of stroke and a 9% decrease in risk of death from cardiovascular disease. When the people consistently took the vitamin C and E the results were even more significant.

The recommendation was that doctors should now consider preemptively medicating any patient whose blood pressure was creeping up towards the 140/90 cut off point. I remember thinking, “Are these people out of their minds? Now there is such thing as treating a ‘pre-disease’?” I thought. Worst yet, they treat these “pre-diseases” with medications that have not even proven their worth in treating the actual “disease”?

Needless to say, we at Your Prescription for Health did not sit quietly by and allow them to decree fabricated claims of disease prevention. We quickly wrote articles and stood angrily atop of our soap boxes to preach the fallacy of this ridiculous conclusion. Months later, it was determined that this “panel of experts” were actually cronies for the drug companies—having direct ties to the companies that make drugs used to treat hypertension, and now, pre-hypertension. Alas, the word was out and the damage done. Medicine had accepted their phony pre-disease as another medical “fact” that was beyond contestation.

Recently, a controversial article that was published in the reputable Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, issue 3, determined that lowering blood pressure to levels below 140/90 provided no benefit to the risk of heart attack, strokes or funeral rates (death rates per year). In this review, lowering blood pressure to 135/85 compared to 140/90 did nothing to improve the health and longevity of over 22,000 patients in the review.

So, yes, this is a big “I told you so!” It is not our first and it certainly will not be our last! But, I don’t want to end with an “I told you so.” Let’s talk about blood pressure, why it happens and how to fix it.

First, I am going to speak in generalities here. There certainly are extenuating circumstances that could lead to atypical hypertension. These include the use of certain medication and kidney disease. We will not discuss these less common situations in the interest of helping the majority of our readers. This article is for people who have run-of-the-mill hypertension without any definitive cause; this is called “idiopathic hypertension”. People with idiopathic hypertension often ask the doctor, “why is my blood pressure high?” and they receive the dismissive reply, “because you are getting older.”

The number one cause of elevated blood pressure is what we call “metabolic syndrome” or “insulin resistance”. This occurs when we consume more carbohydrates than our body can tolerate. When this happens, insulin steadily increases resulting in a catastrophic series of biochemical events that causes blood vessel constriction and water retention. Here is a quick and easy method to begin correcting this health issue:

1. Regulate the amount of carbohydrate that you consume. People with insulin resistance may want to consider decreasing carbohydrate intake to approximately 20% of their daily caloric intake. So if your daily caloric intake is 2,000 kilocalories; 20% equates to approximately 400 kilocalories or 100 grams of carbohydrates. After the body has normalized, you may be able to increase this to 25-30%.

2. Pay attention to the quality of carbohydrate that you consume on a daily basis. A high quality carbohydrate is one with a low glycemic load. For more information on glycemic load, see www.mendosa.com .

3. Exercise at least 5 days a week for at least one-hour. Exercise burns sugar and fat while improving insulin sensitivity. Most people do not exercise often enough, nor do they exercise for long enough. Commit to one-hour a day, if you do this then you will enjoy improved blood pressure and overall health and wellbeing. Your exercise program should include weight training, walking (or light jogging) and stretching.

4. Eat your fruits and veggies. There is no faster way to help normalize the potassium/sodium balance in the body than to cut the amount of refined/prepared foods while filling the void with fruits and vegetables.

5. Supplement to correct deficiencies and improve blood vessel health. Rather than taking herbs for blood pressure, we want to correct deficiencies that may cause elevated blood pressure. These include:

a. Omega-3 fatty acids – Fish oil is the best for improving blood pressure.

b. Magnesium/Potassium aspartate – Be careful if you are on medications for blood pressure as some medications, such as ACE inhibitors, can increase potassium levels to dangerous levels. Standard dose: 2 capsules two to three times daily.

c. Vitamin D3 – This will enhance the absorption of minerals such as potassium and magnesium while providing other benefits to the cardiovascular system. 2,000-4,000 iu daily.

d. HTN Complex – This formula is designed for those who need to more aggressively lower blood pressure. It contains many nutritional and herbal ingredients to improve blood pressure when the above mentioned measures are insufficient. Recommended dose: 2 capsules twice daily.

It is officially summer and it is time to talk about skin aging, skin cancer and, most importantly, ways of protecting the skin from the “harmful rays of the sun”.

Sun exposure is considered the most common cause of premature wrinkles in our society. Did you know that many experts are calling sun tanning and tanning booths the “tobacco of the 21st century”?

If you want to keep your youthful skin for as long as possible, then you better pay attention to what follows! It may well save you from a decade or more of premature skin aging and may even save you from those dreaded words, “You have skin cancer.”

Protect Your Skin For a Long & Healthy Life

First, it is important to understand that skin cancer, in one form or another, accounts for about fifty percent of all cancers. Most of these skin cancers are basal cell carcinoma, a common and benign form. The second most common form is squamous cell carcinoma, a form that is generally benign but can become invasive in rare cases when left untreated. The least common and most dangerous form is melanoma, a form that is aggressive and deadly. Because skin cancer accounts for such a significant amount of cancer incidence, keeping the skin healthy can have a significant impact on longevity and quality of life. Treatment of even benign forms of skin cancer can leave unsightly scars and thus prevention is key.

Many experts blame sun exposure for the high incidence of skin cancer in our society. Although UV rays can damage skin cells and increase the risk of skin cancer, there are likely other factors that play an even more important role such as age and nutrition.

Questions about the link between sun exposure and skin cancer have been raised by studies that found office workers were at a higher risk of developing malignant melanomas compared to people whose lifestyles and work exposed them to larger quantities of sunlight. In one such study, the lowest risk of melanoma was found in the group who listed sunbathing as their main outdoor activity (Lancet 2: 290-92, 1982).

Numerous other studies have been performed to test these findings, many of which confirm the results. Please note, these results do not prove that sun exposure is not a contributor to melanomas, it simply shows that we must look for other co-factors that may prove to play an even more important role in the ultimate development of melanoma.

The bottom line: People who work outside and are exposed to sunlight most days produce melanin that works to protect the cells from damage. The people who are most at risk are the occasional sun worshipers. It is also important to realize that other factors such as genetics and nutrition may play a significant role in the development of melanoma.
Research into the use of sunscreen has failed to correlate sunscreen use with a decreased risk of melanoma (Ann of Int Med. 2003; 139(12)966-78). Other research shows that melanoma risk continues to increase despite the increased use of sunscreen. In fact, Boston University School of Medicine reported that in the US, melanoma diagnosis is increasing at a rate faster than any other form of cancer. Researchers are unsure as to why this is occurring at such an alarming rate, suggested explanations include

• Sunscreens give a false sense of security and people are spending more time in the sun
• People are not using sunscreen properly. This includes not applying enough sunscreen and not applying it often enough.
• Poor nutrition that ultimately depletes crucial antioxidants.
• Sunscreen use may inhibit vitamin D production. Vitamin D has been correlated with protection from numerous forms of cancer
• Sunscreen often contains oils that oxidize in the skin when exposed to heat and UV light which may increase DNA damage
• People are living longer which allows for longer exposure to UV rays
• Sunscreens have offered UVB protection (the radiation not associated with melanoma risk), but have lacked adequate protection from UVA radiation, the more serious and most abundant form of radiation

With all of this controversy, is it advisable to use sunscreen?

Dr. Michael Huncharek, a radiation oncologist who published a review of 11 studies on the subject, determined that there is likely no harm and most likely significant benefit to sunscreen when used properly. He admits that we have much to learn about melanoma, but with the evidence to date, sunscreen is recommended. I have a tendency to agree with him, provided you use the right kind of sunscreen and use it appropriately.

Why is sun exposure so damaging?

Sunlight contains two main forms of ultraviolet radiation, UVA and UVB. After exposure to sunlight, DNA can be damaged which can trigger inflammation.

In an ideal world, antioxidants in the skin will limit damage caused by UV light and specialized cells in the skin will produce melanin, the compound that darkens skin and protects it from UV damage. Any cells that are damaged beyond repair would ideally trigger a process of programmed cell suicide called apoptosis. Apoptosis helps to decrease the likelihood of an abnormal cell developing into a tumor. The reality, however, is not quite so rosy. Numerous factors may set the stage for skin cancer to develop, these include:

• We spend most of our lives indoors and thus do not have a natural melanin barrier to the UV rays. This is why people with fair skin are at higher risk of skin cancer, less melanin equals less protection.
• The Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) does not provide nearly enough antioxidant protection in the skin to prevent damage. Certain plant compounds and vitamins act as first line protection from the harmful effects of the sun. If you eat few fruits and vegetables then, odds are, you have a depletion of antioxidant protection in the skin.
• The Standard American Diet is also quite deficient in vitamins and other nutrients that play very important roles in DNA repair. These include nutrients known as methyl donors such as folic acid and trimethylglycine. In addition, due to these lifestyles, the cells of our body need more of these DNA repair nutrients.
• Vitamin D deficiency is common and may play a significant role in the development of many cancers including skin cancer.
• Omega-3 fatty acid deficiency and omega-6 abundance of the diet have correlated with increased risk of cancer (Cancer Detect Prev. 2006; 30(3): 224-32) Trans-fats may also set the stage for cancer growth.

Dr. Zane Kime, author of the book Sunlight, suggests that sun exposure creates damage to the DNA under the presence of harmful fats and a deficiency of antioxidants in the skin. He hypothesizes that skin with higher concentrations of antioxidants will prevent irreversible damage to the skin from UV radiation.

Preliminary research confirms this finding. In one study performed in rats, UV radiation caused a significant decrease in the animal’s skin concentrations of vitamins C and E. A study performed in humans found a protection from skin cancer in subjects who took 200 mcg of selenium daily. In addition, later in the article, we will discuss a breakthrough nutritional supplement that has been shown to protect the skin from DNA damage induced by sun exposure. First let’s talk about sunscreen.

The Perfect Sunscreen?

Many sunscreens do a much better job of blocking UVB wavelengths, which are the rays most responsible for sunburn and the two benign forms of skin cancer. Unfortunately, these UVB sunscreens do little to block the deeper penetrating UVA rays which are responsible for damaging DNA deep in the skin cells.

It is the UVA that is the key suspect in the development of melanoma and premature wrinkling.

In addition, many sunscreens contain oils that will oxidize when exposed to heat and UV radiation. This means that these conventional sunscreens not only do nothing to add antioxidant protection to the skin, they may even increase the free-radical stress and damage to the cells of the skin. With that said, here are the recommendations for choosing a sunscreen:

• Only choose sunscreens that are oil-free.
• Use sunscreens that contain antioxidants to protect the skin
• Choose sunscreens with botanical extracts that have proven to protect and repair DNA
  
• Choose sunscreens that block both UVA and UVB rays
• Choose a sunscreen that has an SPF of 20 or higher

In recent years there has been much research around natural products for topical use in preventing sun damage. These natural products have been incorporated into a sunscreen that is produced by the Life Extension Foundation. These protective botanicals include:

• Watermelon Extract – A highly purified watermelon extract that has been shown to decrease DNA damage in the cells of the skin from UV exposure.
• Silymarin from milk thistle – This extract has been shown, in animal studies, to decrease the risk of skin cancers after UV exposure, by 75%.
• Green tea Polyphenols and Proanthocyanidins from Grape Seed Extract – These botanical extracts protect the skin from free-radicals, inflammation, and DNA damage.
• Beta Glucan – This is a specialized compound from whole grain oats that penetrate the skin to stimulate immune protection from UV damage while stimulating collagen production. This helps to speed healing of tissues, while providing an overall anti-aging effect to the cells of the skin.
• Rosemary – This spice provides additional and broad antioxidant benefits. In addition, rosemary is known to have anti-tumor activity like green tea and grape seed extract.
• Licorice Root Extract – This botanical is known to help soothe and heal damaged skin cells.

This formula, called Total Sun Protection Cream with Photo-Aging Recovery Complex, combines all of these potent natural ingredients with three powerful sunscreen agents that protect the skin against short-wave UVA, long-wave UVA and UVB rays. I have found no other formula that offers so much broad spectrum sunscreen and antioxidant protection.

How to Use Sunscreens for Most Benefit

Studies have shown that people generally only apply one-quarter of the sunscreen quantity that they need to gain the most benefit and protection. One study found that most people only apply sufficient sunscreen to achieve a 20-50% of the SPF that the product is labeled for. There is some evidence that this under-application, and the insufficient UVA protection of many conventional sunscreens, may be one reason for the lack of protection from melanoma reported in the research literature.

The general rule for proper sunscreen use is: “Apply generously and apply often!” It is better to overdo it than to under apply.

Even if you get a great sunscreen, if you do not apply it properly, you will not get the full benefit. Follow these guidelines to assure optimal protection.

• 15 Minutes BEFORE Sun Exposure Apply the Total Sun Protection Cream – It is important that we apply sunscreen 15-minutes before sun exposure to allow it to penetrate and dry before we start to sweat and expose ourselves to UV radiation. This will allow the botanical extracts and the antioxidants to penetrate where I believe they will provide protection for hours to come.
• Use One Full Ounce for the First Application – Most people do not apply enough sunscreen to fully protect. For the average sized body, apply one full ounce (a shot glass size) of sunscreen.
• Every 1-2 Hours Renew the Sunscreen by Spraying the Total Sun Protection Spray with Beta Glucan – Because the Total Sun Protection Cream is a bit costly, we apply this for the first application and then for the rest of the day we will renew with the Sun Protection Spray, which is far more cost-effective.
• Use the Sun Protection Spray Each and Every Time You Get Out of the Water or Sweat Heavily (such as if jogging). All sunscreens wash away with water that is why the FDA no longer allows a sunscreen to claim itself to be waterproof.

Protecting the Skin From the Inside Out:

As mentioned earlier, nutrition likely plays a key role in protecting the skin from sun damage. Dr. Zane Kime, in his book Sunlight, spoke specifically about vitamins A, C and E as well as selenium. All of these nutrients are quite important in protecting the skin, however, there are likely hundreds, if not thousands, of compounds that concentrate in the skin to act as a significant line of defense against sun damage and skin cancer. Such nutrients include:

• Carotenoids such as beta carotein, lutein, lycopene. These compounds are found in colorful fruits and vegetables
• Proanthocyanidins such as those found in grapes, berries and pine bark
• Polyphenols such as those found in teas, fruits and herbs
• Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, flaxseed, chia seeds and nuts

Food is obviously the most important source of these antioxidants and nutrients, however, for most people supplementation will offer additional insurance against the damaging effects of UV rays.

Getting a good multi-vitamin, essential fatty acid and green drink containing fruit and vegetable extracts is key in making sure enough nutrition is available to protect the skin. Berry and superfruit juices such as Acai juice can provide additional whole-food protection. See the Skin Protection Protocol for specific recommendations.

Introducing A Breakthrough Product For Protecting the Skin

For centuries, Native Americans have been using a special fern plant as a prevention and treatment of sunburn. When scientists caught wind of this, they began studying the herb to confirm these reported benefits. The scientists developed an extract of the fern plant Polypodium leucotomos which is now known as FernBlock.

Early research by Dr. Salvador Gonzalez found that patients receiving UV treatment for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis had nearly complete protection from the redness and burn created by the treatment. Dr. Gonzalez, fascinated by these results, took the extract to Harvard where he continued to research the fern extract for its ability to defend the skin from UV damage caused by sun exposure. Over the next decade research confirmed the protective benefits of this powerful herb, such benefits include:

• A seven-fold increase in the amount of UV light tolerated before damage occurred to the skin
• Important cancer-fighting cells beneath the skin were protected from UV damage
• Significant decrease in DNA damage after sun exposure by protecting vital enzymes responsible for DNA repair
• Inhibition of inflammation in the skin
• Blocked enzymes that are known to decrease skin elasticity
• Increased the antioxidant defenses of the skin

Due to the ability of the phytochemcials found in FernBlock to penetrate into the skin and offer broad spectrum protection, I am excited to be able to add this to our tool box for protecting the skin.

How to Use Polypodium Extract (FernBlock)

People at risk of skin cancer, especially those with a past history of skin cancer or who have fair skin may want to take one capsule daily as a preventative. The rest of us may want to reserve this supplement for when you know that you are going to be exposed to longer intervals of sunlight. For instance, if you’re going on a cruise or heading to the beach you may want to take 2 capsules daily a couple of days before you leave and 2 capsules daily while on your trip. The phytochemicals in FernBlock have a high affinity for skin cells and will concentrate in the skin fairly rapidly. Based on the research to date, FernBlock appears to provide protection the very same day it is taken.

Summary:

If I had to summarize this entire article in a couple of sentences I would say UV radiation is a real concern and protection must come from the inside out. Diet and lifestyle plays a key role in protecting you from premature skin aging and skin cancer. Sunscreen and topical antioxidants act as an additional line of defense and should be implemented. Below you will find the key bullet points of the article.

Key Points:

• Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, most are benign but we are seeing a significant rise in melanoma diagnosis.
• Sunscreen can offer protection, however, you must find a sunscreen that defends the skin against UVA and UVB radiation and offers additional antioxidant protection such as Total Sun Protection by Life Extension Foundation. After the first application of Total Sun Protection Cream, use the Total Sun Protection SPRAY to maintain the protection.
• Use a sunscreen with at least 20 SPF
• Make sure that you apply sunscreen generously and often to assure that you get the most protection.
• Nutrition is a critical factor in protecting the skin. Eat tons of fruits and vegetables. Drink teas such as green tea to enjoy extra antioxidant protection.
• Supplementation adds extra insurance against UV damage. Get a multi-vitamin, essential fatty acid and green drink such as Doctor’s For Nutrition Greens First.
• Use FernBlock starting a few days before significant sun exposure and during the sun exposure.

Many of us have had the unfortunate experience of having to watch our aging parents develop the diseases commonly associated with age. If you are like me, you have a nearly obsessive desire to make sure that we don’t follow along the same path. In order to succeed in this mission, we need to start with a paradigm that allows us to understand why we develop these diseases in the first place.

A well-respected researcher at the University of California, Berkley, has come up with a theory that may give us insight into how to avoid common diseases associated with aging, including:

1.      Heart disease (specifically calcifications of the arteries)
2.      Osteoporosis
3.      Various forms of cancer
4.      Diabetes and insulin resistance
5.      Breast fibroid
6.      Fatigue
7.      Weight gain
8.      And more…

Dr. Bruce Ames announced that he had a new theory of aging, which he named, “Triage Theory”. Triage theory states that when the body does not have sufficient nutrients to feed all tissues equally, the urgent needs of the body will outweigh the less urgent needs, even if they both share a high level of importance. A good way of illustrating this theory is to associate it with principles of time management.

I am a student of time management, mostly because I am terrible at it. One principle that is at the core of time management is the process of differentiating between urgent and important tasks and non-urgent but important tasks. Urgent/important tasks are things that need to be handled right now or you will suffer immediate consequences. Examples of urgent/important tasks include:

1.      A phone call from an important client
2.      Paying your mortgage on time
3.      Urgent staffing issues, and work emergencies.

Non-urgent/important matters are important to the long-term goals but there are few immediate consequences to not doing them. Examples include:

1.      Learning about new technology that may impact your job or business in the future
2.      Upgrading accounting software to be compliant with next year’s tax laws
3.      Setting up your next dental-hygiene appointment

If your life is filled with urgent/important tasks, usually the non-urgent/important tasks will be thrown by the wayside resulting in a lack of personal and organizational growth. In other words, the organization may remain healthy for today, but in the long run, the neglect of non-urgent-but-important matters will cause the person or organization to fail from ineptitude.

Dr. Ames suggests that the body is doing the same thing; prioritizing immediate needs above the future needs of the body.  He believes that the body does this because we evolved during a time when we weren’t expected to live to be 100 years old anyway.  Instead, nature prioritized the act of keeping us alive long enough to procreate rather than long enough to see our great grandchildren.

Iodine is a good example of how this theory presents itself within the body. When iodine is moderately deficient, the thyroid will take precedence at the expense of other tissues that need it, albeit in a less urgent manner. This assures that the body has enough iodine to keep the metabolism functioning, at the cost of long-term health of other tissues such as the breasts, prostate, and immune system.

Another example of the Triage Theory in action is vitamin K deficiency. Vitamin K has biological effect in most cells of the body including the arteries and the bones. When vitamin K is moderately deficient, the liver will snatch the vitamin K from the blood in order to make sure that it can produce clotting factors needed to prevent you from bleeding to death from a paper cut. Unfortunately, because the K is being used in developing clotting factors, the bones grow weak and the arteries develop calcifications from being slowly starved of vitamin K.

To protect against the consequences of biological triage, you must make sure that there is an abundance of nutrition that is available to the body so that both urgent/important processes and non-urgent/important processes are able to function on all cylinders. Doing so will allow you to enjoy optimal health well into your later years.

A multi-vitamin is a good start in assuring that the body has sufficient levels of the various nutrients to feed the urgent/important and non-urgent/important processes.  Unfortunately, most multi’s (even high quality multi’s) fall short in providing sufficient levels of various nutrients such as vitamin D, vitamin K and iodine. Given this fact, we typically need to supplement with higher levels of these nutrients than are supplied by a multi.

Previously, I was taking these nutrients separately. Luckily, they are now provided in a single capsule to support your current supplement program. This supplement combines 5,000 iu of vitamin D3, 1.1 mg of vitamin K2 and 1 mg of whole-food iodine. The product is called Vitamins D and K with Sea-Iodine by Life Extension Foundation.

The reason that such a blend is so powerful is because of the broad importance and the relative deficiency of these nutrients. By providing the body with optimal levels of these three nutrients, you are helping to shore up the body’s defenses against many of the previously reported disease associated with aging.

Recently a government agency known as The Institute of Medicine weighed in on the topic of vitamin D. After convening a 14 member panel of researchers to analyze over 1,000 published studies on vitamin D, the IOM made the following recommendations:

• Infants should get no more than 400 IU of vitamin D daily
• Adults should limit intake to 600 IU of vitamin D per day
• Pregnant women should get 600 IU of vitamin D per day

What’s The Harm?

The New York Times, The Wallstreet Journal and other newspapers love controversy. They published headlines such as, “Can Too Much Vitamin D Be Hazardous to Your Health?” These articles suggested that more than the 600 IU of D may pose hazards even though the IOM themselves suggested that the safe upper limit of D is 4,000 IU (up from their previous 2,000 IU recommendation).

Many people confused the recommendation to take 600 IU as an indication that more was toxic. This is an inaccurate interpretation of the IOM recommendations. Remember, the 600 IU adult dose that was suggested is a recommended daily allowance, not a suggestion that higher doses may be toxic. In the IOM’s report, they suggest that a dose over 10,000 IU per day is toxic, even though they failed to provide proof of such toxicity.

What Harm?

According to the IOM, doses over 10,000 IU could cause damage to kidneys and other tissues, once again they came to this conclusion without providing reproducible proof of such side effects. It should be noted that the body will produce up to 10,000 IU of vitamin D from simple sun exposure, is the IOM suggesting that nature messed up?

I should point out that the IOM decided on its position regarding the safety of vitamin D based on the philosophy that because there is little evidence that higher doses of D are safe, we should assume it is toxic. Although I agree that we should exercise caution when taking high doses of anything, including vitamins, I feel that they should be more responsible with how they phrase such caution.

How Do We Know That It Is Safe?

First, let me point out that even the IOM, a notoriously conservative organization, suggests that doses up to 4,000 IU appear to be safe, meaning the research suggests that there is no toxicity at this dose. In other words, if you take up to 4,000 IU per day, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. The debate is whether or not doses above this 4,000 IU range are safe.

Personally, I typically do not recommend taking more than 4,000 IU per day unless we have blood tests that suggest that we need more. If, however, blood tests continue to be suboptimal on doses of D up to 4,000 IU, is the IOM suggesting that we not take more?

What Are We Missing?

Unfortunately, it appears that the IOM is not being forthcoming with all of the recommendations from the individual experts on the panel. In fact, some of the experts on the panel were staunch advocates for the safety and efficacy of higher dose vitamin D. Their reports, however, are being suppressed by the IOM. This means we can not read the recommendations of these experts, we are only provided access to the final paper of the IOM. The Vitamin D Council is in the process of filing, under the Freedom of Information Act, a lawsuit to have those reports made public. It makes you wonder what they are hiding.

What Should You Take Away from this Paper?

The purpose of today’s article was to defend the safety record of vitamin D, not to get into the mountains of research that support the use of vitamin D for the prevention of diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and brain dysfunction.

Based on this paper alone, we can establish the following:

1. Vitamin D is extremely safe up to doses of 4,000 IU per day
2. Vitamin D is probably safe up to doses of 10,000 IU, provided you are monitoring blood tests and keeping the blood levels within the optimal range of 50-80 ng/ml
3. 400 IU per day is likely a sufficient dose for infants
4. 600 IU is way too low for pregnant women and adults, even though the IOM suggests that it is sufficient
5. Blood testing is recommended to assure that you are within the optimal range.
6. The IOM provides no definitive evidence that higher doses of vitamin D are toxic; they are assuming toxicity based on a lack of evidence that doses higher than 4,000 IU per day are safe.