Cinnamon beats Alzheimers

(NaturalNews) The miracle spice cinnamon is the scented bark of a tropical evergreen tree, native to India and Sri Lanka. Cinnamon comes from an evergreen tree in Southeast Asia and is cultivated widely in Vietnam, China, Burma, and Laos for its bark and the oil processed from the bark. Once upon a time in ancient Rome, cinnamon was worth more than silver.

Cinnamon is harvested from the inner bark of the tree branches after scraping off the corky outer layer and then drying the bark. As it dries, the bark curls up into quills which are then cut into sticks to be ground into the spice form. Full of calcium and fiber, cinnamon is one of the oldest known spices, it is mentioned in the Bible and was used in ancient Egypt as medicine, beverage flavoring and an embalming agent.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, cinnamon helps improve the body's "fire."

Cinnamon - Not just a spice!

Professor Daniel Fung, an expert in food science at Kansas State University, says cinnamon contains a compound that has the ability to kill bacteria. "If cinnamon can knock out E.coli 0157:H7, one of the most virulent food-borne microorganisms that exists today, it will certainly have antimicrobial effects on other common food-borne bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter."

Now researchers from Tel Aviv University found that extracts from cinnamon bark inhibit the toxic amyloid polypeptide oligomers and fibrils that have been found in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) brain plaque formations. In animal models of Alzheimer's, cinnamon reduced s-amyloid plaques associated with the pathology of AD. Reduction of these proteins can improve mental cognition. In one model, cinnamon extract resolved AD associate reduced longevity, helped recover locomotion defects and completely abolished tetrameric species of plaque in the brain.

Other benefits of cinnamon are: anti-microbial actions, blood sugar balancing, improving colon health, boosting brain function. Cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon has been well researched for its effects on blood platelets which help the blood clot to stop bleeding. Platelets can also cause strokes if they clump together too much. Cinnamon has been shown to help prevent this deadly clumping. Cinnamon will stop vomiting and relieve feelings of nausea. Cinnamon also helps slow tumor growth while inhibiting inflammatory markers connected to cellular proliferation.

In a recent study, people reduced their blood sugar levels by as much as 29 percent with cinnamon in just 40 days. That's with NO drugs, NO diet changes - just plain old cinnamon!

Study volunteers who took a cinnamon extract showed significant decreases in fasting blood glucose and increases in lean muscle mass compared with the placebo group. Pre and post study analysis of the extract group revealed a statistically significant decrease in body fat and blood pressure.

Research found that cinnamon can have favorable effects on brain function. Participants in a study chewed cinnamon gum or even just smelled the sweet spice. Cognitive tests revealed that subjects who used cinnamon had better memory functions and could process information more quickly.

What kind and how much

Which is best: Ceylon cinnamon, Saigon cinnamon, cinnamomum zeylanicum or regular grocery store variety cinnamon? Interestingly, the grocery store variety known as cinnamomum cassia works the best in most research studies and clinical trials.

Drink cinnamon in tea or sprinkle a little cinnamon on your toast, cereal, oatmeal, or sliced apples. It not only tastes good, it lowers your blood sugar!

Taking two 500 mg capsules of cinnamon a day will help good cholesterol levels and taking two capsules with each meal can make a big difference in blood sugar and insulin levels for diabetics.

Sources for this article

http://www.plosone.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/413533.stm
http://www.prevention.com/health/brain-games/memory-and-cinnamon-gum
Solomon TP, Blannin AK. Changes in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity following 2 weeks of daily cinnamon ingestion in healthy humans. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2009 Apr;105(6):969-76. Epub 2009 Jan 22

About the author:
Craig Stellpflug is a Cancer Nutrition Specialist, Lifestyle Coach and Neuro Development Consultant at Healing Pathways Medical Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ. http://www.healingpathwayscancerclinic.com/ With 17 years of clinical experience working with both brain disorders and cancer, Craig has seen first-hand the devastating effects of vaccines and pharmaceuticals on the human body and has come to the conclusion that a natural lifestyle and natural remedies are the true answers to health and vibrant living. You can find his daily health blog at www.blog.realhealthtalk.com and his articles and radio show archives at www.realhealthtalk.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036607_cinnamon_Alzheimers_prevention.html#ixzz221VIyZFa

Fast Food Diet

American fast food diet unleashes disease epidemic sweeping across Asia

(NaturalNews) Though increasingly looked down upon here in the U.S. as a sign of slothfulness and low socioeconomic status, routine fast food consumption in some parts of the world is actually considered to be culturally desirable. But as foreigners progressively adopt the American fast-food lifestyle in place of their own native foods, rates of chronic disease are skyrocketing, including in East and Southeast Asia where diabetes and heart disease rates are off the charts.

According to a recent study published in the journal Circulation, globalization continues to usher U.S.-style fast food into East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia, where natives, especially those from the younger generations, are quickly adopting things like hamburgers and fries in place of their traditional fare. And based on the data, this Western fast food craze is responsible for a significant uptick in cases of diabetes and heart disease.


For their study, a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota (UM) School of Public Health analyzed data on more than 60,000 Singaporeans of Chinese descent. Study participants were interviewed beginning in the 1990s, and followed and tracked for about ten years. At the end of the study, researchers compared the participants' eating habits to rates of chronic disease.

They found that, among participants who were between the ages of 45 and 74 at the beginning of the study, 1,397 died of cardiac illness by the end of the study, and 2,252 developed type-2 diabetes. Those who ate fast food two or more times a week were 27 percent more likely than others to develop type-2 diabetes, while the same group was 56 percent more likely to die from cardiac illness.

Those who ate American-style fast food four or more times a week were even worse off, as they were nearly twice as likely to die of cardiac illness than participants who ate no fast food. And interestingly, it was only American-style fast food that was linked to the disease uptick -- native fast foods like dim sum, noodles, and dumplings did not appear to increase the participants' risk of developing chronic disease.

"Many cultures welcome (Western fast food) because it's a sign they're developing their economies," says Andrew Adegaard, author of the study from the UM School of Public Health. "But while it may be desirable from a cultural standpoint, from a health perspective there may be a cost. It wasn't their own snacks that was putting them at increased risk, but American-style fast food."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.health.umn.edu

http://www.reuters.com

http://www.scientificamerican.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036595_fast_food_chronic_disease_epidemic.html#ixzz21o0IytPt