Researchers conducting an experiment on animals report that omega-3 fats reduced many of the signs of osteoarthritis. The study compared the effect of a standard diet high in omega-6 fats to one high omega-3 fats.

A breed of guinea pigs that naturally develop arthritis received the diets for 20 weeks, after which cartilage, bone and blood factors were examined for signs of the disease.

According to Life Extension:

“Among the arthritis-prone guinea pigs given omega-3, the majority of disease indicators were reduced … [O]steoarthritis in guinea pigs is perhaps the most appropriate model for spontaneous, naturally occurring osteoarthritis, and all of the evidence supports the use of omega-3 in human disease.”

Pomegranate extract consumption is known to reduce the incidence and severity of collagen-induced arthritis in mice.  A recent study investigated whether pomegranate consumption affects disease activity in human patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Pomegranate extract consumption was shown to significantly reduced the composite Disease Activity Index (DAS28) of arthritis patients by 17%.  This could be related mostly to a significant reduction in the tender joint count (by 62%).

According to the study, as reprinted on the website Green Med Info:

“The pomegranate consumption reduced DAS28 in RA patients, and this effect could be related to the antioxidative property of pomegranates. Dietary supplementation with pomegranates may be a useful complementary strategy to attenuate clinical symptoms in RA patients.”

It is known that being physically active is one of best ways people with arthritis can improve their health.  However, a new study shows that more than half of women and 40 percent of men with arthritis are mostly sedentary.

Researchers asked more than 1000 people with radiographic knee osteoarthritis to wear an accelerometer in order to measure their physical activity for one week.  Participants were deemed inactive if they failed to sustain a 10-minute period of moderate-to-vigorous activity over the entire week of wearing the accelerometer.

According to Science Daily:

“A substantial 40.1 percent of men and 56.5 percent of women studied were found to be inactive.  While more than half of men engaged in significantly more moderate-to-vigorous activity than women, the majority of men who didn’t fall into this category were spending their time in no to very light activity.”

Green Med Info has assembled a collection of studies that show the great health benefits of consuming krill.  Krill affects as many as 24 diseases and conditions, including:

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Chronic inflammation
• Colon cancer
• PMS

According to one study linked by Green Med Info:

“[The] findings indicated that the consumption of [krill oil] may provide benefits to control serum lipid levels in certain diseases and inhibit growth of colon cancer cells. Therefore, [krill oil] may be a good candidate for development as a functional food and nutraceutical.”

Green Med Info has assembled a collection of studies that show the great health benefits of consuming krill.  Krill affects as many as 24 diseases and conditions, including:

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Chronic inflammation

• Colon cancer

• PMS

According to one study linked by Green Med Info:

“[The] findings indicated that the consumption of [krill oil] may provide benefits to control serum lipid levels in certain diseases and inhibit growth of colon cancer cells. Therefore, [krill oil] may be a good candidate for development as a functional food and nutraceutical.”

A human study has determined that turmeric extracts are as efficacious and safe as (if not safer than) ibuprofen for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

More than 100 patients with primary knee osteoarthritis received either ibuprofen or turmeric extracts each day for 6 weeks. At the end of the period, improvement in pain on level walking, pain on stairs, and functions of knee were assessed.

According to the study, as reported by Green Med Info:

“Baseline characteristics of the patients in both groups were not different … No significant difference of adverse events between both groups was found”.

A video on YouTube on the biochemistry of fructose and posted in July 2009 has gone viral, with more than 800,000 views so far. People are going to the site at the rate of 50,000 a month, even though it’s 90 minutes long, The New York Times reports. Calling sugar a “toxin” or a “poison” 13 times, and referring to it as “evil” five times, the video’s author, Robert Lustig explains that sugar is sugar, whether it’s the white granulated stuff – commonly known as sucrose – or high fructose corn syrup. And his stance has nothing to do with calories, according to the NYT: “It’s a poison by itself,” he says.

“If Lustig is right, then our excessive consumption of sugar is the primary reason that the numbers of obese and diabetic Americans have skyrocketed in the past 30 years,” the NYT says. “But his argument implies more than that. If Lustig is right, it would mean that sugar is also the likely dietary cause of several other chronic ailments widely considered to be diseases of Western lifestyles — heart disease, hypertension and many common cancers among them.”

The NYT added that Lustig has “a mass”  of evidence to back up his claims.

In another illustration of mind over matter, a researcher at Nottingham University, England found that simply creating an optical illusion for arthritic pain sufferers can ease the pain. For the illusion to work, patients place their hand inside a box containing a camera, which then projects the image in realtime onto a screen in front of them, the BBC reported.

The pain eases when subjects see their arthritic fingers apparently being stretched and shrunk by someone gently pushing and pulling from the other side of the box. It’s all a computer trick, of course, but the implications of what this completely drug-free method can do are enormous.

A study has determined that poor sleep quality is correlated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, greater pain severity, increased fatigue, and greater functional disability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Participants in the study completed questionnaires that provided input on their sleep quality and symptoms, and patients also provided sociodemographic information and their medical history. According to the results, 61 percent of patients were poor sleepers and 33 percent reported having pain that disturbed their sleep three or more times per week.

Eurekalert reports:

“The study’s finding that poorer sleep quality is associated with greater pain severity is consistent with recent evidence suggesting that sleep disruption may lower pain threshold and enhance pain in RA and otherwise healthy adults.”

A study shows that a formulation of curcumin can relieve pain and increase mobility in patients with osteoarthritis.  It can also reduce a series of inflammatory markers.

100 patients with osteoarthritis were divided in two groups — the first group was given the “best available treatment” and the second group was given the same treatment plus 200 mg of the curcumin formulation each day.

According to IFT: 

“The results showed that the [curcumin]-treated group had a statistically significant reduction in all primary clinical end-points … These results were complemented by the evaluation of a series of inflammatory markers, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM)-1, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR]) … while no significant variation was observed in the ‘best available treatment’ group.”

This could eventually lead to a phase out of NSAID use, at least as a treatment for mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis.

Researchers have discovered that women can lower their risk of hip osteoarthritis if they consume a diet high in allium vegetables, such as garlic, onions and leeks. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in adults.

A study looked at over 1,000 healthy female twins, many of whom had no symptoms of arthritis. The researchers carried out a detailed assessment of the diet patterns of the twins and analyzed these alongside x-ray images, which captured the extent of early osteoarthritis in the participants’ hips, knees and spine. The women who consumed a healthy diet with a high intake of alliums showed less evidence of early osteoarthritis in the hip joint.

According to Science Daily:

“To investigate the potential protective effect of alliums further, researchers studied the compounds found in garlic. They found that that a compound called diallyl disulphide limits the amount of cartilage-damaging enzymes when introduced to a human cartilage cell-line in the laboratory.”

People at risk for osteoarthritis may be able to resist the disease with simple changes to their physical activity. Engaging in light exercise may protect against the onset of the disease.

Osteoarthritis is a joint disease that causes pain, swelling and stiffness.  It is the most common form of arthritis.

Eurekalert reports:

“MRI exams revealed that light exercisers had the healthiest knee cartilage … and patients with minimal strength training had healthier cartilage”.

A few years ago, the U.S. EPA’s Office of Drinking Water commissioned the government’s National Research Council to examine the toxicology of fluoride. Their 506 page report unflinchingly faces up to the health-damaging effects of fluoride in public water.

But 269 million Americans out of a population of 304 million (88.5 percent) still get their water from public water systems, and 196 million (72.4 percent) drink, bathe and wash their clothes with fluoridated water.  Promoters of fluoridation are even now pushing for mandatory statewide fluoridation in various states.  Nonetheless, there is growing evidence that shows fluoride damages health.

Writing for Lew Rockwell, Dr. Donald Miller points out:

“The [National Research Council] panel concluded that the EPA’s maximum and secondary maximum contaminant level goals for fluoride … are ‘not protective of public health,’ particularly with regard to three things: dental fluorosis; skeletal fluorosis, which causes chronic joint pain and arthritis imitating osteoarthritis; and fractures … Four years have elapsed since the NRC recommended that the EPA carry out more studies … So far nothing has been done.”

And why is that?  Because, according to Dr. Joel Kauffman, writing in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons:

“Proponents of fluoridation have censored most media, ignored intelligent discussion of fluoridation, slandered most opponents of fluoridation, and overturned legal judgments against fluoridation in a manner that demonstrates their political power.”

by The Weston A. Price Foundation

Are you still shunning butter from your diet? You can stop today because butter can be a very healthy part of your diet.

Why Butter is Better

Vitamins …

Butter is a rich source of easily absorbed vitamin A, needed for a wide range of functions, from maintaining good vision to keeping the endocrine system in top shape. Butter also contains all the other fat-soluble vitamins (D, E and K2), which are often lacking in the modern industrial diet.

Minerals …

Butter is rich in important trace minerals, including manganese, chromium, zinc, copper and selenium (a powerful antioxidant). Butter provides more selenium per gram than wheat germ or herring. Butter is also an excellent source of iodine. 

Fatty Acids …

Butter provides appreciable amounts of short- and medium-chain fatty acids, which support immune function, boost metabolism and have anti-microbial properties; that is, they fight against pathogenic microorganisms in the intestinal tract. 

Butter also provides the perfect balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats. Arachidonic acid in butter is important for brain function, skin health and prostaglandin balance. 

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) …

When butter comes from cows eating green grass, it contains high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a compound that gives excellent protection against cancer and also helps your body build muscle rather than store fat.

Glycospingolipids …

These are a special category of fatty acids that protect against gastrointestinal infections, especially in the very young and the elderly. Children given reduced-fat milks have higher rates of diarrhea than those who drink whole milk.

Cholesterol …

Despite all of the misinformation you may have heard, cholesterol is needed to maintain intestinal health and for brain and nervous system development in the young.

Wulzen Factor …

A hormone-like substance that prevents arthritis and joint stiffness, ensuring that calcium in your body is put into your bones rather than your joints and other tissues. The Wulzen factor is present only in raw butter and cream; it is destroyed by pasteurization.

Butter and Your Health

Is butter really healthy? Let us count the ways …

1.    Heart Disease

Butter contains many nutrients that protect against heart disease including vitamins A, D, K2, and E, lecithin, iodine and selenium. A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine (Nutrition Week 3/22/91, 21:12).

2.    Cancer

The short- and medium-chain fatty acids in butter have strong anti-tumor effects.  Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in butter from grass-fed cows also gives excellent protection against cancer.

3.    Arthritis

The Wulzen or “anti-stiffness” factor in raw butter and also Vitamin K2 in grasss-fed butter, protect against calcification of the joints as well as hardening of the arteries, cataracts and calcification of the pineal gland. Calves fed pasteurized milk or skim milk develop joint stiffness and do not thrive.

4.    Osteoporosis

Vitamins A, D and K2 in butter are essential for the proper absorption of calcium and phosphorus and hence necessary for strong bones and teeth.

5.    Thyroid Health

Butter is a good source of iodine, in a highly absorbable form. Butter consumption prevents goiter in mountainous areas where seafood is not available. In addition, vitamin A in butter is essential for proper functioning of the thyroid gland.

6.    Digestion

Glycospingolipids in butterfat protect against gastrointestinal infection, especially in the very young and the elderly.

7.    Growth & Development

Many factors in the butter ensure optimal growth of children, especially iodine and vitamins A, D and K2. Low-fat diets have been linked to failure to thrive in children — yet low-fat diets are often recommended for youngsters!

8.    Asthma

Saturated fats in butter are critical to lung function and protect against asthma.

9.    Overweight

CLA and short- and medium-chain fatty acids in butter help control weight gain.

10.   Fertility

Many nutrients contained in butter are needed for fertility and normal reproduction.

Why You Should Avoid Margarine, Shortenings and Spreads

There are a myriad of unhealthy components to margarine and other butter imposters, including:

• Trans fats: These unnatural fats in margarine, shortenings and spreads are formed during the process of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oils into a solid fat. 

Trans fats contribute to heart disease, cancer, bone problems, hormonal imbalance and skin disease; infertility, difficulties in pregnancy and problems with lactation; and low birth weight, growth problems and learning disabilities in children. 

A U.S. government panel of scientists determined that man-made trans fats are unsafe at any level. (Small amounts of natural trans fats occur in butter and other animal fats, but these are not harmful.)

• Free radicals: Free radicals and other toxic breakdown products are the result of high temperature industrial processing of vegetable oils. They contribute to numerous health problems, including cancer and heart disease.

• Synthetic vitamins: Synthetic vitamin A and other vitamins are added to margarine and spreads. These often have an opposite (and detrimental) effect compared to the natural vitamins in butter.

• Emulsifiers and preservatives: Numerous additives of questionable safety are added to margarines and spreads. Most vegetable shortening is stabilized with preservatives like BHT.

• Hexane and other solvents: Used in the extraction process, these industrial chemicals can have toxic effects.

• Bleach: The natural color of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is grey so manufacturers bleach it to make it white. Yellow coloring is then added to margarine and spreads.

• Artificial flavors: These help mask the terrible taste and odor of partially hydrogenated oils, and provide a fake butter taste.

• Mono- and di-glycerides: These contain trans fats that manufacturers do not have to list on the label. They are used in high amounts in so-called “low-trans” spreads.

• Soy protein isolate: This highly processed powder is added to “low-trans” spreads to give them body. It can contribute to thyroid dysfunction, digestive disorders and many other health problems.

• Sterols: Often added to spreads to give them cholesterol-lowering qualities, these estrogen compounds can cause endocrine problems; in animals these sterols contribute to sexual inversion.

How to Purchase Butter

The BEST butter is raw butter from grass-fed cows, preferably organic. Next is pasteurized butter from grass-fed cows, followed by regular pasteurized butter from supermarkets. Even the latter two are still a much healthier choice than margarine or spreads.

For sources of raw butter, visit www.realmilk.com.

Drinking too much soda or fruit juice will increase your risk of developing gout, a painful form of arthritis, according to a new study.

Women who drank two cans or more of non-diet soda a day, or 12 ounces or more of orange juice a day, were more than twice as likely to develop gout. Women who drank just one soda or 6-ounce glass of juice per day were at 74 percent and 41 percent greater risk, respectively.

CNN reports:

“The culprit appears to be fructose … [F]ructose increases levels of the chemical uric acid, which causes gout. When uric acid levels in the body get too high, the acid hardens into sharp crystals that are deposited in joints.”

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful and debilitating condition.  However, a new study shows that being in a strong marriage can result in less pain and better functioning and quality of life for RA patients.

Researchers examined the relationships of more than 20 RA patients.  They reported that among married subjects, better marital adjustment was associated with less psychological disability and less pain

Newswise reports:

“The findings strongly suggest that being married may have benefits for health status, provided the marriage is well adjusted or, at least, not distressed. A key implication of the study is that using marital status as an indicator of social support for RA patients might not be inadequate, and clinicians must consider the level of adjustment or distress in the relationship when determining the degree and benefit of social support from the spouse.”

There has been a surprising jump in the number of Americans with severe arthritis symptoms. This could be the result of obesity, according to health experts.

About 22 percent of U.S. adults have arthritis, a total of nearly 50 million people with the ailment. However, this number has not increased much in the past few years. What has increased significantly, however, is pain or other arthritis symptoms that limit activity. That number has jumped from 8.3 percent to 9.4 percent — which means that more than 21 million adults now have trouble climbing stairs, dressing, or gardening, up from less than 19 million just a few years ago.

The Washington Post reports:

“… [T]he increase probably was due mainly to baby boomers, who are at an age when they are more likely to suffer osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. It breaks down cartilage and causes pain and joint stiffness… [A] complicating factor is high rates of baby boomers who are overweight and obese. Extra weight puts more pressure on arthritic joints, making the problem worse”.

In an interview with Michael D. West, CEO of BioTime Inc, the journal Regenerative Medicine reports on an exciting breakthrough that just could make it possible to turn back the hands of time in aging cells.

“The problem with human biology is that the immortal reproductive cells that built you and me develop into differentiated cells within our bodies and as a result, lose the capacity to proliferate (divide) forever,” West says. “So, the cells of the body are mortal, meaning they have a finite life span, and as our tissues age, or deteriorate from disease, our body has a finite capacity to regenerate and repair those tissues. As a result, we suffer progressive declines in function that lead to our death.”

The fascinating part of this new research is that stem cells have pristine DNA, West explains – and researchers may very well to at some point in the future put those cells to work to unlock ways to regenerate tissues and, ultimately, eliminate the major causes of aging.

A new study published in the journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders concludes the omega-3’s and antioxidants in your daily krill oil supplement may reduce symptoms of arthritis.

The study, which compared krill and fish oil, showed that the addition of EPA and DHA to the diet of mice reduced inflammation associated with arthritis.

Per NUTRAingredients.com:

“Results showed that animals supplemented with krill or fish oil experienced significant reductions in measures of arthritis and swelling of the hind paw compared to a control animals not supplemented with EPA and DHA. The effects were greater for the krill oil than fish oil, said the researchers.”

The arthritis score was reduced by 47 percent in the krill oil group compared with 26 percent for animals in fish oil group.

Researchers are launching a groundbreaking new study to investigate the benefits of broccoli. Initial laboratory results found that a compound in broccoli called sulforaphane blocks the enzymes that cause joint destruction in osteoarthritis.

Sulforaphane is a compound found in cruciferous vegetables. Eating broccoli leads to a high level of sulforaphane in the blood, but it is as yet unknown if the sulforaphane can reach the joints in sufficient amounts to be effective.

Eurekalert reports:

“Osteoarthritis … is a degenerative joint disease which gradually destroys the cartilage in the joints, particularly in the hands, feet, spine, hips and knees of older people. There is currently no effective treatment other than pain relief or joint replacement.”

U.S. News & World Report offers four reasons you should breastfeed your child for your own sake:

• Reproductive cancers. Prolonged nursing lowers your risks of breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. This could be because it suppresses the hormones that play a role in these cancers.
• Heart disease. Women who nurse for at least 24 months during their lives have a 23 percent lower risk of developing heart disease. Nursing may also decrease dangerous visceral fat.
• Rheumatoid arthritis. A number of studies have linked breastfeeding to protection from rheumatoid arthritis. One found that nursing for a total of two years decreased the risk by 50 percent.
• Diabetes. Nursing protects against type 2 diabetes, possibly because lactation makes cells more sensitive to the hormone insulin.

Many of the moose on Isle Royale in Lake Superior suffer from arthritis — and scientists believe their condition’s origin can help explain human osteoarthritis, which affects one in seven adults 25 and older.

The arthritic moose got that way because of poor nutrition early in life, according to a 50 year research project. That could mean that some people’s arthritis can be linked to nutritional deficits, in the womb and possibly throughout childhood.

The New York Times reports:

“Overweight or obese people have greater arthritis risk, usually attributed to the load their joints carry … But the moose work, along with some human research, suggests arthritis’s origins are more complex … Even obesity’s link to arthritis probably goes beyond extra pounds, experts say, to include the impact on the body of eating the wrong things.”

A regular weight training regime may help treat rheumatoid arthritis.  A study of 28 patients found that weight training led to improvements in basic physical function, such as walking.

Researchers said such high intensity exercising could play a key role alongside drug treatment.

BBC News reports:

“RA is mainly a disease affecting the joints, but a less well known symptom is that it also severely reduces muscle mass and strength and this occurs even among patients whose disease is well managed … They found physical function improved by between 20 percent to 30 percent in the group doing weight training. Strength also increased by nearly 120 percent.”