Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

According to new research in The Journal of Nutrition, experts claim low blood levels of vitamin D increase risk of a harmful bacteria infection called vaginosis. For the study, scientists tested 469 women in their first trimester of pregnancy and found 41% of women had vaginosis and 52% had low levels of vitamin D. The women with vaginosis had lower levels of vitamin D than those without the infection; Reuters explains.

Recently, low levels of vitamin D were tied to multiple sclerosis and higher risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. So make sure you get enough vitamin D! Vitamin D reduces risk of prostate cancer and helps build strong bones, which protects against osteoporosis.

If you need help keeping your vitamin D up, Dr. Fuhrman’s Osteo-Sun is specially formulated to provide sufficient vitamin D, both in its vegan and non-vegan forms.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

To me, as a single guy, pregnancy means sweaty palms, shortness of breath and an anxiety attack, but to women, it’s apparently a big deal. Who knew! Now, we all know women care about their figures, but should pregnant women lose weight and exercise? Here’s a quick discussion about pregnancy from Dr. Fuhrman’s member center:

Question: I am 45 years old and just found out I am pregnant. I recently gained seven pounds and was gradually losing it before I knew I was pregnant. Should I try to avoid losing the last few pounds and just keep my weight stable?

And are there restrictions on exercise or lifting. I currently do about 15 to 20 minutes strength training and about 20 to 30 minutes riding a bike and I frequently lift heavy boxes and my four year old.

Dr. Fuhrman: Even if you aren’t pregnant, if you don't overeat and only eat when you’re really hungry, your weight will drop to the healthiest weight for you. And if you are pregnant and you eat healthfully, don't overeat and only eat when you are hungry. Your weight will rise to the healthiest weight for the two of you.

In regard to exercise, whatever activity you are presently accustomed to, you can continue, until the sixth month. Then start to decrease gradually over the last few months, being careful not to strain yourself.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

• Sex is important, especially if you’re not getting any, and for women with type-1 diabetes sex can be a real drag. According to a new study in the journal Diabetes Care involving 652 women with type-1 diabetes, completing a survey on sex and undergoing a physical examination, mood evaluation and laboratory testing, 51% of women reported orgasm problems; Reuters explains.

• Presented at the American Thoracic Society's annual meeting, researchers found overweight mothers are 65% more likely to have children with asthma. The study assessed the weight of mothers of nearly 4,000 children prior to pregnancy, following them from birth to age 8. The average age of mothers was 30, and almost 21% were overweight; HealthDay News reports.

• Also discussed at Thoracic Society's meeting was research claiming vitamin D may slow the decline in asthmatic people’s ability to breathe, specifically those with human airway smooth muscle (HASM) proliferation. HASM causes remodeling of the airway, leading to reduced lung function. Vitamin D was shown to lower growth rate of proliferation cells; via ScienceDaily.

• Another study in Diabetes Care reveals sleep apnea is going largely undiagnosed among obese people with type-2 diabetes. Of the 306 obese patients with type-2 diabetes studied, almost 87% of individuals reported symptoms but received no diagnosis. The scary part is 30% of people had 16 to 20 episodes of stopped breathing per hour of sleep; from EurekAlert!

• Back to the annual meeting, experts determined flu shots are not effective at preventing flu-related hospitalizations in kids with asthma. Researchers examined 263 children from six months to 18 years of age. Each had influenza between 1996 and 2006. Data revealed kids getting the flu shot were three times more likely to be hospitalized than kids not getting the shot; via NewsWise.

• One more from Diabetes Care, a new report suggests girls with poorly manage type-2 diabetes have a higher risk of cardiac abnormalities, than healthy kids with type-1 diabetes. Testing showed certain heart dimensions were larger in type-2 diabetics. And only 1 of the 8 girls studied with type-2 diabetes had no cardiac abnormalities; Reuters investigates.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

New findings in the journal PLoS Medicine claim moms who take folic acid supplements for one year prior to getting pregnant are 50% less likely to have a premature baby. Experts analyzed self-reporting of folate supplementation by 38,033 mothers and found premature delivery rates were cut up 70%. The drop was most profound for resulting in cerebral palsy, mental retardation, chronic lung disease and blindness. Here are Dr. Fuhrman’s thoughts on the study:

The need for folate is reflective of the inadequacy of the Americans dietary practices. The medical profession and everyone else it seems translate all these findings into the need to take a pill, instead of the lack of green vegetables in the diet.

Taking a pill is permission to eat the same crummy diet that causes child to get cancer, as well as moms. If instead, we stated the truth that a low-folate diet is dangerous and you must eat your greens every day. Then we would really see childhood cancers plummet.

Via EurekAlert!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Expectant mothers need more sun. Presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, scientists recommend women of childbearing age spend more time in the sun in order to get sufficient vitamin D. Researchers found over one-third of mothers and 58% of their infants have vitamin D deficiency at birth. Blood samples from 433 women and 376 newborns, within 72 hours of birth, revealed low vitamin D was present in 36% of mothers, with deficiency was considered severe in roughly two-thirds of cases; Reuters reports.

The sun is important to our health. We convert ultraviolet rays into vitamin D, which tells our bodies to absorb calcium and phosphorus. Other studies show mom’s getting enough sun exposure strengths their children’s bones. Now, Dr. Fuhrman sells a vitamin D supplement, in vegan and non-vegan formulations.

In related news, insufficient vitamin D has been linked sudden cardiac death, such as heart failure and cardiac muscle performance, and rickets in young children.

UPDATE: Dr. Fuhrman had some thoughts on this report:

Mothers should be taking Vitamin D supplements and document the adequacy of their Vitamin D with a blood test and also babies and mom’s in northern climates, not getting sufficient sunshine, should use a baby Vitamin D supplement or they can twist open half a capsule of my OsteoSun and sprinkle some of the tasteless white powder into the babies food, water or breast milk.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, experts believe the more time pregnant mothers spend in the sunlight the more it improves bone growth in their offspring. Researchers studied 7,000 ten-year olds and found kids whose mothers spent time outside during sunny months tended to have stronger bones, attributing this to increased uptake of vitamin D derived from the sun’s ultraviolet rays; via Reuters.

Vitamin D is important, yet often overlooked. Lately, insufficient vitamin D has been linked to higher risk of multiple sclerosis, more c-sections and stunted growth. But good levels of vitamin D can make girls bigger and stronger and for men, lower the risk of prostate cancer.

In related news, scientists now recommend people quadruple their vitamin D levels in the winter. Now, Dr. Fuhrman’s Osteo–Sun supplement will help keep your vitamin D in check.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Good news mommies. New findings in the upcoming May issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology claim mothers who breastfed were 10% percent less likely to develop heart disease or suffer a stroke than women who had never breastfed. The study, which involved nearly 140,000 postmenopausal women, also showed women who breastfed for at least one month had less diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol; from EurekAlert!

The benefits of breastfeeding are innumerable. Previous reports pin breastfeeding to breast cancer prevention, less likelihood of children becoming obese and reduced risk of allergies. Last year, it was reported 77% of new moms are breastfeeding. Not too shabby.

But some breastfeeding news can be icky. A Swiss restaurant was told no, they can’t serve human breast milk. Although, the story about the Chinese cop who breastfed infants in need during the rescue effort following last year’s deadly earthquake is heartwarming.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (6)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Don’t put the baby on the treadmill just yet, but a new study in the journal Pediatrics claims gaining weight as an infant might foreshadow obesity later in life. A group of 559 mother and child pairs were examined after three years. For example, two infants with the same birth weight, but after six months differed in weight by 1.5 pounds, the larger being 18.4 pounds, puts the bigger child at a 40% higher risk of being obese at age 3; from EurekAlert!

Actually, other studies have linked a baby’s weight-gain to high blood pressure, saying babies who put on weight too rapidly can develop hypertension as adults. So don’t be like this idiot and only feed your toddler French fries. The woman needs her head examined.

In February, research found obese women are more likely to give birth to children with congenital anomalies, like cleft palate, and obesity can give kids heart disease too.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Ladies, please stay thin. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reveals obese women have unhealthier ovaries, associated with poorer reproductive outcomes. The excess fat may alter the metabolism of eggs which is harmful to embryo formation. Scientists followed 96 women looking to get pregnant and determined obese women had altered maturation of ovary follicles, metabolism and androgen activity, the precursor of all estrogen; ScienceDaily investigates.

Obesity is bad. That’s obvious. Obesity costs the United States $150 billion in healthcare spending each year. And recently reports show obesity leads to migraines, thyroid inflammation and even gum disease. In the experiment, obese mice had 40% more bone loss in their tooth sockets. Pretty hard to eat cheese with no teeth! Then again, eating cheese is a bad idea. It’s yucky.

An often overlooked danger of obesity is the link to global warming. We burn more fuel hauling around heavier people than skinnier people. Fat people are Hummers and thin people are Mini Coopers.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

• In college I knew a guy who ate Lucky Charms and hotdogs for dinner. Sodexo, a company that provides food to college campuses, compiled a list of student’s top 10 foods, it’s an odd mix, but surprisingly, number one is locally-grown fruits and veggies; via Slash Food.

• Speaking of hotdogs and cereal, new research in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reveals despite attempts at improvement, many U.S. schools still offer horrible food, loaded with saturated fat, salt and sugar, boosting obesity; HealthDay News reports.

• A recent release by the American Psychological Association reveals many Americans cope with stress by ditching healthy habits and gorging on chips, bread and macaroni and cheese. The stress hormone cortisol is to blame; from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

• In an upcoming issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research scientists have determined alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a better predictor of children’s problems than assessing individual alcohol-related risk factors; Reuters investigates.

• Time for some flu news, a new study in New England Journal of Medicine shows 98.5% of U.S. influenza A viruses are gaining resistance against Tamiflu, the popular drug used to treat and prevent the flu virus, previous reported indicated only 12%; via Booster Shots.

• More gross news from the infamous peanut plant responsible for the deadly salmonella outbreak stemming from contaminated peanut butter, investigators claim dead mice and rodent droppings were found throughout a Texas plant run by the company; from Reuters.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link