Adults in Nova Scotia will be considered automatic organ donors unless they opt out when a new law comes into effect later this year. The province expects the opt-out system will increase donations by as much as 50 per cent.
It's illegal to pay a surrogate to carry someone else's baby in Canada. Yet, surrogacy is far from free. A CBC investigation into the industry reveals why some parents are left with serious questions about payments they made — and why they're reluctant to report their concerns.
If you’re not a fan of Indian food, health researchers have been experiencing health breakthroughs that might make you rethink adding curry into your diet.
Turmeric, a mustard-yellow spice from Asia that is a spice often used in yellow curry, is being linked to everything from less inflammation to fighting cancer. And it’s worth your attention.
The spice gets its coloring from a compound called curcumin, which is the real secret behind all of the alleged health benefits of turmeric. The University of Maryland Medical Center found that curcumin can help to improve chronic pain by suppressing inflammatory chemicals in the body, an additional study found that it reduces pain in those with osteoarthritis.
Before you start making curry or bombing turmeric/curcumin shots at your local juice bar, there are a few things you need to know. (You always know a trend is hot when coffee shops are testing it in their fancy drinks and you’ll see “golden milk” products everywhere.)
When it comes to turmeric, there’s a bit of a bait-and-switch effect. Just because something is good does not mean that any amount will make you feel better. Curcumin can work, but like any supplement, how you take it — and how much you use — matters most.
Research on curcumin is making it harder and harder to deny its benefits. Most supplements are as reliable as my Magic 8-ball. (Everyone under 30 is currently Googling “What is a Magic 8-ball?”). Lots of hype, but once tested under the rigors (and typically unbiased nature) of science, the outlook is not so good.
But, that’s where curcumin is breaking the mold.
There’s already substantial research showing curcumin can help with everything from inflammation, to fighting pain (as effective as 2000 mg of acetaminophen), and might be effective at helping prevent diseases like prostate cancer.
A team of Chinese researchers performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to assess curcumin’s effect on blood lipids of people at risk for cardiovascular disease and found that curcumin significantly lowered low-density lipoproteins (the “bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides (another thing that most people want less of in their bloodstream).
The catch with the benefits above? Sprinkling turmeric (as a means of getting curcumin) into your coffee, on your meals, or eating more Indian food is not going to make a big impact. That’s like sprinkling fairy dust on your shoulders and thinking you’ll grow wings and fly (sorry, but it’s true).
The potency of what is tested in the research is not anywhere near what you would add to your favorite dish or latte.
If you want any benefit from curcumin, you’ll need to take a concentrated dose of anywhere from 500 mg (for lowering triglycerides) to 2,000 mg (reducing pain, similar to taking Tylenol), depending on what aspect of your health you’re trying to improve.
And, unless you’re using an entire container of turmeric spice in your meal, you won’t get anywhere near that from food.
Just as important, the absorption of curcumin in turmeric is very poor. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost, but it does mean you need to take with specific foods or add additional ingredients to help your body experience all of the benefits.
The “easy button?” Instead of eating or drinking turmeric, take an extract that has exactly what your body needs.
According to examine.com, here’s what you can do to maximize the effectiveness of curcumin:
The post How to Use Turmeric (And What Everyone Gets Wrong) appeared first on Born Fitness.
Here’s another excerpt from my new Revised & Expanded Edition of Wheat Belly, taken from chapter 16, Mr. and Mrs. Wheat Belly:
LOOK DOWN AND YOU SHOULD immediately get an idea of where your sexual preferences lay. Well, at least a rough idea.
The unnatural situation created when humans try to consume the seeds of grasses, packed with disrupters of human hormones, undo some of those anatomical, pre-programmed tendencies. Once again, eating things that should never have made it onto the human dietary menu defies the script written into our genetic codes, expressed as painful menstrual cycles, excessive body hair, ineffective erections, abnormally enlarged breasts, infertility and a long list of other manifestations of hormones gone haywire.
In the modern world, notions of male vs. female, of course, are being redefined by forces as unconnected as surgical sex change, toppling barriers to female work promotion, and exposure of iconic public figures as sexual predators. That’s all fine, but what is written into genetics should not be rewritten, as it provides for hormones, brain structure, hair color, height, whether or not you have freckles.
While there are undoubtedly variations, most men like being men and most women like being women, regardless of partner preference. And this is not about directing sexual preference, but allowing genetic code to express itself in the way it was supposed to and allowing, for instance, men to not have to go through contortions to conceal enlarged breasts or to pursue drugs and devices in the shadows to enjoy normal libido and erections, or women to have effortless menstrual cycles, experience normal fertility, and not have to wear constrictive elastic undergarments to keep the rolls and ripples under wraps.
Do you take this man . . .?
Men and women who follow the Wheat Belly lifestyle undergo important and sometimes startling hormonal changes, enough to regain certainty over whether you should wear skirts or watch Nascar.
Not only has national nutritional advice created a nation suffering with weight gain, type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, and autoimmune diseases, it has also contributed to shifts of hormonal balance, a peculiar and unsettling disruption of the viva la difference that leads to blurred distinctions between the sexes in confusing, infertile, and carcinogenic ways.
The process begins with consumption of wheat, worsened by willy-nilly intake of sugar, expansion of visceral inflammatory fat, then cascades into downstream changes that further disrupt hormonal health. In women with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, for instance, disruptions of bowel flora increase testosterone that, during pregnancy, not only influence maternal health, but also the health of offspring who are more likely to develop hypertension.1
So much health and behavior hinge on hormonal health. Accordingly, removing factors that lead to such disruptions tilts the scales back in favor of natural hormonal balance. Though results vary with stage of life—young adults, middle-aged, older—there are a variety of hormonal changes that women and men typically experience, some in concert, others independent of the bathroom you choose. Such hormonal shifts can be powerful and part of the health-restoring menu of changes that develop with this lifestyle. Get it right and numerous aspects of maleness and femaleness return to their natural state, much like bras were meant for women and jockstraps for men. Men, for instance, regain control over libido and erections while B-cup breasts recede. Women gain better control over menstrual excesses (excessive cramps, bleeding, and emotional swings) and overly-testosteronized body features such as facial hair and acne. The shifts in hormonal balance that develop on this lifestyle can improve relationships in a number of ways, both physically and emotionally, regardless of sexual preference.
Unfortunately—though predictably—some of these hormonal disruptions have prompted Big Pharma to step in and advocate such things as prescription testosterone for “low T” and the female counterpart to Viagra, flibanserin (Addyi), when much of the original source of the problem can be found in your cinnamon toast or onion bagel, buttered or with cream cheese.
The post Wheat is not sexy appeared first on Dr. William Davis.
The health-care system is throwing out millions of dollars' worth of costly cancer drugs every year because of how they're packaged by drugmakers, say experts.
Sharp increases in COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus that originated in China late last year, have been reported in both Iran and Italy, while the number of countries hit by the virus has climbed past 60.