Common foods that damage your DNA

To help protect your DNA and reverse genetic aging, avoid or reduce consumption of the phytochemicals that can harm you. It's important that you do this, because once phytochemicals like psoralen become activated, they can target your DNA destructively.

Granted, the process of DNA damage is complicated. Take celery, for example. Celery and many of the other plants in its family, such as parsnips, make natural poisons called furocoumarins. Psoralen is one such toxic chemical insecticide that celery uses to fight off insects that want to turn a celery plant into their next meal.

The more that a plant like celery is stressed, say by an insect munching on its leaves, the more psoralen it’s going to make in response. The synthetic pesticides used in conventional growing practices kill the insects that increase the amount of psoralen present.

To avoid being poisoned, some insects have adapted their behavior to counter this bit of chemical warfare and roll themselves up in a leaf to stay in the dark while they happily digest their celery. By doing so, the insects protect themselves from the sunlight that would activate and turn "on" the psoralen that the insects just ingested.

To avoid getting too much of the DNA-damaging phytochemicals, make sure you avoid these foods:

Do not eat too much of the same food

Your body and the DNA within it actually evolved to have their needs met by having you constantly consume a variety of foods. Monoeating is the single best way to ensure that you're going to be deficient in some nutrients and poisoned by getting too much of others. This sounds like simple advice, but when it's not followed, you can get yourself into trouble quite quickly. 

Overly bitter cucumbers

Cucurbitacins, for example, are highly toxic natural chemicals that can damage your DNA and are found in vegetables such as cucumbers. They also happen to be extremely bitter and can even be tasted at one part per billion, or ppb. So if you happen to bite into a bitter-tasting cucumber, especially if it was organically grown, better to leave it on the plate than risk harming your DNA.

Large amounts of kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, or mustard greens

Goitrogens are phytochemicals that are found in vegetables such as turnips. It's thought that they might be responsible for a small number of goiter cases every year because they interfere with your thyroid's natural ability to take up iodine from your diet. Avoid sourcing all of the vegetables in your diet from raw Brassica member plants such as kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and mustard greens. Enjoy these delicious veggies cooked,  since many of the dangerous isothiocyanate compounds luckily become inactivated with cooking. So no more raw kale, because it's full of goitrogens!

Peanuts

Mycotoxins are another group of naturally occurring chemicals that are produced by fungi that have infected and contaminated one of your food sources. Aflatoxins are produced by some strains of the microbe Aspergillus flavus and are some of the most carcinogenic and toxic natural compounds known. Besides being able to cause liver cancer, they can also cause birth defects and directly damage your DNA, so reach for these liver-healing foods instead.

The possible presence of aflatoxins (there are four types, with B1 being the most potent and common in foods) is why you should not eat any peanuts or peanut-containing. Imported peanuts can often contain much more aflatoxin than peanuts produced in the United States, but there's no way for you to ensure that your peanut butter has been properly tested and is aflatoxin-free. 

Commercially produced applesauce and puree

Patulin is another mycotoxin that is produced by different microbes that can often sneak their way into your food. This mycotoxin sometimes finds its way onto your dinner table in apple juice, applesauce, or even apple pies. Often commercial producers use moldy foods like apples to make these products, because the processing hides the fact that they are spoiled and should not be consumed. That's simply disgusting. Patulin in bruised apples is why you should skip them entirely and should also watch out for things that have been sweetened with apple juice, as you're not allowed those either.

Apple juice and apple cider (nonalcoholic)

There's one way to drink your apples and not get exposed to patulin, and that's by drinking hard apple cider. Interestingly, when apple juice is fermented into an alcoholic drink from apple juice, patulin breaks down naturally. With the notable exception of an occasional unsweetened excellent-quality hard apple cider from a local microbrewery, there's truly no reason for you or your family to consume apple juice or otherwise processed apple products, since they've been shown to damage your DNA.

Dried fruits

Ochratoxin A is another mycotoxin produced by microbes that also damages your DNA. It can make its way into your diet through contaminated foods such as dried fruits, bruised apples, and improperly stored cereal grains. It's also been detected in many milk-based infant formulas, cereal-based baby foods, and apple-based baby foods as well. 

Reasons to Never Take Aspirin Again that You Will Never Hear from Your Doctor

Unfortunately, the conventional medical system has encouraged taking aspirin for improving the cardiovascular system along with recommending aspirin for pain relief and other symptoms. Did you know that a reported 40,000 people die each year from the use of over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin. This is not something the pharmaceutical industry wants people to know about. 

 

They’re just trying to sell you something that will harm you.

The July 1998 issue of The American Journal of Medicine explains it as follows:

“Conservative calculations estimate that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-related gastrointestinal (GI) complications and at least 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur each year among arthritis patients alone.” (Singh Gurkirpal, MD, “Recent Considerations in Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Gastropathy”, The American Journal of Medicine, July 27, 1998, p. 31S)

Acetylsalicylic acid, the more technical name for aspirin, is actually a synthetic derivative of natural willow bark. However, since this  synthetic anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) was first developed, it has been observed to cause severe health problems and even death, especially when taken regularly.  

Reasons to Never Take Aspirin Again

Causes Heart Disease

A groundbreaking study presented at the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism provided compelling data proving that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin and ibuprofen can cause heart attacks.

Stomach Ulcers 

More than 10 percent of patients taking low-dose aspirin develop gastric ulcers. Regular aspirin use destroys the lining of your gastrointestinal tract, increasing your risk for duodenal ulcers, H. Pylori infection, Crohn’s disease, diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and intestinal perforations.

Can Cause Cancer 

New research suggests those who use the painkiller regularly over a long period are up to 86 per cent more likely to develop the killer disease.

According to a recent study, women who took two or more aspirins a week for more than 20 years had a 58 per cent increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared with women who rarely, or never, used the medication. The risk of pancreatic cancer rose the more aspirins were taken.

7 Mistakes That Make You Age Faster

We probably all know a 90-year-old who still runs and drives, and we know 50-year-olds who can barely move. We've all seen classic cars that run like new, and new vehicles that sound like they need to vomit.


To increase your odds of being the former, avoid things that speed up the aging process. Start with these seven:

 Bad Food Choices
Whether you eat all the wrong foods or too much of everything, a poor diet is almost a surefire guarantee that you'll age faster than your DNA intended. To limit calories and take in more nutrients, aim to eat foods that are still close to the condition they were harvested in. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats, for example. Limit processed foods, which are packed with salt, sugar, and additives and preservatives you just don't need.

Poor Sleep
If you don't sleep soundly or enough, your whole body will suffer. Sleep is one of the most critical components of a healthy, happy, productive life, so follow these 50 steps to better sleep. Sleep helps your brain forge new connections. It also recharges your body's systems.

Skimping on sleep has been shown to increase your risk of weight gain, cancer, and basically any health problem you can possibly imagine. It might sound like an exaggeration, but decades of medical literature can't be wrong.

Stress
Occasional stress is good for you. It's motivating. A little jolt of stress gets you going by triggering the release of hormones like adrenaline. It's the old evolutionary fight-or-flight response. However, stress and its subsequent rush of hormones can cause us a lot of headaches (even migraines) and heartache. Over time, chronic stress can make you look and feel older and contribute to a whole bunch of problems.

Inactivity
Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins, and not even a fun one. And research suggests you should take the "deadly" part literally. Sitting deactivates the skeletal muscles in your lower body, ushering in negative metabolic consequences. It's never too late to change. So what's a desk jockey to do? Get up more often. Stand up at your desk, and move more at work. Schedule walking meetings. Move around during conference calls.

Toxins
You wouldn't swallow something poisonous on purpose, but you may slowly be poisoning yourself. Scientists have long known that exposure to large amounts of toxins, like lead, mercury, or arsenic can kill you. But now, research also suggests that chronic exposure to relatively low quantities of toxic chemicals can wreak havoc on your health. These substances may build up in your blood, body fat, or other tissues, where they can disrupt your hormones and other body systems.

Addiction
If you can avoid boozing, smoking, and doing drugs, you'll do your body a big favor. These vices cause damage faster than you think. It only takes 15 minutes for cigarette smoking to harm your DNA, according to a study published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, so make it a point to quit smoking today. And over a lifetime, that stuff adds up. Guys who drink excessively or smoke have about triple the risk of dying during a given time period compared to those who don't use.

Ignoring Risk Factors
If high blood pressure, high blood sugar, or high cholesterol go undetected, they will wreck your body. Trouble is, sometimes you don't know they even have these problems until they have a heart attack or a stroke, and by then, it might be too late. Ask your doctor about screening tests, and keep an eye out for signs of trouble. 

7 Ways Your Height Affects Your Health

At 6 feet, 8 inches, Dr. Eeric Truumees literally stands out. “People remember who I am,” says the orthopedic surgeon in Austin, Texas. But despite height’s association with social and professional benefits, such as appearing more attractive and earning more money, towering over others has downfalls, too. “The bane of my height has been hitting my head on things,” Truumees finds, “and as I get a little slower and little less flexible, I find I’m doing that more often.” That’s just the start of height’s influence on health. Here are seven medical issues that may disproportionately affect people who are taller or shorter than average:

1. Longevity 

From an evolutionary perspective, there’s a price for enjoying the perks of being tall: a shorter lifespan. As the theory goes, “growing faster and being bigger will mean that you’ll have a shorter life, and we’ve seen that in rats,” says Mary Schooling, a professor at the City University of New York School of Public Health and Health Policy. But in humans, how the theory plays out isn’t quite clear. While certain genes have been linked to both short stature and long life, and shorter populations also seem to live longer, it’s tough to know whether stature itself influences lifespan or if characteristics like nutrition, socioeconomic status and disease risk are responsible.

2. Cancer 

If you think about what cancer is ― abnormal cells multiplying out of control ― “being taller and having a higher risk of cancer makes some sort of sense,” Schooling says, since more cells might mean more opportunity for a cancer-causing mutation. That explanation plays out in the research on hormone-related cancers, such as breast, ovarian and prostate, which are more common among the height-gifted. Growth hormone, too, may play a role in the development of cancer, sincestudies suggest that a lack of it lowers your risk of the disease. “That would be another possible pathway,” Schooling says.

3. Heart disease and diabetes 

Here’s one area where short people get the, well, short end of the stick: They seem to be more prone to heart disease and diabetes, research indicates. “Greater height might allow larger, more robust blood vessels,” Schooling explains. Or, perhaps taller people tend to be protected from cardiometabolic conditions because they were fed healthier diets as children or grew up in an environment where they were less exposed to infections. “We don’t know for sure if it’s really truly the height, or whether it’s something else which makes you taller and protects you against cardiovascular disease,” Schooling says.

4. Lung transplantation  

Whether in line at the deli counter or separated from friends at a concert, short people can be at a disadvantage when seeking attention. That tendency can be particularly detrimental if those folks are waiting for a lung transplant: Research suggests people 5 feet, 3 inches or shorter wait longer for the organ and are more likely to die in the process than organ recipients with more average heights. The authors suggest adjusting the transplant process – including potentially surgically “downsizing” too-big lungs – to address the disparity.

5. Injuries 

Not only are tall people more injury-prone, but their injuries are often worse than those experienced by the shorter set. “Taller patients, when they take a fall, they’re going to go a lot further and … the impact will be higher,” Truumees says, noting that older tall people have higher rates of hip fracture. Some data suggests lanky people may also be crippled by slower reactions times, he adds, since their nerve impulses have farther to travel. Professional athletes, for one, know the consequences of this phenomenon all too well: Towering players, Truumees says, tend to have higher rates of injury and take longer to recover than their littler teammates.

6. Blood clots 

Long legs: Great if you’re a model, not-so-great if you’re on a long plane ride, wearing a cast as you recover from surgery or are otherwise unable to move your leg muscles frequently to prevent blood clots, Truumees says. Indeed, one study found that men 6 feet or taller were 2.6 times more likely to develop venous thromboembolism than men at least four inches shorter; men who were both tall and obese were more than five times as likely to develop the condition. “Those people need to be very careful,” Truumees says, since, in the most severe cases, blood clots can travel to the lungs and cause death.

7. Spine, neck and back problems 

Most workspaces aren’t designed with non-average heights in mind: “Short people, tall people – they’re all working around the same cubicle or work unit, and that can cause all kinds of back and neck problems,” particularly for the tall ones, who are more prone to spine conditions like scoliosis, says Truumees, director of spine research at the Seton Spine and Scoliosis Center in Austin. While ensuring your workspace is ergonomically correct helps, some environments, like planes, can’t be altered – much to Truumees’s disappointment. “They say life is about the journey, not the destination,” he says, “but for me, it’s the destination – the journey is not all that fun.”

Coconut Milk vs. Coconut Water: Which is Better for You?

It used to be that the only thing coconuts were good for was as a vessel for piña coladas during island vacations. But now it seems as if the world, or at least kitchens all across the United States, have been taken over by the coconut. Coconut oil is replacing the olive and vegetable varieties, coconut cream is used in drinks and desserts, and coconut flour is even making an appearance in the baking aisle at the grocery store. But none are quite so popular as coconut water and milk. To the uninformed they might seem like very similar things, but they’re actually quite different, in terms of health benefits and how they’re used.

Starbucks made headlines in mid-July when it launched a new drink with a base made of coconut milk. It’s the first beverage served by the coffee giant that highlights the coconut byproduct, though the chain has offered coconut milk as an alternative to other types of milk for a while. The company said it was a perfect starting point for the new Iced Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato, since it’s lighter than normal milk and can have a more refreshing flavor.

Ultimately, both have their places in a healthy diet, but in each case moderation is key. When you keep both liquids as pure as possible, without incorporating sugars and other additives, they can be very good for you. If the only thing you know about coconuts is that you’re served fruity drinks with curly straws in them, it’s time to take a closer look. Here’s everything you need to know about coconut milk and coconut water.

Coconut milk 

Aside from being the hot ingredient at Starbucks, coconut milk is best known for being used in cooking, particularly in dishes from Thai or other Eastern cuisines. Coconut milk is a mixture of coconut water and coconut milk. As Epicurious explains, it can be made by simmering freshly shredded coconut meat in water to extract the flavor and juices (and later straining out the coconut pieces).

The BBC notes that coconut milk is lactose and nut ingredient free, making it a great alternative for dairy and other nut milks. It can come in cartons when it’s fresh (though it doesn’t last for very long), or more commonly is canned and sold in many grocery stores. The canned versions are less modified, Epicurious reports, and are more commonly used in baking and cooking.

Coconut milk is one of those ingredients that health experts disagree about. It’s a natural substance, but is extremely high in fat, particularly saturated fats. According to Eating Well, one cup of coconut milk typically contains about 445 calories and 48 grams of fat, 43 grams of which are saturated fats. Eating Well suggests using the “lite” versions of coconut milk, which often eliminate two-thirds of the calories and fat.

However, some health experts say that even the full-fat version can be good for you, in small and moderated servings. The saturated fat in coconut milk is something to be careful about, but it’s made up of compounds thatraise your HDL (good) cholesterol — not the LDL (“bad”) cholesterol that’s raised when you eat bacon and other animal-based saturated fats. Jo Lewin, a nutritionist and contributor for the BBC, also reports that the saturated fats contain lauric acid. Lauric acid is converted in the body into an antiviral and antibacterial agent, and some experts now believe that coconut milk can help ward off infections.

If you consume limited portions of the milk just one to two times per week (some experts recommend ¼-cup servings of the full-fat versions), the product shouldn’t have any negative effects. Plus, that quarter-cup of milk contains large amounts of manganese, which assists with several vital functions in the body including metabolism, forming connective tissue, and nerve functions. It also contains copper, magnesium, iron, and potassium, among other vitamins and minerals.

Coconut water 

As its name implies, coconut water is a clear liquid that comes directly from the middle of young, green coconuts. It has a sweet, nutty taste, WebMD reports, and has been dubbed “nature’s sports drink” (and many variations thereof), thanks to the presence of electrolytes like potassium in the water. It’s also what fills an entire shelf of Tom Haverford’s refrigerator in Parks and Recreation, for those who recall the “girl heaven” apartment tour in Season 4.

Eating Well reports that one cup of coconut water contains 10% of the potassium you need each day, which can help to avoid muscle cramps after exercising. It doesn’t contain high amounts of sodium, however, so experts say it won’t replenish your system in all the ways you need if you’re heavily exerting yourself. Both Epicurious and WebMD say that despite that, the drink has become popular with athletes because of its refreshing properties.

According to one study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, coconut water does have the ability to rehydrate as well as bottled water and sports drinks after 60 minutes of exercise on a treadmill. However, the study was very small and only tested men who were already in shape, so it’s unclear whether those results would be the same across all demographics.

WebMD reports that coconut water has fewer calories and less sugar than many sports drinks, and definitely most sodas. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s a blank check in terms of drinking all the coconut water you want. “One 11-ounce container has 60 calories and if you drink several in one day, the calories can add up quickly,” Registered Dietitian Lilian Cheung told the publication. To reduce the negative impacts, stick with plain versions instead of the flavored (and likely extra-sweetened) varieties.

As long as you drink in moderation, coconut water is likely the better choice for you in terms of fat content and overall benefits. Eating Well provides ideas for incorporating the liquid into smoothies and other recipes, although nothing’s stopping you from drinking it plain, either.

10 Surprising Causes of Weight Gain

We all know that eating right and exercising are the keys to keeping excess pounds off…but there are other surprising factors that can also have an effect on your weight—from your bedtime to the ingredients in your skincare products.

A late bedtime

Scientists have been finding more and more links over the years between lack of sleep and weight gain. Most recently, in a study published earlier this month in Sleep, University of California, Berkeley researchers found that, for young adults, a later bedtime during the workweek was associated with an increase in body mass index over time—and, unfortunately, not even exercise or total sleep time mitigated the BMI increase.

Food additives

Emulsifiers—aka the additives that give foods like peanut butter a smooth, creamy texture—might be causing weight gain, changing your gut’s microorganisms and increasing inflammation, according to recent research published in Nature. The study’s researchers looked at the emulsifiers carboxymethylcellulose, sometimes found in ice cream, dressing, gelatinous desserts, cream cheese spread and cottage cheese, as well as polysorbate-80, sometimes found in ice cream, salad dressing and mayonnaise.

Your favorite cooking show 

If you get your recipes from the Cooking Channel and often cook indulgent dishes along with TV chefs, you may have a higher BMI than those who don’t, suggests a study published earlier this year in Appetite. The study researchers found that obtaining food information from cooking shows, watching food television and cooking frequently from scratch were all associated with a higher body mass index.

Your makeup bag

The Environmental Working Group reports that the average woman uses 12 beauty products containing 168 different ingredients daily—and some of these ingredients are wreaking havoc on their bodies. One such ingredient currently being investigated? Triphenyl phosphate, also known as TPHP, commonly found in nail polish and nail treatments and shown to possibly disrupt the endocrine system and contribute to obesity. Polysorbate-80 (the emulsifier listed above found in foods) also shows up in a lot of face creams.

Your furniture

Most of us probably don’t think of our couch or carpets as being full of chemicals, but plenty of furniture sold in the U.S. actually contains synthetic flame retardant chemicals. And according to scientists at the University of New Hampshire, those chemicals in foam couch cushions, carpet padding and electronics have been found to cause metabolic problems that lead to insulin resistance, a major cause of obesity.

“Despite the plethora of resources devoted to understanding the roles of diet and exercise in the obesity epidemic, this epidemic continues to escalate, suggesting that other environmental factors may be involved. At the biochemical level there is a growing body of experimental evidence suggesting certain environmental chemicals, or ‘obesogens’, could disrupt the body’s metabolism and contribute to the obesity epidemic,” explained lead researcher Gale Carey.

Your plates

Big plates can mean bigger portions, according to numerous studies. The brain associates a lot of white space on a plate with less food, possibly causing you to go for seconds—one study at Cornell University found that people given large bowls not only ate 16 percent more, but their estimates of how much they ate were actually 7 percent less than the estimates of people eating out of smaller bowls.

Criticism

Anyone who’s ever been nagged by a loved one about their weight knows it doesn’t feel good…but it turns out, it’s not good for your diet either, according to research published in Personal Relationships in 2014. When researchers asked college-aged women to discuss their weight, how they felt about it and whether they discussed their weight with loved ones, they found that women who received few messages of weight acceptance from loved ones gained 4.5 pounds over five months. Women who received more weight acceptance messages lost a pound on average.

Midnight munchies

Pants feeling a little tight? Nighttime snacking may be to blame. A study published in International Journal of Obesity found that people diagnosed with night eating syndrome—those who consume half or more of their daily calories after 7pm, have sleep difficulty three or more nights a week, and have no appetite for breakfast—tend to have a higher body mass index.

Netflix binges

Can binge-watching your favorite show lead to binge-eating your favorite snack? Some research confirms the link between watching TV and overeating—not only can parking yourself in front of the screen cause you to lose track of what you’re eating and eat more calorie-dense foods, commercials for junk food trigger our cravings.

Your open-plan kitchen

Out of sight, out of mind—when it comes to snacks that add extra pounds, the adage applies. Research has found that we’re more likely to consume food when it’s in our line of vision. So if you’ve got junk food a few feet away from you in your cupboards, on the kitchen table or in the office candy bowl, try to situate yourself farther away from the temptation. 

Reasons to Never Take Aspirin Again that You Will Never Hear from Your Doctor

Unfortunately, the conventional medical system has encouraged taking aspirin for improving the cardiovascular system along with recommending aspirin for pain relief and other symptoms. Did you know that a reported 40,000 people die each year from the use of over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin. This is not something the pharmaceutical industry wants people to know about. 

 

They’re just trying to sell you something that will harm you.

The July 1998 issue of The American Journal of Medicine explains it as follows:

“Conservative calculations estimate that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-related gastrointestinal (GI) complications and at least 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur each year among arthritis patients alone.” (Singh Gurkirpal, MD, “Recent Considerations in Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Gastropathy”, The American Journal of Medicine, July 27, 1998, p. 31S)

Acetylsalicylic acid, the more technical name for aspirin, is actually a synthetic derivative of natural willow bark. However, since this  synthetic anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) was first developed, it has been observed to cause severe health problems and even death, especially when taken regularly. 

Reasons to Never Take Aspirin Again

Causes Heart Disease

A groundbreaking study presented at the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism provided compelling data proving that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin and ibuprofen can cause heart attacks.

Stomach Ulcers 

More than 10 percent of patients taking low-dose aspirin develop gastric ulcers. Regular aspirin use destroys the lining of your gastrointestinal tract, increasing your risk for duodenal ulcers, H. Pylori infection, Crohn’s disease, diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and intestinal perforations.

Can Cause Cancer 

New research suggests those who use the painkiller regularly over a long period are up to 86 per cent more likely to develop the killer disease.

According to a recent study, women who took two or more aspirins a week for more than 20 years had a 58 per cent increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared with women who rarely, or never, used the medication. The risk of pancreatic cancer rose the more aspirins were taken.