Is Tofu Really That Good for Us?

Tofu has had a bad rap because it is made from soy.  If it really isn’t good for us, then why do the Japanese, who eat lots of tofu, have the highest life expectancy in the world?

THE SOY STORY

Back in the 90′s, soy foods became popular as a health food. Studies showed that people in Asia who ate lots of soy had lower rates of heart disease, obesity and breast cancer. Soy became the miracle food.

Studies discovered that soy has estrogen-like compounds called isoflavones, which could harm female fertility, stimulate cancer cell growth and are destructive for thyroid function. Then there were studies indicating that soy could cure high cholesterol and reduce menopause symptoms. So you can see how confusing all this is when it comes to eating tofu, or other soy products. 

We know that breast cancer is one of the most lethal diseases, and dietary factors may play a significant role in its development. A study in Science Direct found that Caucasian women have the highest occurrence of breast cancer; Asian women have the lowest. There are studies suggesting that an increase in soy consumption could decrease breast cancer.

Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the resulting curds. Tofu is a good source of protein, is gluten-free, contains no cholesterol and is low in calories. 

HEALTH BENEFITS OF TOFU 

1. Helps Lower Cancer Risk

When eaten as part of a healthy diet, soy can help combat many forms of cancer.

• Lowers Breast Cancer RiskAn analysis of 35 studies found that soy lowers breast cancer risk in Asian women. Soy was found to be beneficial for women with some types of aggressive breast cancer, according to a Tufts University study.
• Prostate Cancer
• It was also found that soy can help prostate cancer survivors recover quicker than those who didn’t consume soy products.
• Protects against Digestive CancersSoy was found in studies to protect against gastrointestinal cancers in certain cases.

2. Helps with Women’s Fertility

When eaten as part of a healthy diet, soy was shown to help with fertility.

3. Symptom Relief for Menopause and Hot Flashes

Soy contains phytoestrogens known as isoflavones, which are similar in structure to the female hormone estrogen. These isoflavones may help relieve symptoms due to low estrogen, which occur during menopause. Soy helps some women with hot flashes, a study from the North American Menopause Society found.

4. Good for Kidney Function

The protein of soy was found to be beneficial for those undergoing dialysis or kidney transplantation. An analysis of nine trials showed a positive effect of those with chronic kidney disease.

5. Lowers Bad Cholesterol

It was found that soy isoflavones significantly reduced LDL cholesterol but did not change HDL, according to studies at the National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan.

6. Good for the Heart

Adding soy to the diet may decrease heart disease risk, according to studies.

7. Improves Bone Health

Soy has been found to improve bone health, especially among Asian women. Soy isoflavones help increase bone mineral density, especially after menopause.

TOFU ALLERGIES

Those with soy allergies or sensitivities should avoid tofu. Aside from that, tofu is a healthy addition to your diet—in moderation, of course. You have to consume over 100mg of soy isoflavones, which is equivalent to 6 oz uncooked tempeh or 16 cups soy milk daily, to be at risk of reduced ovarian function.

TOFU AND THYROID HEALTH

Those with an underactive thyroid need to watch how much soy they consume as it can interfere with thyroid medication—but only in excess, according to Nutrients review. It is best to wait at least 4 hours after consuming soy to take thyroid medicine says the Mayo Clinic.
However, 14 studies found that soy foods didn’t affect thyroid function in people with healthy thyroids.

TOFU NUTRITION

One block of hard tofu, weighing 122 grams (1/3 pound) has only 177 calories, 15.57 g of protein, 421 mg of calcium, 65 of magnesium and much more. For more information, go to Tofu Nutrition. 

HOW TO SELECT THE BEST TOFU

It’s best to buy organic tofu so it won’t be made with genetically modified soy.

When you are choosing tofu, note that it comes in soft to firm to extra-firm textures. The soft tofu is smooth and good for desserts, salad dressings and sauces. For stir-frying, baking and grilling firm and extra-firm tofu is best.

HOW TO STORE

Tofu should be refrigerated in the sealed package it comes in; once the package is opened, rinse it well and keep it in a container covered with water in the refrigerator. Change the water daily to keep the tofu fresh for up to one week.

It can be frozen in its original packaging; it will keep up to five months. The texture and color will change, creating a spongy and yellowish tofu but will absorb flavorings just as well.

Turmeric and Honey Spread for Inflammation, Pain and Joint Damage in Arthritis

Turmeric is a superfood that has long been hailed for its numerous health benefits, which many people swear by.

  

Turmeric has been used in traditional medicine for centuries to treat sprains, bruises and inflammation in the joints and stomach, and scientists now understand how it works. This warm, bitter plant owes its distinctive yellow hues to its rich concentrations of curcumin, a compound with proven anti-cancer, antioxidant and analgesic properties. One study featured in The Korean Journal of Pain, for instance, discovered that curcumin could decrease inflammatory pain in rats.(4) Another study, published in Surgical Endoscopy, concluded that curcumin could improve postoperative pain and fatigue.

While there’s no denying that turmeric is a truly wonderful and beneficial superfood, it does suffer the unfortunate side effect of having poor bioavailability. This means that the body has difficulty digesting, absorbing, and getting the most out of the nutrients of turmeric.

  

Luckily, there’s one easy way to get around this. You don’t even need to make a trip to a specialty grocery store for you to increase the bioavailability of turmeric; you just need to pop out some black pepper.

This bright orange spread can be consumed straight from the jar (for a total of 1 tablespoon daily) for maximum effects. We love spreading it on toast, at the first sign of a cold, and having it with a cup of hot tea!

Note: Since turmeric has been shown to increase production and flow of bile, those with common bile duct blockage or gallstones should avoid this herb

  

Anti-inflammatory Turmeric-Honey Spread

9 teaspoons turmeric  
1.5 teaspoons ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
About ¼ cup of coconut oil 
About ¼ cup of honey

Put all the spices in a small glass jar.
Melt coconut oil (for easy mixing) and add to the jar to mix.
Add honey and mix.
Store this natural remedy on the counter, for easy spreading and away from heat.

Take one tablespoon per day.

If you like this turmeric recipe for inflammation and pain, please share with your friends!

Nevada’s GOP governor: Border duty not ‘an appropriate use' of National Guard

Nevada’s GOP governor has come out against President Trump’s plan to send the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Brian Sandoval said in an email to The Associated Press Friday that Sandoval doesn’t believe deploying members to the border would be “an appropriate use” of the National Guard.

Defense Secretary James Mattis signed a memo Friday authorizing the National Guard to deploy up to 4,000 troops to the border.

Trump had announced last week that the military would send troops to defend the southern border until his border wall was completed. The White House later clarified that the National Guard would be sent to the border.

Arizona and Texas have both stated that they will send troops to the border starting this weekend.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) vowed Thursday to reject the request to send National Guard troops to the border.

Older Americans are hooked on vitamins despite scarce evidence they work

When she was a young physician, Dr. Martha Gulati noticed that many of her mentors were prescribing vitamin E and folic acid to patients. Preliminary studies in the early 1990s had linked both supplements to a lower risk of heart disease.

She urged her father to pop the pills as well: "Dad, you should be on these vitamins, because every cardiologist is taking them or putting their patients on (them)," recalled Gulati, now chief of cardiology for the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.

But just a few years later, she found herself reversing course, after rigorous clinical trials found neither vitamin E nor folic acid supplements did anything to protect the heart. Even worse, studies linked high-dose vitamin E to a higher risk of heart failure, prostate cancer and death from any cause.

"'You might want to stop taking (these),'" Gulati told her father.

More than half of Americans take vitamin supplements, including 68 percent of those age 65 and older, according to a 2013 Gallup poll. Among older adults, 29 percent take four or more supplements of any kind, according to a Journal of Nutrition study published in 2017.

Often, preliminary studies fuel irrational exuberance about a promising dietary supplement, leading millions of people to buy in to the trend. Many never stop. They continue even though more rigorous studies which can take many years to complete almost never find that vitamins prevent disease, and in some cases cause harm.

"The enthusiasm does tend to outpace the evidence," said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

There's no conclusive evidence that dietary supplements prevent chronic disease in the average American, Manson said. And while a handful of vitamin and mineral studies have had positive results, those findings haven't been strong enough to recommend supplements to the general U.S. public, she said.

The National Institutes of Health has spent more than $2.4 billion since 1999 studying vitamins and minerals. Yet for "all the research we've done, we don't have much to show for it," said Dr. Barnett Kramer, director of cancer prevention at the National Cancer Institute.

A big part of the problem, Kramer said, could be that much nutrition research has been based on faulty assumptions, including the notion that people need more vitamins and minerals than a typical diet provides; that megadoses are always safe; and that scientists can boil down the benefits of vegetables like broccoli into a daily pill.

Vitamin-rich foods can cure diseases related to vitamin deficiency. Oranges and limes were famously shown to prevent scurvy in vitamin-deprived 18th-century sailors. And research has long shown that populations that eat a lot of fruits and vegetables tend to be healthier than others.

But when researchers tried to deliver the key ingredients of a healthy diet in a capsule, Kramer said, those efforts nearly always failed.

It's possible that the chemicals in the fruits and vegetables on your plate work together in ways that scientists don't fully understand and which can't be replicated in a tablet, said Marjorie McCullough, strategic director of nutritional epidemiology for the American Cancer Society.

More important, perhaps, is that most Americans get plenty of the essentials, anyway. Although the Western diet has a lot of problems too much sodium, sugar, saturated fat and calories, in general it's not short on vitamins, said Alice Lichtenstein, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

And although there are more than 90,000 dietary supplements from which to choose, federal health agencies and advisers still recommend that Americans meet their nutritional needs with food, especially fruits and vegetables.

Also, American food is highly fortified with vitamin D in milk, iodine in salt, B vitamins in flour, even calcium in some brands of orange juice.

Without even realizing it, someone who eats a typical lunch or breakfast "is essentially eating a multivitamin," said journalist Catherine Price, author of "Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food."

That can make studying vitamins even more complicated, Price said. Researchers may have trouble finding a true control group, with no exposure to supplemental vitamins. If everyone in a study is consuming fortified food, vitamins may appear less effective.

The body naturally regulates the levels of many nutrients, such as vitamin C and many B vitamins, Kramer said, by excreting what it doesn't need in urine. He added: "It's hard to avoid getting the full range of vitamins."

Not all experts agree. Dr. Walter Willett, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says it's reasonable to take a daily multivitamin "for insurance." Willett said that clinical trials underestimate supplements' true benefits because they aren't long enough, often lasting five to 10 years. It could take decades to notice a lower rate of cancer or heart disease in vitamin takers, he said.

For Charlsa Bentley, 67, keeping up with the latest nutrition research can be frustrating. She stopped taking calcium, for example, after studies found it doesn't protect against bone fractures. Additional studies suggest that calcium supplements increase the risk of kidney stones and heart disease.

"I faithfully chewed those calcium supplements, and then a study said they didn't do any good at all," said Bentley, from Austin, Texas. "It's hard to know what's effective and what's not."

Bentley still takes five supplements a day: a multivitamin to prevent dry eyes, magnesium to prevent cramps while exercising, red yeast rice to prevent diabetes, coenzyme Q10 for overall health and vitamin D based on her doctor's recommendation.

Like many people who take dietary supplements, Bentley also exercises regularly playing tennis three to four times a week and watches what she eats.

People who take vitamins tend to be healthier, wealthier and better educated than those who don't, Kramer said. They are probably less likely to succumb to heart disease or cancer, whether they take supplements or not. That can skew research results, making vitamin pills seem more effective than they really are.

Preliminary findings can also lead researchers to the wrong conclusions.

For example, scientists have long observed that people with high levels of an amino acid called homocysteine are more likely to have heart attacks. Because folic acid can lower homocysteine levels, researchers once hoped that folic acid supplements would prevent heart attacks and strokes.

In a series of clinical trials, folic acid pills lowered homocysteine levels but had no overall benefit for heart disease, Lichtenstein said.

Studies of fish oil also may have led researchers astray.

When studies of large populations showed that people who eat lots of seafood had fewer heart attacks, many assumed that the benefits came from the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, Lichtenstein said.

Rigorous studies have failed to show that fish oil supplements prevent heart attacks. A clinical trial of fish oil pills and vitamin D, whose results are expected to be released within the year, may provide clearer questions about whether they prevent disease.

But it's possible the benefits of sardines and salmon have nothing to do with fish oil, Lichtenstein said. People who have fish for dinner may be healthier due to what they don't eat, such as meatloaf and cheeseburgers.

"Eating fish is probably a good thing, but we haven't been able to show that taking fish oil (supplements) does anything for you," said Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Taking megadoses of vitamins and minerals, using amounts that people could never consume through food alone, could be even more problematic.

"There's something appealing about taking a natural product, even if you're taking it in a way that is totally unnatural," Price said.

Early studies, for example, suggested that beta carotene, a substance found in carrots, might help prevent cancer.

In the tiny amounts provided by fruits and vegetables, beta carotene and similar substances appear to protect the body from a process called oxidation, which damages healthy cells, said Dr. Edgar Miller, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Experts were shocked when two large, well-designed studies in the 1990s found that beta carotene pills actually increased lung cancer rates. Likewise, a clinical trial published in 2011 found that vitamin E, also an antioxidant, increased the risk of prostate cancer in men by 17 percent. Such studies reminded researchers that oxidation isn't all bad; it helps kill bacteria and malignant cells, wiping them out before they can grow into tumors, Miller said.

"Vitamins are not inert," said Dr. Eric Klein, a prostate cancer expert at the Cleveland Clinic who led the vitamin E study. "They are biologically active agents. We have to think of them in the same way as drugs. If you take too high a dose of them, they cause side effects."

Gulati, the physician in Phoenix, said her early experience with recommending supplements to her father taught her to be more cautious. She said she's waiting for the results of large studies such as the trial of fish oil and vitamin D to guide her advice on vitamins and supplements.

"We should be responsible physicians," she said, "and wait for the data."

America Man charged with domestic violence for allegedly attacking woman with pizza, police say

A man in Ohio has been charged with domestic violence after allegedly attacking a woman with pizza, according to police.

Kenneth Evans, 24, was arrested just before midnight Tuesday after police were called to a home in Masury -- southeast of Cleveland -- in reference to domestic violence, according to the police report filed by the Brookfield Township Police Department.

When officers arrived at the home they observed tires in the street and could hear yelling from inside the residence, the report says. They could also see the alleged victim looking out from an upstairs window.

No one answered when one of the officers knocked on the door, but they could "still hear yelling."

One of the officers then attempted to open the door, but Evans allegedly slammed it shut, police said. He then announced that he was a police officer and "pushed the door open." 

Once inside, the officers saw Evans, who was "obviously intoxicated," the report states.

Although he was "screaming and belligerent," he "immediately complied" with the officers' commands after one pointed a stun gun at him and ordered him to sit down on the floor.

However, "Evans was still screaming," according to the report.

The alleged victim told the responding officers that the incident began inside the car as she was driving him home, the report states. She said Evans was screaming at her and repeatedly pushed her head while she was driving.

At one point, Evans hit the woman in the face with pizza, the woman told police. Later, he punched the dashboard repeatedly and kicked the door when exiting the car.  

Police said the woman suffered an "apparent minor injury."

Later, he tried to fight the neighbor, threw tires into the roadway and smashed a mailbox, according to the report. Inside, he flipped the couch and continued screaming and throwing things.

Evans denied touching the victim, saying that the two were arguing, and he flipped the couch.

"He was highly intoxicated and his mood was rapidly shifting," the report states. "The house was completely trashed, with the couch upside down against the wall."

Evans was then taken into custody and "continued his belligerent behavior and mood swings" while being booked at the police department, according to the report.

Evans was released from the Trumbull County Jail on Thursday afternoon. He is charged with assault and criminal damage or endangering.

Florida school shooting hero blames sheriff, superintendent

A student gravely wounded while saving his classmates' lives by blocking a door during the Florida school massacre said Friday that the county sheriff and school superintendent failed the victims by not arresting the shooter before the attack and by allowing him to attend the school.

An attorney for 15-year-old Anthony Borges read a statement from him during a news conference criticizing Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and Superintendent Robert Runcie for the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that killed 14 students and three staff members.

Borges was shot five times, suffering wounds to the lungs, abdomen and legs. He was released from a Fort Lauderdale hospital Wednesday morning, the last of the 17 wounded to go home.

Borges, too weak to talk, sat silently in a wheelchair with his right leg propped up. His statement specifically attacked the Promise program, a school district and sheriff office initiative that allows students who commit minor crimes on campus to avoid arrest if they complete rehabilitation. Runcie has said shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas student, was never in the program, but Borges and his attorney, Alex Arreaza, said school and sheriff's officials knew Cruz was dangerous.

Deputies received at least a dozen calls about Cruz, 19, over the years and he spent two years in a school for children with emotional and disciplinary problems before being allowed to transfer to Stoneman Douglas. Last year, records show, he was forced to leave after incidents — other students said he abused an ex-girlfriend and fought her new boyfriend. Weeks before the shooting, both the FBI and the sheriff's office received calls saying Cruz could become a school shooter but took no action.

Runcie and Israel "failed us students, teachers and parents alike on so many levels," Arreaza read for Borges, who sat next to his father, Roger. "I want all of us to move forward to end the environment that allowed people like Nikolas Cruz to fall through the cracks. You knew he was a problem years ago and you did nothing. He should have never been in school with us."

Arreaza said the family supports the efforts by Stoneman Douglas students David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez and others to end gun violence but may not always agree with their methods. Borges is a U.S. citizen born to Venezuelan immigrants.

Arreaza said that although Borges' father, a maintenance worker, appreciates that people consider his son a hero for protecting classmates, he believes such talk detracts from the serious message that action must be taken to stop school shootings.

"He doesn't want there to be anymore bubblegum hero stuff," Arreaza said.

Anthony Borges visited Stoneman Douglas for the first time since the shooting Thursday but said in his statement that he is scared to return, fearing there could be more violence.

More than $830,000 has been raised for him in online donations, but Arreaza said his medical bills will likely exceed $1.5 million. The family plans to file a lawsuit soon against Cruz, the estate of his late mother and a family that housed him before the shooting. Under state law, the family can't sue the school district and sheriff's office until a six-month waiting period expires in August.

The sheriff's office and school district did not return after-hours calls and emails Friday seeking comment.

Did You Know How These Fruit And Vegetables Grow (29 Pics)

Pineapples grow out of a short freakish plant on the ground WTF WTF WTF?!?!?!?

Artichokes are actually the stiff outer petals around a flower. A flower! Who knew?!

Asparagus comes straight up out of the damn ground like the hand popping out of the grave at the end of Carrie.

Kiwis grow on vines and are cultivated like grapes. Kiwi vines!

Leeks have a beautiful purple flower.

Persimmons grow on a big tree.

Cocoa beans for chocolate grow inside bright pods on a tree.

Celery is a big leafy flowery sprawly thing.

Saffron is the little orange stamina of a special kind of crocus flower.

Bananas grow in clumps on tall plants (technically not trees) around a flower spike.

Peanuts grow as gross little dongles off the roots of the plant in the ground.

Cantaloupes grow on the ground like a pumpkin (did you think they grew in trees? I sort of did. I think if I thought hard I’d know they grew on the ground, but my gut said “trees.” Oh well).

Capers are the unopened bud of a pretty flower (note the little green balls).

Broccoli florets are also little closed flower buds.

Black pepper is made from dried peppercorn fruits that grow on a vine.

Chickpeas come in little grean pods (like a pea, doye) in a low little plant.

Blueberries grow on spindly little bushes.

Lemons grow on trees like oranges (that was an easy one — everyone knows that, right?).

Paprika (the spice) comes from ground-up dried red peppers that are technically the same species of plant as regular bell peppers.

And arugula is just a bunch of janky leaves growing out of the dirt. AND NOW YOU KNOW.

Cashews are that little brown dingle on the end of a fruity thing.

Pomegranates grow on trees.

Beets are roots (duh) that grow in the ground with little leafy tops.

Cloves are dried up little flower buds of the clove tree.

Avocados grow on tall trees (shut up, Californians who are eye-rolling at this one).

Olives grow on trees with gnarled trunks.

Cranberries grow in low bushy plants like this:

To harvest them, they flood the bogs and do this: