More Evidence Healthy Living Brings Long Life

People who adopt four healthy behaviors -- never smoking, regular exercise, eating well and maintaining a healthy weight -- can dramatically reduce their likelihood for chronic disease and an early death, a new study confirms. Read more

The pH Miracle for Preventing or Reversing Bone Loss

Prolonged use of Fosamax, also referred to by the generic name bisphosphonate alendronate, may increase the risk of fractures of the femur, the large thigh bone that connects the leg to the hip, according to physicians at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

There has been a build-up of evidence suggesting that long-term alendronate use may overly suppress bone metabolism, limiting the repair of microdamage and increasing the risk of fractures, Dr. Joseph M. Lane and colleagues report in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma.

To investigate this risk, the New York-based research team reviewed all 70 patients femoral fractures admitted to their Level 1 trauma center between 2002 and 2007.
The average patient age was 75 years and the group included 59 women. Records showed that 25 patients
(36 percent) were being treated with alendronate.

Nineteen of the 20 patients who had the same fracture pattern were also taking alendronate, the authors report.

The other patient was later diagnosed with cancer.

The average duration of alendronate use was significantly longer in patients with femoral stress fractures than in the six treated patients without this type of fracture,
6.9 years versus 2.5 years, respectively.

Otherwise, there were no significant differences in age, race, weight or history of osteoporosis among patients with and those without this fracture pattern, the report indicates.

Lane and his associates call for further research to determine if this effect is associated with all bisphosphonate drugs and if it became apparent first with alendronate because this drug has been available for the longest time and is the most widely used.

In the meantime, "physicians prescribing bisphosphonates for longer durations should monitor patients for indications of bone regeneration," Lane advises in a university press release. If a blood test shows a low level of bone turnover, he recommends that bisphosphonates be discontinued until levels return to normal.

According to Dr. Robert O. Young, a research scientist at the pH Miracle Living Center, "bone loss is the consequence of an acidic lifestyle and diet. The body pulls calcium ions into the blood from the bones to buffer excess dietary and metabolic acids that are not properly eliminated through respiration, defecation, perspiration and urination. This helps the body maintain its alkaline design."

"The use of bisphosphonates does not address the cause of bone loss - excess acidity. New research is now documenting this fact. To build healthy strong bones you need to build healthy strong blood. And healthy strong blood is built in the small intestine. Bones are a product of blood and blood is a product of a healthy bowel and a healthy bowel is a product of what you eat, what you drink, what you think and how you live. Therefore, the health of your bones is directly related to the consequences of your lifestyle and dietary choices," states Dr. Young

An Avocado Day Will Keep The Doctor Away

Here at the Rancho del Sol in Sunny California we are always picking our organic avocados and shipping them fresh, directly to your home. (Freshly picked avocados ripen in three to four weeks and can last up to 3 months when refrigerated)

Our avocados are rich in nutrients, with Vitamins A, B-complex, C, E, H, K and folic acid,. They also contain the buffering minerals so critical in neutralizing excess acidity, magnesium, copper, iron, calcium, potassium and many other trace elements.

The Rancho del Sol Avocados are a perfect food in that they provide all of the essential amino acids -
18 amino's in all - plus 7 fatty acids, including omega 3 and 6. They also contain more protein than cow's milk (about 2 percent per edible portion).

The water content of our avocados ranges from 70 to 80 percent. This high water content makes these avocados a type of hydrating and energizing fuel for the body to burn, instead of a sugar-based fuel which leaves and acidic ash waste in your blood.

Avocados rank as the most easily digested rich source of fats and proteins in a whole food.

Approximately 63 percent of the fat contained in our avocados are mono-unsaturated and only 17 percent is saturated. Both types of these fats serve as food energy sources for our fuel rather than glucose or protein. The rest of the fat found in our avocados, about 20 percent are polyunsaturated and serve in cellular construction.

Scientific evidence from a May 1999 study conducted by the California Avocado Commission shows that nutrient-dense avocados contain 76 mg of beta- sitosterol per 100 grams of fruit. Beta-sitosterol is a plant sterol that occurs naturally in our avocados. Certain sterols can inhibit cholesterol absorption in the intestine and result in lower blood cholesterol levels. In animal studies, phytosterol has been shown to inhibit the growth of tumors, particularly the growth of prostate tumors.

The 76 mgs. found in our avocados is more than four times the level found in other commonly eaten fruits, such as bananas, apples, cantaloupes, grapes, plums and cherries. And our avocados do not have all the sugar that raises blood glucose and acidity. Our avocados contain at least twice the amount of beta- sitosterol found in other foods, including corn, green soy beans and olives.

A survey conducted by the National Cancer Institute in a 1992 demonstrated that ounce per ounce the glutathion content in avocados is three times that of bananas, apples, cantaloupes, grapes, plums and cherries.

Glutathione is composed of three amino acids and functions as a buffer neutralizing acids that can cause damage to cells in the body during the process of aging, heart dis-ease and any acidic cancerous condition.

Numerous studies have linked glutathione to the prevention of various types of cancer, including cancer of the mouth and pharynx and also heart dis-ease.

Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition and author of "What Color Is Your Diet," has this to say about our avocados: "The California avocado is an excellent dietary source of glutathione and phytosterol, further demonstrating the value of the diverse plant-based diet in providing micro-nutrients that may have unique roles in the body and the potential to improve overall health and prevent chronic disease."

Dr. Heber's findings also indicate that California grown avocados contain a biochemical called lutein, a carotenoid recently discovered in avocados and found in green vegetables, which can help protect against various forms of cancer, including prostate cancer.

UCLA lab tests showed that lutein reduces prostate cancer cell growth by 25 percent, while lycopene from tomatoes reduces cell growth by 20 percent.
When lutein and lycopene were combined, prostate cancer cell growth was reduced by 32 percent. This indicates that both nutrients together help protect against prostate cancer better than either nutrient alone. "Lutein and lycopene in combination appears to have additive or synergistic effects against prostate cancer," said Heber. "Our result suggests that further study should be done to investigate the nutrient interactions of lutein and lycopene at a sub-cellular and molecular level."

This research is why I recommend avocados and tomatoes for breakfast every morning. Traditionally, lutein has been found in green vegetables such as parsley, celery and spinach, but it was also recently discovered in avocados. (To purchase your Rancho del Sol organically grown avocados, avocado cold-pressed avocado oils, avocado based glutathione, our concentrated avocado pHurit and pholage powder and our avocado base Doc Broc Power Plants, go to:

In fact, research has shown that avocados are the highest fruit source of lutein among the twenty most frequently consumed fruits. In addition to the new prostate cancer findings, lutein is also known to protect against eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness.

The new research at UCLA also indicates that avocados have nearly twice as much vitamin E as previously reported, making them the highest fruit source of this powerful buffer of metabolic and digestive acids.

Vitmain E is known to slow the aging process and to protect against heart disease and common forms of cancer by neutralizing metabolic acids, which may cause cellular damage. Dr. David Heber states, "avocados are recognized as an excellent source of mono-unsaturated fat which is known to lower cholesterol levels, but the antioxidant and biochemical properties of avocados are less well- recognized. Thee plant nutrients naturally found in fruits and vegetables work together to reduce oxidative stress and prevent disease."

Dr. Heber, along with 35 scientists at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, has long endorsed a diet based on 5 to 11 servings per day of a diverse selection of fruits and vegetables, including the avocado.

Worldwide research demonstrates the high intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with better health, largely due to their disease-fighting properties.

The Rancho del Sol Avocado contains fourteen minerals, all of which regulate body functions and stimulate growth. Especially noteworthy are its levels of iron and copper. These minerals aid in red blood cell regeneration and the prevention of nutritional anemia. Avocados are also a higher source of potassium than bananas, and contain ionic sodium, which gives them a high alkaline reaction without all the acidic sugar.

Avocados contain no starch and very little sugar and therefore do not pollute the blood with the sugar acid but provides a high source of healthy fats, which can metabolize for energy or construct cellular membranes. Avocado is also a great source of protein at 10 to 15 percent.

For all the reasons above, the Avocado will be one of the most important foods that you eat as you balance your endocrine system or the energy system of your body. I encourage anyone who is doing Type I or Type II idabetes to eat 2 to 3 Avocados a day. This will allow your body to enjoy the protective attributes of glutathione, lutein and lycopene while receiving a broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals and healthy fats.

Prevent or Reverse Aging With Broccoli and Broccoli Sprouts

Eat your broccoli and broccoli sprouts!

That's the advice from UCLA researchers who have found that a chemical in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may hold a key to restoring the body's alkaline design, which declines as we age.

Published in this week's online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the study findings show that sulforaphane, a chemical in broccoli, switches on a set of antioxidant/anti-aging genes and alkaline buffers in specific immune cells, which then combat the injurious effects of molecules known as dietary and metabolic acids that can damage cells and lead to dis-ease.

Acids from diet and metabolism are byproducts of normal body processes, such as the metabolic conversion of food into electrical energy, and can also enter the body through small particles present in polluted air. Oxidative or acid damage to body tissues and organs is the cause of aging and dis-ease.

"The mysteries of aging have always intrigued man,"
said Dr. Andre Nel, the study's principal investigator and chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

According to the UCLA study, the ability of aged tissues to reinvigorate their antioxidant/anti-aging defense can play an important role in reversing much of the negative impact of dietary and metabolic acids on the immune system. However, until this current study, the extent to which antioxidant defense can impact the aging process in the alkaline buffering system was not properly understood.

The UCLA team not only found that the direct administration of sulforaphane in broccoli reversed the decline in cellular immune function in old mice, but they witnessed similar results when they took individual immune cells from old mice, treated those cells with the chemical outside the body and then placed the treated cells back into a recipient animal.

"We found that treating older mice with sulforaphane increased the immune response to the level of younger mice," said Hyon-Jeen Kim, first author and research scientist at the Geffen School.

To investigate how the chemical in broccoli increased the immune or alkaline buffering system's response, the UCLA group confirmed that sulforaphane interacts with a protein called Nrf2, which serves as a master regulator of the body's overall antioxidant/anti-aging response and is capable of switching on hundreds of antioxidant/anti-aging compounds and rejuvenating genes and the alkaline buffering system.

Kim said that although there is a decline in Nrf2 activity with aging, this pathway remains accessible to chemicals like sulforaphane that are capable of restoring some of the ravages of aging by boosting antioxidant/anti-aging pathways.

"Dietary antioxidants have been shown to have important effects on immune function, and with further study, we may be adding broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables to that list,"
Nel said.

According to Dr. Robert O. Young, a research scientist at the pH Miracle Living Center, states, "the alkaline chemical of sulforaphane from broccoli is one of the most powerful buffers of dietary and metabolic acids in preventing aging, wrinkles, enervation, inflammation, induration, ulcerations, and degeneration of the animal or human organism."

This is why Dr. Young created a 28 to 1 concentration or organic broccoli sprouts in his latest whole food creations called, "pHruits and pHolage"
and "Doc Broc Power Plants."

Resveratrol From Grapes and Berries May Help Prevent Pancreatic Cancer

A compound found in the skin of red grapes, raspherries and blueberries may help induce pancreatic cancer cells to biological transform or die, a lab study has found.

The compound, called resveratrol, is produced by certain plants as part of their defense arsenal against acids. A handful of foods, including raspberries, and blueberries contain resveratrol, but it is most abundant in the skin of red grapes.

In the new study, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York treated human pancreatic cancer cells with resveratrol, either alone or in combination with radiation.

They found that the phytocemical or anti-acid resveratrol compound disrupted the activity of the cancerous or fermenting acidic cells' mitochondria, energy-producing centers needed for cells to function. Resveratrol also impaired certain cancerous-cell proteins that thwart chemotherapy by pumping drugs out of the cell.

In combination with radiation, but not alone, the compound bumped up the production of cell-transforming substances called reactive oxygen species or acid buffers -- potentially making the cancerous cells more destructible.

And, in fact, cancerous or acidic cells treated with the combination were more likely to self-destruct or transform, the study found.

"While additional studies are needed, this research indicates that resveratrol has a promising future as part of the treatment for cancer," lead investigator Dr. Paul Okunieff said in a university statement.

What the results mean for cancer patients is not yet clear. Resveratrol is available in over-the-counter supplements, but there is no evidence that taking them aids cancer treatment. People undergoing cancer treatment should also not take any supplement without discussing it with their doctor first.

Okunieff and his colleagues also point out that they used a relatively high dose of resveratrol, 50 micrograms per milliliter; the concentration found in red grapes, raspberries and blueberries varies widely by type, but some fruits have resveratrol levels as high as 30 micrograms per milliliter.

However, no one yet knows whether resveratrol from red grapes would affect tumors in the body the same way it does cancerous cells in a lab dish.

According to Dr. Young, a research scientist from the pH Miracle Living Center, "antioxidants such as resveratrol from red grapes, raspberries or blueberries are powerful chelators of dietary and metabolic acids that may help to prevent a cancerous condition such as, pancreatic cancer. That is why I created the concentrated whole food product pHruits and pHolage."

Resources:
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, March 2008

Magnesium In The Prevention of Dis-Ease

A lack of magnesium accelerates aging or fermentation of human cells, which may explain the link between any long-term deficiency and a higher risk of aging-related dis-eases, a study released Monday said.

Magnesium is essential for hundreds of biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, and keeps bones strong.

Yet research has shown that, at least in the United States, more than half the population is lacking in magnesium due to deficiencies in their diet, potentially increasing their risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and many cancerous conditions.

To try to understand why magnesium deficiency predisposes people to dis-ease, Bruce Ames and researchers at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California studied the long-term effects of moderate magnesium deficiency on human fibroblasts, cells that provide a structural framework for many tissues in the body.

They cultured the cells for their entire lifespan, a period of three to four months, to mimic the effects of a lack of magnesium in the study which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They found that while the cells survived and divided normally under moderate magnesium-depleted conditions, they appeared to become older quicker than cells grown in normal magnesium concentrations.

"Magnesium deficiency affects the way the cells age.
Accelerated cellular aging affects the way tissue functions," said David Killilea, an associate staff scientist in the Nutrition and Metabolism Center at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

"We are now thinking that cellular consequences of magnesium deficiency may be driving long-term chronic disease."

Ames and Killilea suggested the markers of accelerated cellular aging in magnesium-deficient cells may indicate that the cells were in triage mode, saving resources for indispensable metabolic processes at the expense of long-term function.

As for diagnosing and treating chronic moderate magnesium deficiency, there is no good laboratory marker for this type of condition. It tends to fly under the radar, the scientists said.

"You could be moderately deficient for a long time and not know it," said Killilea.

Food sources rich in the micronutrient include green vegetables and fruits such as spinach, parsley, leafy greens, avocado, cucumber, nuts, and seeds.

I would also suggest magnesium in the form of magnesium carbonate and magnesium oxide.

You will find these two forms of magnesium in pHour salts and pHlavor salts which help to maintain the alkaline design of the body and reduce dietary and metabolic acid.