Water IS Really Healthy

From the Wholefood Farmacy Newsletter:

"Each year, about half a million people die from coronary heart disease. More than half of them have no previous symptoms of heart disease.

Researchers at Loma Linda University report that drinking high levels of water can significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by up to 50%. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Vol. 155, No.9), reveals that drinking high amounts of plain water is as important as exercise, diet, or not smoking in preventing coronary heart disease.

“Basically, not drinking enough water can be as harmful to your heart as smoking,” warns Jacqueline Chan, DrPH, principle investigator and lead author of the article.

Dr. Chan and Synnove Knutsen, MD, PhD , second author, chair of epidemiology department, found that California Seventh-day Adventists who drink five or more glasses of plain water a day have a much lower risk of fatal coronary heart disease compared to those who drink less than two glasses per day.

The study, “Water, Other Fluids, and Fatal Coronary Heart Disease,” indicates that whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hematocrit, and fibrinogen which are considered independent risk factors for coronary heart disease, can be elevated by dehydration.

The results from this study show that by drinking more plain water, healthy people—without any history of heart disease, stroke, or diabetes—reduced their risk of dying from a heart attack by half or more. This is as much or more than if they had adopted any other well-known preventive measure, including stopping smoking and lowering cholesterol levels, increasing exercise or maintaining ideal weight. While not as glamorous, the degree of benefit from drinking plain water surpasses that of drinking a moderate amount of alcohol intake and aspirin with none of the adverse side effects (social or physiological). Because drinking more plain water is a simple lifestyle change that anybody can do, this simple practice has the potential of saving tens of thousands of lives each year with minimal cost.

Neither total fluid intake, nor intake of other fluids combined showed this reduced risk. Instead, for women, high intake (5 or more glasses a day) of other fluids, such as sodas, showed a greatly increased risk of coronary heart disease. “People need to be made aware that there is a difference, at least for heart health, whether they get their fluids from plain water or from sodas,” says Dr. Chan.

Delicious whole foods, snacks, soups and more from The Wholefood Farmacy are the perfect foods to enjoy as you start drinking more water."

Another Pet Food Recall

Recall -- Firm Press Release
FDA posts press releases and other notices of recalls and market withdrawals from the firms involved as a service to consumers, the media, and other interested parties. FDA does not endorse either the product or the company.

Mars Petcare US Issues Voluntary Recall of a Limited Number of Bags of SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Sold at Wal-Mart locations in Fifteen States due to Potential Salmonella Contamination
Contact:
Debra Fair
MARS PETCARE US
(973) 691-3536

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- FRANKLIN, Tenn. – October 27, 2008 – Mars Petcare US today announced a voluntary recall of a limited number of bags of SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend dry cat food sold at Wal-Mart locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. The pet food is being voluntarily recalled following a positive test result indicating a potential contamination with Salmonella.

This product should not be sold or fed to pets. Pet owners should dispose of product in a safe manner (example, a securely covered trash receptacle) and return the empty bag to the store where purchased for a full refund.

Salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, and, if there is cross contamination caused by handling of the pet food, in people as well, especially children, the aged, and people with compromised immune systems. Healthy people potentially infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. On rare occasions, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Animals can be carriers with no visible symptoms and potentially infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

There have been no complaints or reports of illness resulting from consumption or handling of the recalled product.

Pet owners who have questions about the recall should call 1-877-568-4463 or visit www.petcare.mars.com.

Recalled Pet Food
Product: SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend Dry Cat Food
Best If Used By Date: AUG 11 09
Best If Used By Date Location: Back of bag
Production Lot Code: 50 XXXX X (Found on back of bag just after "Best If Used By" date. Consumers should look for "50" as the first two digits of the second line.)
UPC Code: UPC code numbers can be found directly underneath the bar code on the package. Please find recalled pet food UPC information below.

3.5 lb.
SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend
81131 17546

7 lb.
SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend
81131 17547

18 lb.
SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend
81131 17548


Affected Stores: Wal-Mart locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia.

In an effort to prevent the transmission of Salmonella from pets to family members and care givers, the FDA recommends that everyone follow appropriate pet food handling guidelines when feeding their pets. A list of safe pet food handling tips can be found at: www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/petfoodtips080307.html

Pet owners who have questions about the recall should call 1-877-568-4463 or visit www.petcare.mars.com.

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Quinoa Is Good For You

Newsletter from the Wholefood Farmacy:

"Quinoa, though not technically a cereal grain like wheat or oats, has been cultivated and eaten as a cereal for thousands of years by South Americans. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is the tiny seed of the Chenopodium Quinoa, a leafy plant that is a distant relative of spinach and beets.

Quinoa was called the "mother grain" by the Incas (chisiya mama). Now, as people in the rest of the world learn more about Quinoa, they're discovering that its ancient nickname was well deserved - Quinoa is indeed a nutritional powerhouse. Quinoa's protein content, about 16 percent, is higher than that of any other grain. Wheat also has a high protein content, about 14 percent, but the protein in wheat and most other grains is lacking in the amino acid lysine, which Quinoa has in abundance. In fact, the amino acid composition in Quinoa is almost perfect. The World Health Organization has judged the protein in Quinoa to be as complete as that in milk. In addition, Quinoa contains more iron than most grains, and is a good source of calcium, phosphorus, folate, and many B vitamins.

Eating a serving of whole grains, such as Quinoa, at least 6 times each week is an especially good idea for postmenopausal women with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or other signs of cardiovascular disease.

A 3-year prospective study of 229 postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease, published in the July 2005 issue of the American Heart Journal, shows that those eating at least 6 servings of whole grains each week experienced:

• Slowed progression of atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque that narrows the vessels through which blood flows.

• Less progression in stenosis, the narrowing of the diameter of arterial passageways.

Quinoa can be found in your favorite Wholefood Farmacy foods such as Phi Plus, as well as all seven of our Wholefood Farinas: AmpliPhi, BeautiPhi, ClariPhi, DetoxiPhi, ElectriPhi, FructiPhi & GloriPhi.

Eat Healthy Foods for a Healthy Body

From the Wholefood Farmacy Newsletter:
"Some vegetables contain chemicals that appear to enhance DNA repair in cells, which could lead to protection against cancer development, say Georgetown University Medical Center researchers. In a new study published in the "British Journal of Cancer" and by the journal "Nature" the researchers show that in laboratory tests, a compound called indole-3-carinol (I3C), found in broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, and a chemical called genistein, found in soy beans, can increase the levels of two specific proteins that repair damaged DNA.

This study is one of the first to provide a molecular explanation as to how eating vegetables could cut the risk of developing cancer, an association that some population studies have found, says the study's senior author, Eliot M. Rosen, MD, PhD, professor of oncology, cell biology, and radiation medicine at Georgetown 's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center . "It is now clear that the function of crucial cancer genes can be influenced by compounds in the things we eat," Rosen says.

"Our findings suggest a clear molecular process that would explain the connection between diet and cancer prevention." In this study, Rosen exposed breast and prostate cancer cells to increasing doses of I3C and genistein, and found that these chemicals boosted production of the repair proteins BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Since decreased amounts of the BRCA proteins are seen in cancer cells, higher levels might prevent cancer from developing, Rosen speculates, adding that the ability of I3C and genistein to increase production of BRCA proteins could explain their protective effects. The study was funded by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the National Cancer Institute and co-authors include Drs. Saijun Fan, MD, PhD, Qinghui Meng , MS , Karen Auborn, PhD, and Timothy Carter, PhD.

For many decades, science has been focused on understanding the mechanisms of disease so that drugs could be developed. But the closer they look at disease, the more they discover about the powerful and protective nature of whole foods. Have you had your veggies today?"

Alzheimer's and lowering your risk

From the Wholefood Farmacy Newsletter:

"Americans who ate a Mediterranean diet - lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, some fish and alcohol, and little dairy and meat - had a reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease as they aged. The findings from this new study are published in the April 2006 issue of Annals of Neurology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons.

"Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with significantly lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease," the authors report. For each additional point to Mediterranean diet scores (indicating increased adherence to the diet), Alzheimer's risk dropped by 9 to 10 percent. Compared with the subjects in the least adherent group that adhered to a Mediterranean diet the least, subjects in the middle had 15 to 21 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and those in the highest group had a 39 to 40 percent lower risk, suggesting a significant response effect.

"We conclude that higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduction in risk for Alzheimer's disease," they say. In addition, they say that the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet for non-neurological conditions have been previously shown to be generalized to different populations, and that the current study provided the opportunity to examine the effect of this diet for a neurological disease in a multiethnic community in the U.S.

When it comes to getting your 5 servings of fruits and veggies everyday, the Wholefood Farmacy is the easiest way. When healthy foods are delicious and convenient everyone in your home, especially the children, will benefit. Keeping some Wholefood Farmacy foods on hand can help you “bridge the gap” when you just don’t have the time. Have you and your children had your 5 servings of fruits and veggies today?"