Juice Plus+® Health News

Nutrition, A Cure? For Good Heath and Wellness

A healthy diet is the biggest thing that is missing when talking about the lack of health care. The solution can be as simple as getting the minimum recommended number of fruits and vegetables each day. Add Juice Plus+® if you don't get enough, but still make the effort to eat right.

Society today can be an enormous imposition when it comes to eating healthfully or at all. While stores may provide plus sizes today as they once did not about ten years ago, there still remain stereotypes that most teenagers want to live up to, and the models parading the runways do all to encourage thinness perhaps in excess. But all too often, there exist chemical imbalances that are closely linked to eating disorders so common among our youth especially. And believe it or not, nutritional deficiencies are often at the core of it. Let's take a look at some of these less understood phenomena.

According to Canadian researchers, Abram Hoffer and Jonathan Prousky, zinc deficiency has been shown to be a causal link to eating disorders. These go to include anorexia, bulimia and obesity. Vegetarians have a greater tendency to be low in zinc, thus making eating disorders common in this sub-group. Some foods with sufficient levels of zinc include: oats, barley, tangerines, pecans, fresh oysters, ground steak, whole wheat, lima beans, almonds, tuna, turnips, potatoes, black beans, pork chops, cucumber, ginger root, lamb chops, anchovies, haddock, garlic, parsley, shrimp, yams, lettuce, string beans, peanuts, green peas, walnuts, buckwheat, beef liver, and dry split peas to name a few food items. It was also discovered that treating eating disorders with zinc could sometimes create nausea without supplementing with B6 prior. Thus, the total nutrient picture is critical to balancing the scales when eating disorders have been present. Zinc deficiency is also suspected when someone experiences a loss of taste, or does not notice bitter tastes as being so. Psychiatric symptoms can also occur from such deficiency.

Discussion of the critical role zinc plays should also go hand in hand with copper, which is critical for the development of hemoglobin, which helps us heal when wounded. Without this, our blood won't clot. Too little copper can also lead to a thyroid not functioning properly. However, it needs to be realized that these two minerals rely upon one another and excess of either one can cause adverse reactions. As long as a happy marriage is enabled among friends, copper and zinc can provide for people what it ought without much interference or side effects. Seek medical direction to determine appropriate usage. (source)

Comments: A healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables is the best way to go for the prevention of sickness and disease, and therefore to maintain good health.

The Health & Wellness Institute, PC Healthy Solutions for a Healthy Lifestyle Official Juice Plus+® Distributor

Health Care Remedy: Live Healthier, Eat Healthier

The debate about how to improve Health Care has come to a boil. Interestingly, only a handful out of all the millions of reporters, writers, speakers, bloggers, or politicians have mentioned prevention as one step that needs to be taken to reduce sickness and disease (and naturally, wouldn't that reduce costs?).  This is the message that needs to be promoted, pushed, and publicized very heavily: if you want health care coverage, start choosing to live a healthy lifestyle. Good nutrition from plenty of fruits and vegetables is the foundation for a healthy diet. Since most people don't get enough, we recommend adding Juice Plus+® to your diet. Next in importance: the things that must be avoided - tobacco, fast foods, processed foods, soft drinks, too much alcohol. Here are some cancer-prevention points when it comes to diet and lifestyle --

According to a new global policy report , it is estimated that 45 percent of colon cancer cases and 38 percent of breast cancer cases in the US are preventable through diet, physical activity and weight maintenance. The report also recommends policies to reduce the global number of cancer cases.  There has been a lot of research in the field of cancer on foods that are beneficial in preventing and fighting cancer. This week is the start of a new weekly feature, highlighting a specific cancer fighting food each week.

A summary of the reports findings on preventing cancer:

1. Being as lean as possible without being underweight is one of the keys in preventing cancer. Try to hit the bottom range of the body mass index (BMI) for your height and age.  Click here to determine your BMI. Managing weight is also helpful in preventing many other diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
2. In addition to eating healthy, being physically active every day is another proven prevention tool. Aim for 30 minutes a day. Simple tips to start you out: park further away and get in extra walking, take the stairs, take a 15 minute walk during lunch or afternoon break or play with your kids.
3. Limit sugary drinks and processed foods (added sugar and fat, nutrients stripped and are low in fiber).
4. Basing your diet on fruits, vegetables and whole grains reduces cancer risk.
5. Limit red meats and processed meats. Red meat contains substances that are linked to colon cancer.
6. Limit alcoholic drinks. There is a lot of convincing evidence that alcohol increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and breast  and colorectal cancer.
7. Limit salt consumption. Evidence shows a high probability between high salt consumption and stomach cancer.
8. Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone, and moderate use of supplements. Generally, you get more nutrients out of eating the food than supplementing.

(source)

Bottom line: The most important part of reducing your risk of sickness and disease is by following a healthy diet. Everything above can be summed up by those two words: healthy diet. Now there are plenty of foods and beverages to avoid or nearly eliminate in order to stick to a healthy regimen, and that seems to be just as hard for people as it is to eat enough of the right foods everyday. But that's what has to be done. You can avoid the obvious solution that works, that reduces costs, that makes everyone healthier (and most probably happier), and think that we can get everyone "covered". All that will do is make a bad situation worse, and it looks like we have to live it before we will realize it.

If you don't, won't, or can't get enough fruits and vegetables, add Juice Plus+ to your diet.

The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Health Solutions for a Healthy Lifestyle
Official Juice Plus+ Distributor

The Cumulative Protective Effect of a Healthy Lifestyle is Greater Than Any Medicine

While we recommend Juice Plus+® as part of a healthy diet to get more fruit and vegetable nutrients, it is important to know just how much affect a healthy lifestyle has on the cost of health care.

(Mercola)--This European study, involving over 23,000 Germans, shows just how fantastic the results of a healthy lifestyle can be.  The cumulative effects of just four healthy factors: not smoking, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining a healthy weight, resulted in:

• An average of 36 percent reduced risk of ALL cancers

• A 93 percent reduced risk of diabetes

• An 81 percent reduced risk of heart disease

These are three of the most common types of chronic diseases, and as you all know, chronic diseases are very expensive – you have to pay to treat it for the rest of your life.

Let’s look at one example: obesity.

Treating weight-related diseases costs the U.S. $147 billion a year; double what it was nearly a decade ago. The high price tag reflects the costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments that develop as a result of being overweight.

Obesity-related conditions now account for just over 9 percent of all medical spending, up from 6.5 percent in 1998.

Diabetes, in turn, costs the nation $190 billion a year to treat, and excess weight is the single biggest risk factor for developing diabetes.

So it all rolls downhill. We simply must shift away from the conventional mindset of treating these diseases as if they are “unavoidable,” and start paying for disease prevention. If the U.S. did that, hundreds of billions of dollars could soon be saved.

I’ve long stated that type 2 diabetes is nearly 100 percent avoidable, and the results of the massive European study above confirm my own assessment. We’re spending $190 billion dollars on a disease that would not exist were it not for poor lifestyle choices.

Ditto for heart disease, which costs more than $300 billion annually. It’s important to realize that these diseases are NOT unavoidable aspects of aging or genetics.

A vast majority of these cases would simply disappear if healthy choices were taught widely and implemented on an individual basis.

Unfortunately, both the pharmaceutical and food industries are hard at work to make sure finding out the truth about what’s healthy, and what’s not, is as confusing and difficult as possible.

How to Reduce Your Health Care Costs for Life

You can be very confident that additional government involvement doesn’t hold the answer to the health care crisis. What is needed is more personal involvement -- your personal involvement -- in the form of a commitment to your own health.

So many people claim they can’t afford preventive care. But in reality, the question should be: Can you really afford NOT to?

If you carefully follow some basic health principles -- simple things like exercising, eating whole foods, sleeping enough, getting sun exposure, and reducing stress in your life -- you will drastically reduce your need for conventional medical care.

Remember, the drug industry spends about $15 billion a year manipulating and distorting your perceptions about the proper solutions for your health challenges. And, the food industry spends TWICE that much to brainwash you and your children to choose highly processed convenience foods that will accelerate your path toward death and disease -- and your need to use drugs to control your symptoms.

For example, if you’ve fallen for any of these health myths, then you have bought into incorrect propaganda designed to benefit something other than your long-term health:

• Sun exposure causes skin cancer

• Milk (pasteurized and homogenized) does your body good

• Whole grains are good for you

• Fish is good for you

• Saturated fat causes heart disease

It’s a vicious cycle of deceit, misinformation, and manipulation. Fortunately you can take control of your health and step out of this crazy loop.

To get you started, these 10 Steps to Optimal Health are BASIC tenets of health, based on simple truths that will never go out of style that are not dependent on the latest fads concocted by some special interest group:

1. Address your emotional traumas and manage your stress

2. Get optimal exposure to sunlight

3. Drink plenty of clean water

4. Limit your exposure to toxins

5. Consume healthy fat

6. Eat a healthy diet that’s right for your nutritional type (paying very careful attention to keeping your insulin levels down)

7. Eat plenty of raw food

8. Optimize your insulin and leptin levels

9. Exercise

10. Get plenty of good sleep

By adhering to these basic tenets of optimal health – the basics of a healthy lifestyle, not just a temporary fix for a particular ailment -- you are building a healthy mind and body, and thereby safeguarding yourself against a multitude of health problems and serious diseases. (From Mercola.com)

Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like heart disease and stroke, diabetes and cancer. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet.

Best Defense Against Dis-Ease and Support of Good Health

What is it? Foods from Mother Nature. Simple as this: eat raw, whole food fruits and vegetables and you'll likely have clean arteries, low blood pressure (relative to the common 'high'), clearer thinking, regular bowel habits, well-functioning organs - liver, pancreas, spleen; shiny skin and hair, good vision, sensitive taste buds... just an overall near-perfect balance of health. Because we believe in the importance of fruits and vegetables as the single most influential food group on the body's health, we recommend Juice Plus+® as a supplement to get more whole food nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables. While a supplement can help, the real power comes from eating the ripened, raw (uncooked) whole food. Ther term most people understand, or at least are familiar with, is 'antioxidants' when it comes to the compound(s) that take on the job of dealing with free radicals in the body. And free radicals are just a normal part of the chemistry that takes place in the body, but can get an edge if the body gets unhealthy foods, pollutants, or other noxious stimuli. Here's more --

What are antioxidants? According to wikipedia, they are: “ a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals, which start chain reactions that damage cells. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves.’

What? Basically antioxidants are molecules that stop or hinder the aging, or the "break down" process in your body. Whether it’s your skin or the insides of your cells, it’s a good thing. So what natural source can you get antioxidant rich foods from?

Here are the top ten foods with the highest rating on the ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity) scale. This is what is used to determine antioxidant capacity contained in a food:

NingXia Red ® (4,214 units)
Vitamin E oil (3,309 units)
Pomegranates (3,037 units)
Blueberries (2,400 units)
Kale (1,770 units)
XanGo juice (1,644 units)
Tahitian Noni (1,506 units)
Strawberries (1,540 units)
Spinach (1,260 units)
Raspberries (1,220 units)

Incorporating these foods into your diet will result in destroying the molecules that cause damage to healthy cells. This can cut down on your incidence of disease and cancers, as well as help you stay younger for longer. Eat to your health! (Source)

Comments: One interesting notation: Juice Plus+® contains strawberries (along with 6 other fruits); spinach and kale (along with 6 other vegetables) - in the Fruit and Vegetable Blends, respectively, while the Vineyard Blend contains blueberries along with 8 other different types of grapes and berries. Yet the important thing here is that if you can get any of these foods into your diet on a daily basis - preferrably 3 or more - then you'll have a nice supply of antioxidants taking care of your health on a constant basis, as opposed to eating good foods like these once or twice a week.

Now there are some people who suggest creating a blended drink with whole foods, in order to get good nutrition. The reason you may want to consider this, is that many people find it hard to eat RAW whole food fruits and vegetables. So many people have burned out their taste buds from too many soft drinks and processed foods (and those with lots of sugar), that eating raw fruits and vegetables can 'feel' too bland and even dry in the mounth, thereby making it difficult to swallow. So the way around this initially is to mix your fruits and/or vegetables in a blender. There are some products that you can use to either 'juice' your foods OR blend them as you would with a Vita Mix.

Whipping whole foods into a liquid frenzy for a more delightful ingestion is an amazing way to get complete, raw nutrition with vitamins and active enzymes. What better way to do it than with a whole foods blender? The best option of this blender is the fact that it can blend whole foods at the drop of a hat; greens such as swiss chard, kale and spinach whirl into a chopped up rainbow, even if they’re frozen. It's a great way to get your antioxidants in, and it’s easy. Whole apples, celery, pineapple, just about anything you could imagine in the fruit/vegetable category can be blended, unlike an ordinary kitchen blender.

So now you have the option of juicing or using the suggested Vita Mix blender. Keep in mind that the blender option will keep the pulp which is the fiber part of the food and is healthy for the digestive system. So get started with adding more antioxidants to your diet today!

The Health & Wellness Institute

Take Juice Plus+® to get whole food nutrients from 8 different vegetables and 7 different fruits added to your diet.

Good Nutrition Important For School Performance

The measure of a child's performance in school can be seen on a report card. But one major influence on that performance that can be measured as well is the child's diet, nutrition. Studies have been done, and can easily be done by moms and dads, with a few simple yet healthy changes/additions to a child's diet to see changes in there performance at school. Their grades were evaluated and overall performance from one semester to another, and can be looked at from 1 quarter to the next.  Studies have shown that kids who get more and better nutrition from fruits and vegetables namely, get better grades and have less problems at school than those who have poor dietary habits and low nutrient quality. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet. Here's more...

Kids are going back to school and eating breakfast could make a big difference in how they do in school. "Not paying attention, cranky, sometimes argumentative," said Elementary Teacher Joy White.

These may sound like signs that a child has a behavior problem, but it could mean they're hungry. White said it's an issue she sees frequently. "They don't feel good, so we'll send them down to the cafeteria for food," said White.

Dietitian Daphne Smith said skipping out on breakfast could mean more than just a headache for teachers, kids can also have a hard time getting through their school work. "Your brain has to have sugar, it has to have some sort of fuel in order to function on," said Smith.

But not too much sugar, and a balance of protein and fiber. "If you have a cereal that has no fiber and does have a lot of sugar, that's not going to last. It's going to be digested and gone in 30 minutes or an hour maybe," said Smith.

Smith said parents should look for items that are made out of whole grains. Another good indicator of whether the product is a healthy breakfast option, price. "The more processing they do, the further away they get from the original food and the higher the cost is, and usually the less nutrition is there too," said Smith. (More...)

Comments: Interestingly, schools don't seem to put enough emphasis on good nutrition when it comes to students and their performance. I don't want to believe that they don't care, but it may have something to do with the money that is received in 'donations' from big soft drink companies and how generous the support 'feels' for all the help covering costs. Afterall, if it just means having their products throughout the school in exchange for a big one-time donation, the compromise is much worse over the long haul than any money will seem to help in the short term. There is no doubt that soft drinks are probably the #1 inhibitor of good nutrition - either by giving kids a false sense of 'fullness' because of the sugar and/or caffeine, or just keeping them from eating the fruits and vegetables that would provide good nutrition and energy in a natural way.

The bottom line: a healthy diet will bring better behavior, better grades, and better overall health than the more common fast foods, vending machine snacks, and soft drinks. Add more fruits and vegetables to your child's diet everyday and watch as their grades and performance in school improves. If you can't or won't get the minimum recommended fruits and vegetables for their diet or yours, I recommend you add Juice Plus+® vitamin supplement in order to get fruit and vegetable nutrients from a variety of foods, and see if that helps. We have found with many consumers who take Juice Plus+ that there are improvements in many areas of their health and even results at school.

The Health & Wellness Institute, PC

Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet.

Raising Life Expectancy With a Healthy Diet

Although the U.S. life expectancy has gone up, the data shows disturbing evidence that our diet choices continue to go down.  That includes a decrease in the number of fruits and vegetables consumed, on average, each day per person. The biggest reason we recommend Juice Plus+® is because it seems to be an action that most people are capable of fitting into their busy day, while picking fruits and vegetables or even taking the time to choose healthier foods, just doesn't seem to be an interest or priority. Here's more about the increased life expectancy, but the projection that this number will not go up anymore until our diet choices change for the better --

Life expectancy in the United States rose to an all-time high, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today. But that's only half the story. The country is behind about 30 others on this measure.

Though the United States has by far the highest level of health care spending per capita in the world, we have one of the lowest life expectancies among developed nations — lower than Italy, Spain and Cuba and just a smidgeon ahead of Chile, Costa Rica and Slovenia, according to the United Nations. China does almost as well as we do. Japan tops the list at 83 years.

And in an era where advances in medicine and better understanding of health issues should boost life expectancy significantly, the gains announced today were modest. U.S. life expectancy reached nearly 78 years (77.9) in 2007, the latest year for which data from death certificates has been compiled. That's up from 77.7 in 2006. Over the past decade, life expectancy has increased 1.4 years.

In fact, U.S. life expectancy gains may be pretty much over, as some groups — particularly people in rural locations — are already stagnating or slipping, explains LiveScience columnist Christopher Wanjek. Meantime, soaring rates of obesity and diabetes among children and adults, owing mostly to lousy diets and lack of exercise, portend depressing mortality rates to come. (Read on...)

Comments: The best move we can make for increasing our longevity and improving our quality of life is to eat a healthier diet. A diet that includes plenty of raw, whole food fruits and vegetables is a sure to way to better health and to live longer.

Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like heart disease and stroke, diabetes and cancer. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus+® to your diet.

Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC

School Nutrition Influence Grades, Aptitude, Behavior

There is a growing body of people and evidence that is supporting and researching the level to which good nutrition raises grades, and even aptitude scores. The nutrition, of course, is best from fruits and vegetables. (Juice Plus+® is recommended for those who can't get the recommend amount each day.)

However, each year we see the same problematic foods and beverages that contribute to poor grades and lower IQ in the form of vendy machines filled with candy, cookies, chips, sugary snacks, or juice drinks, sodas, and other sugar-filled beverages. Ok, the reverse studies may not exist, but if healthy nutrition boosts a childs performance in school, doesn't the opposite hold true?

Either way, it is important that children get good nutrition, especially in the early developmental years of the body and mind. As with so many things, Congress thinks they have to intervene with some law that specifies the type of foods and drinks that should be available to school children:

Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish science-based nutrition standards for foods served in schools other than foods served under the school lunch or breakfast programs.

Applies such standards to all food sold outside such programs anywhere on school campuses during the school day, with the possible limited exemption of food sold at school fundraisers.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) consider the recommendations of authoritative scientific organizations and evidence concerning the relationship between diet and health when establishing the standards; and (2) review the standards as soon as practicable after the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services publish a new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Listen, you can't have a law that makes you healthy - not unless that law says that no food or drink shall be manufactured or developed with ingredients other than what naturally exists in Mother Nature. Ok, I'm not sure that is worded properly, but you get the idea. If we as a society were only to make or have available consumables that were entirely made from exactly what's found in nature - fruits, vegetables, berries - untouched and unadulterated foods and beverages, then we would have a real good chance of being healthy.

There's no way that $Billion companies like Coca-Cola and McDonalds are going to put their addictive products aside for salads and fruits and vegetables, so we can kiss that pipe dream goodbye. The decision is up to us individually - to make healthy choices. That includes making lunches for our kids instead of giving them or letting them eat the below average foods at school. We can't expect to give them some vitamins and think that will compensate for the fast foods and soft drinks. If they're eating below average foods, what kind of student do you think they'll turn out to be? What kind of adult will they turn out to be (after years of consuming below average, nutrient-lacking, unhealthy foods)? All things to think about when preparing a meal for your kids, or deciding not to and instead give them some milk and cereal (not all are bad, but most).

Choose a healthy diet for you, your children, and your family. Eat the above average foods that are nutrient-rich. Maybe 3 words in that request will translate into the life of your child - 'above average' and 'rich'!

In health,
Dr. Patrick Havey

Since most people do not or will not get enough fruits and vegetables in their diet, I recommend adding Juice Plus+® nutritional supplement: nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables, and can help you and your family get healthy nutrients.

Juice Plus+® Vineyard Blend Studies Show Support of Health

Most people have trouble getting the recommended number of fruits and vegetables in their diet each day. We know that raw, whole food fruits and veggies are the most important foods for supporting good health, providing the nutrients and antioxidants necessary in the prevention of sickness and disease. A good nutritional supplement should be made from a variety of fruits and vegetables. Now there is another supplement that is made from a variety of grapes and berries, 9 to be exact. It is called the Vineyard Blend, or Berry Blend as some people refer to it.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends we eat 7 to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. The Juice Plus+® Orchard and Garden Blends help you bridge the gap between what you should eat and what you do eat by providing added whole food based nutrition from 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains. The Vineyard Blend® adds naturally balanced whole food based nutrition from Concord grapes and eight different types of berries: blueberry, cranberry, blackberry, bilberry, raspberry, red currant, black currant, and elderberry. Nutrient-dense whole foods such as deep red and purple berries and Concord grapes are packed not only with vitamins, but also with a wide array of powerful antioxidants and other phytonutrients – including anthocyanins, polyphenols, and flavonoids – that offer clinically demonstrated benefits.

What does clinical research tell us about Vineyard Blend®?

The five clinical studies published to date on the Vineyard Blend have focused on its effects when consumed in conjunction with Orchard and Garden Blends. In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2003, investigators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine1 reported that subjects who consumed the three Juice Plus+® blends were better able to maintain the elasticity of arteries compared to a placebo group after consuming a high-fat meal, which normally constricts blood flow. In a cardiovascular-related pilot study published in 2007, investigators at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine monitored several measures of vascular health in a low risk population who took all three blends for two years – and noted various improvements with no adverse side effects. Researchers at both the Medical University of Graz, Austria and the University of North Carolina- Greensboro (UNCG) determined that the three blends consumed together are effective in reducing protein carbonyls, a previously established marker for the excess oxidative stress associated with exercise. “Oxidative stress” is the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals that increases the risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. The Graz paper appeared in the Journal of Nutrition in December 2007. Researchers observed study volunteers from the Austrian Police Special Forces elite “Cobra” anti-terrorism unit over seven months (28 weeks) of taking the three blends or a placebo. At rest, the Juice Plus+® group showed decreasing concentrations of protein carbonyl over the study period. This group also lost fewer duty days due to illness over the course of the investigation – an indication of beneficial immune effects, which were more pronounced during the final 20 weeks of the investigation.

The UNCG study was published in 2006 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. The UNCG team reported that the exercise-induced increase in oxidative stress in the form of protein carbonyls was equally well controlled by both high doses of vitamins C and E and by the Orchard, Garden, and Vineyard Blends, with its much lower amounts of Vitamins C and E – and after only two weeks of use. This demonstrated once again the “synergy” of whole food based nutrition when compared to isolated vitamin supplements. A separate, follow-up study conducted by the Medical University of Graz research team was published earlier this year in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. The Graz researchers again studied the effect of the three blends – Orchard, Garden, and Vineyard – on protein carbonyls. The Cobras were tested following very intense exercise after 4, 16, and 28 weeks on the three blends. This paper again reported a positive impact on protein carbonyl formation in the JP+ group compared to placebo. (Source: JP+ Health and Wellness Newsletter)

Comments: While raw, whole food fruits, vegetables and berries are the best choice for getting your nutrition, it is understandable with today's busy lifestyles that most people do not get anywhere close to the recommended daily intake. Many sources use to say "5 a Day" but more recently this number has been updated to "9-13 servings" each day. Many people resort to supplementing their diet with vitamins or other nutritional supplements. Based on many studies from many different sources, the best supplements come from whole foods. Make your decision wisely for your good health.

The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+® Distributor

Over 10,000 Antioxidants - Food Sources, Benefits

There are enough foods that have antioxidants that are supportive of good health, that we should be able to find one that is pleasing to our palet. We don't need processed foods for any other reason than desire to fulfill an addiction. The foods we eat should contain nutrients, vitamins, and plenty of antioxidants. Below is a chart illustrating some excellent sources of antioxidants that you will want to include in your diet. As previously mentioned, over 10,000 substances in food are considered antioxidants. These are broken down into categories including carotenoids, flavonoids, isothyocyanates and a few vitamins and minerals.

Category	Antioxidant	Source	Benefits
Carotenoid	lycopene	tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit	prostate cancer protection
carotenoid	beta-carotene	carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash	cancer, heart disease protection,
carotenoid	lutein* & Zexanthin	spinach, kale, egg yolks	healthy vision, macular degeneration protection
flavonoid	anthocyanins	berries, cherries, red grapes	brain function, promotes healthy cells,tumor growth, heart disease and eyesight protection
flavonoid	catechins	tea, chocolate, grapes, berries, apples	heart health, tumor growth protection
flavonoid	quercetin	onions, red apples	protects lungs, fights inflammation
flavonoid	naringin	grapefruit	may lower cholesterol
isothiocyanates	sulforaphane	cauliflower	protect DNA from carcinogenic damage
isothocyanates	sulforaphane	broccoli, broccoli sprouts	same as above, may inhibit growth cancer cells
vitamin C		citrus, strawberries, peppers, kiwi and tomatoes	DNA protection, lung and breast cancer protection
vitamin E**		almonds, sunflower seeds, hazel nuts	scoops up free radicals in fat cells
Selenium	mineral	Brazil nuts, seafood, meats	assist formation of antioxidant enzymes that protect blood vessels

 *Lutein is fat soluble, so be sure to add some healthy fat such as olive oil or a bit of organic butter to the greens to allow the body to absorb and utilize the lutein.

**Once vitamin E attacks a free radical, it becomes ineffective until it is recharged with vitamin C. At this point it can attack another free radical. This process can continue for 1,000 times. (Source)

Comments: There are so many good foods nutritional and tastefully that we should all have no reason not to eat enough healthy fruits and vegetables. These are the foods that protect us against sickness and disease.

The most important action you can take for good health is what you choose to eat each day.

The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+® Distributor

Broccoli and Tomatoes Have Strong Antioxidant Properties

Foods are the most powerful source of nutrients that help in the prevention of sickness and disease. Even if just one or two compounds show antioxidant properties, it is the whole food that works together that makes these compounds so effective at supporting the body's health. The same can't be said for just one or two vitamins used on their own. The body responds best to the orchestra of phytonutrients in the whole food that work together. Here is a new report on the power that exists in two particular foods, broccoli and tomatoes --

Biofortification of broccoli and tomatoes may lead to increased levels of potentially anti-cancer compounds, according to results of an American study.

When tested in rats, broccoli and tomato powder with enhanced bioactive contents was found to promote the activity of enzymes linked to detoxification, according to findings published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Results also showed that levels of tomato’s and broccoli’s main active compounds, such as lycopene, indole glucosinolates, or selenium, were raised in the body tissues of the animals.

“These encouraging findings suggest that bioactive-enriched vegetables should be tested for cancer prevention,” wrote John Erdman, Jr. and his co-workers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The health benefits of broccoli and tomatoes, particularly linked to their content of the indole-based compound indole-3-carbinol, and the carotenoid lycopene. “Many studies have evaluated the cancer-preventive potential of individual bioactives from tomatoes and broccoli, but few have examined them within the context of a whole food,” explained the researchers.

Erdman and his co-workers used male rats and fed them diets supplemented with 10 per cent powders of a standard tomato powder, a lycopene-enriched tomato powder, a standard broccoli floret powder, and a broccoli sprout powder. All of these powders were obtained from FutureCeuticals. Additional groups of rats were supplemented with powders made from indole glucosinolates-enriched broccoli, selenium-enriched broccoli, or carotenoid-enriched tomatoes, prepared by the USDA-ARS.

After one week of feeding on these diets, the researchers report that all the broccoli diets resulted in an increase in the activity of the detoxifying enzyme called colon quinone reductase (NQO1). Furthermore, consumption of either the indole glucosinolate-enriched broccoli and selenium-enriched broccoli resulted in an increase in levels of the enzyme in the liver, as well as activity of cytochrome P450 1A, an enzymes involved in the metabolism and detoxification of many environmental carcinogens. (Full Story)

Note: The most important thing you can do for your health is being sure to eat plenty of vegetables each day. Fruits are important too. There will be more evidence on the importance and the power of the nutrients that exist in whole foods in the months to come. The effect that a healthy diet can have on your health - good or bad - should be cause for being sure to make smart choices.

If you don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, I recommend adding Juice Plus+® as a nutritional supplement, to get the vitamins and phytonutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables.

The Health & Wellness Institute, PC