Why we need to eat Indian Mustard Plant

Heal yourself with Indian mustard plant
by FELICITY WARNER, Daily Mail
This doesn’t look edible, let alone medicinal: thin, pointed leaves with a flavour like rocket fuel, and a crop of straggly yellow
flowers.
Yet an extract made from the Indian Mustard plant is being hailed as the most important food supplement of the future.
Indian Mustard, or brassica juncea, is a little-known member of the broccoli family. It is a favourite ingredient with Eastern
cooks, lending a fiery punch to stir fries and salads, and is living proof that eating your greens is good for you.
For centuries, peasants in rural India used the plant to add flavour to rice dishes. They called it the ‘plant of long life’, claiming
it had powerful healing properties.
Recent research into Indian Mustard’s ancient medicinal claims has provided scientists with two remarkable findings.
First, the plant contains a powerful cocktail of anti-cancer ingredients, including vitamins, antioxidants and minerals with three
times more calcium, potassium and iron than is found in ordinary green-leafed vegetables.
Second, it has a unique ability to absorb metals and minerals from the earth it grows in. Taking this into account, Russian
agronomists have planted it around the site of the Chernobyl reactor to de-contaminate the ground from dangerous levels of
lead and uranium.
Nicknamed ‘Nature’s magnet’, it is now being grown by scientists to help boost our intake of metals and minerals often lacking
in our Western diet.
Using state-of-the-art bio-technology, the Indian Mustard plants are being grown hydroponically, in water infused with
nutrients. In the Natrahealth pharmaceutical laboratory, they are also being drip-fed with carefully measured amounts of the
mineral selenium, which is vital for human health.
The plants absorb the mineral, storing it in their stalks and leaves ready for harvesting and drying. Minerals are difficult for the
body to absorb because they sometimes bind with other molecules that the body cannot break down.
Plants naturally convert minerals into phytominerals, a bioavailable form which the body can easily use.
Selenium is an essential trace element which is found in grains and cereals, fish, poultry, meat and Brazil nuts. It is important
for regulating thyroid function and the metabolism, as well as protecting against heart disease and cancer – and, as a nation,
we are lacking in it.
Modern farming methods, acid rain and the use of pesticides have depleted the amount of naturally occurring selenium in the
soil, and doctors and nutritionists are concerned that between 1996 and 1998, the average intake of selenium in the standard
British diet fell by more than 50 per cent.
In some countries, where levels are low, the deficiency has led to an increase in arthritis and heart problems. In Finland, the
entire country receives extra selenium through mandatory fertilisation of crops with Selenate, which contains selenium.
A recent report in the Journal of Medicinal Food has examined the potential of using Indian Mustard to provide us with extra
selenium.
It revealed that a small daily dose of the dried plant was enough to provide us with the recommended daily intake of 50-
70mcg.
Heal yourself with Indian mustard plant | Mail Online Page 1 of 3
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-28388/Heal-Indian-mustard-plant.html?printingPa… 5/2/2011
It also reported that Indian Mustard contains important carotenes, including lutein and zeaxanthin, which boost the immune
system and can help to improve eyesight.
Research Scientist Dr Burt Ensley, who conducted the research into Indian Mustard in America, has also discovered that the
growth of breast cancer cells can be slowed down when injected with Brassica extract.
Now the committee on Diet, Nutrition and Cancer at the National Academy of Science says that a diet containing just 10 gm of
these foods a day cuts the risk of cancer by 8 per cent.
Sadly, you probably won’t find Indian Mustard leaves on your super-market shelves. However, varieties such as Red Giant,
which has redtinted leaves, or Green In The Snow, which is particularly fiery, can be found in ethnic shops and street markets.

Real Food Technology Solutions! Why it is the new buzzword around the world

Mannatech Review: Now What?

www.givingchangeseverything.com The buzzword is Real Food Technology Solutions. Regardless of the name, when the scientists at Mannatech discovered the molecule in the Aloe Vera plant that gives that plant such a rich history of promoting wellness it was just the beginning of a whole cascade of interesting events. They not only found a way to stabilize that molecule for the first time in history and file patents, they soon realized they had a tiger by the tail.
In the animal world it’s said that the larger the animal the longer the gestation period. For humans that is a nine month period and for elephants it’s about eighteen months. For Mannatech to give birth to its technology it has taken years, and maybe that’s because of the significance of the discovery. It’s BIG
They have had their share of obstacles and at times the frustration has been intense. The reason is best understood in a Mannatech review of the process of proving its premise. The premise is: the ingestion of plant saccharides like Mannose, fucose and others has an effect on the body especially in the area of the immune system, brain function, memory, and digestion.

Crazy Like A Fox
What made this a little crazy and unbelievable to the general scientific community; not to mention the public; is the fact that we’re talking about plant sugars. This was a departure from previous understanding of the role sugars played in the body. They don’t all do what you think they do. Mannatech was on the cutting edge of breakthrough technology pioneering uncharted territory and had a lot of work ahead of it.
It’s hard to prove this stuff. It takes time to back up your hypothesis with clinical studies that are acceptable to the scientific community. These studies take time, sometimes years. In the meantime every Tom, Dick and Harry who feels threatened by the prospects of a company having PATENTS on this breakthrough technology, wants to disprove, destroy, or otherwise discredit the idea. Those types came at Mannatech with a vengeance.
To make matters worse; at least for the detractors; but better for Mannatech, not only did Mannatech have the first patent on the stabilized component of the Aloe Vera plant but they noticed there were 7 other plant saccharides that also had a beneficial and often crucial effect on wellness and they had the brilliant idea of patenting a compound of these plant saccharides as well. They called it Ambrotose and that was in 1996.
This understanding of how plant saccharides effect the body has spawned a new scientific field of study called Glycobiology and substances like Ambrotose are referred to as Glyconutgrients. Now Universities around the world are studying the effects of these saccharides on health and wellness.
The review of Mannatechs work shows that university studies prove the ingestion of these sugars via diet does have a positive, beneficial effect in the body. These sugars DO get into the body and do their work, they are necessary, diet does matter, and you don’t get them in our modern diet in necessary amounts.
The Review Concludes
In September of 2009 at the 9th Annual Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium held in Brussels, two presentations on Ambrotose were made to over 100 of the worlds leading researchers in glycobiology and medicine.
This is no small feat given the fact that just 3 years prior the negative publicity was huge. What does all this mean? It means that when BIG discoveries are made people in the field, people like you and me, often feel or notice the benefit immediately, but the scientific evidence takes time to catch up. The medical community is even further behind the science community.
A Mannatech’s Review shows that the company has certainly turned the important corner of scientific proof and validation. What was once a theory is now a proven reality! They are beginning to understand how and why these things work.
This will have a huge impact on wellness as the medical community learns about these products, recognizes them as beneficial in helping maintain health and wellness in a truly integrative approach to wellness. Today this Real Food Technology Solutions is being used and benefiting people around the world.
It is evident that it’s a new day at Mannatech and the best is still ahead. They are now employing their cutting edge technology to address the problem of undernurishment and malnurishment in children around the world thru a unique donation thru consumption program.
Please let me know if this information was helpful to you. I invite you to follow my blog  and share your thoughts and opinions and comments below. This is always important to me but more, it may be important to other readers. Thank for spending some time here.

Higher amounts of added sugars increase heart disease risk factors!!!

Higher amounts of added sugars increase heart disease risk factors April 20, 2010 − Released by Emory University ( web | news ) ATLANTA – Added sugars in processed foods and beverages may increase cardiovascular disease risk factors, according to a study by Emory University researchers. The study, published in the April 20, 2010, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), analyzed U.S. government nutritional data and blood lipid levels in more than 6,000 adult men and women between 1999 and 2006. The study subjects were divided into five groups according to the amount of added sugar and caloric sweeteners they consumed daily. Researchers found that people who consumed more added sugar were more likely to have higher cardiovascular disease risk factors, including higher triglyceride levels and higher ratios of triglycerides to HDL-C, or good cholesterol. "Just like eating a high-fat diet can increase your levels of triglycerides and high cholesterol, eating sugar can also affect those same lipids," says study co-author Miriam Vos, MD, MSPH, assistant professor of pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine. In the United States, total consumption of sugar has increased substantially in recent decades, largely due to an increased intake of 'added sugars,' defined as caloric sweeteners used by the food industry and consumers as ingredients in processed or prepared foods to increase the desirability of these foods," Vos and colleagues note. In the JAMA study, the highest-consuming group consumed an average of 46 teaspoons of added sugars per day. The lowest-consuming group consumed an average of only about 3 teaspoons daily. "It would be important for long-term health for people to start looking at how much added sugar they're getting and finding ways to reduce that," says Vos. The study, "Caloric Sweetener Consumption and Dyslipidemia Among U.S. Adults," was published in the April 20, 2010, issue of JAMA. It is the first study of its kind to examine the association between the consumption of added sugars and lipid measures, such as HDL-C, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The study did not look at natural sugars found in fruit and fruit juices, only added sugars and caloric sweeteners. The study is available online at http://jama.ama-assn.org/. The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University is an academic health science and service center focused on missions of teaching, research, health care and public service. Its components include the Emory University School of Medicine, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and Rollins School of Public Health; Yerkes National Primate Research Center; Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University; and Emory Healthcare, the largest, most comprehensive health system in Georgia. Emory Healthcare includes: The Emory Clinic, Emory-Children's Center, Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, Wesley Woods Center, and Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital. The Woodruff Health Sciences Center has $2.3 billion in operating expenses, 18,000 employees, 2,500 full-time and 1,500 affiliated faculty, 4,500 students and trainees, and a $5.7 billion economic impact on metro Atlanta. Learn more about Emory's health sciences: http://emoryhealthblog.com - @emoryhealthsci (Twitter) - http://emoryhealthsciences.org

Empathy as Part of Integrative Health Dr. Erika D. Nelson

An integrative approach to health focuses on the goal of treating the mind, body and spirit all at the same time. In addition to conventional Western medicine, alternative or complementary therapies can play significant roles in maintaining health. These include everything from herbal remedies, acupuncture and massage to fitness, meditation and yoga. Scientific research is now investigating another important aspect of integrative health that centers on developing a more meaningful relationship between the patient and their practitioner.
I recently attended a presentation at the Scripps Natural Supplements conference given by Dr. David Rakel, M.D., Associate Professor and Medical Director of the University of Wisconsin Integrative Medicine Program. During his talk entitled “The Clinician as Intervention: Lessons for the Dietary Supplement Prescriber,” Dr. Rakel shared data from two recently published studies on treating the common cold, one looking at the effectiveness of Echinacea and the other the effectiveness of practitioner empathy.^1,2 In the first study, treating patients with self-reported colds with the widely used remedy Echinacea resulted in a shorter duration of one-half day and a 10% reduction in overall severity compared to placebo (neither improvement was significant; p>0.05).¹
CARE-ing Versus Standard Care
In the second study, patients with self-reported colds were randomized to either a “standard” practitioner-patient interaction, consisting of the basics such as relevant past medical history, a focused physical exam and diagnosis, or an “enhanced” practitioner-patient interaction in which physicians interacted according to the PEECE method: (P) Positive prognosis, (E) Empathy, (E) Empowerment, (C) Connection and (E) Education. Patients were then asked to assess their clinical encounter by filling out the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) questionnaire.² The CARE questionnaire assesses ten areas of consultation, whether the clinician(s):

1. Made them feel at ease
2. Allowed them to “tell their story”
3. Really listened
4. Were interested in them as a whole person
5. Fully understood their concerns
6. Showed care and compassion
7. Were positive
8. Explained things clearly
9. Helped them take control
10. Helped create a plan of action

In this second study, the changes in cold severity and duration were not significantly different between the “standard” and “enhanced” interaction groups. However, patients who rated their clinical encounters with perfect CARE scores experienced a significant reduction in cold duration, by almost a full day, and a trend toward improved severity (16%) when compared to those who rated their encounters with less than perfect CARE scores. Together, the two studies suggest that when a patient with a cold experiences a truly empathetic interaction with their physician, their health tends to improve as much and perhaps more than if they were being treated with a well-known cold remedy.

A Spoonful of Empathy

While Dr. Rakel was speaking to an audience of primarily physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, I felt that the points he was making could be applicable for anyone interested in improving the health of others through an integrative approach. For me, the take-home message was this: the manner in which I introduce a dietary supplement to another person is extremely important. If I take the time to compassionately listen to and connect with the other person, keep a positive attitude and help that individual take control over his or her own health, the chance of that person having a beneficial experience can increase.
Maybe this isn’t a novel concept to you, but I was thrilled to learn about new, well-controlled scientific research supporting such a simple and cost-effective (read: FREE!) approach to integrative health. Here’s hoping that my next prescription reads, “Take two doses of empathy and call me in the morning!”
———-
¹B. Barrett et al., Echinacea for treating the common cold. Ann Intern Med. 2010; 153:769–777.
²D.P. Rakel et al., Practitioner empathy and the duration of the common cold. Fam Med. 2009; 41(7):494–501.
Dr. Nelson is a Research Scientist at Mannatech, Incorporated.

Nutritional Supplements and Athletic Performance

Nutritional Supplements and Athletic Performance

Dr. Stephen Boyd

In a departure from statements made in the past, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) now agrees that nutritional supplements can boost athletic performance. In the IOC Consensus Statement on Sports Nutrition 2010 issued from its head office in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 27, 2010, the organization concedes that some supplements may enhance performance for some athletes. In the past, the IOC had warned athletes against using nutritional supplements.
While the statement did not comment on specific products, it did say, “..supplements that provide essential nutrients may be a short-term option when food intake or food choices are restricted due to travel or other factors” and that they should be “used in accordance with current evidence under the guidance of a well-informed professional.” The statement went on to say, “Athletes contemplating the use of supplements and sports foods should consider their efficacy, their cost, the risk to health and performance, and the potential for a positive doping test.” Of course, the Olympic Committee correctly was not suggesting that supplements replace a nutritious diet. The statement began by saying, “Diet significantly influences athletic performance. All athletes should adopt specific nutritional strategies before, during and after training and competition to maximize their mental and physical performance.”

Recommendations with More in Common?

What is interesting is that it would appear that the IOC is moving ever so slightly toward the recommendations of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) with respect to achieving optimal wellness. The three pillars of wellness according to the CRN are diet, appropriate supplementation and exercise. It goes without saying that optimal physical and athletic performance is related to optimal wellness, which in turn, is related to optimal nutritional intake. I would suggest that the “other factors” mentioned above in the IOC statement in support of appropriate supplementation include poor food choices, something that studies have shown to be prevalent in the majority of the population.
Other issues raised in the IOC statement are the possible risks involved in taking supplements. These include health and doping test risks. The statement also emphasizes that supplements should be used in accordance with current evidence. These issues raise important topics for discussion. How do you decide which supplements to choose based on concerns for safety and evidence of effectiveness? These issues are in fact investigated if nutritional supplements are studied in human clinical trials that follow current Good Clinical Practice (cGCP) guidelines. In following cGCP guidelines, clinical researchers must not only measure a product’s effectiveness, they must also investigate and document the product’s safety.
Athletes are ultimately responsible for any consequences associated with the supplements they choose in terms of regulations. The best first step they can take is to make sure the supplements they choose are not formulated to contain any substances banned by anti-doping agencies. Nutritional products that are formulated in this fashion are generally safe for use without fear of failing any sport doping test.
Mannatech’s clinical research program follows current Good Clinical Practices (cGCP) guidelines for documenting both product effectiveness and safety for general use. This is in keeping with Mannatech’s stated policy of using science to develop safe, natural and innovative dietary supplements. For more details, go to the website MannatechScience.org.
———
Stephen Boyd, BS, MD, PhD, FRSM, is Senior Director of Medical Affairs for Mannatech, Incorporated.

Probiotic Research

Increase in Probiotic Research

Nutrition researchers have been paying attention, investigating a means to modulate GI tract function and support health. Probiotic research has recently become a hot topic, as can be seen in this chart showing an overview of studies published over the past five decades.

Mannatech has been in the forefront of developing supplements that support GI tract health.  Ambrotose^® complex, launched in 1996, was a prebiotic supplement ahead of its time.* Both Ambrotose complex and Advanced Ambrotose^® powder have been shown, in in vitro studies using human colonic bacteria, to exert positive prebiotic effects.*^(7,8) GI-ProBalance™ slimsticks were formulated to work together to enhance the effectiveness of Ambrotose products.*
Jane Ramberg is the Director of Product Science for Mannatech, Incorporated.
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Note: Probiotics are bacteria, taken orally, that are designed to colonize and support the health of the GI tract.
Prebiotics are oligosaccharides and polysaccharides that support the growth of healthy bacteria in the GI tract.
Reference List
1.   Simpson S, Ash C, Pennisi E, Travis J. The inner tube of life. The gut: inside out. Science 2005;307:1895–925.
2.   Qin J, Li R, Raes J, et al. A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing. Nature 2010;464:59–65.
3.   Xu J, Gordon JI. Honor thy symbionts. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 2003;100:10452–9.
4.   Dethlefsen L, Huse S, Sogin ML, Relman DA. The pervasive effects of an antibiotic on the human gut microbiota, as revealed by deep 16S rRNA sequencing. PLoS Biol 2008;6:e280.
5.   Turnbaugh PJ, Hamady M, Yatsunenko T, et al. A core gut microbiome in obese and lean twins. Nature 2008.
6.   Larsen N, Vogensen FK, van den Berg FW, et al. Gut Microbiota in Human Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Differs from Non-Diabetic Adults. PLoS ONE 2010;5:e9085.
7.   Sinnott RA, Ramberg J, Kirchner JM, et al. Utilization of arabinogalactan, aloe vera gel polysaccharides, and a mixed saccharide dietary supplement by human colonic bacteria in vitro. Int J Probiotics Prebiotics 2007;2:97–104.
8.   Marzorati M, Verhelst A, Luta G, et al. In vitro modulation of the human gastrointestinal microbial community by plant-derived polysaccharide-rich dietary supplements. Int J Food Microbiol 2010;139:168–76.

* This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

www.healthyscience.net

Gastrointestinal Research Is Becoming More than a Gut Feeling by Jane Ramberg

I have a gut feeling …www.healthyscience.net
… that many of us underestimate the important role our gastrointestinal tract plays in our overall health. If you have been following the literature, however, you will have noticed an explosion of scientific interest in this area—research made possible with the development of creative tools that can explore the inhospitable territory of our gut, our “inner tube of life.” ⁽¹⁾ Much of this research has focused on the 1,000 trillion microorganisms (primarily bacteria) that live there. Dubbed the “dark matter of life” by the renowned scientist E.O. Wilson, these microorganisms outnumber the cells of our bodies 10:1 and, as a group, their genes outnumber ours 100:1.⁽²⁾ They have been tough to study because they thrive in an environment that defies replication in the laboratory. So, scientists have resorted to genetic techniques to obtain their population “fingerprints.”
The emerging science is uncovering the exquisitely complex symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship that we share with these microorganisms.^(1,3) The benefit for them, of course, is a nice, warm, safe place to live! And what do we gain? We’re learning that these gut bacteria do a lot more than their long-acknowledged tasks of breaking down complex molecules that human enzymes can’t digest and producing biotin and vitamin K. Their functions are much more sophisticated: producing hormones that direct fat storage; regulating intestinal physiology, development and function; “training” the immune system, and preventing the growth of harmful, pathogenic bacteria. We’ve also learned that gut microbial ecosystems can be perturbed by antibiotics,⁽⁴⁾ associated with changes in body weight⁽⁵⁾ and correlated with blood glucose levels.(6)