Soda, Other Sugar-Sweetened Drinks May Raise Kidney Stone Risk, Study Finds -

Soda, Other Sugar-Sweetened Drinks May Raise Kidney Stone Risk, Study Finds - 



Guzzling too much soda might not only hike up diabetes, obesity and stroke risk -- new research shows it could also increase your likelihood of experiencing kidney stones.

A new study in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology shows that people who drink soda and other sugary drinks, including fruit punch, every day have a higher risk of developing kidney stones than people who drink these beverages more infrequently.

The findings are especially important considering "drink more fluids!" is a common piece of advice people are told to reduce the risk of future kidney stones -- and the results suggest that all fluids may not be created equal when it comes to lowering risk.

"Although higher total fluid intake reduces the risk of stone formation, this information about individual beverages may be useful for general practitioners seeking to implement strategies to reduce stone formation in their patients," study researcher Dr. Pietro Manuel Ferraro, M.D., who is a doctor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome, said in a statement.

Kidney stones are quite common, accounting for more than a million health care visits every year, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. They occur when materials in the urine become highly concentrated, forming a solid stone. Sometimes they pass on their own, and sometimes they pass causing much pain and even bleeding.

The study included 194,095 people who were enrolled in the Nurses Health Study I and II, as well as the Health Professionals Follow-Up study. All the study participants provided information about their lifestyle habits and diets for more than eight years, as a median follow-up time.

Researchers found that people who reported drinking at least one sugar-sweetened soda each day had a 23 percent increased kidney stone risk over people who only drank less than one of these beverages a week. And people who drank the most punch in the study had an 18 percent higher kidney stone risk compared with those who drank the least punch.


Plus, certain beverages actually seemed to lower kidney stone risk -- particularly orange juice (12 percent lower), coffee (26 percent lower for caffeinated, and 16 percent lower for decaffeinated), tea (11 percent lower), wine (31 to 33 percent lower) and beer (41 percent lower).

A study presented earlier this year at the American Urological Association meeting showed that exercise -- even just a twice-weekly walk -- can also help to lower women's kidney stone 

Read more -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/soda-kidney-stones-sugar-drinks_n_3327301.html?utm_hp_ref=canada&ir=Canada

New study reveals how glyphosate in Monsanto’s Roundup inhibits natural detoxification in human cells -

New study reveals how glyphosate in Monsanto’s Roundup inhibits natural detoxification in human cells - 



The modern age of industrial agriculture and manufacturing has dumped heavy metals, carninogens, plastics, and pesticides into the environment at alarming rates. These toxins are showing up in most human tissue cells today. One distinct chemical may be trapping these toxins in human cells, limiting the human body’s ability to detoxify its own cells. In a new peer reviewed study, this sinister chemical, glyphosate, has been proven to inhibit the human cell’s ability to detoxify altogether. Glyphosate, found in Monsanto’s Roundup, is being deemed by publishers of the new study “one of the most dangerous chemicals” being unleashed into the environment today.
Download the PDF of the study here: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416
How glyphosate destroys human cells
Glyphosate, most commonly found in conventional sugar, corn, soy and wheat products, throws off the cytochrome P450 gene pathway, inhibiting enzyme production in the body. CYP enzymes play a crucial role in detoxifying xenobiotics, which include drugs, carcinogens, and pesticides. By inhibiting this natural detoxification process, glyphosate systematically enhances the damaging effects of other environmental toxins that get in the body. This, in turn, disrupts homeostasis, increases inflammation, and leads to a slow deconstruction of the cellular system. Toxins build up in the gut over time and break down through the intestinal walls, infiltrating blood, and ultimately passing through the brain/blood barrier, damaging neurological function.
Important CYP enzymes that are affected include aromatase, the enzyme that converts androgen into estrogen, 21-Hydroxylase, which creates stress hormone cortisol, and aldosterone, which regulates blood pressure.
Getting to the gut
Even as evidence mounts, Monsanto asserts that glyphosate is not harmful to humans, citing that its mechanism of action in plants (the disruption of the shikimate pathway), is not present in humans. This is not true.

The shikimate pathway, which is involved in the synthesis of the essential aromatic amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan, is present in human gut bacteria, which has a direct relationship with the human body, aiding in digestion, synthesizing vitamins, detoxifying carcinogens, and participating in immune system function.
By inhibiting the body’s gut flora from performing its essential function in the human body, glyphosate heightens many health issues facing the Western world today.
These conditions include inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease, obesity, and even dementia and depression. Also, by restricting gut bacteria from absorbing nutrients, glyphosate voids the body of essential life-giving vitamins.
Depletion of serum tryptophan and its link to obesity
Glysophate’s damaging effects on gut bacteria lead to depleted sulfate supplies in the gut, resulting in inflammatory bowel disease. As more chemicals are absorbed from the environment, alterations in body chemistry actively promote weight gain by blocking nutrient absorption. By effecting CYP enzymes in the liver, obesity incidence is compounded, impairing the body’s ability to detoxify synthetics chemicals. Since serotonin is derived from tryptophan and acts an appetite suppressant, the depletion of tryptophan encourages overeating in the brain, leading to obesity.
In need of urgent, massive awakening
Authors of the new review point out that “glyphosate is likely to be pervasive in our food supply and may be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment.” Monsanto is already lashing back at these claims, calling this peer reviewed study, “bad science” and “another bogus study.” What Monsanto fails to is mention that most of the studies on glyphosate’s “safety” are conducted by Monsanto themselves, which is bias to the core.
The authors of this new study instead call out for more independent research to be done to validate their findings. They are concerned with glyphosate’s inhibition of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes in the body, which are hindering the body’s natural detoxification ability.
There is certainly a need for more empowering education on chemicals like glyphosate. There needs to be a kind of public mass awakening that correlates Monsanto’s Roundup with skull and crossbones. If anything, Americans have the right to know how their food was produced, engineered, and poisoned, and everyone should pitch in and stop using toxic glyphosate-laced Roundup at all costs.

Read more -

http://www.prisonplanet.com/new-study-reveals-how-glyphosate-in-monsantos-roundup-inhibits-natural-detoxification-in-human-cells.html

Triple conjunction - Planetary alignment peaks with celestial show this weekend -

Triple conjunction - Planetary alignment peaks with celestial show this weekend - 



Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky this month, will be joined by tiny Mercury for a rare celestial show this weekend.

Typically, Venus, the second-closest planet to the sun, and Jupiter, which orbits beyond Mars, are tens of millions of miles apart. But they have been cycling together while moving ever closer to each other this month, joined by the innermost planet Mercury.

The celestial show peaks on Sunday when the trio will appear as a bright triangle of light in the western sky beginning about 30 minutes after sunset.

Triple conjunctions are relatively rare, according to NASA. The last one was in May 2011 and the next one will not occur until October 2015.

"This triple is especially good because it involves the three brightest planets in May's night sky," the U.S. space agency said on its website.

The formation should be visible even in places with bright city lights, though a clear view of the western horizon is a must.

Astronomers suggest sky-watchers let Venus and Jupiter be their guide. As the sky darkens the planets will be visible to the naked eye.

"They really do shine so brightly that you might mistake them for one or two approaching airplanes with their landing lights turned on," the University of Texas' StarDate magazine wrote on its website.

On Sunday, Mercury forms the top of the triangle. By Monday, Venus and Jupiter will be side by side, less than 1 degree apart.

"After that, Venus and Mercury will continue to climb higher into the evening sky, while Jupiter drops toward the sun," said StarDate.

Read more -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/24/us-space-planets-idUSBRE94N0VH20130524