Will Cocoa Soon Be Used as Medicine?
Specially formulated cocoa very well might soon be considered part of a treatment plan for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in diabetics.
According to new research, after diabetic patients drank a special high-flavonol cocoa for one month, blood vessel function went from severely impaired to normal. Flavanols are natural plant compounds also found in tea, red wine, and certain fruits and vegetables. They are responsible for cocoa’s healthful benefits.
The improvement was as large as has been observed with exercise and many common diabetic medications.
The cocoa used in this study is not sold in the supermarket.
The Man Who Freezes Living Cells
Norio Owada keeps things in his freezer that normally don't freeze well, like cream cakes and fish. When visitors stop by his lab, he reaches into one of his freezers and pulls out a cake lowered to 25 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Once it thaws, it looks and tastes as good as new.
Owada has achieved an amazing feat. About a decade ago he developed an invention called the cells alive system. Owada has eliminated cellular harm from the freezing process.
It works like a microwave oven in reverse. Inside the freezer the object being frozen is zapped with a strong magnetic field. The field keeps the water molecules in liquid form while their temperature drops. When the field is switched off, the object is instantly frozen, without time for the formation of ice crystals. These crystals normally rip apart organic cells.
This keeps frozen food tasting remarkably fresh, but Owada also wants to save lives by shipping another kind of meat: organs. Forty-seven researchers are experimenting with Owada's technology as a method of preserving human organs for transplant. Owada predicts that the first defrosted organ transplant could happen within a decade.
Six Tribes of Bacteria Live in Your Inner Elbow
The crook of your elbow is a special ecosystem that provides a bountiful home to six tribes of bacteria. Even after you wash, there are still 1 million bacteria living on every square centimeter.These bacteria are what biologists call commensals, helpful rather than harmful organisms. They moisturize your skin by processing the raw fats that it produces.
The bacteria were discovered as part of the human microbiome project, a study researching all of the various microbes that live in people. The project is in its early stages, but has already established that the bacteria in the human microbiome collectively possess at least 100 times as many genes as the 20,000 or so in the human genome.
The bacterial cells also outnumber human cells by 10 to 1.
Humans depend on their microbiome for essential functions, including digestion, leading microbiologists to conclude that a person should really be considered a superorganism.
The Truth About Milk
“Raw milk” is milk in its natural state, Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy, explains in this excellent article. It comes from the cow, without heat treatment or pasteurization, which is used to extend shelf life and to immobilize certain bacteria.But people, milk, and bacteria can coexist. It is normal for milk to contain some bacteria, and human societies have been benefiting from these bacteria in milk for thousands of years. Fermented milks, for instance, have superior nutrient value and digestibility. Today these products are marketed as containing “probiotics,” as if this is something brand new.
Yet, bacteria have always existed in natural milk. In fact, bacteria:
- Are earth’s oldest life forms
- Are everywhere
- Are essential for human survival
- Comprise more than 90 percent of the cells in the human body
It is difficult to get at the truth because so much research on milk is little more than advertising -- self-interested and commercial. But you can educate yourself directly and make health choices without the intervention of so-called “experts.”
If you do, you will find that raw milk, loaded with beneficial bacteria, is the better choice.
Why Did 32,000 Scientists Sign a Petition Dissenting From Global-Warming Consensus?
At a press conference on May 19, Dr. Arthur Robinson announced the release of the names of 32,000 scientists who have signed a strongly worded petition dissenting from the position taken by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other scientific organizations.
Signers include more than 9,000 Ph.Ds, although only a relatively small percentage of the signers are climate scientists.
Most signatures were obtained by mailing to lists of university professors and a compendium that constitutes a “Who’s Who” of American scientists.