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Popular trends are not always good — this is a good trend: American avocado consumption has multiplied 7 times over the last three decades. Its sales growth has been faster than that of any other fruit. There is an excellent reason for this: avocados are a phenomenal food. Using the Daily Value (DV) measure, a 3.5 ounce serving provides 14% potassium, 17% vitamin C, 20% folate, 10% vitamin E, and a whopping 26% vitamin K, plus up to 14% of B vitamins and 27% fiber. That’s more potassium than a banana, and only 160 calories. The fat is monounsaturated oleic acid, the same healthful fat that makes up 55% – 80% of olive oil.

Avocados are a “satisfying” food — those eating avocados feel satisfied longer than after eating many other foods. This can be helpful in weight reduction. Reducing calories while maintaining high nutrient intake is ideal for weight loss. The fat in avocado assists in the absorption of carotenoids, which are vital antioxidants, making it a great companion to other foods as well. Fresh green salad with avocado mixed in is a potent combination!

With so much value, avocados deserve the title of “superfood”.

Claimed Benefits
Claims vary, but these benefits are almost unanimously attributed to avocado:

– Lowers cholesterol and triglycerides
– Reduces cancer risk
– Reduces risk of heart disease
– Boosts brain function and memory
– Lowers risk of depression
– Increases eye health
– Protects against periodontal (gum) disease
– Eases osteoarthritis
– Lowers high blood sugar
– Protects the liver
– Shows low pesticide levels (non-organic avocados still test 99% pesticide free)
– Prevents or slows progression of some neurodegenerative diseases
– Great during pregnancy, providing many particularly needed nutrients
– Improves healthy gut flora by acting as a prebiotic
– Anti-fungal
– Anti-inflammatory

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed a 50% reduction in the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome in avocado consumers and an overall increase in nutrient intake. Tufts University showed a single avocado a day promoted a gradual increase in the lutein level in the eyes of participants, as well as better memory and attention levels, as compared with the control group which did not eat avocados. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study showing 1 to 3 avocados a day simultaneously decreased LDL levels and increased HDL by 2-3% and dropped triglycerides by 24%. HDL (the “good” cholesterol) sweeps up excess LDL and carries it to the liver which breaks it down, so the combined impact of avocados on cholesterol is huge. A Journal of Periodontology study found that avocado aids dental health by promoting Transforming Growth Factor-beta, which aids tissue regeneration in gums. A Mashhad University of Medical Sciences confirmed daily consumption of avocados improves blood sugar, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and lowers obesity — factors that make up the “metabolic syndrome”. The Physician and Sportsmedicine journal found evidence that avocados improve joint mobility in patients with osteoarthritis. There are many other studies that show specific avocado benefits!

Shopping
Successful shopping for the proper ripeness and quality takes some practice. It is best to buy them green and hard. They will ripen over the next 2 to 4 days. Once the avocados have some give to them and they’re no longer hard then they may be eaten, or they may be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

The cut avocado flesh oxidizes quickly. This can be slowed by coating the open surfaces with lemon juice. Only the portions that retain the soft green color are worth eating.

The most common form is the Haas avocado, but there are other varieties that are sometimes available, and over 50 varieties exist. The “Florida” or “Dominican” avocado is much larger, and contains much less good fat and does not tend to fill you up as the Haas variety does. The key is you want to eat avocados that have a significant fat content so that you get filled up. The Haas type does this quite well.

Dr. Nemec’s comments
Avocados are one of the perfect foods — a unique combination, being an oily fat and a fruit means they help curb carbohydrate cravings and are easy on the digestive tract. Since they are filling they also decrease over-eating of protein. They are truly an energy food having twice as many energy units as carbohydrates or proteins. Avocados have been an important part of our diet recommendation for the last 35 years. Everyone should be eating avocados.

Dr. Keith Nemec
Clinic Director
Total Health Institute

What do you feel most like doing when under the weather? Sleeping! Your body knows the value of sleep, and when you are dealing with an infection, it screams for sleep. Because sleep improves the ability of certain white blood cells to grab their targets, it is beneficial when sick, but also in preventing getting sick in the first place.

We are always fending off attacks from our environment, so we need the white blood cells to be working well all the time. Getting good sleep regularly is a key to good health. And the opposite – sleep disorders and high chronic stress – suppresses the effectiveness of the immune system. How do we know? Studies have looked at immune responses with sleep deprivation and with normal sleep during periods of high infection.

Study Findings
The Journal of the American Medical Association Published a study on the impact of sleep and lack of sleep was compared after a toxin was injected. Shortly after the injection, sleep deprivation hampered the antibody response while good sleep significantly improved the response. A few weeks later, after the immune system was no longer challenged, the effects diminished. A German study in the Journal of Experimental Medicine showed that certain “sticky” proteins activated by white blood cells to let them stick to their targets are suppressed by adrenaline and prostaglandin, which are high during stress and lowered during sleep. In other words, the immune system works better during sleep and is challenged during stress. When fighting infection, sleep as much as you can.

A Good Cycle
Sleep and stress are two sides of the same coin. It is the sleep side that we often sacrifice. If we are doing poorly with sleep habitually, we are leaving ourselves open to disease development. The body is constantly cycling. Certain hormones rise to get us going in the morning, and fall as we slow down at the end of the day and then sleep. The immune system requires energy that is diverted when stress tells the body we have an emergency that needs the body’s resources elsewhere. When we sleep, energy goes to healing and the immune system is more effective.

Better Sleep
The first step to better sleep is regularity. Our natural rhythm is to slow down when the sun goes down, and get moving when the light level gradually rises. Second, the stress you experience during the day produces hormones which don’t simply disappear when you go to bed – they take time to drop off. Getting the most important priorities done early in the day may be helpful: get moving in the morning and tackle your big challenges early if you can. These are good first steps.

Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
Sleep is one of our 7 Basic Steps to Total Health foundational teaching that we have used to help thousands of people heal over the last 35 years. Always remember: the earlier you get to bed and the earlier you arise, the healthier your immune system will be. Your body clock or biorhythm matches the sun. When the sun rises you rise, when the sun sets you sleep. The closer you follow this pattern the stronger your immune system will be. How can I get to bed by 8pm you ask? It starts by getting up earlier so your body gets tired by 8pm. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

Dr. Keith Nemec
Clinic Director
Total Health Institute

An Ancient Remedy
Garlic is hardly a new discovery: for centuries it has been used medicinally when the only “drugs” were plants. The sulfur-based compounds from garlic are considered anti-inflammatory, anti-high cholesterol, anti-diabetes, anti-bacterial, anti-parasite, anti-cancer, and anti-fungal. The characteristic odor of garlic comes from the breakdown of allicin, which is part of the garlic plant’s defense system. When the plant is physically damaged or crushed, it releases allicin, which then releases the sulfur compounds over time. Raw garlic can be consumed and also crushed and used topically. Raw garlic applied on the skin kills acne-causing bacteria, so it is even anti-pimple. Be careful about liberal use though – it is potent and can cause a burning reaction.

Research Proves the Power of Garlic 
As published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Washington State University researchers found that a garlic compound is 100 times more effective in controlling a major food poisoning bacteria than either erythromycin or ciprofloxacin – two often used antibiotics. The American Family Physician reports that regular garlic use may reduce the frequency of the common cold, where antibiotics are not effective. The Iowa Women’s Health Study showed the combined effect of a routine diet of fruits and vegetables combined with garlic showed a 35 percent lowering of cancer risk apart from drugs. A study published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine showed garlic results similar to praziquantel in reducing parasites without the drug’s side effects. On balance, garlic wins!

Garlic Reduces Inflammation, Increases Glutathione and is High in Vitamins and Minerals
Garlic causes reduction in liver cell damage and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Garlic and allicin mode of action activates and modulates the immune system along with triggering an anti-inflammatory cascade. Garlic is rich in sulfur which is very necessary to produce glutathione in the body, which is one of the strongest antioxidants your body makes to put out free radical fires.
100 grams of garlic has up to 6.36 grams of protein, and contains vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, folate, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc.

Grow Your Own 
Garlic is easy to grow, although rather slow. It looks like grass as it grows until it reaches full height in mid-summer when it then forms a globe-like flower full of tiny bulblets, which can be used to grow more garlic plants if you are patient. It is great in a home garden, and quite resistant to frost. The garlic cloves are bulbs which can usually survive the winter and start growing again in the spring. One mature clove will become the hard center for a ring of new cloves surrounding it. That ring of cloves matures in mid-summer, and after flowering the plant appears to die off. You can easily harvest cloves at this time, but if you don’t, a new growth cycle begins in the fall. Early in the growth cycle there is little clove material available, but you can still harvest low stems to get some garlic flavor and benefit. You don’t have to be a great gardener to grow garlic – just some sun and weeding. The convenience and fun of having your own garlic supply may make you more of a garlic consumer!

Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
All regions of the world for centuries have used powerful plant herbs and foods to help them heal from a variety of maladies. Garlic is one of the most powerful medicinal foods in the world and has been for ages. How can you improve on a substance that helps you get rid of bacteria, viruses, parasites, boosts your system’s defense to fight off cancer and other pathogens? It also has normalized blood pressure and cholesterol, all with no harmful side effects besides sometimes keeping sick people away from you. Another key component in garlic is sulfur which is key in many cellular reactions including glutathione (the king antioxidant) production to protect your cells from early cell death. Remember it only works when you eat it raw and eat it immediately upon mixing in your favorite plant fat before the enzymes denature. Start with one clove and progressively increase to tolerance.

Dr. Keith Nemec
Clinic Director
Total Health Institute

For a food to be labelled organic, it must be produced:

• Without using chemical pesticides
• Without using synthetic fertilizers
• With no genetically modified organisms

“Does eating organic reduce cancer risk” isn’t a simple question. Let’s break this down:

Pesticides
By nature, pesticides are killers. They are meant to kill insects, which are obviously different than humans, but to expect that something deadly to some life has zero impact on other life is a stretch. When the World Health Organization publishes warnings about pesticides, as it’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) did, we have mainstream agreement about the dangers of pesticides. Some pesticides have been widely banned. The IARC listed two pesticides still in use, Malathion and Diazinon, as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. A number of others it listed as “possibly carcinogenic”. The use of pesticides is clearly a risk, and your risk increases as your exposure increases. Since organic food avoids all these chemical pesticides, right there we can say that eating organic improves your chances of avoiding cancer. What else?

Fertilizers
The first problem with chemical fertilizers is that they supply a limited set of nutrients to the soil (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) — hardly the full range of minerals the plants need to give you a full range of nutrients. Over time, the soil, replenished only with the major nutrients, give you less and less of the secondary ones. Thus, the food grows and appears just as good as organic, but the subtle lack of nutrients robs you. Many find the extra nutrient content of organic food just tastes better. When you consider that your body needs the full set of nutrients to keep cancer at bay, not having them is increasing your risk of cancer.

At worst, though, the chemicals used to make artificial fertilizer have a direct link to cancer. The University of Wisconsin linked nitrate fertilizer to damage to the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems of young children. More recent studies show other hidden dangers. Organic food relies on naturally recycled “fertilizer”, which replicates the natural process of plants breaking down and returning their nutrients to the soil. This is a double win: avoid the artificial chemicals and provide all the nutrients.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Genetic modification is a marvel of modern gene manipulation. Plants can be “taught” to produce pesticides as part of their life cycle. They can be given characteristics of other plants or even animals. They literally become something else. The worst news about modified genes is that they pollinate with others and spread those new genes across the globe. It’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle. So while the effects of these new creations are unknown, massive efforts are being made to retain seeds that have the original genetics before they are lost forever.

The effects of GMOs are hard to pin down, because there are so many versions out there having lots of different effects. But much of Europe has severely restricted their spread due to concerns about their impact. Avoiding them by eating organic seems sensible.

Organics avoid risks across the spectrum, but they are generally more expensive. As they become more popular though, the cost has dropped. Most grocery stores devote at least some aisle space to organic produce and products. Many people say that organics just taste better, and the higher quality has made them more popular.

Direct Evidence
With all the evidence that aspects of conventional foods increase cancer risk, how about studies directly showing that a high intake of organic food reduces cancer risk? The JAMA Internal Medicine journal has concluded a recent study which shows an overall 25% reduction in cancer risk for those who primarily eat organic, with huge decreases in risk of lymphoma and certain other cancers. This is a very prestigious journal confirming with direct evidence.

Less Bad, More Good
Organic farming returns the production of food to the way it used to be, in a sustainable manner which avoids adding harmful chemicals and gives the plants back even the rare nutrients. Organic food is generally given more time to mature, and this also improves quality. Organics avoid risks, both known and suspected, while improving your intake of resources that your body needs to keep cancer from gaining a foothold. If you juice or dehydrate food, you concentrate whatever is in the food, making organics shine even more.

We all have garbage that assails our bodies daily. Some we cannot control, but we can maximize what is good. The overall mix of good and bad our bodies deal with determine our cancer risk. Let’s tilt the odds in our favor!

Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
Obviously the more we move from naturally growing food, as it was meant to be consumed from the beginning, add chemicals to our food, and alter genes, the more stress we are going to put on our systems when this food is digested and absorbed. Chemicals and gene-altering increases the risk of all disease, including cancer. Even the Journal of the American Medical Association has concluded this — so what do you do? Grow you own produce when you can, and when you cannot, remember greens are most important to be organic. But as I have told patients for years: anything you eat from a plant source, even non-organic, is far superior than not eating it at all. Bottom line: buy organic when ever you can, but if you cannot, do not worry because animal products concentrate chemicals and toxins to a much higher degree in their tissues.

That is all for now.

Does physical activity reduce your risk of cancer? Spoiler alert: yes it does! Studies in Cancer Research UK, the American Cancer Society, the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, the European Journal of Epidemiology, and others have observed reduction in risk for those who have even a moderate level of regular aerobic exercise. Recently JAMA Internal Medicine joined the chorus with a massive and detailed study across 13 specific types of cancer showing as much as 42% reduction in risk. When you consider how exercise affects the body, such lowered risk makes perfect sense.

How Exercise Impacts Cancer Risk Factors
Let’s consider just some of the areas where cancer may develop, and what exercise does:

– Lungs: Breathe more, and you increase oxygen, challenge lung function to develop further, and if you exercise outdoors you are reducing the concentration of indoor air pollutants you bring in.
– Colon: As you exercise, you increase the movement of food through the digestive tract. The increased movement tends to reduce inflammation. As we move food waste out of the body, we reduce the irritation and inflammation it can cause.
– Breast: Estrogen, which causes the cells in the breast to divide more often, tends to reduce with exercise. Insulin is also controlled with exercise. As these hormones cause more rapid cell division, the risk of a misfire of the genetic code division is multiplied by the amount of extra division occurring.
– Blood: As you increase circulation, you also improve the oxygen flow to all parts of your body. Good oxygen supply promotes healthy cell development, not cancer.

Basically, aerobic exercise affects every part of our bodies. We are built to move.

Just How Much is Cancer Risk Reduced?
The JAMA study is capturing the medical news because of its size: 1.4 million people were in the study group. Here are some of the risk reductions they determined:

• Esophageal cancer: 42% decrease.
• Myeloma, bladder, colon, neck, or rectal cancer: up to 17% decrease.
• Liver cancer: 27% decrease.
• Lung, stomach, or kidney cancer: up to 26% decrease.

ASCO, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, considers the risk reduction to be 40% to 50% for colon cancer, and 30% to 40% lower for breast cancer. Bottom line: you have a lot less risk of developing cancer with regular aerobic exercise!

Types of Exercise
These studies considered walking, running, swimming, and cycling as good sources of moderate exercise. More than 3 hours a week, or 30 minutes a day of these activities are sufficient. Sports are fantastic, but just taking half of a lunch hour to walk briskly can be enough. We already know how some activity each day improves your mental clarity, makes your joints more limber, and cuts down the insulin and cortisol levels — isn’t it interesting that the same activities would lower cancer risk? Again, it makes perfect sense. Overall, regular exercise is expected to increase longevity by seven years.

Exercise Aids
Weather can make outdoor exercise a challenge at times. Treadmills and indoor cycles are helpful, but also can be rather boring and can be hard on joints. Here’s something else that can help: a Rebounder. This is a specialized type mini trampoline which is tuned to provide a special bounce that is remarkably effective in strengthening each cell with mild or vigorous use. You may want to consider this amazing little device. Consider the Total Health Institute Rebounder.

Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
Exercise is critical and crucial to life and health of every cell in your body. Without the movement of blood and lymph your body would cease to be. When the Journal of the American Medical Association publishes research of over one million people, this is very big. The results speak for themselves. Those that want to overcome any disease including cancer or just stay healthy absolutely must exercise. This includes walking, and any more intense cardiovascular exercise you like from going up and down stairs to swimming. The exercise that people do not do enough of is called lymphatic exercise which is done on a rebounder. Just 5 minutes per hour when you’re home triples your white blood movement for one hour. Very powerful and very simple. Just get on the rebounder and vibrate up and down. Your feet do not have to come off the mat. So start rebounding, walking and going up and down those stairs today.

Dr. Keith Nemec
Clinic Director
Total Health Institute

So many studies show the benefits of probiotics in the digestive tract that their value has become common knowledge. They aid digestion, ease bloating, diarrhea, and gas, and help nutrient absorption. But studies are also showing benefits to the brain and clear thinking. UCLA scientists, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, and the Max-Delbrueck-Centre for Molecular Medicine have concluded direct connections between probiotic consumption and higher brain function.

Executive Function
The portion of the brain responsible for high-level thinking is the pre-frontal cortex. Reasoning, judgement, and self-control all happen there, helping you to stay calm and think clearly. The brain is living, just like the rest of the body, and the pre-frontal cortex performs better in the right environment. Tests show direct correlation between high beneficial bacteria levels and activity in the pre-frontal cortex. Who doesn’t need clearer thinking and better reasoning capacity, or a calmer attitude?

Research
UCLA researchers found that probiotics did not change emotions, but improved their ability to think and respond. Other researchers ran a direct test on sixty elderly patients with advanced memory loss, giving some a placebo and some probiotics with L. acidophilus and B. Bifidum. Those taking probiotics scored much better in memory testing. Yet another study reversed the tests by wiping out good bacteria in mice with antibiotics – the reverse of probiotic action. The mice almost immediately showed memory loss, and brain cell growth halted. Then, giving the mice probiotics, the researchers saw that their memory and recall improved and their brain cell growth resumed.

Vital Strains
There are about 1,000 species of good bacteria that have been identified to aid the human digestive system, but there are just two primary families that are considered as “key”:

– Lactobacilli, which work in the small intestine.
– Bifidobacteria, which support the colon and lower digestive tract. It has been shown to improve memory and ability to learn in animal studies.

Probiotic bacteria strains are most effective when in balance, and this simply makes sense because they work in different areas and have different benefits.

Benefits of a Clear Mind
If your work requires you think, if your home requires calmness and control, if life requires good judgement and memory — get your gut flora right. Introduce the good bacteria with probiotics, and feed them with a great diet. Then they can improve your body’s environment, which will help give your brain what it needs to flourish. With clear thinking, you can live life fully, rest better, and enjoy more. Your thoughts affect everything you do!

Dr. Nemec’s Comment:
Over the last 35 years we have treated people across the world with most every type of health challenge from advanced cancer to all types of autoimmune disease to every chronic disease of aging, including neurological and mental/emotional. Universally we have found that if you do not restore gut flora and reverse gastrointestinal dysfunction aka “Leaky Gut Syndrome” you do not heal your brain or your body. In the researched publications Leaky Gut always makes a “Leaky Brain” which is inflammatory molecules entering the blood brain barrier cause cognitive dysfunction and mental and emotional imbalance. Everyone we treat is on our probiotic that we have used for many years and have had excellent results with. Remember with disease onset where you have the disease is usually not where the cause is coming from it just the effect of accumulated inflammation.

An Excellent Choice
The Total Health Institute offers a probiotic with the right mix of probiotic organisms to support microflora balance. Your digestive tract is the starting point of nutrition to keep all of your body healthy. The Total Health Probiotic is a great first step towards better health AND clearer thinking!

That is all for now.

Dr. Keith Nemec

Clinic Director

Total Health Institute

P.S. If you are seeking treatment at Total Health Institute you can call to schedule a complimentary phone consultation with one of our health associates to get your questions answered.

You can reach us at 630.871.0000

Over the last 33 years we have had people from around the world come to Total Health Institute to seek healing for their health challenges. People ask us can you heal me from stage 4 cancer? Our response is the same every time. No one can heal you but YOU. We at Total Health Institute make and environment where that healing can occur but it is what you do every day physically and what you think on mentally and emotionally that makes the difference of who is going to heal and …who is not. Do not seek the magic bullet, the cure for cancer, the clinic that can heal cancer, the doctor that can do it for you.

As the Word of God says “Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well”. Where IS His Kingdom found? In your Holy Spirit filled heart. You have all the answers within you and all the power within you to heal from any disease but you will not access this if you live from your fear and doubt filled mind instead of your Truth filled heart. Everyone who was ever healed by Jesus came to Him in faith meaning they trusted what He said was True. You cannot be double minded meaning half in your mind and half in your heart when it comes to healing. This is lukewarm and nothing will come from this. At Total Health Institute, we address the whole person. We first do physical treatments to balance the systems of the body. Next, we address the mental and emotional blockages because those impact health even more than the physical blockages. If the physical body is balanced and the mind, will and emotions are balanced then the Spirit can flow freely and give life your body. This is called healing or wholeness.

Now we will ask you a question. Can YOU heal from stage 4 cancer? Barbara did and so can you if you follow the steps we outlined above. Listen to her testimony go to https://www.totalhealthinstitute.com/testimo…/barbara-mcneil/