How chlorophyll inhibits cancer

The link between chlorophyll and cancer has been studied in the scientific community since the early 1900s, and studies consitently show that it has powerful anti-cancer properties.

Most recently, the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University found that chlorophyll provided significant protection against a very potent carcinogen called DBP (found in nail polish) in pregnant mice. Chlorphyll also reduced lung cancer multiplicity by 50% (Source).

Another recent study from the same university found that chlorophyll greatly reduced the expression of human colon cancer cells (Source).

One of the easiest ways to obtain natural chlorophyll is to consume fresh, organic dark leafy greens in liquid form.

Although greens can have a bitter taste, there are many ways to prepare them raw in a way that’s palatable. If you’ve never done this before, a great starting point is Nutritionist Meghan Telpner CNP’s Green Smoothie Cleanse. It’s packed with 100 pages of tremendously valuable information, and definitely provided me with a boost of health inspiration when I read it. Meghan is also running a group cleanse starting on August 6th where her and her staff will provide support along the way.

Shiitake logs: the hot new accessory for spring

In terms of having the latest new accessory, having your own shiitake log is right up there with the new McQueens or a foursquare app.

Shiitakes reduce the appearance of wrinkles and crows feet (say Japanese and Chinese researchers), and American botanists have reported that they decrease cholesterol, fight candida, inhibit the growth of cancer tumours, and have radioprotective properties: mice exposed to x-rays had a higher survival rate when shiitakes were part of their diet.

Plus, they’re anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal.

The beauty is that all you do is throw the log under your deck (or anywhere dark), keep it wet, and it fruits for up to 5 years if you take care if it properly. Yes, you heard us – bundles of organic top-quality shiitake mushrooms (store-bought ones are grown on just sawdust).

We got ours from the Young Urban Farmers (who we adore).

Shiitakes will be making an appearance at our Staying Young Retreat this year – for more info on this 5-day raw vegan vacation, visit http://houseofverona.com/retreats/stayingyoung/.

Before & After Photo: Reduced Wrinkles

My 54-year old mother went to get her passport renewed this week. We were so excited to see her new photos that I wanted to share it with all of you.

A little bit of back story – my mother radically changed her diet and exercise habits 4 years ago after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

This is what her life looked like 5 years ago:

• Diet: coffee, toast, cheese, basmati rice, vegetables, lamb, lots of salads, the odd dessert
• Exercise: skiing in the winter & tennis in the summer
• Stress levels: high

This is what her life looks like now:

• Diet: 50% raw, daily green juice or smoothie, no dietary sugar, whole grains, fish, salads
• Exercise: daily 30 min walk, yoga and tennis once per week, 20km bike every week in summer, 1 hour uphill hike twice per week in the summer, and skiing 2 days/week in the winter.
• Stress levels: low (she simply decided to put herself first)
• Creative outlets: paints and plays the piano frequently – something she used to love, and stopped doing when she had a family

Here is what she looked like in May 2005 at age 49:

This is what she looks like now in April 2010 at age 54:

She’s had no botox, no surgery, and no cosmetic procedures at all. The photo isn’t photoshopped. She’s not wearing makeup. And because it’s a passport photo, it’s taken with the exact same specs, per passport photo regulations.

You can also see that the “Date of Issue” is 5 years apart.

It doesn’t matter how old you are – you can reverse the aging process at any age. Remember that Dr. Ann Wigmore had reversed her gray hair through nutrition and exercise in her 60s and had her natural hair colour back in her 70s (read more about her story here).

Although we talk about reducing the outward signs of age every week, it really is your spirit that matters. Being happy and maintaining a youthful optimism bodes far better for external beauty than anything else.

Berries Prevent Sun-Induced Wrinkles

We know you.

You love the golden look of a natural tan, but hate the fact that it makes your skin wrinkle. It’s scary how you can see the aging immediately after spending an extended period in the sun, unprotected.

We posted earlier on about how tocotrienols (i.e. raw coconut oil) can help to prevent sun damage when ingested or applied topically at night.

Now, new research coming from Koren and American researchers found that myricetin, a major flavonoid found in berries, grapes, tea, red wine, fruits, vegetables, and walnuts, inhibited UVB-induced wrinkle formation in the skin of mice.

What’s really interesting is that myricetin was shown to interfere with the chemical reaction that takes place when UVB interacts with skin to form wrinkles. The flavonoid literally nips skin aging in the bud:

There’s also evidence that myricetin is one of the flavonoids which helps to fight cancer cells.

These foods all have a high source of myricetin:

• onion leaves
• papayas
• guavas
• raspberries
• cranberries
• black currants
• crowberries
• blueberries
• bilberries
• fresh fava beans

Ingrid’s got a great recipe for a berry tartlet here. Enjoy!

By the way – our Hot Yoga Retreat in April is filling up quickly. Grab one of the last spots before prices go up April 1st!

Sources:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf9811065

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11410016

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf00024a011

How “Glycation” Causes Wrinkles

A large reason why we obtain wrinkles is as a result of glycation, a side-effect of cooking food, says Dr Laurence Anderson of the Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australia.

Glycation is the result of a sugar molecule bonding to a protein or lipid molecule without the controlling action of an enzyme.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens MD also reports that glycation is a hazardous thing for our bodies: it gets in the way of our vital organs functioning, damages internal tissues, and impairs proteins from doing their job inside our bodies.

Most people are unaware that we ingest tens of thousands of glycated molecules through all food that has been processed.

The more pure, whole, unadulterated food you can eat, the more you can prevent A.G.E.s from creating new wrinkles in your skin:

• Raw fruits & vegetables: negligible amounts of A.G.E.s
• Steamed veggies: 10 to 100 A.G.E.s
• Any food that comes in a box or package: 1000s of A.G.E.s
• Dairy or meat: 10,000s of A.G.E.s
• Traditional thanksgiving dinner: 100,000s of A.G.E.s(Source)

The Journal of the American Diabetic Association advises that it’s better to eat things raw, steamed, boiled or lightly roasted – once it’s going past 100°F through broiling and frying, the A.G.Es quickly pile up.

We’re hosting a live-food detox retreat with Marni Wasserman, CNP, on the weekend of May 14 to 16, 2010 – all foods will have virtually no A.G.E.s, and the exercise and spa treatments we chose actually help to naturally create new collagen in the skin. Learn more here.

Cruda: Toronto’s Newest Raw Restaurant

We’re very excited about welcoming Cruda Café to the Toronto raw food community!

Cruda Café is a raw food restaurant which is currently under construction in the basement of the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, at the intersection of Front and Jarvis.

We stumbled upon it recently, as the House of Verona Toronto office is right next door.

When they open, they’ll serve vegan, organic living foods for eat-in or take-out in biodegradable containers.

The GTA now supports 5 raw restaurants – staggering growth, consider we had only 1 from 2000 to 2008.

The number of restaurants is a telling metric of the nature of the health community in Toronto, and the growth rate of the raw trend.

In comparison, Montreal has 1, New York has 7, and the L.A. area has 20 and counting.

Welcome, Cruda!

Add this to your bath & get young

It has been shown that adding chlorophyll to baths can increase your red blood cell count.

Dr. Bernard Jensen from San Marcos, California, had patients soak in a chlorophyll-water bath, and measured their blood values before and after.

He found that their red blood cell counts doubled within only a few days of treatment.

Patients were able to build their blood even more quickly when they drank green juices and wheatgrass in addition to taking chlorophyll baths.

To learn more about how chlorophyll can rebuild blood, see our article entitled, “How Chlorophyll Rebuilds Blood Cells.”

Why is it important to have healthy blood?

• Dr Oz reminds us that we’re only as young as our blood & arteries: our “real age” can be determined by looking at our blood.
• Iron-rich blood brings oxygen to cells, which enhances youth and mental health.
• Blood carries nutrients to cells – without nutrients, our bodies age more rapidly.
• Healthy blood flow can be a wonderful thing for men who are sexually active – we won’t say it explicitly, but which male organ do you think can become larger from having more, stronger blood flow?

What’s the best way to add chlorophyll to baths?

The fresher the chlorophyll, the better your results will be.

The following methods are listed in order of effectiveness – the first being the most effective.

• Add a couple shots of freshly juiced wheatgrass (juiced within the hour)
• Add 1-2 cups of freshly juiced or blended leafy greens (kale, chard, etc) with water
• Add 1 cube of frozen wheatgrass
• Add 1 tablespoon of raw, unpasteurized wheatgrass or chlorophyll powder
• Add 1 tablespoon of raw, unprocessed, liquid chlorophyll

Source: The Wheatgrass Book by Dr Ann Wigmore.

Fight Wrinkles with Chocolate

A Japanese study published in the Journal of Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine found that the topical application of xanthine extracts onto skin suppressed wrinkle formation in hairless mice, after exposure to UV rays.

Xanthine is a chemical compound found in the following food sources:

• Cacao beans
• Tea leaves
• Coffee beans
• Yerba maté

We recommend 3 ways that you can mimic this effect with your own skin:

1. Cacao mask

Throw the following items into your blender, grinder, or food processor:

• Raw cacao beans
• Raw coffee beans, if you can find them (green, not brown).
• Whole leaf black tea
• Raw yerba maté powder
• Drop of vanilla to scent

In a mixing bowl, mix the resulting powder with 1 spoon of a natural emulsifier. Here are some options, depending on what you have in your pantry:

• Cold-pressed coconut oil or coconut butter
• Raw honey
• Raw shea butter
• Any natural lotion you own – the more natural, the better, as unnatural lotions actually contribute to wrinkles.

Apply onto areas of your skin that you’d like to protect from wrinkles. Leave on for 20 minutes and rinse. Ideally, you’d do this immediately before sun exposure.

2. Cacao bath bomb

In a blender, grinder, or food processor, add the following items:

• Raw cacao beans
• Raw coffee beans, if you can find them (green, not brown).
• Whole leaf black tea
• Raw yerba maté powder
• Drop of vanilla to scent

Add this mixture to your next bath and soak for 15 minutes. Rinse off with a cool shower.

3. Anti-wrinkle cocktail

In a blender, add the following items:

• Raw cacao beans – the taste is over-powering, so start off with 1 bean and add more as needed.
• Spring water
• Organic spinach
• Organic apples
• Drop of stevia
• Drop of vanilla

Be careful not to add other natural sweeteners to this cocktail, as sugar – any sugar, even in the form of honey, agave, or maple syrup – will definitely contribute to wrinkles.

Source:

Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine. 23(2-3):86-94, April/June 2007.
Mitani, Hiroaki; Ryu, Akemi; Suzuki, Tadashi; Yamashita, Mika; Arakane, Kumi; Koide, Chiharu

Living to 1,000 years

A brilliant researcher from Cambridge University named Aubrey de Grey shocked the crowd at the TED conference in California when he proposed that it is possible and within reach for humans to live until 1,000 years old.

He narrows down bodily damage, and thus aging, to “7 deadly things”:

1.    cell death / atrophy
2.    death-resistant cells
3.    nuclear mutations
4.    mtDNA (mitochondrial) mutations
5.    protein crosslinks
6.    junk inside cells
7.    junk outside cells

He purports that all of these things can be easily managed by therapies that are within are grasp within the next decade.

They’ve already been able to slow and reverse the 7 things in mice, and although a zoologist would avoid gratuitously extrapolating findings to humans, de Grey argues that it’s a promising start.

As a raw vegan watching his presentation, I saw absolute beauty in this talk, simply because our community already understands that many of the 7 things are mitigated through a raw food lifestyle.

• We’re less likely to have protein crosslinks (#5) because we consume few A.G.E.s (advanced glycated end-products), which are cross-linked proteins with sugars as a result of cooking. A.G.E.s are responsible for tissue damage, wrinkles, age spots, and much more. To give you an idea, a raw orange has 1 A.G.E., while a sausage cooked for 5 minutes has 10,000 A.G.E.s.
• Also, we’ll experience less mutations in our cells because we do not consume items that cause mutations, such as foods that have been microwaved, or MSG, which is a natural by-product of cooked soy (Source: Dr Gabriel Cousens MD).

Exercise Increases Collagen; Ibuprofen Inhibits This Effect

Several new studies examining long-distance runners’ habits of popping non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAIDs, which include ibuprofen) are finding that the practice is preventing the growth of new collagen, and thus inhibiting their ability to rebuild new tissue.

Professor Stuart Warden, Director of Physical Therapy Research at Indiana University, informed the New York Times last week that “the stresses of exercise activate a particular molecular pathway that increases collagen,” which leads to stronger connective tissues in the dermis, and thus, fewer wrinkles and younger-looking skin.

However, taking ibuprofen reduces the positive effects of exercise on collagen.

“NSAIDs work by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins, substances that are involved in pain and also in the creation of collagen,” Warden says. “Collagen is the building block of most tissues. So fewer prostaglandins mean less collagen, which inhibits the healing of tissue and bone injuries.”

The studies were meant to scrutinize the common practice of marathon runners taking ibuprofen in order to reduce muscle soreness and pain after a run, and found that in fact, it can actually increase soreness and pain.

Professor Warden advises that the only time anti-inflammatory painkillers are justified is “when you have inflammation and pain from an acute injury. But to take them before every workout or match is a mistake.”

Photo by Marc Philbert.