The Botany of Desire October 28th on PBS

Michael Pollan is the author of The Botany of Desire, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, which was named one of the 10 best books of 2006 by The New York Times and The Washington Post. It won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, and the James Beard Award for Best Food Writing and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Pollan is also the author of A Place of My Own and Second Nature.

A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for Best Magazine Series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing, Best American Essays and The Norton Book of Nature Writing. Pollan served for many years as executive editor of Harper's Magazine and is now the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.





These books are available at www.CrimsonMoon.com

How many Colors are you eating?

With so many diets out there, it's no wonder that we are confused about what to eat. It is being said that on an average we may eat only around 3 colors of fruits and vegetables a day and that is on the high side. The average American diet consist of really one main color white and its variant side kick, beige. Isn't funny that that is the main color we eat as well as those are the 2 most popular colors that interior designers are touting as the "in" colors that most are living in and around these days.

Funny enough, as I am writing this and researching online, what comes up but a link to CBS, with a series called "What Color is Your Diet?" Here is a brief introduction on eating by color per David Heber, MD, PhD. from his book called "What Color is your Diet?"

Heber groups produce into seven color categories:

Red Group
(tomatoes, can of V8 juice, pink grapefruit, watermelon)
These contain the carotenoid lycopene, which helps rid the body of free radicals that damage genes. Lycopene seems to protect against prostate cancer as well as heart and lung disease. Processed juices contain a lot of the beneficial ingredients. One glass of tomato juice gives you 50 percent of the recommended lycopene.

Yellow/Green Group
(spinach greens, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, yellow corn, green peas, avocado, honeydew melon)
These are sources of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. These are believed to reduce the risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Lutein is a yellow-green substance that concentrates in the back of your eye. It may also reduce atherosclerosis.

Orange Group
(carrots, mangos, apricots, cantaloupes, pumpkin, acorn squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes)
These contain alpha carotene, which protects against cancer. They also contain beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A.

It protects the skin against free-radical damage and helps repair damaged DNA. Beta-carotene is also good for night vision. It's important to note that these beneficial nutrients can be received from other foods, too. For instance vitamin is found in dairy products and meat. But it's not as beneficial because you get high calories and fat along with it.

Orange/Yellow Group
(pineapple, orange juice, oranges, tangerines, peaches, papayas, nectarines)
These contain beta cryptothanxin, which helps cells in the body communicate and may help prevent heart disease. Also, an orange contains 170 percent of the recommended daily vitamin C. It's interesting to note that the skin of an orange is high in a protective fat that has been found to kill cancer cells in humans and animals, which highlights the fact that two-thirds of all drugs come from the plant world.

Red/Purple Group
(beets, eggplant, purple grapes, red wine, grape juice, prunes, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red apples)
These are loaded with powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins believed to protect against heart disease by preventing blood clots. They may also delay the aging of cells in the body. There is some evidence they may help delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Green Group
(broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage or bok choi, kale)
These contain the chemicals sulforaphane and isocyanate and they also contain indoles, all of which help ward off cancer by inhibiting carcinogens. It's a fact that ten percent of the population - like George Bush Sr. - doesn't like broccoli. But it is important in diets because of the beneficial chemicals it contains.

White/Green Group
(leeks, scallions, garlic, onions, celery, pears, white wine, endive, chives)
The onion family contains allicin, which has antitumor properties. Other foods in this group contain antioxidant flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol.

Here is a link to this article to read more. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/19/earlyshow/health/main515724.shtml
It breaks down all the health benefits per color and really gets you started eating a Full Spectrum Diet.

When we eat many colors, we are getting all the mineral and vitamins as well as the full spectrum of color. The Sun being the oldest form of color therapy and it contains the all the colors in its rays, and the sun helps the plants mature and bear the fruit, we are also able to nourish ourselves with color energy for the mind, body and soul.

As Andrew Pacholyk states: Medical researchers continue to find elements in fruits and vegetables that strengthen our immune system, impede the development of degenerative disease like cancer and heart disease, and contribute to good health in many other ways.

From Natures Paint Box: RED

The Power of Red

Tart cherries contain powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins- which provide the distinctive red color and may hold the key to the benefits locked inside (chandra 1992, Wang 1997, 1999). Studies suggest that these disease-fighting pigments possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and anti-carcinogenic properties (Blando 2004). Tart cherries are one of the richest sources of anthocyanins.

Cherries are amazing little RED fruits that pack a punch! Just looking at the research coming through the pipes of the Internet, we read many of the health benefits that they have to offer, such as;

Cherries are one of the few known food sources of melatonin, a potent antioxidant produced naturally by the body's pineal gland that helps regulate biorhythm and natural sleep patterns. Scientists have found melatonin-rich tart cherries (commonly enjoyed as dried, frozen, juice or concentrate) contain more of this powerful antioxidant than what is normally produced by the body. Eating cherries can be a natural way to boost your body's melatonin levels to hasten sleep and ease jet lag.

According to Russel J. Reiter, PhD, a nutrition researcher at the University of Texas Health and Science Center and one of the worlds leading authorities on melatonin, try eating dried cherries one hour before desired sleep time on the plane. After arrival, consume cherries one hour before desired sleep each night for at least three consecutive evenings.

Michigan State University has been researching the benefits of cherries and they have found that they are known to reduce the pain of arthritis, gout and headaches. The anthocyanins and antioxidants in cherries are amazing. It may not be a cure - but it certainly does relieve pain. The red pigments in cherries contain natural anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are anti-inflammatory pain relievers 10 times stronger than aspirin or ibuprofen. They help shut down the enzymes that cause tissue inflammation in the first place.


Tart cherries have also been found to aid

kidney stones
gallbladder ailments
tooth decay
preventing varicose veins
reducing cholesterol
reducing the risk of heart attack
helping with sleep
reducing the risk of cancer
reducing inflammation
reducing headaches

There is also evidence that cherries are so powerful they may reduce the risk of cancer by fifty percent. "Preliminary research is showing they contain unique plant chemicals that can prevent and treat many of today's worst health problems," says University of Iowa biochemist Raymond Hohl, M.D., at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. "It appears that cherries shut down the growth of cancer cells by depriving them of the proteins they need to grow," explains Dr. Hohl.

Antioxidants found in Tart Cherries

The same chemicals that give tart cherries their color may relieve pain better than aspirin and ibuprofen. Cherries may provide antioxidant protection comparable to commercially available supplements, such as vitamin E and vitamin C.
Eating about 20 tart cherries per day could reduce inflammatory pain and benefit the consumer with antioxidant protection. Twenty tart cherries contain 12 to 25 milligrams of active antioxidant compounds Date posted: 2/1/1999. Source: American Chemical Society .

~Painting your Plate Red~
Choose a cherry muffin over a blueberry, add them to your tossed salad, for breakfast add them to your oatmeal or yogurt, they work wonderfully with rice or pasta dishes, I put them in my chicken salad (white chicken meat, celery, walnuts, and dried cherries! WOW), or eat them straight out of the bag (dried or fresh, it's your call here!)

Get out and get your cherries! There are easy ways to incorporate cherries into your diet, whether you drinking on the run (grab the 100% cherry juice), taking the supplement, or adding the berries to your food, it can't get easier and the benefits are numerous!

There is even a Cherry Festival
http://www.cherryfestival.org/cherries/health.php

And, for more great info and news on cherries check out http://www.choosecherries.com/
Top picture: http://www.idletype.com/index.php/image/bowlofcherries/

So, whether you are into Wild, Tart or Sweet cherries,get Inspi(red),
these little RED Fruits have a lot to offer!

Musing through Yellow

I knew banana's were good, were a complete food per Dr. Mindell, but there is more good news! They are also wonderful for High Blood Pressure, who knew? Loaded with a hefty dose of potassium, which is best known as a blood pressure regulator. Many cardiologists believe that High Blood Pressure is caused as much by low potassium as by high sodium. According to Eva Obarzanek of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, "High Blood Pressure is not an inherent part of aging," aren't we all happy to hear this! Unfortunately, the western diet that consist of processed food, is stripped of the potassium that we need. Two hundred years ago, the average person consumed eight times more potassium than sodium. Today, that ratio is one to four in the opposite direction (accoding to The Color Code: A Revolutionary Eating Plan for Optimum Health). No wonder hypertension is practically a national epidemic. Get your Yellow ON! eat more banana's!

Combining Color and Scent, well, just makes a lot of sense. Considering how the Sun has all the colors in the rays which feed the plants, that we use to feed and heal ourselves, we are then getting our color through the plants as well. When using Aromatherapy with Color Therapy look to the essential oils of bergamot, Birch, Cardamom, Celery, Coriander, Cajeput, Citronella, Cumin, Lemon, Lemongrass, Marigold, Grapefruit, Basil, Fennel, Vetivert, Cinnamon, Camphor (yellow), Angelica, Aniseed, Caraway, Cedarwood, Ginger, Oregano, to name a few. To find out more on this subject, there is a great book by Suzy Chiazzari, Colour Scents.
For Chakra Therapy and Yellow, we would look to the Solar Plexus Chakra / Navel Chakra / Manipura /10-leaf-lotus. When looking here we find that this Chakra is associated with our sense of self-esteem and self-worth. It is also a place where we tend to feel strongly the emotion of fear and intimidation. It is the area that governs the pancreas, adrenals, liver and stomach. The Bija Mantra for the Solar Plexus is Ram (pronounced RUM).

Chakra Tonic: ~~Papaya Pineapple Smoothie~~

Papaya is the "acknowledged universal healer" in the INDONESIAN healing tonic tradition of Jamu. The enzyme papain seems to be able to digest almost anything. It is found in the juice of the fruit and is highly concentrated in the leaves of the plant. Pineapple contains the enzyme bromelain, which is also an appetite suppressant.
1/2 pineapple cut into small pieces
1 small papaya or 1/4 to 1/2 large papaya cut into small pieces
1 cup apple juice or 1 cup purified water

Bonus super ingredients; 1 teaspoon probiotic formula, or small vial of Siberian ginseng for adrenal support.

Place ingredients in a blender and puree at high speed. Serve and enjoy this tropical cleansing/digestive smoothie.

For this and other tonics grab the book, Chakra Tonics: Essential Elixirs for the Mind, Body, and Spirit, Elise Marie Collins


Yellow is used for the nerves and brain; is a motor stimulant and a nerve builder. It has a stimulating, cleansing and eliminating action on the Liver, Intestines, and the Skin. As well, it purifies the blood stream and activates the Lymphatic system. To the ancients, yellow was the animating color for life; it suggests joy, gaiety, merriment. It is the color of the intellect, of perception rather than reason. (Color Therapy, R.Ambers)

This is just the beginning of my Musings through Yellow...

The Correlation between Light and Sleep Disorders

The University of Michigan Sleep Laboratory

JACKSON, MI – July 29, 2009 – In May of 2008, the University of Michigan opened its Sleep and Chronophysiology Laboratory, which is one of the world’s first laboratories devoted solely to research on how sleep and biological rhythms influence depression, substance abuse and other aspects of mental well-being. Research shows that light strongly affects a person’s sleep and circadian rhythm, so installing the right kind of light in the laboratory was crucial to its success. After meetings with many companies and designers, the University chose Full Spectrum Solutions to design and install its new lighting system for the laboratory.

To ensure the most accurate results, the bedrooms are structurally isolated from the main building using a suspension system. Full Spectrum Solutions designed the lighting control system using LabView Programming Software from National Instruments. In conjunction with UltraLux® T5 fluorescent high bay fixtures using a combination of BlueMax™ High Definition lamps yielding an amazing 96CRI at three different color temperatures of 3,500K, 5,900K, and 10,000K , researchers are able to vary the light to create any condition. “We worked closely with lighting scientist, Professor Mojtaba Navvab at the Enhanced Spectrum Laboratory at U of M and the doctors at the sleep lab to create a one of a kind lighting system,” said Michael Nevins, lighting engineer and CEO of Full Spectrum Solutions. “You can simulate almost any lighting condition you would like, even what it would be like on Mars.”

The light system can glow as bright as 20,000 Lux, a measurement equal to the brightest sunny day, and can be dimmed to just a red glow that doesn’t register in the brain in a way that affects melatonin (sleep hormone). “The program can be formatted to simulate lighting conditions in any time zone,” said Cal Nevins, control system engineer for the project. “For example, researchers can easily program the daylight structure to match Alaska’s so they can study the effect light, or the lack thereof, has on residents of Alaska.”

The center is set up so that a research volunteer can be entirely closed off from the outside world, for a couple of days or weeks, unable to tell what time of day it is. “What makes this lab unique is the ability to manipulate the light to create any condition,” said Professor Navvab. “After 72 hours, research participants have no true concept of time. They can only assume the time based off of the lighting levels at that time.”

The suites are specially equipped with banks of lights on the walls and ceiling that can be adjusted precisely by the center’s staff to simulate all times of day or night. This can allow a volunteer’s innate circadian rhythms — patterns of rest and activity in both body and mind — to be monitored or even altered temporarily. The facility can also be used for light therapy to combat problems such as depression.

“Already, we know that people with depression, seasonal affective disorders, anxiety disorders, alcoholism, and many more conditions suffer terrible disruptions to their sleep patterns, and that in turn, a lack of good-quality sleep worsens their conditions,” said Roseanne Armitage, a professor of psychiatry at the U-M Medical School, and director of the laboratory. “But there are so many unanswered questions about why this happens, how early in life it begins, and how it might be treated or prevented. This lab will help us do just that.”1

When asked how the lighting system is performing a year after the opening of the sleep center, Bob Hoffmann, Assistant Director of the lab reported, “I am pleased to say that it is a remarkable system. Light temperature and intensity are easily controlled and setting up a schedule for them is very simple with the LabView front end.”

Full Spectrum Solutions, Inc. supports lighting research through its affiliate memberships and partnerships with medical and scientific researchers. For more information, visit HUwww.fullspectrumsolutions.comUH, or email Lindsey Edwards at HUlindsey@fullspectrumsolutions.comUH

http://www.bignews.biz/?id=808230&pg=1&keys=lighting-sleep-depression-disorder

Humans Glow in Visible Light

By Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience
(July 22) - The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal.
Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.
(This visible light differs from the infrared radiation — an invisible form of light — that comes from body heat.)
To learn more about this faint visible light, scientists in Japan employed extraordinarily sensitive cameras capable of detecting single photons. Five healthy male volunteers in their 20s were placed bare-chested in front of the cameras in complete darkness in light-tight rooms for 20 minutes every three hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for three days.
The researchers found the body glow rose and fell over the day, with its lowest point at 10 a.m. and its peak at 4 p.m., dropping gradually after that. These findings suggest there is light emission linked to our body clocks, most likely due to how our metabolic rhythms fluctuate over the course of the day.
Faces glowed more than the rest of the body. This might be because faces are more tanned than the rest of the body, since they get more exposure to sunlight — the pigment behind skin color, melanin, has fluorescent components that could enhance the body's miniscule light production.A light-senstive camera shows a man's upper body, especially his face, emitting visible light in small quantities that vary during the day.


Since this faint light is linked with the body's metabolism, this finding suggests cameras that can spot the weak emissions could help spot medical conditions, said researcher Hitoshi Okamura, a circadian biologist at Kyoto University in Japan.
"If you can see the glimmer from the body's surface, you could see the whole body condition," said researcher Masaki Kobayashi, a biomedical photonics specialist at the Tohoku Institute of Technology in Sendai, Japan.
The scientists detailed their findings online July 16 in the journal PLoS ONE.
http://news.aol.com/article/humans-glow/584160?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl1|link6|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fhumans-glow%2F584160

Green Tea: A New Weapon Against Prostate Cancer?

Many medical “discoveries” have occurred quite by happenstance. For instance, consider the story of Green Tea which began some 5,000 years ago when, as Chinese legend has it, leaves from a nearby Camellia sinensis tree fell into an emperor’s boiling pot of water. The leaves turned the water a light-brown color and gave off a delightful aroma. The emperor, upon taking a sip, found it also had an excellent taste and proclaimed it as “heaven sent.” Since then, the delectable brew has been considered a health-promoting beverage in China; used to treat everything from headaches to depression.

Today, a wealth of studies has provided hard evidence for its positive effects on health. Drinking green tea is reputed to promote heart health, lower high cholesterol levels, lessen free radical damage to cells, fight obesity, inhibit the abnormal formation of blood clots, and slow the progression of age-related cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers now say that certain compounds in green tea may actually slow the progression of prostate cancer, a disease that kills more men each year in the United States than any cancer other than lung cancer.

Previous studies have shown that green tea may be linked to a reduced incidence of prostate cancer, and its polyphenols have been regarded as a potential cancer therapy. But last year, the FDA announced that the evidence for green tea benefits was inconclusive, because people consume relatively small quantities. So, Dr. James Cardelli, and his colleagues at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, carried out a clinical trial to determine the effects of short-term supplementation with increased amounts of the active compounds in green tea on the progression of prostate cancer.

The small study consisted of 26 men between 41 and 68 years of age who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and were scheduled for radical prostatectomy. The men were put on a daily dose of four capsules containing a total of 1.3 grams of polyphenon E, equivalent to about 12 cups of normally brewed concentrated green tea, for 12 to 73 days (with an average time of 34.5 days), until the day before surgery. Blood tests showed a significant reduction in serum levels of three biomarkers associated with the growth and spread of prostate cancer: hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and prostate specific antigen (PSA).

On an average, HGF decreased 18.9 percent, VEGF decreased by 9.9 percent and PSA dropped by 10.4 percent. Some patients demonstrated reductions of more than 30 percent. The researchers said that in vitro, EGCG (the main catechin in polyphenon E) swiftly blocked the production of HGF, and the block “seems to be at the level of transcription.” EGCG also blocked the production of VEGF, which plays a critical role in the angiogenic process in cancer-associated fibroblasts, they noted. Age, race, and time on the drug did not have a significant effect on the changes in serum biomarkers.

Previous studies have suggested that high levels of EGCG may have adverse effects on liver function, but in this study the liver function of the patients remained normal. “Our results show a significant reduction in serum levels of PSA, HGF, and VEGF in men with prostate cancer after brief treatment with EGCG (Polyphenon E), with no elevation of liver enzymes. These findings support a potential role for Polyphenon E in the treatment or prevention of prostate cancer,” the researchers concluded.

Dr. Cardelli admits that the study is still in an early stage and that the findings need to be verified by larger, placebo-controlled trials. “Green tea can keep cancer from growing very fast, but it may not be able to shrink tumors,” he said. “But it can be a good addition to traditional therapies, like chemotherapy or radiation.”

“We think that the use of tea polyphenols alone or in combination with other compounds currently used for cancer therapy should be explored as an approach to prevent cancer progression and recurrence," Dr. Cardelli said. “There is reasonably good evidence that many cancers are preventable, and our studies using plant-derived substances support the idea that plant compounds found in a healthy diet can play a role in preventing cancer development and progression.”

John Neate, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity, says though there have been a number of studies into the potential benefits of green tea, there is no conclusive evidence. “The results of this study do suggest that there is merit in further research into the effects of extracts of green tea, both in relation to its impact on the prevention of prostate cancer and in controlling progression in men already diagnosed with the disease, as was investigated in this instance,” he said. “These initial positive findings could indicate that green tea could have a place in ‘active surveillance’, where a slow-growing, low risk tumor is monitored for changes and men want to take something which could help keep progression at bay.”

“Potentially, this could mean completely avoiding, in some cases, any of the more usual medical interventions and their associated side effects,” Neate said.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American men. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 192,280 men and will kill 27,360 in 2009. Men over 50 are urged to get tested for the disease annually, however very few do, putting them at risk of being diagnosed at a later stage rather than earlier in the cancer process.

The study is published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.
By: Madeline Ellis
Published: Monday, 22 June 2009
http://www.healthnews.com/natural-health/green-tea-a-new-weapon-against-prostate-cancer-3339.html

Color can be a prescription for stress relief and body balance

More Health News 03:25 PM Mountain Standard Time on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Brandy Aguilar, Special Projects Producer
9 p.m. Extra: Color Therapy

“There's the outside stress which is something I can't control and with the economy and I'm in real estate and there are things I just have to deal with,” admits Kerri Shearer.

She feels like a lot of people these days...stressed out. To help her wind down she turned to Naturopathic Dr. Donese Worden. Shearer says, “I was completely open to it and it didn't scare me. I thought it was actually interesting.”

She is hoping color can conquer her stress. Dr. Worden explains, “Our cells communicate to each other through light frequency. We are literally beings of light and that's how our cells and blood, everything we’re made of, communicates so it makes sense we put in different frequencies and, in this case color, it makes a big difference physiologically to the patient.”

Color therapy can be used to balance energy in areas of our bodies that are lacking vibrance, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual or mental. Dr. Worden says, “We’re just giving the body the energy it needs to fix itself. If they have depression, we will use orange or red and give them energy and pull them out. If they’re stressed out we don't want to use red. We use blue or green.”

Dr. Worden says blue and green are supposed to give off a relaxing effect. She explains, “The most powerful chemical we've got, even beyond drugs, are what are own brain makes so if we’re ready and receptive for this type of therapy we'll get a better effect then if we have resistance.”

Other tools that can be used in conjunction with color therapy are aromatherapy, lasers, and acupuncture.” Dr. Worden says, “Most people in their first session within just a matter of minutes are feeling it. They can notice it, they feel it and it's not something that takes long periods of time to change the body.”

As for Shearer, she says her stressful days are long gone. “It felt good because I felt like I was on this little journey, emotionally, but physically I know it was helping as well.”

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/Phoenix-health-news-021809-color-therapy-9pm-extra.2bc45212.html