The Cancer-Causing Mistake 1 in 4 People Over 45 Make

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/07/statin-increases-risk-of-prostate-cancer.aspx?e_cid=20111207_DNL_art_1

Statins, drugs that lower your cholesterol levels, are one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world.
In the US, a staggering one in four over the age of 45 is now taking this unnecessary drug!
Statins act by blocking a crucial enzyme in your liver responsible for making cholesterol.
But that's not all this enzyme is responsible for.
This enzyme also makes CoQ10, which is essential for mitochondrial health.
Perhaps it's not so surprising then that many potentially dangerous side effects go hand-in-hand with statin drug use.
To date, there are no less than 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to diabetes, to birth defects and increased cancer risk.

Statins May Increase Prostate Cancer Risk

One recent study sought to determine whether the use of statin drugs was associated with prostate cancer risk.
The researchers looked at close to 400 prostate cancer patients who had a first-time diagnosis during the period between 2005 and 2008.
They found that use of any statin drug, in any amount, was associated with a significantly increased risk for prostate cancer.
In addition, there was an increasing risk that came along with an increasing cumulative dose.
According to the study:

"The results of this case-control study suggest that statins may increase the risk of prostate cancer."

Statins Have Been Linked to Increased Cancer Risk for More Than a Decade

While the evidence still appears a bit all over the map, with study results ranging from increased cancer risk to reduced risk, to no noticeable risk at all, what IS clear is that conventional medicine still does not understand the full ramifications of artificially lowering your cholesterol levels, and they simply don't know whether or not the use of these drugs may be adding fuel to an already out of control cancer epidemic.
In short, with well over 30 million Americans now taking statin drugs, we're witnessing a massive ongoing 'live' experiment.
Over 10 years ago, research indicated that besides lowering cholesterol, statins could also promote the growth of new blood vessels. And, although this effect may help to prevent heart attacks and other forms of heart disease, it may also promote cancer as well by increasing the growth of blood vessels in cancerous tumors. Meanwhile, other studies have indicated the complete opposite; that statins can inhibit angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels), so again, it's virtually impossible to say that statin safety and effectiveness is based on hard science...
But the statin-cancer connection actually goes much farther back than that. A review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1996 stated:

"All members of the two most popular classes of lipid-lowering drugs (the fibrates and the statins) cause cancer in rodents, in some cases at levels of animal exposure close to those prescribed to humans. ...
Longer-term clinical trials and careful postmarketing surveillance during the next several decades are needed to determine whether cholesterol-lowering drugs cause cancer in humans.
In the meantime, the results of experiments in animals and humans suggest that lipid-lowering drug treatment, especially with the fibrates and statins, should be avoided except in patients at high short-term risk of coronary heart disease."

Cholesterol Guidelines are a Health Disaster

Needless to say, such warnings were completely ignored. Instead, public health officials have gone the opposite way, happily following the trail littered with the most cash.
Over the past decade, cholesterol guidelines have been altered to create ever more 'patients' to be treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs. In 2004, the U.S. government's National Cholesterol Education Program panel advised those at risk for heart disease to attempt to reduce their LDL (bad) cholesterol to extremely low levels, and it's been a health disaster ever since.

Before 2004, a 130-milligram LDL cholesterol level was considered healthy. The updated guidelines, however, recommended levels of less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk. These updated guidelines instantly increased the market for cholesterol-lowering drugs. The marked has further increased with the call to begin screening children prior to puberty, and prescribing statins to kids as young as eight.
Not surprisingly, eight of the nine doctors on the approval panel for these absurdly low guidelines had financial ties to the companies making these cholesterol-lowering drugs.

FDA Doesn't "Believe" in Statin-Cancer Link

Back in 2008, troubling study findings were released showing a dramatically increased risk of cancer related deaths in those taking Inegy (also sold under the trade name Vytorin). The drug combines the widely-used statin drug simvastatin with another medication called ezetimibe, which blocks the absorption of cholesterol in your gut. The study also found no benefit whatsoever from the drug.
This despite the fact that it reduced LDL cholesterol levels by a respectable 61 percent, which "should have" had an effect on cardiovascular events, based on the prevailing hypothesis that high LDL equates to high risk of heart disease. So, in a nutshell, the drug had no beneficial impact on the primary outcome (meaning it did not reduce major cardiovascular adverse events), while more people developed cancer on the treatment (105 versus 70 patients taking a placebo), and more cancer related deaths (39 cancer deaths versus 23 in the control group).
A couple of months after the results were revealed, a panel assembled by the American Academy of Cardiology declared that:

"... the aggressively marketed drug combination should be used only as a last resort. There is currently no evidence that ezetimibe, which reduces levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, improves clinical outcomes such as myocardial infarction or death."

In December 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the completion of their review of the disturbing SEAS trial (above), as well as interim data from two other large-scale ongoing cardiovascular trials using Vytorin: the SHARP and IMPROVE-IT trials. (The SHARP trial was concluded in 2010, while the IMPROVE-IT trial is expected to be completed in 2012.)
Their conclusion?

"FDA believes it is unlikely that Vytorin or Zetia increase the risk of cancer or cancer-related death."

I don't know how much faith you have in the FDA's beliefs, but mine is on pretty shaky ground... The FDA goes on to list a number of factors that were weighed to reach the conclusion that they believe cancer is unrelated to the drugs. You can review them for yourself here, and see if you would concur with their assessment.

Statins May Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease

Ironically, while reducing your risk of cardiovascular events and heart disease is the primary motivation for prescribing statins, these drugs can actually increase your risk of heart disease because they deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which can lead to heart failure. Statins have also been linked to:

Weakness	Serious degenerative muscle tissue condition (rhabdomyolysis)	Pancreas or liver dysfunction, including a potential increase in liver enzymes
Muscle problems, aches and pains	Diabetes	Polyneuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet)
Immune system suppression	Increased risk of food borne illness	Anemia
Sexual dysfunction (erectile dysfunction)	Cataracts	Cognitive impairment, including memory loss and transient global amnesia

The Importance of CoQ10 or, if You're Over 40, Ubiquinol

As mentioned in the beginning, statin drugs also block the production of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and that in and of itself poses a very serious health risk. As your body gets more and more depleted of CoQ10, you may suffer from fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and eventually heart failure. Coenzyme Q10 plays a vital role in the process of neutralizing free radicals and the optimal production of cellular energy.
Unfortunately, the majority of people who take statins are unaware of their need for CoQ10, and physicians rarely advise their patients to take this supplement along with their statin—at least in the United States. It's also important to supplement right from the start, to ward off irreversible mitochondrial damage.
Make no mistake about it, if you're on a statin drug, you simply must take a CoQ10 supplement. If you're over the age of 40, I strongly recommend using the reduced version, called ubiquinol. Ubiquinol is a far more effective form—I personally take it every day as it has far-ranging health benefits. There's evidence that CoQ10/ubiquinol is beneficial for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and even cancer, as well as staving off premature aging in general by preventing telomere shortening, which can slow or potentially even reverse the aging process.
Unlike prescription drugs that kill over 125,000 people every year in the U.S. alone, there are no reported side effects of CoQ10 supplementation and no one has ever died from taking it.

What Drug Companies Don't Want You to Know About LDL

While statins drugs are very effective for lowering so-called "bad" cholesterol, the low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, it's important to realize that there are different sizes of LDL cholesterol particles, and it's the LDL particle size that is relevant, as small particles get stuck easily and causes more inflammation. Unfortunately, most people don't hear about that part, and very rarely, if ever, get it tested.
Naturally, the drug companies really don't want you to know about this, because statins do not modulate the size of the particles.
The only way to make sure your LDL particles are large enough to not get stuck and cause inflammation and damage is through your diet. In fact, modulating LDL particle size is one of the things that insulin does. If you eat properly and maintain normal insulin levels, then everything works as it should—the LDL particles are large and buoyant; they don't get stuck, and don't cause inflammation.
So rather than worry about your cholesterol numbers, you really want to work on reducing inflammation, which can be caused by numerous things, including:

• Oxidized cholesterol (cholesterol that has gone rancid, such as that from overcooked, scrambled eggs)
• Eating lots of sugar and grains
• Eating foods cooked at high temperatures
• Eating trans fats
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking
• Emotional stress

When you get to the bottom of it, the real "villain" of heart disease is typically an unhealthy lifestyle, characterized by a heavy reliance on sugars and grains, processed, highly cooked foods, and insufficient amounts of exercise – not "high cholesterol" per se.
For more information about cholesterol and how to properly evaluate your heart disease risk, please see my detailed special report on cholesterol.

Resolve to be Healthy

http://www.successmagazine.com/drs-oz-roisen-resolve-to-be-healthy/PARAMS/article/1632/channel/22

Drs. Oz & Roizen: Resolve to Be Healthy

And stay that way past February. 

This month we answer questions you sent us about New Year’s resolutions—here’s our take on what resolutions to make and how to make them stick. 

Q: I make the same resolution every year—to lose 20 pounds—and it never lasts longer than the month of January. Then by February, I’m even heavier than when I started. What am I doing wrong?
A: The first resolution should be to give yourself respect. You can do this by accomplishing a small task every day—no excuses. Let’s set the goal of walking 10,000 steps a day and calling or emailing a buddy and telling them you did it. This is a wonderful goal because it helps you get healthy in many ways, and when you do it, you establish respect for yourself. If sometime in February you fail, just make a YOU turn—you know, the kind the GPS in your car tells you to make at the next available moment. Just make the YOU turn, start again and establish respect for yourself again.

Q: I’ve joined a gym that I’m still paying for but don’t use. I just can’t seem to motivate myself to go after work. How can I get myself to exercise?
A: There are a couple of ways we like to overcome what we call “excuse inertia.”
1. Set aside a time that you and a buddy will both show up at the gym. That way, if you don’t show up you are disappointing your buddy—and you wouldn’t do that, would you?
2. Make a bet! Make like you’re in Vegas and bet money on how many times a week you work out. Yep, bet on yourself. You’re more likely to hit your goals if cash is on the line. There’s even evidence of this. Dieters who were offered a cash incentive lost 13 to 14 pounds over 16 weeks; dieters who got zilch lost only 3 pounds.
3. Not ready to lay down your hard-earned cash? No problem! Pick a reward you like better than cash (not food!). Indulge yourself in whatever it is. (Maybe a day of doing absolutely nothing but going to the gym.) Then, reinforce your rewards with these other big-loser tips.
4. Set clear goals like, “Use the elliptical 30 minutes every day.” Reward yourself with a high-tech pedometer. It makes counting steps and miles fun.
5. Write it down. Keeping a journal to track exercise helps you stay on track and gives you incentive as the days add up.

Q: I made a resolution to eat better at work—no more donuts or cake on company birthdays. But I still need to eat lunch out with co-workers and clients from time to time. What can I do to eat healthy at restaurants?
A: Before you go, eat something like a handful of walnuts—we don’t want you to arrive starving! Eat a little healthy fat, like those six walnut halves, before a meal. The healthy fat in walnuts triggers a chain reaction that slows the rate at which your stomach empties, so you’ll feel fuller faster. But the chain reaction takes 30 minutes, so plan for it.
When you get to the restaurant, making healthy choices all comes down to what happens in the first and last 10 minutes of a meal.
The First 10 Minutes
> Raise a glass—of water. This can fill you up, so you don’t overeat. Drink one glass for every 15 minutes you are at the table—bathroom time doesn’t count.
> Ask for cut-up veggies instead of bread. Most quality restaurants (including inexpensive ones) provide this option. We’ve only had to leave one restaurant after a glass of wine without ordering anything else because they couldn’t figure how to cut up some veggies for us—any restaurant that won’t do this doesn’t deserve our patronage, let alone bucks.
> Order oil and vinegar on the side, and request the bottles. Go heavy on the vinegar. Relying on the kitchen to dress your salad can deliver as many as 480 extra calories!
The Last 10 Minutes
> Share. Get one dessert for every four or five people, and eat just a few bites. If there are just two of you, take half of the dessert home and freeze it for a special occasion.
> Savor your wine. Ending a meal with a glass of wine lets you avoid the longing for sweets and the calorie-bomb that comes with them.

Q: If I could make just one New Year’s resolution and really stick to it, what do you think it should it be?
A: Get 7 ½ to 8 hours of sleep a night. Yup, that’s what we are missing, and you know you want it. You need it. You crave it. You ignore buzzing alarms for it. You put pillows over your head to get three more minutes of it. You love it.
The truth is that getting quality sleep is as important to your health, ability to perform and happiness as just about anything else.
So how do you get more? Sleep management is really about time management. So plan for it; count back 8 to 8 ½ hours before the alarm clock needs to ring, and spend 10 minutes on absolute musts for the next day (making your kid’s lunch), take 10 minutes for meditation and 10 for hygiene… then go to bed.

Some other ways to help:
> Create the perfect sleeping environment. A cool, dark room is best.
> There should be no laptop, no TV, no food in bed. Ideally, the bed is used for sleep and sex; it’s not an office or a restaurant.
> Be consistent. Your body clock loves it when you follow a predictable schedule. Even on the weekends, try to rise within an hour (at most, two) of when you have to get up on weekdays, even if that means you need a power nap later. Otherwise, your body thinks you have jet lag on Monday morning and will protest big-time!
> Other interrupters of quality sleep are caffeine, which keeps you from falling asleep as well as staying asleep, and alcohol, interrupting your sleep cycle and contributing to the “hangover” that many experience.

The One and Only Dreidel Disco Ball - 12/24/11

http://www.facebook.com/events/201447359937497/

Instead of looking forward to just eating Chinese food on 12/25, come party with the rest of the TRIBE at the most funkiest, Jewiest, Disco Chanukah Event in the tri-state area.
In the enclosed, indoor ROOFTOP, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean!
DJ Jeff Nec will be spinning the DISCO and the dreidels!
Guaranteed NO Hava Nagila!
Not machmir. Just chill and have a beer!
Possible Menorah Lighting by a REAL Rabbi with a long beard!
$10 Admission

Eat to Defeat Cancer!

Eat to Defeat Cancer!

You can Eat to Defeat Cancer

Welcome to the Eat to Defeat Cancer™ Initiative, which has catalyzed a movement to improve health through cancer-fighting foods. Based on the latest medical science, there are practical, healthy, and tasty food choices that can be made by you every day, at every meal, to incorporate cancer-fighting foods into your diet.

Our research is showing that certain foods have properties that can starve the microscopic cancers that develop in our bodies all the time. These properties are based on the breakthrough approach of suppressing blood vessels that feed cancers, a process known as angiogenesis.

The Dr. Burzynski Movie: There IS A Cure for Cancer!

The Dr. Burzynski Movie: There IS A Cure for Cancer!

Beware of "Big Soda's" Misleading Marketing Tricks!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/21/soda-linked-to-health-problems.aspx?e_cid=20111121_DNL_art_1

Drinking This "Popular Poison" is Worse than Smoking

Posted By Dr. Mercola | November 21 2011 | 181,029 views | Disponible en Español

Story at-a-glance

• The soda industry engages in many of the same marketing tactics as Big Tobacco, including forming “independent” front groups, funding research to discredit links to health problems, and making large donations to health organizations
• Soda is linked to numerous health problems among children and adults, including obesity, liver disease and even violent behavior; frequent soft drink consumption is associated with a 9-15% increase in aggressive behavior, according to new research
• Processed foods and junk foods are heavily marketed to kids and promoted to schools; manufacturers of sugar-laden processed foods pay “rebates” (aka “kickbacks”) to food service companies that serve school districts across the United States
• You can fight back against soda and junk-food giants by purchasing healthy, locally grown organic foods instead of processed foods and beverages

By Dr. Mercola

Soda, which is loaded with sugar primarily in the form of high fructose corn syrup, is a leading contributor to the rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases facing Americans.
So when I say that drinking a can of soda is just as bad for you as smoking a cigarette (and maybe even worse) it is not an exaggeration.
Drinking soda is in many ways worse for you than smoking, and it is only because of massive marketing campaigns from the industry that these sugary beverages are deemed acceptable for our most vulnerable members of society – our kids.
In the 21st century there would indeed be an uproar if tobacco companies attempted to target our kids, but the soda companies do it everyday.
It's time to wake up and face the facts: the soda industry is out for your children, and the message they send is every bit as damaging (and manipulative) as the one spewed by Big Tobacco.

Striking Similarities Between the Soda Industry and Big Tobacco

If I asked you to quickly recall a commercial or slogan from leading soda companies, like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, could you do it?
Chances are you'd have no trouble recalling the friendly polar bear commercials or "the real thing" logo, and if you asked your kids, they'd probably come up with a few too.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for how beverage big-wigs have gotten their products firmly embedded into the homes of millions of Americans and others worldwide. Coca-Cola, for instance, spends close to $3 billion a year on advertising. With that amount of money it's no wonder the company has managed to hold on to its wholesome reputation.
They, and other beverage giants, are also in the habit of forming strategic alliances with health organizations that make it appear as though they are looking out for your health, which is about as laughable as Big Tobacco sponsoring a marathon. And like Big Tobacco, they also create front groups to fight anti-soda legislation and science.
For instance, as Time magazine reported:

• The American Beverage Association, which represents Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other soft drink producers, has attacked suggestions to tax soda as "discriminatory." Their organization is touted as a "neutral forum," but in reality is devoted to discrediting negative press against soft drinks. For instance, in relation to obesity, ABA states, "All of our industry's beverages can be enjoyed as part of a balanced lifestlye."
• The soda industry has created the front group Americans Against Food Taxes, which runs anti-tax campaigns. As Kelly Brownell wrote in Time:
  
  

  "The name of the group implies a patriotic, grass roots movement, not a highly financed entity initiated and organized by industry."

• Another industry-created front group, Foundation for a Healthy America, recently donated $10 million to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to research and prevent childhood obesity! Diet Coke has also teamed up with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to raise awareness for women's heart health programs and was the official "Beverage of Choice" for the 2010 winter Olympics.
• The soda industry funds research to discredit links between soda drinking and health problems. Brownwell writes:
  
  

  "The tobacco industry paid scientists who did research disputing links between smoking and lung cancer, the addictive nature of nicotine, and the dangers of second-hand smoke. The soda industry funds scientists who reliably produce research showing no link between SSB [sugar-sweetened beverage] consumption and health. The tobacco industry bought favor from community and national organizations by giving large donations. In an ironic twist, Coca Cola and PepsiCo are corporate sponsors of the American Dietetic Association."

The Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness (isn't that name an oxymoron?) even creates continuing education courses for registered dietitians!

The Top Reason to Give Soda the Boot …

Some of you reading this are undoubtedly thinking, how bad could soda really be? From my perspective, there is absolutely NO REASON you or your kids should ever drink soda. If you were stranded in the middle of a desert with no other fluid available, then maybe, but other than that … none, nada, zip, zero. No excuses.
From a health perspective, drinking Coke or any soft drink is a disaster. Just one extra can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year, not to mention increase your risk of diabetes by 85 percent. The primary reason why soda is so dangerous to your health?
Fructose.
The fructose content of the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) used in many popular soda brands has been sorely underestimated. Around 100 years ago the average American consumed a mere 15 grams of fructose a day, primarily in the form of fruit. One hundred years later, one fourth of Americans are consuming more than 135 grams per day, largely in the form of soda.
Fructose at 15 grams a day is harmless (unless you suffer from high uric acid levels). However, at nearly 10 times that amount it becomes a major cause of obesity and nearly all chronic degenerative diseases. Instead of consisting of 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose, many soda brands, including Coke, Pepsi and Sprite, contain as much as 65 percent fructose, nearly 20 percent higher than originally believed.
According to one study, the mean fructose content of all 23 sodas tested was 59 percent -- higher than claimed by the industry. When you consider that Americans drink an average of 53 to 57 gallons of soda per year (depending on the source of your statistics), this difference in actual fructose content could make a huge difference in your health.

The Down and Dirty About Fructose

The American Beverage Association and other front groups will try to persuade you that fructose in high fructose corn syrup is no worse for you than sugar, but this is not true. ABA also claims there is "no association between high fructose corn syrup and obesity," but a long lineup of scientific studies suggest otherwise.
For example:

• Dr. David Ludwig of Boston Children's Hospital did a study of the effects of sugar-sweetened drinks on obesity in children. He found that for each additional serving of a sugar-sweetened drink, both body mass index and odds of obesity increased.
• The Fizzy Drink Study in Christchurch, England explored the effects on obesity when soda machines were removed from schools for one year. In the schools where the machines were removed, obesity stayed constant. In the schools where soda machines remained, obesity rates continued to rise.
• In a 2009 study, 16 volunteers were fed a controlled diet including high levels of fructose. Ten weeks later, the volunteers had produced new fat cells around their hearts, livers and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. A second group of volunteers who were fed a similar diet, but with glucose replacing fructose, did not have these problems.

Fructose is also a likely culprit behind the millions of U.S. children struggling with non-alcoholic liver disease, which is caused by a build-up of fat within liver cells. Fructose is very hard on your liver, in much the same way as drinking alcohol.

• Liver burden number one: After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver—ONLY your liver can break it down. This is much different than consuming glucose, in which your liver has to break down only 20 percent, and the remaining 80 percent is immediately metabolized and used by the rest of the cells in your body.
• Liver burden number two: Fructose is converted into fat that gets stored in your liver and other tissues as body fat. Part of what makes fructose so bad for your health is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar. For example, if you eat 120 calories of fructose, 40 calories are stored as fat. But if you eat the same amount of glucose, less than one calorie gets stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!

Fructose metabolism is very similar to the way alcohol is metabolized, which has a multitude of toxic metabolites that, if consumed in excess, can lead to non-alcoholic liver disease. For a complete discussion of fructose metabolism, see my comprehensive article about this.

Diet Soda is NOT a Safe Alternative to Regular Soda

If you think you're better off drinking diet soda, think again. In fact, if I had to choose between the two, I'd take regular soda over diet. Instead of fructose, diet soda contains artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame or sucralose (Splenda). With all the research now available on aspartame and its various ingredients, it's hard to believe such a chemical would even be allowed into the food supply, but it is, and it's been silently wreaking havoc with people's health for the past 30 years.
Just to refresh your memory, aspartame has been linked to the following health concerns, and Splenda is associated with many similar problems:

Lymphomas, leukemias, and brain cancer	Asthma
Neurological symptoms including headaches, depressed and anxious mood, seizures, memory loss, hallucinations, and dizziness	Visual changes
Weakness and fatigue	Joint pain
Sleep disorders	Weight gain and diabetes
Abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea	Rashes and hives

Does Soda Actually Cause Violence?

It's a well-known fact that poor diet, particularly one high in sugar, exacts a toll on your emotional health.
For example, one recent study published in the journal Psychology Today found a strong link between high sugar consumption and the risk of both depression and schizophrenia. It's also a well-known fact that chronic inflammation plays a major role in heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. So consuming excessive amounts of sugary beverages can truly set off an avalanche of negative health events -- both mental and physical.
A diet high in sugar, fructose and sweetened beverages like soda also causes excessive insulin release, which can lead to falling blood sugar levels, or hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia, in turn, causes your brain to secrete glutamate in levels that can cause agitation, depression, anger, anxiety and panic attacks.
One 1985 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that reducing sugar intake had a positive impact on emotions. And another, the Los Angeles Probation Department Diet-Behavior Program: An Empirical Analysis of Six Institutional Settings, published in 1983, documented the results when juvenile delinquents were given a reduced-sugar diet. They saw a 44 percent reduction in the incidence of antisocial behavior during the subsequent 3 months, after the implementation of the revised diet.
So can drinking soda affect your child's behavior?
Yes, it can.
A new study further supported this point, and revealed that frequent soft drink consumption was associated with a 9-15% point increase in the probability of engaging in aggressive actions, even after controlling for gender, age, race, body mass index, typical sleep patterns, tobacco use, alcohol use and having family dinners.
Researchers concluded:

"There was a significant and strong association between soft drinks and violence. There may be a direct cause-and-effect relationship, perhaps due to the sugar or caffeine content of soft drinks, or there may be other factors, unaccounted for in our analyses, that cause both high soft drink consumption and aggression."

The effect is not a new finding, as in 1979 the now notorious "Twinkie Defense" was used in a murder trial for the first time.
As Discovery News reported:

"In a notorious 1979 San Francisco murder trial, lawyers blamed the killer's actions on his recent switch from a health-food diet to one filled with Coca-Cola and other junk food. Their argument worked. Instead of a homicide ruling, the defendant was convicted of a lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. The legal strategy became known as the "Twinkie Defense," and the precedent raised a number of questions that persist, despite years of research on the subject."

Processed Food "Rebates" Dominate School Cafeterias

Soda manufacturers are not the only ones scheming for a permanent share of your child's diet. In an article published on La Vida Locavore, Ed Bruske revealed, possibly for the first time, that manufacturers of sugar-laden processed foods pay "rebates" (aka "kickbacks") to food service companies that serve school districts across the United States.
Bruske obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act that revealed more than 100 companies paid rebates to Chartwells, a food service management company hired by D.C. Public Schools. As you might suspect, the "rebates" present a conflict of interest that could prompt Chartwells to order food for your children based on the amount of rebate it will receive, versus the food's nutritional value.
The end result?
School lunches that contain heavily processed foods like muffins, pizza, tator tots and flavored milk in lieu of fresh produce.
According to Bruske:

"Manufacturers pay rebates based on large volume purchases -- literally, cash for placing an order. Rebates are said to be worth billions of dollars to the nation's food industry, although manufacturers as well as the food service companies who feed millions of the nation's school children every day -- Chartwells, Sodexo and Aramark -- treat them as a closely-guarded secret.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that food service companies engaged in "cost reimbursable" contracts with schools credit any rebates they receive to their school clients. For more than a year, attorneys for D.C. Public Schools refused to make public an itemized list of rebates collected by Chartwells, claiming the information constituted "trade secrets." The schools were overruled by Mayor Vincent Gray's legal counsel after I filed an administrative appeal.
John Carroll, an assistant New York State attorney general investigating rebating practices there, has said rebates pose "an inherent conflict of interest" in school feeding programs because they favor highly processed industrial foods. In cases where schools pay a food service company a flat rate to provide meals, the companies are not required to disclose the rebates they collect. In those cases, Carroll recently told a U.S. Senate Panel, rebates tend to drive up the cost of food, cheating children out of nutrition they might otherwise have on their lunch trays.
Carroll also described cases where rebates discouraged the use of local farm products in school meals. Produce vendors can't afford to pay a rebate for local apples. But in at least one case, a produce distributor raised the prices of his goods so that he could pay a rebate to a food service company. A Homeland Security sub-committee in the U.S. Senate is investigating possible rebate fraud in contracts across the entire federal government."

The top contributors to Chatwells' rebate dollars included Performance Food Group, which paid more than $400,000 over the last three years, followed by General Mills, Kraft Foods, Country Pure Foods and Jenny-O Turkey. Other companies who made the list include:

ConAgra	Otis Spunkmeyer	Kellog's
Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, 7-Up	FritoLay	Tyson
Nestle	Cargill Meat Solutions	Campbell's Foodservice

Raising a Life-Long Healthy Eater

Food and beverage companies spend $2 billion a year promoting unhealthy foods to kids, and while ultimately it's the parents' responsibility to feed their children healthy foods, junk food ads make this much more difficult than it should be. As a result, the state of most kids' diets in the United States is not easy to swallow.
As The Interagency Working Group on Foods Marketed to Children (IWG) reported:

• Nearly 40% of children's diets come from added sugars and unhealthy fats
• Only 21% of youth age 6-19 eat the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day

This is a veritable recipe for disease, and is a primary reason why today's kids are arguably less healthy than many prior generations. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure -- these are diseases that once appeared only in middle-age and beyond, but are now impacting children. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that by 2050, one in three U.S. adults will have diabetes -- one of them could be your child if you do not take steps to cancel out the messages junk-food marketers are sending and instead teach them healthy eating habits.
Make no mistake, the advertisers are doing all they can to lure your child in, just as Big Tobacco did generations ago.
So you need to first educate yourself about proper nutrition and the dangers of junk food and processed foods in order to change the food culture of your entire family. To give your child the best start at life, and help instill healthy habits that will last a lifetime, you must lead by example. Children will simply not know which foods are healthy unless you, as a parent, teach it to them first.
My nutrition plan offers a step-by-step guide to feed your family right, and I encourage you to read through it now to learn how to make healthy eating decisions for you and your children.
If you want to get involved on a larger scale, the Prevention Institute's "We're Not Buying It" campaign is petitioning President Obama to put voluntary, science-based nutrition guidelines into place for companies that market foods to kids. You can sign this petition now. I also urge you to go a step further and stop supporting the companies that are marketing junk foods and beverages to your children today.
Ideally, you and your family will want to vote with your pocketbook and avoid processed food and sugary sodas while instead choosing unprocessed raw, organic and/or locally grown foods as much as possible. These are the foods your child will thrive on, and it's important they learn what real, healthy food is right from the get-go. 
This way, when they become tweens and teenagers, they may eat junk food here and there at a friend's house, but they will return to real food as the foundation of their diet -- and that habit will continue on with them for a lifetime.

Disco Night Fever at the Allegria

The open-air lounge on the rooftop of the ALLEGRIA HOTEL known for it’s innovative and unique style.. Do you remember the best disco club classics from the hottest clubs that populated NYC, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island nightlife?    We used to live and play at The Bay Club, Studio 54, Romeo & Juliets, Xenon, 1018, Visage, Bedrock, Paradise Garage, Heatwave, Pastels, Elefas, Avanti, the Arena, Jamz, Metro 700, Channel 80, Lamour East, Lemon Tree, Uncle Sam's, Speaks, 231, Bryant Street, Magique, 4D, Danceteria, Plaza Suite, Malibu, OBI, Fantasy Island, The Cat Club, Starbucks, the Funhouse, the Palladium, Merlins, Emerald City, Escapes & the Limelight... Well now....... Every Wednesday Night From May Till Labor Day (as well as monthly special events all year long) "Disco Night Fever", at the Allegria Hotel in Long Beach, Long Island..... the classiest, most beautiful, high-end, art deco South Beach-oriented room that just happens to have the most drop-dead view on a 9th floor rooftop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean! For those 30 and over, who appreciate the sounds of DISCO, Freestyle, Classic House and 92KTU-style music, come experience a taste of Disco heaven every week every Wednesday, where the music played never goes beyond 1989! This isn't the Jersey Shore. Only the beautiful people are invited here. No attitudes, no juiceheads, no bikini contests.... Just high-end classy fun, just like back in the day. Music by DJ Jeff Nec, formerly of the L.I. Exchange, Jamz, Pollyesters, & Cafe Society, Stringfellows and Goldfingers. ALLEGRIA HOTEL  Location 80 West Broadway, Long Beach, NY 11561 About The Premiere Rooftop Party Something luxurious, chic and absolutely unexpected is happening in Manhattan’s backyard. The Allegria Hotel. A year-round oceanfront escape that embodies relaxed elegance, sophistication, style and wit..miles before you get to the Hamptons. Surprisingly close, yet worlds away, the Allegria Hotel delivers everything you want in a luxury resort. The Allegria’s design seamlessly brings Long Beach’s famous boardwalk, pristine sand and ocean into every space. Sumptuous, airy rooms, a rooftop pool and deck and Chef Todd Jacobs’ renowned organic cuisine- all served up with endless Atlantic Ocean views. The Allegria is ready to assume its place among the best Long Island hotels.

Who is the Studio 54 Rebbe?

The Studio 54 Rebbe acquired his title from the fact that has been working in nightclubs since 1987, actually attended the iconic Studio 54 (as well as scores of other clubs) in the early 80s and still loves mixing and listening to classic dance music from 1977 through 1989.

The Studio 54 Rebbe now lives an observant Jewish lifestyle by keeping the Sabbath and eating strictly kosher. However, he strongly believes that one should use the talents and connections that the Almighty gave him to create strong, meaningful and lasting relationships with fellow seekers who know there is more to life than what we know just from our five senses.

The Studio 54 Rebbe knows that many will disagree with his philosophy, but they can’t argue the fact that the Studio 54 Rebbe speaks to scores of non religious and non believing people who would never think of speaking to someone who “looks Orthodox”.

May all those playing in the clubs, bars, casinos, etc find the Studio 54 Rebbe and be inspired to seek out the deeper meaning of our existence.