It’s Friday, which means it’s time for Anne to showcase her favourite Tweets of the week.

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We have included 2 great articles that Anne found online. We think these stories are so relevant to our clients and we hope you enjoy the read.

Join Anne on Twitter HERE.

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FIVE “INVISIBLE EXERCISES” THAT CAN LENGTHEN YOUR LIFE

Diet and cancer can be controversial, but one area that everyone agrees on is the benefits of exercise for both prevention and prognosis in Cancer. I heard it at the Simonton Cancer Centre in L.A. recently where they explained how even visualising yourself exercising can help your body’s healing mechanisms, though I doubt it’ll burn the pounds!

And I heard exercise being promoted at the Irish Cancer Society’s Survivorship Conference where Oncologist Jennifer Westropp delivered a fantastic presentation. She emphasised how exercise reduces your risk of developing cancer, of your cancer reoccurring, and even improves treatment outcomes and reduces side effects. To this extent the Beacon have a pilot exercise programme for patients to take during treatment and so far the results are very positive.

Dr. Connealy has some great tips below for including exercise in your routine. Let us know what you think and if you would be interested in joining the Roches Walking Group which will be coming on stream very soon!

‘Exercise remains the most important thing you can do for yourself. It beats regular trips to the doctor. It beats medicines and supplements. It even edges out diet—which is amazing, considering everything starts with our fuel.

Exercise is the one true wonder drug that exists. No matter what ails you, exercise will almost certainly help.

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1. Stand Whenever Possible.

West Point is one of the strictest places on earth. It requires enormous attention, rigid adherence to rules, and unending discipline. But there’s one exception. If you feel antsy in a lecture, you don’t have to ask permission—you can simply stand behind your desk.

That’s how important it is to stand now and again. Our army knows it, and behaves accordingly. So should you.

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2. Hold Walking Meetings.

Did you know most of history’s greatest thinkers did most of their greatest thinking while walking? That includes Isaac Newton, who wasn’t bonked by an apple, but was walking in his garden when one fell nearby.

Walking helps get the creative juices flowing. Indeed, a recent Stanford study found we are 60% more creative when we walk. Walking is so good for the mind, that we can afford to view the invisible exercise that comes with it as a happy side benefit.

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3. Park In The Shade.

Forget the closest parking spot. That doesn’t help you move much. But sometimes the farthest can feel a bit lonely.

Try aiming for the shade. During the hot months, this will help keep your car cool and comfortable.

But since spots shaded by trees won’t often be next to the front doors of shops or restaurants, you can get a little extra invisible exercise in at the same time.

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4. Skip The Car.

Most of us have at least a shop or two that are walking distance from home or work. Or if not walking distance, then biking distance.

Whenever you use that shop—or, hopefully, shops—walk there instead of driving.

You’ll get a better feel for your own neighborhoods. You’ll end up more connected to your community. And you’ll get plenty of invisible exercise—especially if your shopping includes a heavy item or two.

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5. Stairs Every Time.

Most of us live, or work, in buildings with stairs. Use them.

Unless you’re in a skyscraper, pretend the elevator doesn’t exist. And if you are in a skyscraper, take a break during the day to enjoy a little time on the stairs.

Remember—this sort of invisible exercise will actually increase your creativity. It’s a great way to work on a thorny problem, or keep your creative juices flowing while on a conference call.

It’s also a wonderful way to introduce some low-impact, low-stress movement into your day. At first, finding places to insert invisible exercise into your day may feel strange. But after a short time, it will become habit.

And this is one habit that can add years to your life. A little unfamiliarity in the beginning will be well worth it in the end.’

Discover more from Leigh Erin Connealy, M.D. of Newport Natural Health right HERE.

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IS IODINE A WONDER NUTRIENT FOR CANCER?

 

When Anne received the September issue of Body Soul Nutrition’s newsletter, she found the content to be a very interesting read. As it states, ‘There is growing evidence that [iodine] holds potential for healing that’s perhaps been underestimated’, Anne was quick to read the full report about this wonder nutrient.

‘Scientists have long been aware that iodine deficiency leads to low thyroid function (hypothyroidism) and that hypothyroidism in young infants due to insufficient iodine is the leading cause of preventable intellectual disability in the world.

This has made iodine deficiency a public health problem of serious concern and in various parts of the world iodine fortification (e.g. adding iodine to table salt) has been implemented in order to address the problem. These programmes have generally been successful resulting in improved thyroid function and decreased incidence of goiter (enlarged thyroid gland sometimes caused by iodine deficiency). But although iodine deficiency is now less of a problem worldwide, there are areas; including parts of Europe that still have a problem.

UK diets were generally thought to provide sufficient iodine until relatively new research has shown this may not be the case. For example a 2001 study involving around 700 teenage girls found that two-thirds of the girls were mild-to-moderately iodine deficient and that a small number had very low levels¹. Concern amongst UK experts has led to the formation of the UK Iodine Group; a group of scientists on a mission to promote awareness of the importance of iodine in the diet and to make evidence-based recommendations to eradicate iodine deficiency in the UK.

Physiological functions of iodine

Most of the physiological effects of iodine are due to the fact that this nutrient is an essential component of the thyroid hormones thyroxine/tetra-iodothyronine (T4) and tri-iodothyronine (T3), as well as the lesser known di-iodothyronine (T2) and mono-iodothyronine (T1). The role of thyroid hormones is to regulate metabolism – the rate at which we produce and use energy, and they do this by facilitating the entry of nutrients into the cell and then facilitating conversion of these nutrients into energy within the mitochondria. If iodine levels are insufficient and the thyroid hormone balance is disturbed energy production will be altered, and as energy is required for all biochemical reactions, the effects will be very far-reaching.

In addition to thyroid hormone production it appears that iodine has other important functions in the body. Iodine is known to be a potent antioxidant and has been shown to increase the total antioxidant status in human serum, this mineral also appears able to reduce inflammation and may have a normalising effect on stress hormone secretion^2,3. Research indicates that iodine also has a role to play in supporting the antimicrobial actions of the immune system. More research is required to gain a full understanding of iodine’s involvement in maintaining healthy immune defences but certainly when it comes to a therapeutic role as an antimicrobial, iodine is renowned for its abilities displaying a broad spectrum of activity against bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses. Before the advent of antibiotics iodine was a commonly used and important weapon for doctors treating patients harbouring pathogenic microorganisms and with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, iodine and other natural antimicrobial agents may feature more prominently in future medical practice.

One of the reasons scientists have been convinced that iodine has important roles beyond thyroid hormone production is the fact that other organs besides the thyroid gland accumulate significant levels of this mineral. Organs and glands with a particular affinity for iodine include the breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate, pancreas, salivary glands, parotid glands, thymus gland, stomach and skin. Interestingly, it appears that different chemical forms of iodine are preferentially taken up by different tissues, with the thyroid utilising the reduced form, iodide (I^–), and the breasts, prostate and certain other glands having greater affinity for molecular iodine (I₂). Although the role of iodine in these tissues is still largely unknown it is suggested that it’s required for their integrity as there is evidence of tissue deterioration when iodine is deficient.

Even though iodine has received lots of attention from the nutrition and medical community still surprisingly little is known about how exactly this nutrient is digested, absorbed and metabolised. There are also many gaps in the knowledge with regards to the precise physiological functions of iodine, particularly its activities outside of the thyroid gland. As scientists learn more about the basic science of iodine, its importance as a nutrient and its potential as a therapy will become clearer.

Iodine and cancer

An area of health where iodine has generated significant interest is cancer, prompted in part by evidence linking iodine deficiency with several forms of the disease⁴. Other research has identified a number of mechanisms by which iodine may protect against cancer. For example, apart from the antioxidant actions of iodine, this nutrient also appears to induce apoptosis (natural cell death) in cancer cells in certain situations and it may also encourage cellular differentiation (cancer cells are marked by their loss of differentiation)³.

It is the molecular iodine form rather than iodide that appears to possess most of these anticancer effects but that doesn’t mean that iodide is redundant when it comes to cancer protection. It is iodide that is required by the thyroid for the manufacture of thyroid hormones and if thyroid function is compromised this will undermine energy production within the mitochondria. Increasingly it appears that disturbed metabolism and compromised mitochondrial function have a key role in cancer development and progression.

Breast cancer has received particular attention when it comes to links between cancer and iodine and this is partly due to lower breast cancer rates in Japan where iodine intake is significantly higher than the Western world. A group of Mexican researchers including Aceves, Anguiano and Delgado have conducted a lot of laboratory and animal studies exploring how iodine may protect breast tissue against cancer and reverse particular tissue changes associated with the disease^5,6. Human cancer studies are not yet available but clinical studies investigating the non-cancerous condition, fibrocystic breast disease in women indicate that molecular iodine supplementation can successfully treat this condition².

Like the breasts, the prostate has a high affinity for iodine and the same group of Mexican scientists plus other researchers have begun to investigate the potential effects of iodine in helping protect prostate tissues against cancer. For example, a recent study found that molecular iodine and iodide prevented proliferation and induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells⁷.

Growing awareness of the potential role of iodine in protecting against and even treating cancer has led to interest amongst those diagnosed with cancer, possibly you included. This interest has been fuelled by the work of several American doctors, in particular Dr Guy Abraham, Dr David Brownstein and Dr Jorge Flechas, who have done much to highlight the value of iodine as a supplement. For those of you interested in using iodine to support yourself with cancer I will discuss supplementation a little further on but before I do that I think it is important to first consider why it is some of us could be lacking in this essential mineral.’

There is so much more information to learn about Iodine from Body Soul Nutrition. Read the full article HERE, and discover why are we lacking in iodine, supplementing iodine and how to safely optimise your iodine intake.

Keep up to date with Anne Roche and join her on Twitter HERE. For more interesting articles follow our blog.