Volume 2, Issue 9
Welcome to Heartland's NATURAL SOLUTIONS FOR YOU AND YOUR
FAMILY newsletter. We are excited to share relevant news
about natural health topics and offer alternative and complimentary
options for you and your family. We are committed to helping
you find more complete answers to your health concerns,
and look forward to being a friend as you seek greater health
through innovative natural products, ideas, and educational
resources. For personalized direction, call our helpline
at 1-888-772-2345.
TOPICS IN TODAY'S ISSUE:
-Did You Know? What’s really behind
the government research on HRT.
-Q&A: What’s the difference between
Progesterone and Progestins?
-Alkalizing Your Body
-Recipes for Health
Whatever you are, be a good one.
- Abraham Lincoln
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DID YOU KNOW?
Since government researchers shut down the much-hailed
major study on the long-term effects of HRT last month,
a flurry of cover stories, editorials and news pieces have
followed. Many downplay the risks uncovered by this new
research and emphasize that the research only applies to
older women. A big gap in these articles is that previous
research and news has also shown the serious health risks
of synthetic estrogens and progestins. If you dig far enough
into the news, there’s an eerie history to the whole
business. Back in the 60’s there was the beef fiasco
in Puerto Rico where estrogen-injected cattle resulted in
menstruating 2-year old girls. In the 70’s it was
the link between endometrial cancer and ERT (estrogen replacement
therapy) – to the point where the Mayo Clinic convened
with doctors in 1976 to determine that estrogen should never
be given to women alone, and “HRT” was conceived:
Estrogen plus progestin. Now in 2002 the major upset that
adding progestins to the equation is even more dangerous.
The WHI study was not the first to show the dangers of
progestins. John R. Lee, MD reminds us in his Medical Letter
about previous research:
“The January 26, 2000 issue of the JAMA published
study “Menopausal Estrogen and Estrogen-Progestin
Replacement Therapy and Breast Cancer Risk.” The study’s
results show that women on HRT using estrogen and a synthetic
progestin (NOT progesterone) have a breast cancer risk higher
than women on estrogen alone. Compared to no hormone use,
the risk of breast cancer in women who use estrogen alone
(ERT) is increased by one percent per year of use, whereas
the risk in women using both estrogen and a progestin (HRT)
is increased by 8 percent per year. This means that a woman
on conventional HRT for five years has a 40 percent higher
risk of breast cancer than a woman not using HRT.”1
Doesn’t that make the recent WHI study “DÉJÀ
VU”? These are the confirmed risks of not just breast
cancer, but heart attacks (the number one killer of women),
strokes and blood clots from the WHI trial:
Invasive breast cancer: 26%
Heart Attacks: 29%
Strokes: 41%
Blood Clots (in the lungs and deep veins): 100%
Curiously, Dr. John R. Lee also reminds us that Bergkvist
(Sweden) reported similar results on the risk for breast
cancer in 1989, as did the Harvard Nurses Questionnaire
study in 1995. So why do women have to wait up to ten years
to hear it in the headlines? It goes to show what a lot
of the editorials are saying is true: women need to pursue
more information on their own. They will find no better
source of solid documentation and common sense medical advice
on hormone balancing than John R. Lee, MD.
Since 1996 with his breakthrough book “What Your
Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause”, he has been
documenting the exceptional health benefits of real natural
progesterone. Remember, the most common hormone imbalance
is progesterone deficiency. Since the proliferation of chemicals
used in the United States (over 80,000 chemicals introduced
into the environment since World War II) many women’s
egg follicles have been damaged, creating progesterone deficiencies
for Baby Boomers and the following generations. Now research
shows that over 50% of women over age 35 are progesterone
deficient (that is a lot of young women, who need to be
learning about hormone balance 20 years earlier than they
might think).
Dr. Lee’s message is clear and consistent: Progesterone
protects against breast cancer (while synthetic progestins
are a breast cancer risk): “The important thing to
keep in mind is that progestins are not progesterone. Progestins
are synthetic drugs that supposedly mimic real progesterone
but in fact do not. There are many studies that show the
difference between progesterone and the synthetic progestins,
and in particular, their differing effect on breast cells.
Since it is well established that excess estrogen can cause
and promote breast cancer, why is the HRT combination worse
than estrogen alone? I believe it’s because progestins
occupy progesterone receptors more tenaciously than progesterone,
and thereby block progesterone from its functions, one of
which is essentially to reverse estrogen’s cancer-causing
effects. Progestins convey different messages to target
cells than real progesterone. Real progesterone activates
gene p53 that SLOWS breast cell proliferation and increases
protective apoptosis (programmed cell death) whereas most
progestins do not.
The message is simple. Unopposed estrogen is dangerous and
estrogen combined with synthetic progestins is even more
dangerous in terms of breast cancer risk.
To those of our (John R. Lee Medical Letter) readers who
are using real progesterone, do not panic; real (natural)
progesterone PROTECTS YOUR BREASTS. Cowan et al from Johns
Hopkins reported in 1981 that premenopausal women with progesterone
deficiency are 5.4 times more likely to develop breast cancer
than women with normal progesterone levels. The recent study
is just another confirmation that synthetic progestins should
not be used.”2
To read more of Dr. John R. Lee’s clinical findings
on natural progesterone vs. synthetic progestins, and get
your hands on years of research about Premarin and other
HRT drugs, ask your Heartland representative which resource
from Dr. John Lee best meets your needs. It could save your
life! Call today at 1-888-772-2345.
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Q&A
Q: From Newsweek Cover Story, July 22, 2002: How could
a practice (HRT) that does more harm than good become a
medical mainstay?
A: From Dr. Susan Love, a prominent women’s health
specialist and longtime critic of HRT: “The incestuous
relationship between the pharmaceutical companies and the
medical establishment is part of it. A lot of the information
doctors get channels through the companies. I would bet
the average doctor thought this was already proven.”
MORE Q&A
Q: The WHI trial on the long-term effects of HRT used Prempro,
which contains Provera – a “progestin”.
What’s the difference between Progesterone and Progestins?
A: In the February 2000 John R. Lee, MD Medical Letter,
Dr. Lee challenges us to try the Socratic method of questioning
to illuminate this important issue. If you think progestins
and progesterone are the same, or that progesterone is a
generic term that also covers progestins, ponder the following
questions:
If progesterone and progestins are the same:
- Why do fertility doctors always use progesterone and
not progestins?
- Why do progestins cause birth defects, while progesterone
is essential for a viable and healthy pregnancy?
- Why don’t synthetic progestins show up in blood
and saliva tests of progesterone levels? In other words,
why doesn’t taking a progestin raise progesterone
levels in the body?
- Pregnant women are making 300 mg of progesterone daily
in the last trimester. Why don’t they have higher
rates of breast cancer, as women do who use progestins?
- Why doesn’t natural progesterone cause the side
effects listed for medroxyprogesterone acetate (Provera)
the most commonly used synthetic progestin for HRT?
For a pro/con list of the side effects of natural progesterone
vs. progestins, click www.heartlandnatural.com/progest_infoprogestins.htm
or call the Heartland Helpline at 1-888-772-2345 for a fax
copy.
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ALKALIZING YOUR BODY
It’s not just the foods that you eat that contribute
to your body’s alkaline/acid balance. Chemicals that
you inhale or absorb through the skin play their part as
well. Did you know that the areas on your skin that absorb
the most are the bottoms of your feet and the palms of your
hands? Be careful going barefoot on grass with pesticides,
or getting chemicals on your hands. (Question: what’s
in your hand lotion?)
ALKALINE HIGHLIGHT: Heartland’s All-Purpose Solution.
It’s tough to find household cleaners that won’t
poison your children or hurt your body chemistry. Heartland’s
All-Purpose Cleaner won’t do either – it is
the safest and most powerful cleaner you can find –
especially for washing all those veggies that help alkalize
your body and balance your hormones. This is a cleaner that’s
actually good for you!
ACID HIGHLIGHT: Chemicals, medicinal drugs, psychedelic
drugs, pesticides and herbicides.
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RECIPES FOR HEALTH
Summer Favorites (From Heartland’s Second Annual Raw
Buffet)
ALKALIZING LEMONADE
If you love lemonade, but have been staying away from processed
sugars, you will love this recipe from The Juiceman’s
Power of Juicing - it’s all fruit and it’s unbelievably
delicious. Try freezing, too!
4 Apples (Golden Delicious are great)
¼ Lemon (including the rind)
No peeling needed. Just chop and process through the juicer.
Yields approximately 8 ounces of juice. Serve chilled over
crushed ice. Its beautiful yellow color looks appealing
in a goblet with a straw.
RAW SWEET CORN SALAD
Don’t throw all that sweet corn on the grill! Save
one for this surprisingly sweet and colorful salad. If you
haven’t tried raw sweet corn in your salads, you’re
in for a treat. The crunchy kernels work well as a replacement
technique for croutons on your leafy garden salads, too.
1 large ear of raw sweet corn
½ red bell pepper
1 large ripe tomato
3 Tbsp. parsley
1 celery stalk
¼ cup sweet red onion
Husk corn, wash all vegetables, and remove kernels of corn
from cob. Dice tomato and celery, chop red pepper and onion,
and mince the parsley. Combine in a bowl, cover and set
in refrigerator.
Suggestions for serving: Place leaf lettuce on a plate,
spread with avocado dressing (blend avocado, lemon and herbs
of choice) and top with raw sweet corn salad.
Hint: Raw corn on or off the cob is delicious. Simply husk,
wash and enjoy!
Send us your own favorite recipes for keeping your family
healthy naturally. E-mail to recipes@heartlandnatural.com.
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REFERENCES:
1 & 2. February 2000 John R. Lee, MD Medical Letter
3. From Rhonda Malkmus’ “Recipes For Life From
God’s Garden”, page 155.
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