• Without proper saliva, you cannot absorb your food properly, for food digestion begins in the mouth. Always chew carbohydrate (“starchy”) foods especially well. This includes such things as bread and all grain products, potatoes, etc. If you do not digest your food properly you can get acid reflux too.. get a heart tack and/or cancer
• If you have a dry mouth, take a little lemon juice or honey before the meal to stimulate the flow of saliva.
Vitamin A If you are not obtaining enough vitamin A, your saliva flow may be inadequate.
Vitamin A is an important nutrient. It is especially helpful in the bodies of infants and toddlers for fighting off the effects of viral infection. It helps maintain the immune system in both children and adults. It plays a critical role in the creation of thyroid hormones and is absolutely necessary for creating the pigments that allow you to see at night. You have to get your vitamin A to have healthy skin. Preserve and improve your eyesight with Vitamin A
Here’s also vitamin A in many breakfast cereals, and, were you inclined to use it as health food, caviar. Any natural food that’s rich in vitamin A is high in fat and cholesterol.
Although vitamin A is found only in foods of animal origin, some fruits and vegetables contain compounds, called cartenoids, that can be converted into vitamin A by your body.
It is important for you to regularly eat foods that provide high vitamin A or beta-carotene even though it is stored in the liver. Stored vitamin A will help meet needs when intake of provitamin A carotenoids or preformed vitamin A is low.
HEALTH AND EATING HABITS
WE SHOULD ALREADY KNOW THAT TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING, SALT INCLUDED AS WELL IS DANGEROUS TO OUR HEALTH, INCLUDES THE TYPE OF FOOD WE EAT, AND CAN LEAD TO HEART ATTACKS, CANCER AS WELL..
Already linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, including cancer of the pancreas, red meat, COLD CUTS was found by a team of US researchers to be a possible cause of bladder cancer, a study published in the journal Cancer said.
For those who can’t do without their bacon-cheeseburger, some good news: scientists found no associations between beef, bacon, hamburger, sausage or steak and bladder cancer.
The culprits in the cold cuts are nitrates and nitrites which are added to meat when it is processed to preserve and enhance colour and flavour. “Nitrate and nitrite are precursors to N-nitroso compounds (NOCs), which induce tumours in many organs, including the bladder, in multiple animal species,” the study says. The scientists found that people whose diets were high in nitrites from all sources, not just meats, and people who got a lot of nitrates in their diets from processed meats, like cold cuts, had a 28 to 29 percent greater chance of developing bladder cancer than those who consumed the lowest amount of either compound. The scientists also found that people who ate the most red meat were younger, less educated, less physically active, and had lower dietary intake of fruits, vegetable, and vitamins C and E than those consuming the least red meat.
Sugary soft drinks increase pancreas cancer risk
Drinking two or more soft drinks per week nearly doubles a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer, says a new study released Monday that followed over 60,000 people for a period of 14
Researchers examined the risks associated with those who drink sugar-sweetened carbonated drinks, versus those who don’t consume these beverages.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, and only 5 per cent of people who are diagnosed are known to survive five years later, according to the American Cancer Society. About 3,900 Canadians were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year. Globally, that number is about 230,000.
“The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth,” lead researcher Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota said in a statement. Insulin helps the body metabolize sugar, and is produced in the pancreas.
Pereira and his colleagues followed 60,524 men and women in Singapore for 14 years.
Over that period, researchers found:
140 of the volunteers developed pancreatic cancer.
An 87 per cent higher risk of developing cancer for those who drank two or more soft drinks per week.
Pereira says the findings would apply to western countries as well.
“Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent healthcare. Favourite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other western countries,” he said.
He points out that while sugar may be to blame, those who drink sugar-sweetened soda often have other poor health habits.
Jennifer Sygo, a nutritionist with the Cleveland Clinic, says there isn’t the same level of research available for sugar as there is for salt. But she points out guidelines by the American Heart Association, which recommends:
Women should not consume more than 25 grams of added sugar a day (6.5 teaspoons);
Men should not consume more than 38 grams of added sugar a day (9.5 teaspoons).
Sygo told Canada AM on Monday that just by cutting sugar intake by half, or even one-third, it would make a big difference. For those who just need their sugar fix, she recommends a cup of juice a day, then water or a Perrier if you need some carbonation.
Occasional sweets are OK. But it’s foods like fruits, vegetables, cereals, breads, rice, and other grains that give your body the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients that it needs. It doesn’t matter what disease we are talking about, whether we are talking about a common cold or about cardiovascular disease, or cancer or osteoporosis, the root is always going to be at the cellular and molecular level, and more often than not insulin is going to have its hand in it, if not totally controlling it.