What is the daily recommended intake of beta carotene?

Beta carotene does not have an established RDA. However, there are of course a few recommendations by several groups. One of these groups is called the “Alliance For Aging Research” and it is a non-profit group that is made up of highly respected researchers in the field of nutrition. They are also the very first group that suggested a daily recommendation of beta carotene intake. And that intake amount is recorded as 10 – 30 mg daily for the promotion of better health and prevention of disease.

What foods are good sources of beta carotene?

Good dietary sources of beta carotene are dark green, dark yellow, and orange vegetables, such as spinach, collard greens, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, and yellow fruits, such as apricots and peaches. These foods supply significant amounts of beta carotene and are low in fat and calories. The deeper the green, yellow, or orange color, the higher the content of beta carotene. At least one serving of a dark green or orange vegetable and four additional servings of other vegetables and fruits should be included in the diet daily.

Can you build up a toxicity to beta carotene?

You do not have to worry about getting too much beta carotene in your system and creating a toxic environment. Even when large amounts are consumed at one time, there is no research that shows this to be damaging to the body.

Blood levels of beta carotene fluctuate with dietary intake. Consequently, as intake increases, so do blood levels, with higher blood levels associated with a reduced risk for developing several diseases, including cancer.

The only adverse side effect to consuming large amounts of dark green, yellow, or orange fruits and vegetables is a yellowing of the skin as carotenes are deposited into the fatty cell membranes of skin cells. Even this condition disappears when fruit and vegetable intake is reduced.

This free article is provided by the FreeArticles.com Free Articles Directory for educational purposes ONLY! It cannot be reprinted or redistributed under any circumstances.

Symptons of testicular cancer to be aware of include constant, dull pain in the lower abdomen or groin areas. Even if it comes and goes, you'd be better off safe than sorry going to get it checked out by your primary care physician. Also, if you notice that one testicle unexpectedly grows or shrinks you should be concerned. If sex is painful, there is blood in your semen or if you don't have much interest in sexual activity anymore, definitely talk to your doctor about it.

Nowadays, there is a wealth of information on the internet. If you're experiencing any symptons of testicular cancer, do a bit of research. Don't try to talk yourself out of visiting your doctor, and absolutely don't rely on the advice of internet strangers over your physician, but read up on it a bit. You might be surprised at what you can learn from visiting different forums and reading what people have to say. Up to 1 in 250 men in the United States will be diagnosed during his lifetime. Since the odds are already stacked against you, protect yourself.

This type of treatment is usually done in cycles. They will usually alternate treatments with rest periods to allow the person to recuperate.

Some of the anti-cancer medications that your doctor may use may include such medications as: Hexalen, Elspar, Blenoxane, Xeloda, Idamycin and Doxil just to name a few. Most cancer medications come with a hefty list of side effects. Unfortunately the necessity of the medication makes it almost impossible to avoid side effects. If you suffer from severe side effects your doctor will most likely prescribe another medication to counter act the side effects.

Some of the side effects that you may or may not experience with cancer medications might be: Feeling very tired and weak, more susceptible to infections and they can bleed and bruise easily. Keep in mind that you can use other drugs to counteract the side effects and that makes it much easier for you to undergo the necessary cancer treatment.

Radiation therapy is the form of treatment where they use ionizing radiation. This type of treatment kills off the cell in the area that is being treated. This makes it impossible for the cells to grow back. Often times the area of cancer will be surgically removed and then the radiation and chemotherapy will start. If you choose to do the hormone therapy, this is where you will be given hormones to change the way your cells grow in your body.

Biological therapy is also known as Immunotherapy as it helps you make use of your immune system to help with your side effects from other medications as well as fighting off the cancer cells.

No matter which form of cancer you suffer from, be sure to keep a good line of communication open with your doctor. Educate yourself on all of your medications and be sure to know what side effects that you may or may not experience. Before starting any type of new treatment, be sure to discuss all of your options with your oncologist. He or she will be more than happy to go over your treatment plan in detail so you can be well informed on what to expect. If you find a medication that you are interested in then bring this up with your doctor as well so that he or she can consider it as a possibility or let you know why it is not a good choice.

Article Tags: cancer, effects, side

Read more articles by: M Nelson Article Source: www.iSnare.com Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=203963&ca=Cancer+Survival Article published on November 27, 2007 at iSnare.com

and 15 minutes of strength training. Fifteen participants acted as controls by not changing their level of physical activity. All then underwent a small puncture wound about half a centimeter across and deep on the back of the upper arm. Individual wounds were measured three times a week until fully healed. Regular exercisers took only 29 days to heal, while non-exercisers took up to 10 days longer to recover. From these results, researchers have speculated that exercise may speed wound healing by enhancing neuron-endocrine function, meaning that stronger individuals have a higher body funct!

ion that helps the body heal wounds and cancer faster.

The point of this study is not that exercise is important. It is now acknowledged as an important factor in maintaining health. The main point is that even moderate exercise can improve the time to recover in wound and cancer healing.

In the case of a cancer diagnostic, the body and its recovery system: the immune system, are stressed by the attack of the disease on the body. Even a moderate level of exercise can improve your condition. Your breathing rate increases, bringing more oxygen to your cells. Your heart rate increases as well, pumping and circulating that oxygen to all parts of the body.

The immune system contains some of the fastest replicating cells in the human body. You must remember that self healing does occur for people with cancer. It doesn’t yet happen as often or as fast as it does with the cold or with the flu, but it can. The main strategy to improving the self-healing capacity of the body is obvious: increase the strength of the immune system. Strengthening the immune system is probably the most significant thing you can do for yourself to heal cancer and wounds quicker, and as a happy side-effect, many other life improvements come along with an improved immune system.

One very simple improvement is a modification in breathing. Far too often, we take quick and shallow breaths. This can lead to a higher blood pressure, as it constricts the blood vessels. That constriction slows our circulation, which also reduce the speed with which our immune system can respond to a problem.

Everything going on in your body is dependant upon a steady and regular circulation of blood. Anything that interferes with that circulation is unhealthy and needs to be resolved immediately. It can slow down healing and promote cancer.

The solution to this problem is really rather simple: commit five minutes, three times a day, to breathe deeply. You can do this while working, reading, driving, etc. You’ll probably find it most beneficial if you start your day and end your day with one of these five minute breathing exercises. To learn more ways to remain cancer-free, read Cancer Free For Life. Dr Magne has written in it the results of extensive studies and research that demonstrate the cancer can be healed without chemotherapy or surgery.

In close conjunction with the concept of deeper and more thorough breathing is the practice of relaxation with breathing exercises. This focuses solely on the action of breathing while you do it. Obviously, then, this requires that you not be driving or reading a book. Instead you simply find a comfortable place to sit, put yourself into the most comfortable sitting posture, and focus on your breathing.

To really focus on breathing during this time, you should focus your attention on your belly, as if you have a balloon in your stomach. Inhale, slowly, to fill the balloon and focus on the expansion happening in your stomach area. Hold the breath for a comfortable amount of time and exhale slowly, depleting the balloon in your stomach.

You’ll probably find out almost immediately that you feel a lot better…even if you didn’t realize you could! In the process, you are also strengthening your immune system, providing it with the necessary support to speed healing of cancer and wounds.

Cancer treatments can cause serious damage to the immune system. This damage opens you up to a wide-range of infections and diseases. If you are diagnosed with cancer, it’s important that you listen to what your physician tells you with an open mind. Don’t operate under the assumption that your doctor will know everything there is to know. Research all your other options, learn everything you can and take control of your own recovery. Your doctor doesn’t have the time to get to know you. Often the prognostic you receive is only the result of statistics and probabilities, but doesn’t take into account your own ability to recover and your will to live.

Even moderate exercise and deep breathing can save your life from cancer by speeding up your healing.

You will find many FREE articles on this important topic of healing of cancer when you visit http://alternative-health-ebooks.com

About The Author

Dr Laurence Magne
Publisher, Author
Cancer Free For Life
Email : lmagne@yahoo.com
Website : http://cancer-free-for-life.com

Spontaneous healing of cancer is Nature's expression of her willingness to yield its secrets of cancer healing—of how a cancer cell can change its dynamics back to a state of health. It offers a solid base of hope—both for the patient who suffers from cancer and for his physician. It is not an uncommon occurrence. Even if it happened only once, it still firmly establishes the possibility. Spontaneous healing of cancer also opens the door to all non-drug, restorative therapies that are known to facilitate the healing response in the human body.

How rare are spontaneous remissions when defined as tumor regression without chemotherapy? The answer depends on who you ask. Physicians who specialize in non-drug, natural cancer therapies will cite a very large number of cases to support their view that cancer remission without chemotherapy or radiotherapy is not uncommon. Most oncologists will dismiss such claims as blatant lies.

Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography lists 1,051 case reports published in peer-reviewed medical literature. Spontaneous healing of cancer is not at all an uncommon event in the experience of pathologists, yet it's a rare pathologist who prepares a formal report for publication of such cases.

Patients whose advanced cancers spontaneously heal challenge the deepest beliefs of most oncologists and radiotherapists. Usually the cancer medical staff dismiss the subject as insignificant and irrelevant to their work. Many patients refuse chemotherapy recommended by oncologists, and months or years later they return to tell of their success with non-drug therapies.

What is spontaneous healing of cancer? It’s a war against cancer that the body's own dynamics, antioxidant defenses and DNA repair enzyme systems wins—it's that simple! Spontaneous healing gives clues to what therapies we might choose to facilitate the healing processes that normally control cancer- and coaxes the errant cells back to a healthful mode. This is the core principle of non-drug therapies for cancer management.

Everyone knows or has heard of people who were expected to die of cancer in several months or a few years but who defied their medical prognostic and underwent spontaneous remission. I know of hundreds of patients who had limited cancers that could be surgically removed, and so had little reason to die of the tumor. Yet, they succumbed quickly. I also know of many patients who lived for decades with cancers that had been originally pronounced terminal. What can one make of such cases?

When you think and feel the thought “I’m happy”, a chemical messenger translates the emotion into a bit of matter precisely attuned to your desire, so that every cell in your body jumps to attention like a good soldier, learns of the happiness and joins in. You have the ability to shift your body from one extreme emotion to the other, and that way affect your physiology.

This is the access to another world that you carry inside you, but is difficult to reach except with the techniques of meditation or hypnotherapy. The body is an image projected by the mind, and in a state of health, the mind keeps this image intact and balanced. However, injury and pain can cause us to withdraw our attention from the affected spot. In that case, the body image starts to deteriorate, its energy patterns energy patterns become impaired, unhealthy. So a healer restores the correct pattern – this is done instantly, on the spot – after which the patient’s own mind takes responsibility for maintaining it that way. Visit http://www.cancer-free-for-life.com for more information on healing of cancer.

The mind controls the body in uncontrollable ways. You can’t usually stop your heart, or lower your body temperature. Some extremely rare human beings, such as yogis in Tibet, can actually do so in scientific tests. Yet, these are functions regulated by the brain. Consider the reaction to fear: your heartbeat is elevated, you breathe faster. But how does it happen? In your brain, you make a connection between a particular situation and a sense of impending danger to your body. Where does that connection occur but in the brain!

It’s extremely difficult for the Western mind to let go of the stream of consciousness. Meditation is a process where one has to sink up or down, transcending beyond the ordinariness of our everyday thoughts. The results are inconsistent due to the lack of knowledge that our thought processes can vary, from deep to shallow, with completely different results. For healing to occur, it’s necessary to go deep, to contact the hidden blueprint of intelligence to rearrange it, reorganize it. People thoughts’ powers are too weak, and their belief in the effectiveness of the method too superficial. More FREE articles on spontaneous healing of cancer are available on http://www.cancer-free-for-life.com

About The Author

Dr Laurence Magne
Publisher, Author
Cancer Free For Life
Email : lmagne@yahoo.com
Website : http://cancer-free-for-life.com

A medical doctor may have results with a patient on the force of his conviction, and because the patient places his trust -and his life- in the hands of the medical profession, he believes that the doctor cured him, when in fact, he cured himself.

No matter what, you’re healed through your own intervention and belief. You’re the one who controls your entire body through the power of your mind, and if you’re determined not to be cured, no surgery, no drug or placebo will heal you.

Why an inert substance, or a fake surgery or therapy, would be effective in healing is not known. Some believe the placebo effect is psychological, due to a belief in the treatment or to a subjective feeling of improvement. Your beliefs and hopes about a treatment, combined with your suggestibility, may have a significant biochemical effect. Your sensory experience and your thoughts affect your body's neurochemical system, which affects and is affected by your hormonal and immune systems. Current knowledge demonstrates that a person's hopeful attitude and beliefs may be very important to their physical well-being and recovery from injury or illness.

It may be that much of the placebo effect is a matter of mind over behavior. The changed behavior includes a change in attitude, in what you say about how you feel, and how you act. It also affects your body chemistry.

Strangely, the placebo effect is not limited to the subjective sensations of patients; some studies show actual physiological change as a result of sham treatments. In a study of asthmatics, researchers found that they could produce dilation of the airways by simply telling people they were inhaling a bronchiodilator, even when they weren't. Fifty-two percent of the colitis patients treated with placebo in eleven different trials reported feeling better - and fifty percent of the inflamed intestines actually looked better when assessed with a sigmoidoscope.

Spontaneous healing and spontaneous remission of cancer cannot explain all the healing or improvement that takes place because of placebos. There are many FREE articles and case studies on http://alternative-health-ebooks.com

What is the explanation for the placebo effect? Some think it is the touching, the caring, the attention, and other interpersonal communication that are part of the controlled study process (or the therapeutic setting), along with the hopefulness and encouragement provided by the experimenter/healer, affect the mood of the subject, which in turn triggers physical changes such as release of endorphins. The process reduces stress by providing hope or reducing uncertainty about what treatment to take or what the outcome will be. The reduction in stress prevents or slows down further harmful physical changes from occurring.

The truth is that the placebo effect is huge - anywhere between 35 and 75 percent of patients benefit from taking a dummy pill in studies of new drugs - so huge, in fact, that it should probably be put to conscious use in clinical practice, even if we do not entirely understand how it works.

The inconvenient evidence keeps trickling in that if placebos are lies, they can also be, "lies that heal." In an influential article first published in 1955, the Harvard researcher Henry Beecher concluded that between 30 and 40 percent of any treated group would respond to a placebo. Studies since then have shown placebos working for certain conditions - pain, depression, some heart ailments, gastric ulcers and other stomach complaints - in closer to fifty or sixty percent of subjects, sometimes more. Indeed, it's not unheard of for placebo effects to exceed those attributed to the active drug.

To learn more on techniques to naturally heal yourself of cancer and remain Cancer Free For Life, get your downloadable ebook version on http://cancer-free-for-life.com

About The Author

Dr Laurence Magne
Publisher, Author
Cancer Free For Life
Email : lmagne@yahoo.com
Website : http://cancer-free-for-life.com