In proper amounts, estrogen supports the body’s inflammatory balance and helps protect your health in many ways. But excess estrogen and xenoestrogens—chemicals in the environment that mimic the effects of estrogen—lead to estrogen dominance. Documented symptoms include…

• Weight gain—especially belly fat—without eating more
• Hot flashes and uncomfortable menopausal symptoms
• Unwanted facial hair
• Vaginal dryness and uncomfortable intercourse
• Bloating and water retention
• Memory loss and “senior moments”
• Mild mood changes
• Occasional headaches associated with the menstrual cycle
• Irregular or skipped menstrual cycles
• Poor sleep quality
• Low sex drive
• Dry skin and wrinkles
• Breast tenderness

Health practitioners have suggested that diet, exercise and nutritional supplements, as well as massages and reflexology treatments, may minimize unpleasant symptoms associated with estrogen dominance and menopause. The supplement di-indole methane, or DIM, can also help support favorable estrogen metabolism in women and men.

The revelation was made at the European Society of Cardiology’s International Conference of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging. Researchers said that, using computed tomography scans, they found that a mummy dating from more than 3,500 years ago showed signs of atherosclerosis.

Theban princess Ahmose-Meryet-Amon, three of whose cardiac arteries were significantly occluded, probably died in her 40s, even though she ate a low-meat diet of primarily grains, vegetables and fruits.

Scientists said that this finding may indicate that humans are genetically inclined to having heart disease, since the mummified Egyptian probably ate well and was not exposed to many of the tobacco- and alcohol-related risk factors that exist today.

With the benefit of advanced technology and scientific health resources, individuals who want to stay healthy longer may feel confident that consuming proper nutrition daily and exercising are steps in the right direction.

A study appearing in the journal PLoS ONE found that insects that pollinate crops are responsible for the growth and proliferation of numerous foodstuffs around the globe. By extension, this means that bees and other pollinators are a precious resource, one that ensures the healthy growth of nutrient-providing plants of all types.

"Animal-pollinated crops contain the majority of the available dietary lipid[s], vitamin[s] A, C and E, and a large portion of the minerals calcium, fluoride and iron worldwide," said researchers in Germany and Southern California.

The team warned that without these essential organisms, up to 40 percent of the vitamins and minerals provided by crops could be lost.

When fruits and vegetables do not provide one’s full daily amount of nutrients, vitamin supplements may be able to help.

When you can’t properly empty your bowels, you could experience damage to every cell, gland and organ in your body. Even worse, without regular, daily elimination and colon maintenance, your bloodstream and lymph system may become overloaded, and unable to efficiently detoxify.

According to world-renowned British physician Dennis Burkitt, M.D., African tribesmen experienced a rapid bowel transit time of four to six hours compared to 60 to 90 hours for to people eating a traditional Western diet. Burkitt discovered the tribesman consistently experienced:

• Healthier bowels
• Stronger hearts
• Powerful digestive systems
• Regular elimination

What’s their secret for regular and healthy bowel movements? Fiber. According the American Dietetic Association, most Americans consume only 12 to 17 grams (g) of fiber daily but the recommended amount for women is 25 g and for men is 38 g.

Fiber is either soluble or insoluble, and both promote a whistle-clean colon and digestive system. While insoluble fiber moves bulk through your intestines and pushes out toxins with your waste… soluble fiber helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels and boost cardiovascular health.

So how can you boost your fiber intake? Try to increase your consumption of fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, beans and whole grains. Also look for quality supplements containing cascara sagrada, senna leaf extract, black walnut bark and slippery elm bark.

Ellison recommends adopting these daily habits:

• Abstain from sugar and artificial sweeteners
• Quit smoking—or don’t start
• Exercise moderately
• Eat more leafy, green vegetables every day
• Drink more purified water
• Limit milk consumption to moderate amounts of milk
• Eat walnuts, coconut oil or freshwater salmon for omega-3 fatty acids
• Minimize refined grains
• Lose body fat

These all can help boost heart health and circulation, which can be further promoted with the addition of the enzyme nattokinase to your daily regimen. Discovered by the Japanese more than 1,000 years ago, this enzyme can help safely and naturally eliminate protein buildup—and support healthy blood flow from head to toe. In one scientific study, 173 coagulated blood samples were exposed to various nutrients, but results indicate nattokinase was the only nutrient able to successfully break down the clotted blood.

Scanning devices that emit ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NI) light may soon be used to detect defects in apples, according to a study published in the journal Sensing and Instrumentation for Food Quality and Safety.

The report stated that the technology is called a high-speed multispectral-hyperspectral line-scanner. As apples whiz by on a conveyor belt, two lamps emit UV and NI light, respectively, while two cameras capture what the light reveals about the fruit.

The NI light can reveal defects in the apples, like bruising or rotten areas, while the UV wavelengths highlight contaminating chemicals coating the fruit’s surface. The technology’s inventors said that while their system can currently analyze three to four apples per second, it may soon be able to process fruit at a much faster rate.

When one bad apple spoils the bunch, it may be helpful to consume a daily vitamin supplement to ensure quality nutrition.

You need to reverse the acid overload and return to an alkaline state to optimally support the following areas of health:

• Circulation
• Joints and muscles
• Regular heartbeats
• Flexible veins and arteries
• Energy
• Aging

Here’s a simple way to determine your acid/alkaline status. Take special test strips that measure pH and dip them in your saliva or urine. Using the color of the strip once exposed to your bodily fluid, you can determine your levels with a special acid/alkaline chart. The scale ranges from zero to 14, with the lowest being the most acidic and the highest being the most alkaline. For optimum health, you should aim for a 7.5 measurement.

If you find you are more acidic, foods can help regulate your alkaline balance. Alkaline foods include vegetables, fruits, tofu, goat’s milk, soy products, nuts, seeds, whey protein powder, mineral water and green tea. Acid-forming foods to avoid include fatty meats, dairy products, artificial sweeteners and sugars, processed foods, starchy beans and vegetables, soda drinks, beer, wine and white breads.

By consuming a diet made of 80 percent alkaline foods and 20 percent acid-forming foods while drinking at least eight glasses of alkaline water daily, you should see an improvement in your health in no time.

It’s called bitter cumin, and it has been used for centuries as a traditional remedy for stomach aches and balanced blood sugar. Now, a study published in the BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine has stated that bitter cumin contains plant phenols, which are antioxidant compounds that can promote cellular health.

Many chemical reactions in the body involve the creation of charged ions called free radicals. These ions can cause damage to genetic material or cell parts, a process that degrades cellular health and can speed the aging process.

By consuming foods that are rich in antioxidants, health-conscious individuals may be able to reduce the damage caused by oxidative stress. Besides bitter cumin, other foods that contain antioxidants include blueberries, salmon, fresh greens, nuts and fruits rich in vitamin C.

For optimal prostate health, research shows that the berries from the saw palmetto plant can help maintain healthy urine flow and maintain prostate structure. In fact, this herb might reduce your chances of age-related male pattern baldness or even mild acne. So how does it work? Saw palmetto helps prevent testosterone from changing to a harmful form called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It also blocks the effects of certain hormone receptors—which can promote normal cell growth.

Other helpful nutrients that have been shown to promote prostate health include red clover, pumpkin seed, lycopene, zinc and selenium.

The study’s authors, who hail from the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, said that two specific deficiencies—those of vitamin K and of selenium—are most to blame.

Their reasoning was that other nutrients are more immediately essential for health, making them more likely to be monitored. By contrast, the so-called non-essential vitamin K can go unnoticed, as can the element selenium.

In tests with laboratory rodents, the research team found that mice with moderate selenium deficiencies tended to develop age-related  health changes in cardiovascular, immune, and other functions, sooner than their healthy counterparts.

By taking daily dietary supplements, individuals may be able to ensure that they get adequate doses of both nutrients. Multivitamins containing vital vitamins, minerals and antioxidants may also prevent cumulative oxidative damage in cells.