The American Lung Association (ALA) released a report Wednesday detailing which U.S. cities had the cleanest or most polluted air.

The ALA drew data on ozone, year-round, and short-term pollution from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System, formerly called Aerometric Information Retrieval System database.

Among the worst offenders for year-round particle pollution are located in the western portion of the United States, including Phoenix, Mesa, and Scottsdale, Ariz., Bakersfield Calif., and the greater Los Angeles area.  The top short-term offenders include Bakersfield and Fresno, Calif. and Pittsburgh. The top ozone pollution offenders are Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

The cleanest cities for the three categories were Cheyenne, Wy., Alexandria, La. and Bismarck, N.D., respectively.

The State of the Air 2010 report shows that the air quality in many places has improved, but that over 175 million people—roughly 58 percent—still suffer pollution levels that are too often dangerous to breathe.

Detoxification key to battling air pollution

Accumulating toxins from air pollution, food, drinking water and environmental toxins can cause fatigue, emotional stress, and nervous irritability.

There are several ways you can help rid your body of toxins. Homeopathic remedies are among viable solutions that help remove toxins from internal tissue and then out of the body.

A combination of homeopathic remedies for detoxification and drainage can be highly beneficial as optimizing drainage helps the body to easily excrete toxins and metabolic waste.

An effective detox or drainage homeopathic product will include Plant Bud extracts, which greatly reduce toxic load in the cells and help reduce their re-accumulation, even in the most toxic of environments.

Child care centers are too strict about sending children with certain illnesses home, according to a survey of centers in Milwaukee, Wisc.*

The survey revealed that over half of  the centers surveyed would send children home for minor illnesses, including pink eye and low-grade fever. Dr. Andrew N. Hashikawa of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee told Reuters Health that once kids show symptoms, they’ve already been contagious long enough to infect other children.

“It doesn’t do any good to send these kids home,” Hashikawa told Reuters.

Researchers say the practice of sending children home for minor illnesses runs contrary to medical guidelines set in place by many states. Many daycare center directors aren’t even aware of the guidelines, according to the survey.

How to keep your child from being sent home

Sending children home from daycare forces some single and double-income household parents to take unnecessary time off work. Dan Kaur Weamer, MS, CN, nutritionist and dietary enzyme expert, says one way to help to reduce susceptibility to illness is a healthy diet and the use of digestive enzymes.

“The enzymes help the body to properly break down food and absorb food nutrients,” Weamer says. “The more nutrients the body is able to absorb and utilize, the better the body will work. The better the body works, the better the immune system works.”

Digestive enzymes can be given to formula-fed babies and toddlers. For children that can chew solid food, use a chewable digestive enzyme product.

(* Source: MSN, Reuters)

High glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates like white bread, chips, and doughnuts are associated with an increased risk of heart disease in women, according to the results of a recent study.*

Research conducted at the IRCCS Foundation and National Cancer Institute in Milan, Italy showed that 25 percent of women who ate high GI foods had more than two times the risk of heart disease than the 25 percent of women who ate low GI foods.

Approximately 48,000 women participated in the study along with approximately 17,000 men. However, the results of the study did not indicate that high GI foods in men posed any more of a risk than low GI foods.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the number one killer of American men and women. CDC estimates that coronary events in America take place once every 25 seconds.

While Americans spend billions of dollars on heart medications each year, these medications often come with a host of potential side effects. Dan Kaur Weamer, MS, CN, nutritionist and dietary enzyme expert, says people need to be better educated about the contraindications and interactive potential these drugs may carry. She also says there are safe and effective alternatives available to help the body promote and maintain vascular health.

“Most people don’t know alternatives are available,” she says. “Sometimes doctors aren’t well-informed either. Some of them only know what they’ve heard from a pharmaceutical representative.”

Weamer says systemic enzyme therapy and vitamin C can play a major role in reducing inflammation, a factor equal to cholesterol in determining heart disease risk.(1,2) She suggests using a dietary supplement that contains an enzyme blend to break down fibrin, which can lead to arterial plaquing. She recommends a supplement that contains garlic, globe artichoke and guggulipids, which help lower blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. Also beneficial are ginkgo biloba and vitamin E, two antioxidants that help minimize clumping, which contribute to the formation of plaque in blood vessels. For more information on systemic enzymes, click here.

*Source: Reuters

References
1. Nouza K. Systemic enzyme therapy in diseases of the vascular system.
2. Block G. et al Vitamin C treatment reduces elevated C-reactive protein. Free Radic Biol Med 2008; Oct. 10: 18952164. http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:18952164  or http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081113091630.htm