If it says "SUGAR FREE" on the label, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!

Beware of Deadly Aspartame Sugar Substitutes!

Although its name sounds tame, this deadly neurotoxin is anything but. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener (over 200 times sweeter than sugar) marketed as "Nutrasweet," "Equal," and "Spoonful" and countless other trade names. Although aspartame is added to over 9,000 food products, it is not fit for human consumption!

This toxic poison changes into formaldehyde in the body and has been linked to migraines, seizures, vision loss and symptoms relating to lupus, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and other health destroying conditions (even Gulf War Syndrome).

Learn more information about this crime against our health.

Aspartame: Artificial Diet Sweetener Unhealthy & Makes You Fat!

Because Monsanto's artificial sweetener aspartame (sold as "Nutrasweet," "Equal," and "Spoonful") is over 200 times sweeter than sugar, it's a common ingredient found in "diet" foods and has become a sweetening staple for dieters. Besides being a deadly poison, aspartame actually contributes to weight gain by causing a craving for carbohydrates.

A study of 80,000 women by the American Cancer Society found that those who used this neurotoxic "diet" sweetener actually gained more weight than those who didn't use aspartame products.

"B" Smart with B Vitamins

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States? This means it's very important to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid (also a member of the vitamin B complex). These vitamins help maintain a healthy heart and prevent heart attacks and stroke.

I agree with the recommendation of the American Heart Association that there is no need to add a dietary supplement to your diet but, instead, to make sure you eat foods rich in folic acid and vitamin B.

What are good sources of these B vitamins? Eggs, fish, shellfish, cheese, asparagus, spinach, liver, and meat are some common sources. Organ meats, such as liver, and wheat germ can also contribute B vitamins to your diet. In addition, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated in 1998 that enriched cereal-grain products be fortified with folic acid, many of the ready-to-eat cereals you may already be enjoying provide 100 percent of the daily requirement of these B vitamins.

Hi

I also wanted to let people know that other natural sources are milk, whole grains, yeast, beans, and some green leafy vegetables. As far as it being synthetically made, getting your vitamins from food is far better, but if you need to supplement, studies have shown that they work more effectively when they're in a formula with liver extract, yeast, or both. As far as toxicity, there's usually not a problem if you're taking 1 or 2 tablets a day from a reputable manufacturer and as long as you're following the manufacturer's recommendations for specific B vitamins. B complex will also usually produce bright yellow urine, so don't freak out. This is caused by the B2 (riboflavin, also used as a food coloring) and it's harmless. Ideally, all the B vitamins should be taken together to eliminate the risk of high doses of one unbalancing the availability of the others. Sometimes larger doses of individual ones may be needed, but would still be best together with a B complex formula. My family and I take a wonderful supplement that provides all the vitamins and minerals your body needs on a daily basis. It's a great way to fill in those nutritional gaps we're all guilty of allowing in our diets. It's all natural, plant based, and best of all it's whole food, not synthetic, isolated vitamins. The same company also puts out an awesome weight loss supplement that really helped me get back on track after my 2nd pregnancy. It, too, is all natural, plant based, and whole food nutrition. I'd love to give you all helpful details, but I don't think I'm allowed to on this post. If you'd like more information you can email me at beabetteru@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to share. Good luck to you all in balancing out those ever important vitamins and minerals!

Everyone should be taking five basic vitamin suppliments because it is virtually impossible to maintain a steady intake of our recommended daily vitamin requirements (RDA). The five forms of suppliments I suggest are;

1) a name brand daily multiple vitamin vitamin (the name brands are more concerned about product liability) Centurum or One-A-Day.

2)extra vitamin "C" , because many people need more than the RDA that is in the daily multivitamin. Mega doses of vitamin "C" has been proven to cure schzofrinia. 80% of the human population suffers from some measure of this disease.

3)extra B's vitamins in the form of Super B-Complex vitamins - these B-complex vitamins are hard to find in our food but are most vital to fight physical, emotional, and chemical stress. If fact the chemical stress caused by insecticides depleats these vitamins faster than we can replace them without suppliments and causes migrain headachs. The insectcides ( chemical stress ) stress depleats our B's from our metabolism and then our bodies have to find them in our spinal cord lining and when they are depleated from there the body goes to the base of the brain and begins to cause brain damage: which is reversable by taking extra b-Complex vitamin with your daily. Deficiantcies of these B-Complex vitamins because of chemical stress, I believe, is the reason that we have Parkinson's, Altheimer's, and Demencia.

4) extra vitamin "E" about 200 mg to start then up to 400 mg to assit me amune system in combating free radicals such as those found in margarine.

5) finally the lastest discover is that Omega three, and Omega 4 (fish oil) can reduce your chances of heart attach and stroke from 30% to 50% and very important for women. Men should only take extra Iron only as recommended by a doctor and should avoid them if you live at higher geographical elevations ( 4000 + plus feet above sea level. I am 55 yrs. and have been practicing what I am preaching here since I was 30 yrs. I still feel and work as if I were 30 and I am about five pounds heavier that I was when I graduated from high school: 5'10" and 167 pounds. The extra added benefit of taking suppliments is that first your will accomplish a stable metabolism: when that happens your body stops storing unneccessary fats. So if you are over weight try my formulae and watch the pounds drop off no matter what you eat.

P.S. You should never take vitamin suppliments on an empty stomach or without food. I remember to take my vitamins (first thing in the morning) by treating myself to a fried pie or sandwich and my favorite drink this helps to make sure that all 5 vitamin tablets go down into the stomach so that I can metabolise them.

Food Label Facts

If you're looking for healthy food selections but have a hard time deciphering food labels at the grocery store, you are not alone. Nutritional information about vitamins and minerals has been listed on food labels since 1973. In their current format, the labels now include other nutritional information, including serving size and the amounts of calories, fiber, and types of fats per serving.

Food labels are an important tool to help you follow guidelines and good nutrition principles like eating a variety of foods and making sure your diet is rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Food labels also help you to identify foods that contain sugars, salt, cholesterol, and fats. The latest change to food labels, in effect since January of this year, is the mandatory inclusion of information about a food's trans fat content. Trans fats are the most damaging type of fat in packaged foods.

Food labels have many important components. Here are some quick reference points to help you make sense of the valuable information they contain:

• Serving size. This is found in the topmost section of the label. Look for the serving size as well as the total servings in the container. If a serving size is 1 cup and you eat 2 cups, remember to double all the nutrient values listed on the label, including the calories!
• Total calories and calories from fat. This tells you the number of calories a product provides in one serving of the food or how many calories from fat a food contains. Remember: if you're watching your weight, calories you take in need to be less than or equal to calories you burn.
• Percent daily value. These daily values should help you plan meals based on nutrients you want to include in your diet. You should know that percent values are based on a whole day's consumption and not just one meal. Percent values are also based on a person consuming a 2000-calorie diet.

As you compare products in the grocery store, try to avoid adding items to your cart that are high in saturated or trans fats, cholesterol, or sodium. These nutrients are all associated with chronic health problems such as heart disease and stroke. You can lessen your risks of developing these conditions, as well as others like osteoporosis and anemia, by selecting foods that are good sources of calcium, iron, and fiber.

Food Label Facts

If you're looking for healthy food selections but have a hard time deciphering food labels at the grocery store, you are not alone. Nutritional information about vitamins and minerals has been listed on food labels since 1973. In their current format, the labels now include other nutritional information, including serving size and the amounts of calories, fiber, and types of fats per serving.

Food labels are an important tool to help you follow guidelines and good nutrition principles like eating a variety of foods and making sure your diet is rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Food labels also help you to identify foods that contain sugars, salt, cholesterol, and fats. The latest change to food labels, in effect since January of this year, is the mandatory inclusion of information about a food's trans fat content. Trans fats are the most damaging type of fat in packaged foods.

Food labels have many important components. Here are some quick reference points to help you make sense of the valuable information they contain:

• Serving size. This is found in the topmost section of the label. Look for the serving size as well as the total servings in the container. If a serving size is 1 cup and you eat 2 cups, remember to double all the nutrient values listed on the label, including the calories!
• Total calories and calories from fat. This tells you the number of calories a product provides in one serving of the food or how many calories from fat a food contains. Remember: if you're watching your weight, calories you take in need to be less than or equal to calories you burn.
• Percent daily value. These daily values should help you plan meals based on nutrients you want to include in your diet. You should know that percent values are based on a whole day's consumption and not just one meal. Percent values are also based on a person consuming a 2000-calorie diet.

As you compare products in the grocery store, try to avoid adding items to your cart that are high in saturated or trans fats, cholesterol, or sodium. These nutrients are all associated with chronic health problems such as heart disease and stroke. You can lessen your risks of developing these conditions, as well as others like osteoporosis and anemia, by selecting foods that are good sources of calcium, iron, and fiber.

Tomatoes, carrots, greens may lower asthma risk

Women who eat plenty of tomatoes, carrots and leafy greens appear less likely to have asthma, researchers have found.

Though it's uncertain whether the foods are the reason, the findings suggest that some vegetables may protect against adulthood asthma, the researchers report in the medical journal Thorax.

A number of studies have suggested that antioxidants or certain other nutrients in plant foods may help prevent or ameliorate asthma and other allergic conditions. Carrots, tomato juice and spinach contain nutrients called carotenoids, some of which are converted into vitamin A in the body.

Among other jobs, vitamin A helps regulate the immune system and maintain the lining of the respiratory tract.

In general, experts recommend that people eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day for overall health. However, the authors of the new study write, "it is important to know which fruit and vegetables might be more likely to prevent specific diseases."

To investigate which foods may sway asthma risk, they analyzed data on nearly 69,000 French women who were surveyed about diet and other health factors. Overall, 3 percent reported having asthma, with women who ate the most carrots, tomatoes and leafy vegetables being less likely to have the lung disease.

Dr. Isabelle Romieu of the National Institute of Public Health in Cuernavaca, Mexico, led the study.

Among the women surveyed, those who reported the highest intake of leafy greens - mostly spinach and lettuce - were 22 percent less likely to say they had asthma than women with the lowest intakes. Similarly, carrot lovers had a 20 percent lower risk of the disease, while tomato fans had an 18 percent lower risk.

The lower risks were seen even with other major factors - like weight, overall calorie intake, smoking and vitamin use - taken into account.

However, the researchers point out, they cannot rule out the possibility that higher intakes of carrots, tomatoes and leafy greens are simply a sign of a generally healthier diet - and not a special effect of these foods specifically.

Further studies, they conclude, are needed to confirm these results and to explore the possible effect of fruits and vegetables on asthma severity. --

Fight flu season by cleansing

What are you willing to give up to have more energy and mental clarity?

Sugar? Alcohol? Tobacco? Fried and fatty foods?

Holistic health care professionals have seen hosts of ailments clear up after patients eliminate unhealthy foods from their diets and eat more organic whole foods. Kim Nearpass, a Frisco naturopath, has seen women with menopausal symptoms of anxiety and hot flashes go away after a cleanse. She also has seen patients' allergies, emotional issues and digestive difficulties disappear.

"In an ultimate world, I'd have patients do a cleanse before they do anything else because I've had patients who do a cleanse, and all of their symptoms clear up," Nearpass said.

Lacey Story, a Frisco acupuncturist who also specializes in detoxification, agrees, saying people who cleanse their bodies first spend less time getting treatments because each treatment is more effective.

Justin Pollack, a Frisco naturopath, uses fall and spring cleanses to avoid winter viruses and spring allergies.

Yes ... you've probably heard all of this before. Eating healthy is good for you.

But it's those restrictions - sugar, alcohol, tobacco, red meat, your favorite foods - that hold you back from your optimal health. But take heart: An effective cleanse only needs to last seven days. After that, it may be much easier to continue on a healthy path, because most cravings subside after three or four days, Pollack said.

"Part of a cleanse is to get people to the state where they can experience optimal health with an optimal diet, and then they can choose from there on out what they want to do," Pollack said.

And for many people, such as Audrey Benecke, one week is enough to see improvement. Benecke started a cleanse under Pollack's supervision last spring because she felt exhausted. She didn't think she was "strong enough" to go longer than a week, but after a week's cleanse, she learned about her bad eating habits - such as eating when she wasn't really hungry - and found she could maintain better habits and drink teas to help cleanse her system regularly.

"I felt great after it," Benecke said. "The overall tone and texture of my skin improved, I had a leaner physique and my energy was much, much better. I think it will enhance anyone's performance in anything."

Pesticides, antibiotics and hormones in food tend to create toxins in the body, which often cause fatigue and other ailments. Pesticides interfere with insects' neurological and reproductive systems, and now humans have more neurological and reproductive problems. There's no proven link, but it's something to be concerned about, Pollack said. Ingesting hormones increases the risk of cancer - particularly breast cancer - and girls are now reaching puberty at younger ages because of exposure to external sources of estrogen, Nearpass said. And taking unnecessary antibiotics could increase humans' resistance to antibiotics and create stronger bacterial strains, Pollack said.

So what can you do?

Most practitioners recommend cleansing in the fall and spring because seasonal changes put different stress on the body. In fall, people tend to eat heavier, sweeter and more fatty foods as they move into the cold, dark season of winter. Colder weather can cause the body to stagnate, which provides more opportunity for virus and bacteria to settle and grow.

"A cleanse helps keep the flow going in the body by clearing out systems of detoxification - the liver, digestive tract, kidneys, skin and the lymphatic system," Pollack said.

There are a variety of ways to cleanse the body. The most extreme involves fasting, which is best done when a person can rest a lot. The most gentle is simply eating whole, pure foods.

Pollack and Nearpass offer a package of supplements and instruction, which incorporates a day of juicing and eating simple, whole foods. Their cleanse includes taking herbs and supplements that help the liver detoxify, keeps the colon moving and adds digestive flora and necessary nutrients.

Story offers both Western and Chinese herbs, as well as a homeopathic detoxification kit and hyperthermic treatment. A new healer in Frisco, Layla Duran, is an Apache woman who uses Native American herbs and ceremonial detoxification she learned from her ancestors to cleanse and purify the body. She uses a variety of oils and herbs, including warm prickly pear cactus, cedar, lemon balm, sage and lavender. Summit County also has a host of other qualified practitioners.

Though Nearpass says a person doesn't necessarily need supervision during a gentle cleanse, she says those who have never tried it or people who don't know where to start can benefit from guidance. Story, on the other hand, has seen too many people get sick doing a cleanse, so she recommends medical supervision. Both practitioners agree the body needs assistance to clear toxins out of the system, and sometimes drinking a lot of water just isn't enough.

There are two primary phases in the detoxification process. Phase I releases toxins from whatever they are bound to, such as fats. Sometimes people stop the cleansing process at this phase because they start to get headaches, stomach aches or fatigue. But Pollack says breaking a cleanse can be worse than not doing a cleanse at all.

Products released in phase I can be highly reactive and more harmful than the original toxin; phase I causes an increase in oxidative stress and free radical generation. That's why it's important to take supplements that bind up the toxins and help release them naturally, Story said.

New Study Shows Decreasing Nutrient Value of Certain Fruits and Vegetables – An Increasing Need for Multivitamin and Mineral Complex Supplements

Taking a multivitamin and mineral complex may be more important than ever. According to Institute of Nutrition President Jules G. Bitbol, recent studies of more than a dozen fruits and vegetables have shown that there has been a decrease in the nutrient value of many foods, which in some cases is drastic. For instance, the Vitamin A content in apples has dropped from 90 mg to 53mg. Vitamin C in sweet peppers has decreased from 128mg to 89mg.

The USDA recommends 3 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 4 servings of fruit per day to maintain good health. But very few people are able to sustain that kind of healthy diet every day. And, with the decreasing nutrient value of many fruits and vegetables, people aren't getting all the vitamins and minerals they need.

Institute of Nutrition President Jules Bitbol says, “Not to worry. If people take an excellent vitamin and mineral supplement each day and eat a sensible diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables,whole grains, and at least two servings a week of fish, they will be in great shape.”

The Institute of Nutrition, http://www.ionnet.com, has been devoted to research and the production of nutritional supplements and vitamins of the best quality, at the best price. The quality and purity of their products is a top priority. There are no unnecessary additives without nutritional value, no "fillers", or any animal by-products.

U.C., Berkeley Professor Dr. Bruce Ames states in Newsweek Magazine (January 16, 2006), “If you want to age faster, a good way to do it is to be short of some vitamin or mineral. I think everyone in the world should take a multivitamin as insurance. I take one daily.”

How to Make Ginger Tea

Warm your digestive fire and prevent colds

Hot ginger tea is an excellent winter drink. You can use it to strengthen digestion, improve circulation, or ward off colds, sore throat and the flu.

It's very easy to make ginger tea. Here are the instructions:

Hot Ginger Tea
4 cups of water
2 inch piece of fresh ginger root
optional: honey and lemon

Peel the ginger root and slice it into thin slices. Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Once it is boiling, add the ginger. Cover it and reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes. Strain the tea. Add honey and lemon to taste.

Note: Keep in mind that if you are making this tea to strengthen the immune system and ward off colds and flu, sweeteners are not recommended.

Best Food Sources of Antioxidant Vitamins

Study measures food antioxidants

Many people are familiar with vitamin C, beta-carotene, and vitamin E, antioxidants that are part of the body's defense against free radicals and oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a process that mediates many chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

Antioxidants are found in fruit, cereals, and vegetables, or they can be taken in the form of dietary supplements. There is some research suggesting that a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and cereals has additional benefits, because of lesser-known but potent antioxidants in food that may have a combined effect greater than that of any single nutrient or individual antioxidant supplement.

When it comes to antioxidant content, all foods are not created equal. A study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Nutrition analyzed the total antioxidant content of various fruits, berries, vegetables, cereals, nuts, and legumes. These are the results:

Overall Best Sources of Antioxidants

• Berries: dog rose, sour cherry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, crowberry, blueberry, black currant
• Walnuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Pomegranate
• Ginger

Ranked List by Individual Plant Group

Berries

• Dog rose
• Crowberry
• Bilberry/wild blueberry
• Black currant
• Sour cherry
• Strawberry
• Blueberry
• Cranberry
• Raspberry
• Cloudberry

Fruit

• Pomegranate
• Grape
• Orange
• Plum
• Pineapple
• Lemon
• Dates
• Kiwi
• Clementine
• Grapefruit

Legumes

• Broad beans
• Pinto beans
• Ground nut
• Soybeans

Nuts, seeds, and dried fruit

• Walnuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Apricots
• Prunes

Vegetables

· Kale

· Chili pepper

· Red cabbage

· Peppers

· Parsley

· Artichoke

· Brussels Sprouts

· Spinach
Cereals

• Barley
• Millet
• Oats
• Corn

Roots and Tubers

• Ginger
• Red Beets

Note: This is not a complete list. There are additional food sources of antioxidants not analyzed in this study, such as garlic.

Gum Disease

Affects 1 in 3 People Over 30

Gum disease, known medically as periodontal disease, is a condition in which the gums, deeper supporting tissue, and potentially the bone surrounding teeth become infected and inflamed.

Gum disease starts with plaque on the teeth, a sticky white substance that coats teeth. It's formed when bacteria in the mouth mixes with saliva and residues from starchy foods and sugar in your diet.

If plaque isn't properly removed from teeth by brushing and flossing, it accumulates and hardens underneath the gumline into tartar. Once tartar builds up, it's much more difficult to remove than plaque and usually requires a cleaning at the dentist.

Over time, it can lead to inflamed gums, or gingivitis. This is a mild form of gum disease. One of the most common symptoms is darker red gums that bleed with brushing or flossing.

Professional cleaning can reverse gingivitis.

f there is bleeding with pain, it is a symptom that the infection and inflammation has spread to the deeper tissues and bone, called periodontitis. After the age of 30, periodontitis is responsible for tooth loss, more so than cavities.

Symptoms of Gum Disease

• Red, swollen gums
• Bleeding while brushing or flossing
• Receding gums
• Chronic bad breath
• Loose teeth or widening space between gums and teeth

Vitamin C

The link between vitamin C deficiency and gum disease is well known. Back in the 18th century, sailors ate limes during long trips at sea to keep their gums from bleeding. A study in the Journal of Periodontology found that people with low intakes of vitamin C had higher rates of periodontal disease. Researchers looked at 12,419 adults in the United States. People who consumed less than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 60 mg per day were 1.5 the risk of developing severe gingivitis as people who consumed more than 180 mg. Vitamin C is believed to help gum disease because vitamin C is an antioxidant and is needed to repair connective tissue and accelerate bone regeneration.

To boost your intake of vitamin C, eat foods rich in vitamin C, such as grapefruit, oranges, kiwi fruit, mango, papaya, strawberry, red pepper, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cantaloupe. Vitamin C can also be taken in supplement form. Avoid chewable vitamin C, because the acidity may promote the erosion of tooth enamel over time.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D has been found to have anti-inflammatory effects and may reduce susceptibility to gum disease. A study by the Boston University evaluated the association between vitamin D status and gingivitis. They analyzed data from 77,503 teeth in 6700 people in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that people with higher blood levels of vitamin D were less likely to experience bleeding gums during gingival probing.

Sun exposure is one of the most important sources of vitamin D, because UV rays from the sun trigger the synthesis of vitamin D in skin. The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements suggests 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure twice a week, however the further away from the equator you live, the more polluted your city, and the more cloud cover there is, the less likely that this sun exposure will be sufficient. Look for at least 200 IU in a multivitamin.

Stress reduction

Stress contributes to gum disease by increasing plaque accumulation. A University of Dusseldorf study examined how exam stress would impact plaque and gum bleeding. All students had a professional tooth cleaning 4 weeks prior to exams and then 4 weeks after exams. They found that students had significantly higher rates of plaque and gingivitis after exams compared to a control group of students that didn't write exams.

Coenzyme Q10

There is some evidence has linking gum disease to lower levels of coenzyme q10, an antioxidant made naturally in the body, found widely in foods, and available in supplement form. Some researchers say that coenzyme q10 is needed to properly repair gum tissue. A study by Osaka University in Japan found improvement in infection and inflammation after 3 weeks of taking a topical coenzyme q10 toothpaste. You can look find toothpaste containing coenzyme q10 at natural grocers, health food stores, and online.

Tea tree oil

Tea tree oil has proven antibiotic properties. A topically applied tea tree oil gel was evaluated in a double-blind placebo-controlled study involving 49 people with severe chronic gingivitis. They were told to brush twice a day and were assessed after 4 and 8 weeks. The group that brushed with tea tree oil had a significant reduction in the degree of gingivitis and bleeding. However, tea tree oil gel did not reduce the amount of plaque. Use only commercial tea tree toothpaste, not tea tree oil.

Cranberries

Cranberries may help gum disease by preventing bacteria from sticking to teeth. Look for cranberry juice with no added sugar at the health food store. A typical amount is 4 ounces a day. Consult your doctor if you are taking the blood thinner warfarin or have kidney stones.

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Coffee may spell heart trouble for some

Chicago - Here's a real caffeine jolt — heart attacks might be a risk for coffee drinkers with a common genetic trait that makes caffeine linger in their bodies, a study suggests.

Research on more than 4,000 people in Costa Rica found that about half had the trait and were considered "slow caffeine metabolizers." The other half had the opposite trait, which caused their bodies to rapidly break down or metabolize caffeine, and coffee-drinking in this group appeared to reduce heart attack risks.

Among slow-metabolizers, those who drank two or more cups of coffee daily were at least 36 percent more likely to have a nonfatal heart attack than those who drank little or no coffee. Even higher risks were found for younger slow metabolizers — those under 50. They were up to four times more likely to have a heart attack than slow metabolizers in their age group who drank little or no coffee.

The findings, though preliminary, might explain why there have been such mixed results in previous studies investigating caffeine's effects on the cardiovascular system, said University of Toronto researcher Ahmed El-Sohemy, a study co-author.

Caffeine is thought to block the effects of a certain chemical that is believed to help protect against tissue damage, he said.

Some previous research has linked coffee-drinking to a higher risk of heart disease, but other studies have suggested the opposite. While there's evidence to suggest caffeine can cause short-term blood pressure increases, a study last year said coffee-drinking didn't appear to cause long-term high blood pressure, at least in women.

The new study "clearly illustrates that one size does not fit all," El-Sohemy said. "Perhaps in the future we'll be making different (dietary) recommendations based on people's genetic makeup."

For now, there's no easy way to know if you're a fast or slow caffeine metabolizer. Staying awake all night if you drink coffee in the afternoon doesn't mean you're a slow metabolizer, and a genetic test that could answer the question is used in research but is not commercially available, El-Sohemy said.

His study, conducted with researchers from Harvard's School of Public Health and the University of Costa Rica, appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Participants were 2,014 men and women aged 58 on average who'd had a nonfatal heart attack between 1994 and 2004, plus a control group of 2,014 healthy men and women. Genetic tests of blood samples determined which ones were slow caffeine metabolizers and which were fast metabolizers.

El-Sohemy said the prevalence of both traits is similar in other population groups but that worldwide prevalence varies.

"This data is very provocative and very interesting," said Dr. Roger Blumenthal, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins Medical School who was not involved in the study.

Still, even if future research confirms the findings, it's likely that caffeine plays a much smaller role in heart attacks than conventional risk factors like high blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking, Blumenthal said.

Dr. Nieca Goldberg, an American Heart Association spokeswoman, said that while the results aren't conclusive, "One good message that we can give people is that life is about moderation."

The study "doesn't say you can't have caffeine," but drinking several cups of coffee daily is probably excessive for some people, she said.

Coffee can trigger heart palpitations in people who are sensitive to caffeine. Those palpitations may not be harmful but they can be frightening, Goldberg said. She noted that caffeine is found in other foods including colas and chocolate. -- The Associated Press