A small but growing body of research suggests that barefoot is the way to run. As a result, many runners have been shucking off their shoes in favor of naked feet or minimalist footwear.
Strong evidence shows that thickly cushioned running shoes have done nothing to prevent injury in the 30-odd years since Nike founder Bill Bowerman invented them. Some smaller, earlier studies suggest that running in shoes may increase the risk of ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis and other injuries. Injuries plague 20 to 80 percent of regular runners every year.
Going shoeless allows your foot to flex and absorb shock. With thick heels, people lengthen their strides, landing heel-first and letting the shoe absorb the impact of each footfall. You can’t do that barefoot, so your body naturally falls into a shorter stride, landing first on the outside middle or ball of your foot. As you advance your foot rolls inward; the arch flattens and helps absorb the impact; it then springs back up as you lift your foot and push off the ground.
Vitamin K: The Key for Bone Health that Most People Don’t Know About
Vitamin K has been linked to bone, heart and even prostate health, but joint health and cartilage could also be affected by this little-known vitamin. In the podcast linked below, Stephen Daniells talks to Professor Cees Vermeer about raising awareness on vitamin K.
Professor Vermeer said he could imagine vitamin K benefits extending beyond cardiovascular and bone health, to joint health. He stated:
“All diseases of the cartilage — I could imagine that these would benefit from vitamin K2.”
Awareness of vitamin K from green vegetables, the fermented soy product natto and cheese is increasing, although many are still unaware of the benefits and sources of the vitamin.
How Your Body Clock Regulates Your Metabolism
Scientists have discovered that your circadian rhythms regulate the energy levels in your cells. In addition, the proteins involved with circadian rhythms and metabolism are intrinsically linked and dependent upon each other. This finding has far-reaching implications, which could include new ways to treat cancer, diabetes, obesity and a host of related diseases.
24-hour circadian rhythms govern fundamental physiological functions in almost all organisms. These circadian clocks are the essential time-tracking systems in your body. Disruption of these rhythms can profoundly influence human health.
In a new study, researchers showed that an enzyme protein which is an essential molecular gear of the circadian machinery interacts with a protein that senses cell energy levels and modulates aging and metabolism.
This suggests that proper sleep and diet may help maintain or rebuild the balance between your circadian clock and your metabolism, and could also help explain why lack of rest or disruption of normal sleep patterns can increase hunger, leading to obesity-related illnesses and accelerated aging.
Vitamin D Dose Recommendations
Age
Dosage
Below 5
35 units per pound per day
Age 5 – 10
2500 units
Age 18 – 30
5000 units
Pregnant Women
5000 units
WARNING:
There is no way to know if the above recommendations are correct. The ONLY way to know is to test your blood. You might need 4-5 times the amount recommended above. Ideally your blood level of 25 OH D should be 60ng/ml.
Lick the Bowl with Raw Abandon When You Eat this Yummy-Scrummy Tropical Dessert!
Dessert time! Today, I’ll show you a delicious recipe for protein types. And who doesn’t like a good banana split? Nobody. That’s who. But the best part is, this is a banana split that’ll like you back!
INGREDIENTS:
1 banana, split lengthwise
Approx. ¼ cup raw, organic cream (protein types may use more if desired)
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
Sprinkle of xylitol or stevia, to taste (optional)
Drizzle of Pure Gold Raw Honey (available through Mercola.com)
PREPARATION:
Arrange split banana into dessert bowl.
Pour cream into Magic Bullet type blender.
Pour vanilla extract into cream.
Sprinkle xylitol or stevia into cream if desired.
Blend well to thicken.
Dollop cream mix onto/between banana halves.
Drizzle a bit of Pure Gold Raw Honey over top.
Quite delicious! A very quick & simple and totally yummy banana split that protein types will absolutely love!
How to Avoid Being Fooled at the Supermarket
How and what you eat has radically changed over the past few decades with the all-consuming rise of the supermarket. But what price are you paying for this homogenized, cheap and convenient food? This video investigates how supermarkets have affected the food on your plate, and reveals the telltale signs that the food you buy may not have been grown in the way you think.
How to Eliminate Gout Without Dangerous Drugs
Between two and five million Americans suffer from gout, a type of arthritis that causes stiff, swollen and painful joints. It occurs when your uric acid levels build up in your blood. Although gout is commonly blamed on eating high-purine foods such as organ meats, there is clearly another dietary culprit: high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
6 Ways to Reduce Inflammation — Without a Statin Drug
Experts predict that as a result of the so-called JUPITER study, which seemed to show that the statin drug Crestor lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes in those with high levels of inflammation, will lead to millions of people being put on statin drugs.
But the benefits were actually tiny — about 0.72 percent of the statin takers in the trial had a heart attack or stroke, compared with 1.5 percent of those taking placebos.
Instead of a statin drug that comes with dangerous side effects, try these six measures instead:
Stop smoking. Smoking hardens the arteries and increase inflammation. But research shows you can reverse all the damaging effects to your arteries within 10 years of quitting.
Think olive oil, fish, and nuts. People who stick with a Mediterranean-style diet based on fruits, vegetables, nuts, and olive oil can lower their levels of inflammation. It works by increasing the amount of foods you eat that are rich in omega-3 fats, which fight inflammation.
Get active. Exercise a great way to lower inflammation without any of the side effects associated with medications.
Shrink your waist size. If you’re a woman with a waist measurement of over 35 inches or a man with a waist of over 40 inches, you probably have high inflammation. Whittling a few inches off the waist by reducing your portions and increasing activity can go a long way toward solving that problem.
Get enough sleep. A new study shows that elderly people with high blood pressure who sleep less than 7.5 hours a night have dramatically elevated chances of having a stroke or heart attack. Other research has shown that both too little and too much sleep increases inflammation. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says most adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep each night.
Reduce stress. High levels of stress hormones can lead to the release of excess inflammatory chemicals.
Fluoride Exposure May Contribute to Early Puberty
By Dr. Mercola
Up until the 1990s, no research had ever been conducted to determine the impact of fluoride on the pineal gland — a small gland located between the two hemispheres of the brain that regulates the production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate the onset of puberty and helps protect the body from cell damage caused by free radicals.
It is now known — thanks to the meticulous research of Dr. Jennifer Luke from the University of Surrey in England — that the pineal gland is the primary target of fluoride accumulation within your body.
After finding that the pineal gland is a major target for fluoride accumulation in humans, Dr. Luke conducted animal experiments to determine if the accumulated fluoride could impact the functioning of the gland — particularly the gland’s regulation of melatonin.
Luke found that animals treated with fluoride had lower levels of circulating melatonin, as reflected by reduced levels of melatonin metabolites in the animals’ urine. This reduced level of circulating melatonin was accompanied — as might be expected — by an earlier onset of puberty in the fluoride-treated female animals.
U.S. girls are reaching puberty at younger ages than ever before. In the 1990s, breast development — the first sign of puberty in girls — at age 8 was considered an abnormal event that should be investigated by an endocrinologist.
However, by 1999, following a 1997 study that found almost half of African Americans and 15 percent of whites had begun breast development by age 8, the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society suggested changing what is viewed as “normal.”
Instead of acknowledging that girls reaching puberty at increasingly younger ages is a sign that something is wrong, some “experts” would rather just change the definition of what’s considered normal!
In reality, something is wrong, very wrong, when 5-, 6- and 8-year-old girls are starting puberty. Some studies have even found girls as young as 2 who are starting sexual development.
Not only do these children have to deal with an unfairly increased risk of breast cancer down the road, but they lose precious years of their childhood because their bodies have matured faster than their minds.
What is Causing Early Puberty?
There are likely numerous factors contributing to this phenomenon, but one is certainly environmental chemicals. Along with endocrine-disrupting chemicals (BPA, phthalates, PFOA (Teflon)) and PCBs, fluoride has also been suggested.
Fluoride has been added to the U.S. water supply for so long — and has been thoroughly hoisted upon people around the world for its supposed benefit to teeth — that hardly anyone thinks twice about it.
Well, this was not always the case. In 1944, LP Anthony, DDS editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association, said: “Fluoride is a highly toxic substance … ”
Before that, in 1936, an article in the Journal of the American Dental Association stated that fluoride at the 1 ppm (part per million) concentration is as toxic as arsenic and lead.
The Journal of the American Medical Association also stated in their September 18, 1943 issue that fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons that change the permeability of the cell membrane by certain enzymes.
And, an editorial published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, October 1, 1944, stated:
“Drinking water containing as little as 1.2 ppm fluoride will cause developmental disturbances. We cannot run the risk of producing such serious systemic disturbances. The potentialities for harm outweigh those for good.”
Others, too, have tried to spread the word about the dangers of fluoride, including Christopher Bryson, the author of The Fluoride Deception, who has recently called the widespread promotion of fluoride “scientific fraud on a grand and global scale.”
Yet, this element, or as some may call it, this caustic industrial chemical, is deliberately added to about two-thirds of U.S. public water supplies. For people living in these areas, fluoride is a part of every glass of water, every bath and shower, and every meal cooked using that water.
In the UK, meanwhile, 42 schools have decided it is a good idea to add fluoride to children’s milk in schools. And some of you may also think that the fluoride treatments offered by your dentist are a good idea.
Well, it’s time to shed this myth once and for all.
Fluoride is the Active Toxin in Rat Poisons and Cockroach Powder
Common sense would dictate, then, that this can’t be a good thing to put in your body, and your instincts would be correct.
Once inside your body, fluoride destroys your enzymes by changing their shape. You may remember that your body depends on thousands of enzymes to perform various cell reactions, and without these enzymes, we would all die. They are able to perform their reactions because they have a specific shape that allows them to work with other elements in your body, like a lock and key.
Once fluoride destroys their shape, however, your body does not recognize the enzymes, and in fact will view them as foreign invaders and attempt to attack them.
When your enzymes are damaged, it can lead to collagen breakdown, eczema, tissue damage, skin wrinkling, genetic damage, and immune suppression. It can also cause problems with your:
Immune system
Digestive system
Respiratory system
Blood circulation
Kidney function
Liver function
Brain function
Thyroid function
Studies from China have even confirmed that elevated fluoride exposure leads to reduced I.Q. in children. This is understandable when you consider that even at levels as low as 1 ppm, studies have demonstrated direct toxic effects on brain tissue, including:
Reduction in lipid content
Impaired anti-oxidant defense systems
Damage to your hippocampus
Damage to your purkinje cells
Increased uptake of aluminum
Formation of beta-amyloid plaques (the classic brain abnormality in Alzheimer”s disease)
Accumulation of fluoride in your pineal gland
This last effect is completely in correlation with the research of Dr. Jennifer Luke, which suggests that fluoride impacts your pineal gland’s regulation of melatonin, and this may contribute to the early onset of puberty.
All of These Risks, and it Doesn’t Even Help Your Teeth!
Clearly risks as serious as those above would not justify preventing a few cavities, yet, fluoride does not even do that.
Figures from the World Health Organization show the same declines in tooth decay that have been experienced in fluoridated countries since the 1960s have occurred equally in non-fluoridated countries.
In another study from 2004, pro-fluoridation dental researchers from the University of Aderlaide in South Australia were unable to demonstrate any difference in the permanent teeth between children who had lived all their lives drinking fluoridated water and those who had drunk rain or bottled water.
What does fluoride do to your teeth, then?
Well, it’s known that it interferes with the development of tooth enamel, a condition called “dental fluorosis.” Those in favor of fluoride like to say that fluorosis is a purely “cosmetic condition,” but rarely do symptoms appear for no reason.
In this case, the white spots that form on your teeth after consuming too much fluoride are likely a warning sign that other tissues are being impacted. Studies have shown, for instance, that children with severe dental fluorosis are more likely to have bone fractures.
The Environmental Working Group even reported a finding from a Harvard PhD thesis that showed boys exposed to fluoridated water when they were between the ages of 6 and 8 had a seven-fold increased risk of developing osteosarcoma, a form of frequently fatal bone cancer.
If you’re wondering how to keep your teeth healthy, remember that fluoride was never the answer in the first place. Instead, look to your diet for naturally healthy teeth. In fact, most people whose diet includes very little sugar and few processed foods have very low rates of tooth decay.
As for how to get toxic fluoride out of your drinking water, regular carbon-based filtration will NOT work. About the only way to remove this toxic chemical from your water is to use a reverse osmosis filter.
Other Hidden Sources of Fluoride
If you have any non-stick pans, the moment you start to heat them they will start to volatilize fluoride as that is the polymer that makes them “non-sticky.” The higher the heat, the more fluoride you will have in your home. So do yourself a favor and get rid of all of your non-stick pots and pans.
Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Will Wreck Your Muscles
Cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs often come with side effects. The most frequently reported consequence is fatigue, and about 9 percent of patients report statin-related pain.
The results of a new study show that statins at higher doses may also affect the ability of the skeletal muscles — which allow your body to move — to repair and regenerate themselves.
The study examined the proliferative capacity of human satellite cells when exposed to the statin simvastatin. They found that higher end concentrations of the drug led to reduced proliferation, which would likely negatively affect the muscle’s ability to heal and repair itself.
Cholesterol Pill Taken by Thousands Causes Cancer
A pill intended to lower cholesterol levels has been linked to an increased risk of cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing data from a trial which found a “larger percentage” of patients treated with the drug Inegy died of cancer. The FDA is expected to issue its conclusions within six months.
Inegy combines the widely-used statin drug simvastatin with a new medication called ezetimibe. Ezetimibe works in a different way from statins. Statins block cholesterol made in the liver, while ezetimibe blocks the absorption of cholesterol in the gut.
Red Bull Can Give You a Stroke
Just one can of the popular stimulant energy drink Red Bull can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. The effect was seen even in young people.
The caffeine-loaded beverage causes blood to become sticky, a pre-cursor to cardiovascular problems such as stroke.
One hour after drinking Red Bull, your blood system becomes abnormal, as might be expected from a patient with cardiovascular disease.
Red Bull is banned in Norway, Uruguay and Denmark because of health risks.
3 Myths About Running and Your Health
Every person who takes up running has been confronted by a “helpful” critic who is more than happy to reel off the reasons running will ruin your life. Here’s a look at three questionable claims about running and health:
1. Running will give you a heart attack or other heart problems. It is true that exercise temporarily raises the odds of a heart attack while you’re mid-workout, but doing it consistently reduces that risk over the long haul, leading to a net benefit. Going for a run most days of the week is doing far more good than bad for your heart.
2. Running will ruin your bones and joints. A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found no evidence of accelerated rates of osteoarthritis among long-distance runners. Weight-bearing exercise like running helps stave off osteoporosis by maintaining bone mineral density.
3. Running will kill you before your time. According to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, running and other vigorous exercise in middle age is associated with a longer life. Not only that, it will make your later years more pleasant by reducing disability.
Is Krill Oil 48 Times Better Than Fish Oil?
Krill oil is made from krill, a small, shrimp-like crustacean that inhabits the cold ocean areas of the world. Despite their small size, krill make up the largest animal biomass on the planet. There are approximately 500 million tons of krill roaming around in northern seas.
Krill oil, like fish oil, contains omega-3 fats such as eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). However, in fish oil, these omega-3 fats are found in the triglyceride form. In krill oil, they are found in a double-chain phospholipid structure. The fats in human cell walls are in the phospholipid form.
The phospholipid structure of the EPA and DHA in krill oil makes them much more absorbable. Krill oil also contains vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D, and canthaxanthin, which is a potent antioxidant.
The antioxidant potency of krill oil is, in terms of ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorptance Capacity) values, 48 times more potent than fish oil.
The astaxanthin found in krill oil provides also excellent protection against ultraviolet light and UV-induced skin damage.
Why are Cholesterol Drugs Being Recommended for 8 Year Olds?
For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that some children as young as 8 should be given cholesterol-lowering drugs to ward off future heart problems.
Dr. Stephen Daniels, who is on the academy‘s nutrition committee, says the new advice is based on mounting evidence that damage leading to heart disease, the nation‘s leading killer, begins early in life.
The drug treatments would be targeted at kids at least 8 years old who have too much LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol along with other risky factors, including obesity and high blood pressure.
Cholesterol screening is also now being recommended for kids with a family history of high cholesterol and those who are overweight, obese or have other heart disease risk factors. Screening should take place after age 2 but no later than age 10, according to the AAP.
Flip-Flops Can Damage Your Foot Structure
By Dr. Mercola
Flip-flops may throw off your stride and cause pain in your lower legs and feet, according to researchers at Auburn University in Alabama.
Researchers recruited 39 college-age men and women, and measured how the participants walked on a special platform wearing thong flip-flops. On another day, the same participants walked across the platform wearing their own athletic shoes.
When the participants wore flip-flops, they took shorter strides and their heels hit the ground with less vertical force. When people walk in flip-flops, they apparently alter their gait, which may explain why lower leg and foot problems can occur in people who wear such shoes frequently.
Throwing on a pair of flip-flops to putter around your garden or walk along the beach is an integral part of summer for many people. However, according to Tony Bruno — a certified Muscle Activation Techniques Specialist — wearing flip-flops can not only cause dysfunctional changes and pain in your foot, these changes can resonate all the way up to your head, neck, and jaw.
This happens because your toes try to grip into bottom of the flip-flop to hold them on your feet. Look at your toes in flip-flops. The distal part of your toe is trying to flex down (planter flex) to hold the flip-flop on, while the other part of your toe (middle) is trying to bridge up (dorsi flex).
Unfortunately, this is the opposite of what your toes should be doing at that time. This improper toe action shortens natural stride, prevents the natural “locking” of your foot, and forces your hip and leg musculature to work harder, forcing some muscles to shut down. Muscle Activation Techniques is one of the ways to “turn on” the muscles that are shut down from improper foot wear and other compensations.
Hammer toes are the result of years of compensation from the intrinsic (small) foot muscles and long term flip-flop wear can contribute to this. So if you want to avoid hammer toes, you may want to reconsider wearing flip-flops.
Are You a ‘Cow-Walker’ or a ‘Fox-Walker’?
One of the classic works on the topic of going barefoot is Take Off Your Shoes and Walk by Simon J. Wikler D.S.C. In it, he explains that improperly shaped shoes — including high heels and pointed toes — are responsible for modern-day foot troubles. In fact, the book describes a study from the late 1950s that found children who were allowed to go barefoot had:
Greater agility
Denser muscles on the bottom of their feet
Less deformed toes
Greater flexor strength
More ability to spread the toes
More flexibility of the gluteal and hamstring muscles
Meanwhile, an article last year suggested that shoes lead to what’s called “cow-walk.”
Cow-walk puts tremendous pressure on your joints.It starts with the squeezing of your foot inside the shoe and continues with a constant jarring the knees as they’re locked straight upon the pole-driving impact of the heel. This force travels straight up your spine, all the way up your neck.
In contrast, “fox-walking” is the walk of the natural hunter-gatherer — the graceful flow of your body in total synchronization. Your knees are bent rather than locked, the ball of your foot touches the ground first, followed by your heel, in a virtually soundless step motion.
If you’ve ever seen a baby walking barefoot, they actually display the correct walking technique that we adults have lost touch with.
Should You Go Barefoot?
Bunions are non-existent in barefoot populations of the world, but from a practical perspective, going barefoot all the time is just not an option for most people. But you can certainly do so inside of your home or backyard — and you may even feel some benefits, particularly from walking on a natural surface.
If you decide to go barefoot, do it slowly, progressing to more and more time spent without shoes. Also, when you start going barefoot it is best to initiate on naturally softer ground like grass and sand, not cement or hardwood. When the muscles and joints of the foot are “stable” your body can handle progressively more time barefoot.
There have been some very compelling studies suggesting that when you are “grounded,” free electrons can easily come up from the earth and essentially nullify free radicals in your body. Ancient philosophies call this life-force energy Chi (also called Qi or Prana) and believe it can be absorbed through the soles of your feet automatically and unconsciously when walking barefoot.
So walking barefoot — on clean, natural surfaces — could be an easy way to contribute to your overall health.
Are You Allergic to Wireless Internet?
Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome (EHS) is a condition in which people are highly sensitive to electromagnetic fields. In an area such as a wireless hotspot, they experience pain or other symptoms.
People with EHS experience a variety of symptoms including headache, fatigue, nausea, burning and itchy skin, and muscle aches. These symptoms are subjective and vary between individuals, which makes the condition difficult to study, and has left experts divided about the validity of such claims.
More than 30 studies have been conducted to determine what link the condition has to exposure to electromagnetic fields from sources such as radar dishes, mobile phone signals and, Wi-Fi hotspots.
Six Healthy-Sounding Foods That Really Aren’t
Many foods have been heavily promoted as being healthy. But not all of them are. Here are some foods which are far less “good for you” than most people believe.
Energy bars
Energy bars usually contain protein and fiber, but they may also be loaded with calories. That’s fine if you occasionally make one a meal, but most people eat them as snacks.
Granola
Granola sounds healthy. But it’s often high in fat, sugar and calories. Don’t be fooled by a seemingly low calorie count; the portion sizes on the label are usually tiny.
Salad Toppings
The pecans and Gorgonzola cheese on Panera Bread’s Fuji Apple Chicken Salad propel it into double-cheeseburger territory. Before ordering a salad, check its nutrition information.
Smoothies
Added sugars can make some smoothies the equivalent of drinking fruit pie filling. The smallest serving of Jamba Juice’s Orange Dream Machine has 340 calories and an astonishing 69 grams of sugars.
Sushi Rolls
Sushi rolls vary, and the fried bits and mayonnaise in some can really jack up the calories.
Yogurts
The “fruit” in yogurt is really jam (that is to say, mostly sugar).
What is Thyroid-Related Fatigue?
Not all fatigue or tiredness is due to thyroid malfunction, so how do you tell the difference?
Thyroid-related fatigue begins to appear when you cannot sustain energy long enough, especially when compared to a past level of fitness or ability. If your thyroid foundation is weak, sustaining energy output is difficult. You will notice you just don’t seem to have the energy to do the things you used to be able to do.
Some of the key symptoms of thyroid fatigue include:
Feeling like you don’t have the energy to exercise, and typically not exercising on a consistent basis.
A heavy or tired head, especially in the afternoon, as your head is a very sensitive indicator of thyroid hormone status.
Falling asleep as soon as you sit down and don’t have to do anything.
If you wake up energized, maintain decent energy throughout the day, are able to maintain mental alertness/sharpness, have energy as needed to meet demands, and your muscles feel fit, you do not have thyroid-related fatigue. However, the more you do not feel like this, the greater chance there is a thyroid-related problem.
Cod Liver Oil Cuts the Need for Arthritis Drugs
Skipping Breakfast Can Make You Obese
Teens who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese. This may be one of the causes of rising obesity rates among adolescents.
According to the largest study to follow the breakfast habits of teens, those who skipped the meal were five pounds heavier on average. They also ate less healthily during the day and exercised less frequently.
The obesity rate for adolescents has tripled over the past 20 years.
How Vaccines Can Damage Your Brain
Vaccines, Depression and Neurodegeneration After Age 50: Another Reason to Avoid the Recommended Vaccines.
By Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., CCN
It has been estimated that 14.8 million Americans suffer from major depressive disorder and of this number 6 million are elderly. If we include anxiety disorders, which commonly accompany depression, the number jumps to 40 million adults.
Depression later in life tends to last longer and be more severe than at younger ages. It is also associated with a high rate of suicide. Previously, it was thought that major depression was secondary to a deficiency in certain neurotransmitters in the brain, particularly the monoamines, which include serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.
While alterations in these important mood-related neurotransmitters is found with major depression, growing evidence indicates that the primary culprit is low-grade, chronic brain inflammation.
This exclusive article will review in detail the functions and impact of various agents on depression and neurodegeneration, including:
The impact of MSG on your brain and mood
The link between elevated brain glutamate and inflammation
The connections between pesticides and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease
How vaccinations cause brain inflammation
The impact of an expanding vaccine schedule for the elderly
The shocking truth, linking brain inflammation to neurodegenerative diseases
How vaccine additives such as mercury and aluminum impact your brain health
The real danger of live virus vaccines
Current recommendations by the CDC for adult vaccinations include a total of 14 separate inoculations with infectious agents and powerful immune adjuvants.
According to CDC recommendations, multiple vaccinations for a single disease are separated by no more than 4 weeks, which is close enough together to trigger a smoldering process of brain inflammation and excitotoxicity that can not only result in depression, anxiety and high suicide rates, but can increase your risk of developing one of the neurodegenerative diseases as well.
We have also seen that in many cases a person will be injected with several vaccines during a single office visit and this means that their body is exposed to a very large dose of immune adjuvant. Compelling studies, using many animal species as well as humans, have shown that this overactivates brain inflammatory mechanisms that can last for years.
I urge you to read Dr. Blaylock’s full-length article, Vaccines, Depression and Neurodegeneration After Age 50: Another Reason to Avoid the Recommended Vaccines, a Mercola.com exclusive, for a fascinating in-depth look at how neurodegenerative diseases are created, and how to protect yourself from what many consider to be simply side effects of the ravages of time — but are anything but a natural byproduct of aging.
How to Make Your Own Butter
During the low-fat diet craze, many people learned, wrongly, to shun butter from their diets. Well, I’m going to tell you something that may be music to your ears: Butter can be a very healthy part of your diet.In fact, butter, when made from grass-fed cows, is rich in a substance called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). CLA is not only known to help fight cancer and diabetes, but it may also help you to lose weight! Much of the reason why butter was, and continues to be, vilified is because it contains saturated fat. If you’re still in the mindset that saturated fat is harmful for your health, then please read this past article to learn why saturated fat is actually good for you. The reality is that most people — about two-thirds of the U.S. population — can include grass-fed butter in their diets and thrive! Those who may do better with lower fat choices are carb nutritional types (and are in the minority).But there is one caveat. Ideally, your butter should be raw (unpasteurized), otherwise you’ll run into the health issues associated with all pasteurized dairy. Making Your Own ButterGetting back to the topic of this post, what better way to get healthy, tasty butter than to make it yourself? This link will take you step-by-step through the process of butter-making. I recommend, though, that in addition to seeking out cream from grass-fed cows, as the article recommends, that you also look for cream that is raw (you will likely need to join a food coop or speak to a farmer directly for this).True, it takes a little more elbow grease to churn your own butter at home, but you’ll be left with butter that is vastly superior, in taste and nutrition, to anything you’ll find in a store.
Yet Another Lurking Link Between Foods and Cancer
New research shows that a high dietary intake of acrylamide can increase the risk of breast cancer. The study was the first epidemiological study using biological markers for measuring acrylamide exposure, and also the first to report an acrylamide/breast cancer link.
The study examined 374 postmenopausal women who had developed breast cancer, and an additional 374 healthy women who were used as controls. An increased acrylamide hemoglobin level doubled the risk of breast cancer.
Acrylamide is a carcinogen created when starchy foods are baked, roasted, fried or toasted. It was found to cause cancer in laboratory rats in 2002.
Fibromyalgia, Lyrica, and the New York Times
In the wake of the FDA approval of Lyrica, the first medicine approved to treat fibromyalgia, the New York Times has published a controversial article questioning whether the disease exists at all.
The Times claims that patient advocacy groups and doctors who specialize in fibromyalgia believe that the Lyrica approval is a milestone, and hope its approval will legitimize fibromyalgia in the same manner that Prozac legitimized depression. But, says the Times, other doctors believe that the disease does not exist, and that Lyrica will be taken by millions of people who do not need it.
Adding to the controversy is the fact that Lyrica itself is a drug originally designed for diabetic nerve pain that was rejected because of its unimpressive results and many side effects, including weight gain, edema, dizziness and sleepiness. This has left some wondering if the repositioning of Lyrica is little more than a cynical ploy to sell a failed medication. The potential for weight gain is a special concern, because many fibromyalgia patients are already overweight.
The Times article has already generated a good deal of online comment, and highlights the uneasy intersection where drug company greed and medicalization of nonexistent illnesses meets conventional medicine’s inability to diagnose and treat real problems.
Which Country Loves Fast Food the Most?
Britons enjoy fast food slightly more than Americans, and much more than the French, according to a survey of 13 countries by polling body Synovate and the BBC.One of the questions of the survey was “I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up.” Results found that:
45 percent of Britons agreed
44 percent of Americans agreed
37 percent of Canadians agreedMeanwhile, 81 percent of the French disagreed with the statement, as did 75 percent of Singaporeans and 73 percent of people from Hong Kong and Romania.In terms of losing weight, most people worldwide agree that cutting food intake is the best solution. Another 43 percent said they also do more exercise to lose weight.However, while 57 percent of Americans, 56 percent of French and 54 percent of Britons choose to eat less to shed pounds, 14 percent of Malaysians use herbs and supplements to cut their weight.