Watchman News

A new study shows that high doses of resveratrol may improve brain blood flow and could potentially boost brain health.
Resveratrol is a bioactive compound found in grapes and red wine. Interest in the compound began in 2003 when research showed that resveratrol was able to increase the lifespan of yeast cells.
NutraIngredients notes that:

“Since then studies in nematode worms, fruit flies, fish, and mice have linked resveratrol to longer lives.

Other studies with only resveratrol have reported anti-cancer effects, anti-inflammatory effects, cardiovascular benefits, anti-diabetes potential, energy endurance enhancement, and protection against Alzheimer’s.”

A 2009 study in The Lancet found that new cases of type 1 diabetes in kids could double in the next 10 years. Possible reasons for this dramatic rise include:

Too big too fast. The “accelerator hypothesis” theorizes that children who are bigger and grow more quickly are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes.
Too little sun. The “sunshine hypothesis” comes from data showing that countries situated closer to the equator have lower rates of type 1 diabetes.
Too clean. The “hygiene hypothesis” is the notion that cleanliness — lack of exposure to certain germs and parasites — may increase susceptibility to diseases like diabetes.
Too much cow’s milk. The “cow’s milk hypothesis” states that exposing babies to infant formula containing cow’s milk in the first six months of life damages their immune systems, and can trigger autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes.
Too much pollution. The “POP hypothesis” alleges that being exposed to pollutants increases diabetes risk.

Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is caused by insulin resistance and faulty leptin signaling due to inappropriate diet and lack of exercise, people with type 1 diabetes do not produce insulin and must therefore inject insulin several times a day if they are to remain alive.
Tragically those with type 1 diabetes can have the healthiest lifestyle possible yet still suffer many diseases, as current technology is a poor substitute for a fully functioning pancreas.
Type 1 diabetes is actually an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system destroys pancreatic cells that produce insulin. The disease tends to progress rather quickly and therefore needs to be diagnosed early, as it can result in serious long-term complications including blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.
While type 1 diabetes is far less common than type 2, accounting for only 5-10 percent of people with diabetes, it is steadily on the rise. Rates of type 1 diabetes in children under 5 are expected to double between 2005 and 2020, and cases among children younger than 15 are expected to rise by 70 percent during this time, a Lancet study showed.
What is fueling this rise is the question on everyone’s mind, and the research is pointing to one very prominent, and easily fixable, problem: vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D May Prevent Type 1 Diabetes

It has been known for some time that type one diabetes is virtually unheard of the closer one gets to the equator. This spurred research which suggested that if a pregnant woman has optimal vitamin D levels during her pregnancy she should radically reduce if not virtually eliminate the child’s risk of getting type 1 diabetes!
Receptors that respond to vitamin D have been found in nearly every type of human cell, from your bones to your brain, and also your pancreas.
According to Dr. Michael Holick, who is one of the leading vitamin D researchers in the world, children receiving vitamin D supplementation from age 1 on had an 80 percent decreased risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

New Research Confirms Pregnant Women Seriously at Risk of Vitamin D Deficiency

This is crucial information for any woman who is pregnant or planning to become pregnant, as a separate study by Drs. Hollis and Wagner found that over 87 percent of all newborns and over 67 percent of all mothers had vitamin D levels lower than 20 ng/ml, which is a severe deficiency state. As a result, they recommended that all mothers optimize their vitamin D levels during pregnancy, especially in the winter months, to safeguard their babies’ health.
To do so, pregnant women may need to consume 10 times as much food-based vitamin D than is currently recommended, a new study by Dr. Hollis and colleagues confirmed.
Currently, guidelines recommend pregnant women consume from 200 IU to 400 IU of vitamin D a day, an amount that is far too low.
In the new study, which was presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver, B.C., women who were at least 12 weeks pregnant took 400, 2,000 or 4,000 IU of vitamin D a day.
Those who took the highest amount — 4,000 IU a day — were the least likely to go into labor early, give birth prematurely or develop infections.
Unfortunately, according to a separate new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 97 percent of African Americans have vitamin D levels that are too low for optimal health, along with 90 percent of Mexican Americans and 71 percent of whites.
These are staggering numbers that could increase your newborn’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes!
Also, if you are the parent of an infant, it is crucial that you test their vitamin D levels and use safe sun exposure and supplementation as necessary to increase their levels. Doing so now could potentially save them the lifelong pain of developing type 1 diabetes.

What Should Your Child’s Vitamin D Levels Be?

From my perspective, with the mountain of scientific evidence we now have on the benefits of optimal vitamin D levels in pregnancy it is reprehensible criminal malpractice to not routinely check a pregnant woman’s vitamin D level during the pregnancy.
Of course, it is still not the “standard of care” at this point and no physician will lose his license for failing to do this check, but you don’t have to wait for the “standard of care” to catch up to reality. Encourage every pregnant woman you know monitor her vitamin D level during her pregnancy.
Based on the most recent research, the current recommendation for dosage via oral supplementation is 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight, as shown in the chart below.

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 65 ng/ml.

 
Keep in mind that these recommendations are only an estimate, as it is simply impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone’s needs.
The only way to determine the correct dose is to get your blood tested since there are so many variables that influence your vitamin D status.
Getting the correct test is the first step in this process, as there are TWO vitamin D tests currently being offered: 1,25(OH)D and 25(OH)D.
The correct test your doctor needs to order is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is the better marker of overall D status. This is the marker that is most strongly associated with overall health.
I recommend using Lab Corp in the U.S. When you get your results back, the “normal” 25-hydroxyvitamin D lab range is between 20-56 ng/ml. As you can see in the chart below, this conventional range is really a sign of deficiency, and is too broad to be ideal.

In fact, your or your child’s vitamin D level should not be below 32 ng/ml, and any levels below 20 ng/ml are considered serious deficiency states, increasing your risk of cancer and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, just to name a few.
The OPTIMAL value that you’re looking for is 50-70 ng/ml.
This range applies for everyone: children, adolescents, adults and seniors.
For more information on optimizing your vitamin D levels, please watch my free one-hour vitamin D lecture.

What Else Can You do to Help Prevent Type 1 Diabetes?

There are a number of other factors that may also contribute to type 1 diabetes. To keep your, and your children’s, risks as low as possible, try the following steps.

Breastfeed your baby: Bottle-fed babies tend to grow faster, and this is not a positive result. Instead, babies that gain a lot of weight in their first year of life may have an increased risk of type 1 diabetes.
The second reason why breastfeeding is preferred is because you will not have to expose your child to pasteurized milk-based formula. Exposure to pasteurized cow’s milk early in life may also increase your child’s risk of type 1 diabetes.

Avoid feeding your infant cereal: Cereal is often one of the first solid foods to be introduced into the infant diet and most pediatricians encourage their patients to start these foods at about 4 to 6 months of age. This is truly unfortunate, as grains are not a healthy choice for most people, including infants, and infants fed cereal also have an increased risk of type 1 diabetes.

Infants will do just fine starting out on a vegetable source of carbs, so do your child a favor and give them veggies rather than cereal.

Do your homework before vaccinating: There is speculation that the growing number of autoimmune diseases plaguing children may be related to the growing number of vaccinations they receive. There has been a 17-fold increase in type 1 diabetes, from 1 in 7,100 children in the 1950s to 1 in 400 now, according to Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD, which correlates with a rise in vaccines.

Is There a Cure for Type 1 Diabetes?

As it stands, seeking to prevent type 1 diabetes is currently your best option, and I cannot stress enough the importance of optimizing your vitamin D levels, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
That said, there is encouraging research involving the use of stem cells to replace pancreatic islet cells and thereby cure type 1 diabetes.
In 2007 the British Times Online reported on the first clinical evidence for the efficacy of Hematopoietic stem cells (stem cells derived from bone marrow) in type 1 diabetes.
The Brazilian study, published in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that treatment-related toxicity was low, with zero mortality. All but two of the volunteers (93 percent) in the trial did not require daily insulin injections for up to three years after the end of their treatment, as the therapy allowed their bodies to start producing the hormone again naturally.
The main drawback with the particular therapy used in that study, from my standpoint, is that drugs were used to first suppress the patients’ immune system before receiving transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.
Suppression of your immune system could lead to all types of health problems — after all, your immune system is your primary line of defense — however, the theory of using stem cells to reactivate natural insulin production is an intriguing and hopeful one and I remain highly optimistic that it will one day soon provide an effective treatment option for type 1 diabetics.
The technique has not yet reached the mainstream, as there is little incentive for drug companies to sponsor research into such therapies that may free their current “customers” from insulin, but it’s not completely out of the question yet.
In an accompanying editorial in JAMA titled “Cellular therapy for type 1 diabetes: has the time come?”, Dr Jay Skyler of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami, wrote:

“Research in this field is likely to explode in the next few years and should include randomized controlled trials, as well as mechanistic studies.”

Again, for now please use prevention as your primary route of attack against type 1 diabetes. For those of you who already have it, stay tuned to the newsletter, as I’ll be reporting on any new information that comes up.

Smoking, drinking too much, lack of exercise and poor diet can age you by 12 years.

The findings come from a study that tracked close to 5,000 British adults for 20 years. Over the course of the study, 29 percent of the people with all four unhealthy behaviors died. Only 8 percent died among the people with none of the four habits.

USA Today notes that:

“The findings don’t mean that everyone who maintains a healthy lifestyle will live longer than those who don’t, but it will increase the odds.”

Up to a third of breast cancer cases in Western countries could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, researchers at a breast cancer conference said.
Experts said the focus should shift to changing behaviors like diet and physical activity.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. A woman’s lifetime chance of getting breast cancer is about one in eight. Obese women are up to 60 percent more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women.
Many breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. So experts suspect that the fatter a woman is, the more estrogen she’s likely to produce, which could in turn spark breast cancer. Even in slim women, exercise can help reduce the cancer risk by converting more of the body’s fat into muscle.

Over 80 percent of the people on the Internet search for health information, but the field is loaded with misinformation, deception, and outright fraud.
When I started this Web site in 1997 it was with the intention to provide you and your family with a treasure trove of knowledge and health wisdom that will allow you to identify inexpensive safe and natural alternatives to dangerous drugs.

Origins of “Doctors are the Third Leading Cause of Death”

In July, 2000 I analyzed a JAMA article by Dr. Barbara Starfield from Johns Hopkins School of public health. I carefully reviewed her data and drew the conclusion that doctors were the third leading cause of death. I created that headline, and over the last ten years it has been widely distributed all over the Internet.
When I contacted Dr. Starfield for a follow-up, she told me that she did not agree with my conclusion, but still felt that the conventional medical system was the leading cause of death. Well, four years later, Gary Null published a report which indeed confirmed that fact.
So, with time I realized that one of my primary purposes in life is to catalyze a transformation of this fatally flawed medical system that has been corrupted by multinational corporate drug and food industry interests which put their bottom line profits far ahead of improving the human condition.
The purpose of this site is to provide a comprehensive educational effort to expose the fraud, deception and misinformation that is prematurely killing hundreds of thousands of people every year in the US alone, and also causing needless pain and suffering in millions of others.
It might be obvious to most that I am bucking this corporate system, and they are not going to go down without a fight. They are constantly seeking to discredit me so the message won’t be heard.

Truth is Violently Opposed Before it is Accepted as Self Evident

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German philosopher known for his philosophical clarity. I believe he made one of the most valuable observations on the shifting of human views when he stated that all truth goes through three stages:

First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
Finally, it is accepted as self-evident

This is not only true for health but all areas of life. However since my entire formal professional training is in health, I would like to share with you a dozen experiences from my professional career that validates Shopenhauer’s observation, and why I will not quit despite the efforts of my critics and detractors.
I already covered the first three in this previous article.
The next three of the 12 truths I will cover in this four-part series have reached the final stage and are now widely accepted by the medical profession, although some of my recommendations still include refinements that have yet to be embraced by conventional medicine.
The remainder is in varying degrees of acceptance, and some will not be widely accepted for quite some time, but the evidence is clear for all those who are willing to objectively review the data.

Truth # 4: Omega-3 Fats are Essential for Optimal Health and Brain Function

It is widely accepted that omega-3 fats are useful for health. Even the FDA allows claims for omega-3 for heart disease. This is one of the only food health claims that the FDA allows.
Unfortunately, a majority of people are sorely deficient in this essential nutrient, and making matters worse, our modern diet is loaded with omega-6 fats, which can cause health problems when consumed in excess.
The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats is 1:1. Today, though, our ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 averages from 20:1 to 50:1! When the ratios between the two fats are this skewed, poor health is virtually guaranteed.
Researchers have agreed that including more omega-3 than omega-6 in your diet may help protect your tissues and organs from inflammation, one of the underlying causes of countless chronic diseases and aging.

Why You Don’t Want to Be Deficient in Omega-3’s

Fortunately the vast majority of the public already understands and appreciate the importance of omega-3 fats. Even the conservative FDA allows claims for the reduction of heart disease for omega 3 fats because of the overwhelming scientific evidence.
Omega-3 deficiency can cause or contribute to serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor of up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. Compare that to the estimated 40,000 women who die from breast cancer each year in the U.S. and the implications of omega-3 deficiency becomes quite clear.
In fact, omega-3 deficiency has recently been revealed as the sixth biggest killer of Americans, so this is yet another recommendation that could prove to be life-saving.
But there is still plenty of confusion about omega-3 fats as many “experts” fail to appreciate the importance of animal based omega-3 fats. They advocate primarily plant based omega-3 fats that have ALA. While plant based omega-3 fats are necessary and highly beneficial and should also be consumed, the evidence is very clear that they are not an acceptable substitute for animal based omeg-3 fats.
This is primarily related to the fact that your body does not easily convert the ALA in plant based fats to the longer fats of EPA and DHA. If you have diabetes, are overweight, have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, your body has even more difficulty converting these fats.
Animal based omega-3 fats contain two fatty acids crucial to your health, DHA and EPA. These two fatty acids, not ALA, are pivotal in preventing heart disease, cancer, and many other diseases. It is also important to realize that over 50 percent of your brain is is made up of DHA Low DHA levels have been linked to depression, schizophrenia, memory loss, and a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
In fact, the results of three studies published in 2008 showed that low concentrations of EPA and DHA resulted in an increased risk of death from ALL causes and accelerated cognitive decline.
Researchers are now also linking inadequate intake of these omega-3 fats in pregnant women to premature birth and low birth weight, and to hyperactivity in children.
I first started emphasizing the importance of this healthy fat in 2000 Unfortunately, many are still not getting enough omega-3 in their diet — a problem that’s easily remedied by supplementing with a high-quality source of animal-based omega-3 fats.
The practical question becomes how you are going to obtain your high quality omega-3 fats. Ideally we would all receive them from sea food. Unfortunately due to industrial pollution most of the sea food is now contaminated with heavy metals like mercury and industrial toxins like PCBs, PDEs and dioxins.
Because of this, most have decided to take a fish oil supplement. This is what I had recommended ten years ago but new evidence suggests that there may be even better sources of animal based omega-3 fats.
My current favorite is krill oil. Krill are very tiny shrimp like creatures that are actually the largest biomass in the world, far exceeding the amount of fish in the world. Their harvest is carefully regulated so that they are not at risk of being harmed for centuries under current harvesting guidelines. They are clearly the most sustainable source of animal based omega-3 fats in the world today.
Their harvest is carefully regulated by major environmental organizations like the World Wildlife Foundation and CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources).
Additionally because the krill fat is attached to phosphates they are far more readily absorbed than fish oil and therefore you need FAR less. A typical dose is only 1 gram per day not the 3-5 grams that are used in fish oil. Their better absorption also virtually eliminates any problem with burping or belching.
Lastly, they have very powerful antioxidants, called astaxanthin that help protect the highly perishable DHA and EPA fats and help protect and preserve them until you are able to swallow them.
About the only problem with krill is that they should not be taken if you have an allergy to shellfish.
An emerging modification of the omega-3 recommendation is the importance of HIGH QUALITY omega-6 fats. Omega-6 fats have been vilified for their negative influence on health. But there’s an increasing appreciation that this may not be entirely accurate.
Why?
Because most of the omega-6 fats found in modern, processed foods are damaged through heating and processing. Consuming large amounts of these damaged omega-6 fats is likely what magnifies the health problems related to omega-3 deficiency.
It is clear to me that the future of medicine will eventually become more precise in this area and recommend avoiding or eliminating damaged omega-6 fats, especially trans fats, and replacing them with high quality, unprocessed or minimally processed, omega 6 fats.

Truth # 5: Vitamin D and Sun Exposure Saves Lives

Public health officials, the media and most physicians have been telling you for years that the sun is dangerous and should be avoided. And to complicate matters they encourage you to slather yourself with sunscreen every time you go outside.
It is shocking that this highly counterintuitive recommendation could have been so widely accepted, as nearly everyone realizes that you feel better when it is sunny outside. You NEED sun to stay healthy.
As a result of a relentless marketing campaign linking sun exposure to skin cancer, vitamin D deficiency is now the norm rather than the exception.
In the United States, the late winter average vitamin D is only about 15-18 ng/ml, which is considered a very serious deficiency state. It’s thought that over 95 percent of U.S. senior citizens, and even higher percentages of deeply pigmented African Americans or other deeply pigmented individuals may be deficient, along with 85 percent of the American public!

The Role of Vitamin D in Your Body

There are only 30,000 genes in your body and vitamin D has been shown to influence over 2,000 of them. That is one of the primary reasons it influences so many diseases, from cancer and autism to heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
The misguided advice to avoid the sun like the plague may very well be responsible for over 600,000 preventable cases of cancer each year, and the loss of as many as one million lives worldwide from other preventable diseases!
These are extraordinary statistics, and the remedy is so shockingly simple, and inexpensive …
By getting more appropriate sun exposure, your body will naturally produce vitamin D, which has been found to be a major key that can help prevent a vast number of major diseases and minor ailments alike.
For example, studies have shown you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure.
Vitamin D even fights colds and the flu, as it regulates the expression of genes that influence your immune system to attack and destroy bacteria and viruses. In fact, it is very rare for someone with optimized vitamin D levels to come down with the flu.
I have been extolling the virtues of safe sun exposure and optimizing your vitamin D levels for over a decade now. Hopefully you have been paying attention and are now reaping the benefits.
The best way to obtain your vitamin D is by regularly safely exposing large surface areas of your skin to the sun or a safe tanning bed. Notice I said large surface areas of your skin. Simply walking outside to your car completely clothed will simply not cut it.
Also, if your schedule or geography prevents this type of exposure then you will want to take oral vitamin D. It is not nearly as good as sun exposure but will help you benefit from vitamin D. The typical adult dose is 5,000-6,000 units per day. Avoid taking 1,000-2,000 units and thinking you are doing ok. In all likelihood, you’re NOT.
Two thousand units a day is simply NOT enough vitamin D for nearly any adult unless they are receiving UV exposure from the sun or a safe tanning bed.
I’ve also recently released updated dosing recommendations. Based on the most recent research, the current recommendation is 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight. So for a child weighing 40 pounds, the recommended average dose would be 1,400 IU’s daily, and for a 170-pound adult, the dose would be nearly 6,000 IU’s.
The KEY to remember with all dosing recommendations however is that they are only to be used as suggestions. The only way to tell if you are taking the correct dose is to measure your vitamin D blood level, 25 hydroxy D.. You do not need to do the more expensive 1,25 dihydroxy D, and it is important to have the test done at Lab Corp.

If you’re still unsure about how to go about optimizing your vitamin D, I recommend you begin by watching my free one-hour lecture, which covers the basics.
Just imagine, following the seriously flawed health advice to avoid sun exposure at all cost may have claimed literally several million lives over the past decade. During that time, those who opposed this dogma were viewed as dangerous quacks, and now there are well over 800 scientific references proving beyond a doubt that getting proper sun exposure is not a luxury, but an absolute necessity.

Truth # 6: Cholesterol is Not the Villain You’ve Been Told it is

In the United States and many other countries, the demonization of cholesterol is very much engrained in most people’s minds. But this is a harmful myth that I have been trying to set the record straight on for more than a decade.
First of all, it’s important to realize that there’s a major difference between average and healthy cholesterol levels. It’s very similar to what we’re now seeing with vitamin D levels.
Today, with respect to cholesterol, ever lower levels of cholesterol levels are being recommended, primarily due to the significant influence of the drug industry. Cholesterol lowering drugs (statins) now generate profits to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a year.
Before 2004, a 130 LDL cholesterol level was considered healthy. The updated guidelines, however, recommended levels of less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk.
In order to achieve these outrageous and dangerously low targets, you typically need to take multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs. So the guidelines instantly increased the market for these dangerous drugs.
Please understand that you have not been told the whole truth about cholesterol. Rather what you’re getting from most conventional health practitioners is little more than cleverly distorted marketing scams.
Lower is NOT always better when it comes to cholesterol. And, if your levels are too low, it could actually pose a serious health risk in and of itself.

What is Cholesterol, and Why Do You Need it?

Your body needs cholesterol. This soft, waxy substance is an integral part of your cell membranes, and it’s also the precursor (the raw material) your body uses to make your steroid hormones — one of which is vitamin D. Your skin contains cholesterol, and when UVB rays from the sun hits your skin it converts that form of cholesterol to vitamin D3, which is then transported to your blood. Your body then further converts it into the active form of vitamin D.
It also helps produce bile acids that help you to digest fat, and it’s involved in the formation of memories and is vital for your neurological function.
If you have increased levels of cholesterol, it is at least in part because of increased inflammation in your body. The cholesterol is there to help your body heal and repair.

The Risks of Low Cholesterol

Low cholesterol has its own set of health risks. It’s been linked to a variety of neurological problems, including memory loss, but it also:

Increases your risk of depression
Can increase your risk of suicide
May lead to violent behavior and aggression
Increase your risk of cancer and Parkinson’s disease

What is Too High?

Personally, I believe anything above 330 is likely too high. But another powerful way to determine if you’re at risk from abnormal cholesterol metabolism is to check your ratio of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, and your total cholesterol.
Your HDL percentage is a potent heart disease risk factor.
Simply divide your HDL level by your cholesterol. That percentage should ideally be above 25 percent. Typically, the higher the better, as there are no known side effects of having too high good cholesterol.
If your ratio falls below 15-20 percent you are at high risk, and below 10 percent, it’s a significant indicator of risk for heart disease.

Other Heart Disease Predictors that May Be Even More Important than Your Cholesterol Levels

In addition, another predictor of heart disease is your triglyceride to HDL ratio. In combination, high triglycerides and low HDL levels are an even bigger risk and are even more important to your heart health than the standard good vs. bad cholesterol ratio.
Simply divide your triglycerides level with your HDL to get this ratio. That percentage should be below 2.
One study found that people with the highest ratio of triglycerides to HDL had 16 times the risk of heart attack as those with the lowest ratio of triglycerides to HDL. So while you strive to keep your HDL cholesterol levels up, you’ll want to decrease your triglycerides.
How?
You can increase your HDL levels by exercising and getting plenty of omega-3 fats like those from krill oil. Triglycerides are easily decreased by exercising and avoiding grains and sugars in your diet.
A third heart disease predictor is your fasting uric acid levels. This too is another far more potent predictor than your total cholesterol levels. You’ll want your fasting uric acid levels to be between 3 and 5.
As I have been warning since around 2004, conventional medicine misses the boat entirely when they recommend that lowering cholesterol is the way to reduce your risk of heart attacks, because what is actually needed is to address whatever is causing your body damage — and leading to increased inflammation and then increased cholesterol.

What’s the Safest, Most Effective Way to Treat High Cholesterol?

I’ve written many articles warning you about the dangers of using statin drugs to treat high cholesterol, and equally many advising you on the proper ways to normalize your levels.
There are simple, basic strategies that can help you regulate your cholesterol.
First, you need to understand that simply lowering your dietary cholesterol intake is not an effective primary strategy. This is because 75 percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels.
Therefore, if you want to regulate your cholesterol levels, you need to optimize your insulin levels. High insulin levels also increase inflammation in your body, which is a primary reason why your body increases its cholesterol production. So the two – insulin and cholesterol — are tightly linked.
One of the most powerful ways you can optimize your insulin levels is by exercising, and paying attention to the foods you eat. Remember, foods that increase your insulin levels will also contribute to high cholesterol by making your liver produce more of it.
Here are my primary recommendations for safely lowering and regulating your cholesterol levels:

Get an appropriate amount of exercise.
Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your daily diet, especially fructose. It is VITAL to keep your total fructose level below 25 grams a day.
Eat the right foods for your nutritional type.
Eat a good portion of your food raw.
Make sure you’re getting plenty of high-quality, animal-based omega3-fats. I prefer those from krill oil.

I’ve treated between 20,000-30,000 patients, and I’ve only found about five people who were unable to respond to the recommendations I’ve given here. In these cases they likely had a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia.
It is extremely rare, affecting about one in 1,000 people who are on cholesterol lowering medication, but for those there may actually be some benefit to taking a statin drug.
Some have asked me about taking red rice yeast to control their cholesterol, and there is some confusion on that issue. Please understand that red rice extract is also a statin drug, with the same exact mechanism of action as other statins, even though it’s available over the counter.
The issue of cholesterol (and cholesterol-lowering drugs) is so fraught with misunderstanding and misinformation, I wrote a 17-page special report to shed some more light on the facts. It’s available for free at this link, and if you have not yet read it, I strongly urge you to do so now.
For part 1 in this series, please see this link.

More than 1 in 10 American adults have diabetes. But the multibillion-dollar blockbuster drugs marketed as treatment for diabetes haven’t proved to be so successful against the biggest cause of death related to it: heart disease.
Four new studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine are a stark warning to diabetics who rely on drugs to lower their risk of heart attacks and strokes.
One found that using antihypertensives to lower systolic blood does nothing to lower risk of heart complications; another found no benefit to adding a drug to raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol. And no heart benefits were associated with two drugs given to lower high blood sugar levels.
Evidence is accumulating that diabetics may not benefit — and may even be worse off — when they’re treated with a number of diabetes medications. The real take-home message here is that those with diabetes shouldn’t forget about the importance of lifestyle factors. Losing excess weight, increasing activity levels, and improving nutrition habits will lead to better control of diabetes and lower risks of heart disease.

More animals than ever suffer from injuries and stress on factory farms. Veal calves and gestating sows are so confined as to suffer painful bone and joint problems.
The unnatural high-grain diets provided in feedlots cause severe gastric distress in many animals. And faulty or improperly used stun guns cause the painful deaths of thousands of cows and pigs a year.
A New York Times Op-ed column suggests one way to “solve” this problem — genetically engineer livestock so that they suffer less.
Neuroscientists have found that by damaging a laboratory rat’s anterior cingulate cortex, they can block its affective perception of pain. Recently, scientists have learned to genetically engineer animals so that they lack certain proteins that are important to the operation of the anterior cingulate cortex.

The theory of the genetic origin of diseases is one of the most firmly upheld doctrines of today’s medicine.

Medical science claims that cancer is brought on by “mistakes in DNA replication,” causing cells to gradually change from normal to “abnormal” and eventually to “malignant” cells.
Studies in the science of Epigenetics show that genes are by no means ‘set in stone’ but that they can alter themselves in response to a person’s environment.
In short, the DNA and thus the biology of an organism are constantly adjusting themselves to signals from outside the cells, including energetic information arising from thoughts and beliefs.
Diseases such as cancer are not caused by defective genes, as claimed by mainstream geneticists, but rather by non-genetic factors that alter the expression of genes without changing the DNA sequence.
Your brain controls all processes in your body. By comparing brain CT scans with medical records and personal histories, it becomes evident that emotional trauma or “conflict shock” leaves a visible mark in precisely the same area of the brain that controls the disease process.
In fact, diseases are not senseless “disorders” but in reality meaningful biological processes trying to save an organism rather than to destroy it. Your whole organism is engaged in facilitating a conflict resolution. The conflict-related organ responds with functional changes to assist the individual on the physical level during the unexpected distress.
A positive attitude, letting go of anger, feelings of trust and forgiveness can significantly reduce the intensity and duration of a conflict and therefore the “disease”-symptoms.
German New Medicine shifts or rather elevates “prevention” and “healing” to a level where the biology of human beings can be understood as intimately connected with spirituality and a chance for spiritual growth.
An understanding of GNM and the Five Biological Laws has in itself a healing effect as it liberates your mind from fear and inspires trust in the creative wisdom of Mother Nature.

Developed by Dietrich Klinghardt, MD, PhD., autonomic resonance testing (ART) is a comprehensive diagnostic system that uses changes in muscle tone as a primary indicator. The journal Chiropractic & Osteopathy published a review on the reliability and validity of manual muscle testing in 2007. (Scott C Cuthbert and George J Goodheart Jr, Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2007,15:4 doi:10.1186/1746-1340-15-4).
Dr. Klinghardt is also a world leader in the areas of psychoneurobiology, environmental toxicity, chronic infection, and family systems influences, and how these lead to chronic illness.
Here Dr. Klinghardt shares his more than 25-years of experience synthesizing traditional and alternative medicine, and the many benefits of ART.
If you are interested in learning about more of Dr. Klinghardt’s work, he has compiled a five disc DVD set that I highly recommend.

Americans today receive far more medical radiation than ever before. The average lifetime dose of diagnostic radiation has increased sevenfold since 1980, and more than half of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy.
Often, patients know little about the harm that can result when safety rules are violated and ever more powerful and technologically complex machines go awry.
The complexity of medical radiation technology has created new avenues for error—through software flaws, faulty programming, poor safety procedures or inadequate staffing and training.
When those errors occur, they can be deadly.
Regulators and researchers can only guess how often radiotherapy accidents occur. Accidents are chronically underreported, and some states do not require that they be reported at all.
Last year a Philadelphia hospital gave the wrong radiation dose to more than 90 patients with prostate cancer—and then kept quiet about it. In 2005, a Florida hospital disclosed that 77 brain cancer patients had received 50 percent more radiation than prescribed because a powerful linear accelerator had been programmed incorrectly for nearly a year.

Forbes has declared Monsanto “Company of the Year,” calling criticism of the notorious company “vicious” attacks against a company that “has been working to make humanity better fed.”
What’s more, Forbes claims that the attacks come because Monsanto has close to a monopoly in some seed markets, which Forbes argues is because they are making “seeds that are too good.”
You read that right. Apparently, Monsanto’s decades-long attempt to control the seed market — which has led it lawsuits against small farmers and genetically modified plants that never regerminate, forcing farmers to buy seeds year after year — is apparently just a result of their being “too good.”
I encourage you all to BOYCOTT Forbes and cancel any subscription you may have.

Donald (“Donnie”) Yance, an internationally known herbalist and nutritionist who founded the Centre for Natural Healing in 1992, and the Mederi Foundation in 2006, shares his vast botanical knowledge, including how you can use herbs to help restore your health and overcome the flu.

Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become thinner, more porous and break more easily. Osteopenia is different from osteoporosis — it is a slight thinning of bones that occurs naturally as women get older and typically doesn’t result in disabling bone breaks.
Osteopenia is a condition that only recently started to be thought of as a problem that required treatment. Until the early 1990’s, only a handful of people had even heard of the word. But osteopenia has transformed from a rarely heard word into a problem that millions of women swallow pills to treat.
The term “osteopenia” was never originally meant to be considered as a disease — it was a research category used mostly because some thought it might be useful for public health researchers who like clear categories for their studies.
But in 1995, a man named Jeremy Allen was approached by the drug company Merck. The pharmaceutical giant had just released a new osteoporosis drug called Fosamax. Since osteoporosis is a serious problem that affects millions of women, the potential market for Fosamax was enormous. But the drug wasn’t selling well.
Allen persuaded Merck to establish a nonprofit called the Bone Measurement Institute. On its board were six of the most respected osteoporosis researchers in the country.
But the institute itself had a rather slim staff: Allen was the only employee.
In 1997 the institute and several other interested organizations successfully lobbied to pass the Bone Mass Measurement Act, a piece of legislation that changed Medicare reimbursement rules to cover bone scans. More and more women got bone density tests (at Merck’s urging), and the very existence of the word “osteopenia” on a medical report had a profound effect.
Millions of women were worried by the diagnosis. And when clinicians saw the word ‘osteopenia’ on a report, they assumed it was a disease. Merck did not disabuse them of the notion.
There are no long-term studies that look at what happens to women with osteopenia who start Fosamax in their 50’s and continue treatment long-term in the hopes of preventing old-age fractures. And none are planned.

Dr. Shiv Chopra was a drug company insider, and also worked for what is now Health Canada — the Canadian equivalent of the FDA. He’s acquired an enormous amount of expertise about vaccines, which you can hear in the first part of our interview, and also about the food supply.
In this second interview, Dr. Chopra shares his knowledge about food issues that affect every single one of us.

By Dr. Mercola

Often in past centuries, gout was laughingly passed off as an affliction of the rich, because it usually affected those who had easy access to fancy foods and plenty of liquor. However today we know better and this report will review these myths and help you understand the real cause of gout.
Anyone who has experienced the excruciating pain of a gout attack knows that it is no laughing matter. Some sufferers have described the intense pain of a gout attack as similar to being burned by a flame. Others say it feels like they were skewered by a hot poker.
A gout attack, or “flare,” usually strikes suddenly, and generally at night. Mysteriously, it often targets the large joint of your big toe.1 Your skin becomes red, inflamed, and overly sensitive. Even the light pressure of a bed sheet can become unbearable. A fever may also be present.

What Exactly Is Gout?

Gout is a type of arthritis characterized by painful, stiff and inflamed joints. The stiffness and swelling are a result of excess uric acid forming crystals in your joints, and the pain associated with this disease is caused by your body’s inflammatory response to the crystals.2
Gout is essentially a breakdown of the metabolic process that controls the amount of uric acid in your blood. Gout can occur in any joint of your body, but most commonly occurs in your big toe.
With or without treatment, gout symptoms will usually go away within three to 10 days, and the next attack may not occur for months, or even years, if at all. Nonetheless, if more attacks occur, they tend to increase in frequency, become more severe, and last longer.3 Over time, recurrent gout attacks can damage your joints and the surrounding areas.4
This is why it’s important to treat your gout as soon as possible, before it begins damaging your body permanently. Natural treatments are kinder and gentler to your body than drugs, as well as being more effective overall. I’ll discuss in an upcoming section natural treatments that can pack a real punch in helping your body get rid of gout.

The Real Cause of Gout

You may have wondered why you developed gout, while your spouse, neighbor, or co-worker didn’t. The simple answer is typically quite straightforward once you understand how your body works and is generally related to your diet and lifestyle.
Your genetics also play a relatively minor role. If either or both of your parents had gout, you have a higher predisposition to getting it.5 That means your children also are at risk for gout. But simply reducing your intake of sugar-sweetened beverages during childhood could lessen the risk of gout as an adult, and I’ll discuss why this may be in an upcoming section.6
At the most basic level, a gout attack usually results from years of having high levels of uric acid in your blood, a condition called hyperuricemia.7 While uric acid normally dissolves in your blood and passes harmlessly through your kidneys, it’s possible for your body to either produce too much uric acid or excrete too little in your urine. The resulting buildup of uric acid forms needle-like crystals in your joints and surrounding tissues that causes the intense pain.
Hyperuricemia often has no symptoms, but as these uric acid levels increase in your blood, mainly due to poor dietary choices, your risk of an impending attack increases also. Besides gout, elevated uric acid is related to a variety of other health conditions, including:

Diabetes
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Kidney disease
Heart disease

Just How Common Is Gout?

Between two million and five million Americans suffer from gout,8 about 90 percent of them being men in their 40s and older.9 In recent years, the prevalence of gout has been rising rapidly in the United States and in other developed countries. This comes as no surprise, because the principal reason for the increase of gout stems from the processed foods we consume, along with our devotion to other unhealthy lifestyle habits.
In developing nations, much of the food is harvested and eaten directly from the earth. There are no processing plants to remove the nutrients from their food. Their entire lifestyle is exceedingly healthy. Indigenous people live hardy, outdoor lives with plenty of exercise, non-processed, nutrient-rich foods, and little or no access to television, video games, or even liquor.
But in the United States and other Westernized countries, this is no longer true. America has for the most part shifted its dietary preferences to highly processed foods, and many are now suffering from diseases like gout as a result.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is a Major Risk Factor

Although gout is commonly blamed on eating too many high-purine foods, such as organ meats, anchovies, herring, asparagus and mushrooms, there is another clear culprit: high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).10
Countless health problems have been linked to the consumption of HFCS, not the least of which is gout. A recent study showed that consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks is strongly associated with an increased risk of developing gout.11
The study, done by U.S. and Canadian researchers, indicated that men who drank two or more sugary soft drinks a day had an 85 percent higher risk of gout than those who drank less than one a month. In fact, the risk significantly increased among men who drank five to six servings of sugary soft drinks a week. Fruit juice and fructose-rich fruits, such as oranges and apples, also increased the risk.12
This makes sense on many levels, but first and foremost because fructose is known to inhibit the excretion of uric acid.   Fructose also reduces the affinity of insulin for its receptor, which is the principle characteristic of type 2 diabetes.13 Further, HFCS has been implicated in elevated blood cholesterol levels, and it has been found to inhibit the action of white blood cells in your immune system.14
Many of the health conditions that HFCS causes, including high cholesterol and diabetes, also increase your risk of developing gout. Additionally, fructose converts more readily to fat than other sugars, making it a major risk factor for both diabetes and obesity — another gout risk factor.
In a fructose metabolism study, it was noted that when two high-fructose breakfast drinks were consumed, the build-up of stored fat continued into the afternoon, during which time the quick conversion of fructose to fat remained active during digestion of the lunch meal.15 The study concluded that the higher the concentration of fructose in the diet, the higher the rate of fat conversion.
Frequently, fruit juices also have fructose added to them, and if you still believe that this is an acceptable form of sugar, think again. Fructose contains no beneficial enzymes, vitamins, minerals, or additional micronutrients. Instead, it actually leeches them from your body.16 Unbound fructose, found in large quantities in HFCS, can also interfere with your heart’s use of vital minerals such as magnesium, copper, and chromium.

Hidden Fructose in Your Foods

You may think that avoiding fructose means just staying stay away from desserts and sweet drinks, but unfortunately there is more to it as fructose is hidden in many foods you would not even suspect.
According to biochemist Russ Bianchi, HFCS is “intentionally mislabeled, or (uses) deceptively legally noncompliant names like: ‘chicory,’ ‘inulin,’ ‘iso glucose,’ ‘glucose-fructose syrup,’ ‘dahlia syrup,’ ‘tapioca syrup,’ ‘glucose syrup,’ ‘corn syrup,’ ‘crystalline fructose,’ and flat-out fraud ‘fruit fructose,’ or… ‘agave’…”17 Even processed meats and other foods you would never imagine contain HFCS.
Why? The commercial food industry embraces HFCS because it is easier to blend, and sweeter than table sugar. And it’s also cheaper. Additionally, the food manufacturers can sell more products because they know that HFCS, like all sugar, has an addictive effect, and once your taste buds are stimulated, you will want more and more.18 Sugar, and added salt, can stabilize food ingredients, enabling food manufacturers to keep it on the shelves longer.19
The industry has also started to air deceptive ad campaigns claiming that HFCS is all natural to counteract this information.20 Fortunately you don’t have to be deceived by them as you now know the truth. So, instead of drinking enormous amounts of sugar-laden sodas, fruit juice, and other sweet beverages that will only worsen or cause gout, your best choice will be to choose pure water, because the fluids will help to remove uric acid from your body.21
You can add small amounts (about a teaspoonful) of fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice to your water for flavor. But use caution with higher quantities if you have issues with your insulin level, because too much added fruit juice can adversely affect that. Also, be sure to eliminate those cookies, cakes, pies, candy bars, and other sweets that can aggravate your gout just as badly as HFCS.22

Maintaining Ideal Body Weight Large Part of the Solution

Another risk factor for gout is obesity, or any excessive weight gain. Approximately half of all gout sufferers are overweight.23 Excess weight worsens gout because irritated nerve endings are further irritated by having to support and deal with extra weight.24 Of course, obesity can worsen any type of arthritis.
Furthermore, medical data shows a remarkably high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (heart disease and diabetes symptoms such as insulin resistance, abdominal obesity, hypertension, and high triglyceride levels) in gout sufferers.25
A 2002 study of obese women with metabolic syndrome found that weight gain, especially around the abdomen, led to increased levels of proteins from their immune systems called cytokines. Certain cytokines cause an inflammatory response, which can contribute to the formation of fatty deposits in arteries, otherwise known as atherosclerosis.
After a one-year program of diet, exercise, and behavioral counseling, each obese woman in the study lost at least 10 percent of their starting weight (about 22 pounds, on average). They also showed a significant reduction in their levels of cytokines and other potentially damaging proteins.26
Weight loss represents a safe method for reducing inflammatory states and ameliorating blood-vessel dysfunction in obese women. Cytokine levels returned toward normal even though women did not lose all their excess weight. Gout is an inflammatory condition, and it is clear from this study that losing weight, and keeping it off, will greatly improve your chances of avoiding further gout attacks.
You can do this most effectively by first determining your Nutritional Type.™ The next section will give you more details on this revolutionary system to better health and lasting weight loss. And if you didn’t have enough reasons to avoid HCFS, remember that it also exacerbates obesity. Excess sugar in any form, particularly HFCS, also harms organs like your liver and pancreas, leading to bone loss, anemia, and heart problems.27

Eating Right for Your Nutritional Type™ Can Dramatically Help

The REAL underlying problem causing the inflammation associated with gout, and the subsequent damage, is likely due to having chronically elevated blood sugar. (The sugar molecule causes far more damage than any other molecule.) And, your number one way of normalizing your blood sugar and insulin levels is through your diet. But what constitutes an optimal diet?
As I said earlier, it definitely includes limiting or eliminating your intake of HFCS, sugar, and grains (which are metabolized as sugar). For most people this means first eliminating soft drinks and fruit juices, along with sugary snacks. But there’s more to it than just that. It is important to understand that there is no perfect diet for everyone. We each have our own unique individual and biochemical nutritional needs. The science of Nutritional Typing™28 was developed over three decades and customizes your food choices based on the way your body reacts to food. Nutritional Typing™ will classify you into one of three groups:

High protein, high fat, low carbs (Protein type)
Low protein, low fat, high carbs (Carb type)
Mixture between the above (Mixed type)

When you eat based on your Nutritional Type™, you will resolve most health disorders, including gout, and achieve optimum health. Not only will cravings that have plagued you for years disappear, but your newfound energy will amaze you. You will also discover how much impact foods can have on your state of mind. Eating the wrong foods for your Nutritional Type™ will not only imbalance you on a physical level, but also on an emotional one. This can easily leave you feeling irritable, nervous, angry, hyper, depressed, or hopeless.
You see, foods and individual nutrients do not behave the same way in two people with different Nutritional Types™. This explains why some healthy foods that make other people energetic (and slim) might make you unhealthy, sluggish, bloated, heavier, or more prone to gout.29 And it also explains why, no matter how much you try to stick to foods you’ve been told are “healthy,” or even organic, you may still not feel as good as you’d like to. There is a reason for this. It’s the result of a giant factor outside your control — your metabolism.
However, once you determine your Nutritional Type™ and understand your own unique characteristics, you will start choosing foods that will move you away from weight issues, disease, and accelerated aging, and toward optimal health and your naturally ideal weight! You can now take the Nutritional Typing test for free.

Limiting Alcohol Crucial for Succesful Gout Treatment

Gout is often seen in association with hypertension, excessive alcohol consumption,30 and coronary artery disease,31 so alcohol is a strong risk factor for this disease. In general, I believe alcohol should be reserved for people who have already achieved optimal wellness and therefore have their carbohydrates (sugars and grains) under control, and do not have disease conditions such as gout, diabetes, or other signs of ill health.32
Although wine has been shown to have some health benefits, it may also increase your insulin levels, which is not only a risk factor for diabetes, but increased insulin levels have been linked with a shorter life span, in general.33 So it needs to be used cautiously, especially if you have gout. Most importantly for those suffering with gout, alcohol may raise the levels of uric acid in your blood, and therefore could even initiate a gout attack, so it’s wise to limit the alcohol you drink, or eliminate it altogether.

Avoid Drug Solutions for Gout Treatment Unless Absolutely Necessary

Over the years, medical science has used a number of pharmaceuticals in an attempt to treat gout. That list includes, among others, NSAIDs, Colchicine, corticosteroids, Corticotropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone),34 Febuxostat, Aloprim, and Zyloprim.35 But even if drugs like these could cure gout, and there is little, if any, evidence they can, you still would have to deal with some very nasty side effects.36 NSAIDS alone, for example, are known to have the following side effects:37

Gastrointestinal upsets including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, decreased appetite
Rash, dizziness, headaches, drowsiness
Fluid retention
Shortness of breath
Kidney failure, liver failure, ulcers, prolonged bleeding after an injury.

Additionally, NSAIDs may increase your risk of potentially fatal stomach and intestinal adverse reactions (for example, bleeding, ulcers, and perforation of the stomach or intestines). These events can occur at any time during treatment and without warning symptoms. NSAIDs (except low-dose aspirin) may also increase your risk of potentially fatal heart attacks, stroke, and related conditions.
Drugs such as Allopurinol and Colchicine, which work by either lowering your uric acid levels and decreasing crystal formation, or by simply blocking your body’s natural inflammatory response, are also very commonly prescribed for gout. But these drugs also have very dangerous, long-term side effects, and gout is frequently regarded as a lifelong condition, so you may end up staying on these drugs for very long periods of time, which can wreak havoc on your health.
On the other hand, natural remedies will end up helping not only the problem they were meant for, but also other body issues as well, because they work holistically within your entire system. That said, because of the intense pain of a gout attack, you may still need some type of pain medication initially, typically an anti-inflammatory, until you can get the symptoms under control.38 If you’re looking for immediate relief in a natural form, try cayenne cream. Also called capsaicin cream, this spice comes from dried hot peppers. It alleviates pain by depleting your body’s supply of substance P, a chemical component of nerve cells that transmits pain signals to your brain.

Exercise Can Dramatically Help

While exercise is not recommended while your joints are in pain or when it might cause further injury, once your gout is under control, exercise is needed as a necessary adjunct to a healthier lifestyle. Exercise will even help prevent further attacks by increasing circulation and normalizing your uric acids levels, which it does primarily by normalizing your insulin levels.39 An exercise routine has other advantages as well. Studies have shown that it works as an effective antidepressant,40 strengthens your immune system so it can fight off diseases like cancer,41 and it can even improve insulin resistance and reverse pre-diabetic conditions.42

Fight Inflammation with Cherries and Strawberries

Tart cherries contain two powerful compounds, anthocyanins and bioflavonoids. Both of these compounds slow down the enzymes Cyclo-oxyygenase-1 and -2, which helps to relieve and prevent arthritis and gout in your body.43 Cherries, along with strawberries and other berries, are also a rich source of antioxidants. This means they help prevent or repair damage done to your body’s cells by free radicals. The antioxidants replace the free radicals in your body before they can cause any damage. Dr. Wei, a nationally known, board-certified rheumatologist, recalled this story about the powerful effect of cherries on gout:

“Dr. Ludwig W. Blau, relating how eating a bowl of cherries one day led to complete relief from pain, sparked off the interest in cherries in the treatment of gout. Dr. Blau’s gout had been so severe that he had been confined to a wheelchair. One day, quite by accident, he polished off a large bowl of cherries, and the following day the pain in his foot was gone. “(Dr. Blau) continued eating a minimum of six cherries every day, and he was free from pain and able to get out of his wheelchair. Dr. Blau’s research led to many other people suffering from gout who reported being helped by cherries.”

Dr. Wei said that good results have also been reported with strawberries, which may be due to the fact that this food helps your body eliminate uric acid.44 There are a number of ways you can enjoy your berries while they go to work benefiting your gout. If fresh cherries are out of season, or if you just want more variety, try concentrated cherry juice.45
Cherry juice concentrate can contain about 55 to 60 tart cherries in every ounce. That’s a single recommended serving, so in other words, you’d have to eat 55 to 60 cherries to get the same health benefit (and I don’t recommend eating 55 to 60 cherries, as that is too much sugar… but with a concentrate, you can get the health benefit of the cherries without all the sugar).
While it may not be as easy to find organic, un-pasteurized tart cherry or strawberry juice, you can find it if you search on the Web, and local health food stores should be able to order it for you also. Just make sure any juice you buy is, ideally, organic, un-pasteurized, and has no added HFCS or other sugars.
Another option is to purchase frozen or canned tart cherries or strawberries. Organic is best, but if you can’t locate any, you can use regular varieties in a pinch. Normally it’s best to avoid non-organic canned or frozen goods, since they often have residual pesticides and additives, along with HFCS and other sweeteners and preservatives.

A Recap: The Top Steps to Prevent and Treat Gout

If left untreated, gout can become increasingly painful and lead to joint damage. So if you experience sudden, intense pain in your joints, especially your big toe, it’s important to seek help. Here is a recap of the essential steps to addressing gout:

Find out your nutritional type. This will tell you what foods your body needs to thrive, including whether you should be eating more fats and protein, or less.
Avoid drinking soda, fruit juice, and other sweet beverages. Instead, drink plenty of pure water, as the fluids will help to remove uric acid from your body. Cutting back on all forms of sugar and grain in your diet is also important.
Limit the alcohol you drink (or eliminate it altogether). Alcohol may raise the levels of uric acid in your blood.
Exercise. Being overweight increases your risk of gout, and regular exercise will help you to maintain a healthy weight and improve your overall health.
Try tart cherries or concentrated tart cherry juice. Tart cherries contain two powerful compounds, anthocyanins and bioflavonoids. Both of these compounds slow down the enzymes Cyclo-oxyygenase-1 and -2, which helps to relieve and prevent gout and arthritis in your body.

Interestingly, we have had many readers state that alfalfa tablets have provided a fair measure of relief and improvement from gout as well. I have no experience with this, but it would certainly seem another avenue to explore since it is a natural product with virtually no downside or side effects. Nutmeg has also shown promise for relieving gout symptoms, so if you enjoy this spice feel free to add it liberally to your diet. So, please remember that you don’t need to take a dangerous drug to deal with this painful condition. You CAN address the underlying cause of gout and excess uric acid formation via all-natural means.

Everything You HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods from Jeffrey Smith on Vimeo. A study demonstrates the toxicity of three genetically modified corn varieties from the American seed company Monsanto, according to the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering.

“For the first time in the world, we’ve proven that GMO are neither sufficiently healthy nor proper to be commercialized … Each time, for all three GMOs, the kidneys and liver, which are the main organs that react to a chemical food poisoning, had problems,” said Gilles-Eric Séralini, an expert member of the Commission for Biotechnology Reevaluation.

The researchers based their analyses on the data supplied by Monsanto to health authorities to obtain the green light for commercialization, but they draw different conclusions after new statistical calculations.

According to headlines trumpeted around the world, cell phones are safe. This “reassuring” conclusion rests on an analysis of trends in brain cancer in Scandinavian countries up to 2003, which did NOT tie these trends in any way to actual patterns of use of cell phones.
Researchers analyzed annual incidence rates of two types of brain tumors — glioma and meningioma — among adults aged 20 to 79 from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden from 1974 to 2003.
Over the 30 years, nearly 60,000 patients were diagnosed with brain tumors.

“In Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, the use of mobile phones increased sharply in the mid-1990s; thus, time trends in brain tumor incidence after 1998 may provide information about possible tumor risks associated with mobile phone use,” the researchers wrote.

They did see a small, steady increase in brain tumors, but it started in 1974, long before mobile phones existed.
“No change in incidence trends were observed from 1998 to 2003,” they added. That would have been when tumors would start showing up, assuming it took five to 10 years for one to develop, they said.
It is possible, Deltour’s team wrote, that it takes longer than 10 years for tumors caused by mobile phones to turn up, that the tumors are too rare in this group to show a useful trend, or that there are trends but they are in subgroups too small to be measured in the study.
It’s known that brain tumor latency can be at least 30 years, so some consider this absurd to try and draw conclusions from this short period of time. Also, the researchers did not mention age-specific incidence of brain tumors, even though you will see an increase in age-specific incidence of brain tumors before an increase in the general population.

Further, the data was actually collected and available through 2007, but the researchers cut the analysis off at 2003. This is currently being investigated to find out if the extra four years of data would change the study results.

France’s highest court has ruled that U.S. agrochemical giant Monsanto had not told the truth about the safety of its best-selling weed-killer, Roundup. The court confirmed an earlier judgment that Monsanto had falsely advertised its herbicide as “biodegradable” and claimed it “left the soil clean.” Roundup is the world’s best-selling herbicide.
French environmental groups had brought the case in 2001 on the basis that glyphosate, Roundup’s main ingredient, is classed as “dangerous for the environment” by the European Union.
In the latest ruling, France’s Supreme Court upheld two earlier convictions against Monsanto by the Lyon criminal court in 2007, and the Lyon court of appeal in 2008, the AFP news agency reports.
Monsanto already dominates America’s food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation’s tactics, including ruthless legal battles against small farmers, is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.

By Dr. Mercola

New research confirms what consumers have long known — most breakfast cereals advertised to children are full of sugar.
Cereals marketed to kids have 85 percent more sugar, 65 percent less fiber and 60 percent more sodium than those aimed at adults. In fact, the least nutritious cereals are often the most heavily marketed to children, such as Reese’s Puffs, Corn Pops, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cap’ n Crunch.
Some cereals with the poorest ratings even have health claims on the box.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has written a letter to the CEO of Kellogg’s, demanding evidence that Cocoa Krispies really “helps support your child’s immunity” as it purports to do on the front of the box.
Cocoa Krispies are 40 percent sugar by weight. A Kellogg’s company spokesperson, Susanne Norwitz, argued that Kellogg’s Krispies cereals provide consumers with 25 percent of their daily value of vitamins A, C, and E.
Kellogg began making the immunity claims about Cocoa Krispies in May, however as of November 4 said they’re pulling the claim from the box.
Meanwhile, the average preschooler sees 642 cereal ads a year on TV. Most are for types with the worst nutrition ratings.
According to Cereal FACTS (Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score), which was developed based on the best available science, in consultation with a steering committee of experts in nutrition, marketing, and public health, the 10 worst breakfast cereals based on nutrition score are:

Kellogg – Corn Pops (or Pops) – Chocolate Peanut Butter
Quaker – Cap’n Crunch – w/ Crunchberries
Kellogg – Special K – Chocolatey Delight
Kellogg – Special K – Blueberry
General Mills – Reese’s Puffs
General Mills – Fiber One – Caramel Delight
Kellogg – Cocoa Krispies – Choconilla
General Mills – Golden Grahams
General Mills – Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Kellogg – Corn Pops

How can Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies, which is one of the 10 worst breakfast cereals out there, get away with putting a giant slogan across the front of their cereal boxes claiming this sugar-laden nutritional disaster will help support your child’s immunity?
The cereal is 40 percent sugar by weight … and sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.
Telling parents that they are doing their child’s health a favor by allowing them to eat this, or practically any children’s cereal, is akin to letting them sit down to a plate full of Twinkies and Oreos and calling it a balanced meal.
Fortunately, Kellogg has been receiving criticism from parent groups and nutritionists alike ever since it launched the far-fetched claim, and as of November 4 said they are pulling it from their cereal boxes.
Kellogg was criticized for playing up the cereal’s imaginary immunity benefits in response to the H1N1 flu craze, which the company denied.
Yet, rather than admitting the claim was way beyond a stretch of the truth, Kellogg has said it’s pulling the claim “given the public attention on H1N1.”
But immunity claims or not, if you really want to look out for your child, one of the first steps would be to immediately get rid of any cereal, particularly if it has a cartoon character on the box, as children’s cereals are notoriously bad for children’s health.

Children’s Cereals Are Nutritional Disasters

Breakfast cereals, which were initially developed to increase convenience, have mostly morphed into nothing more than highly processed sweetened grains sprinkled with synthetic vitamins. They are a mere fantasy of a healthy food, and I don’t recommend you eat any cereal for breakfast on a regular basis — including those that are marketed as healthy fiber sources!
But you should know, whether you have children or you secretly keep a stash of Cap‘n Crunch in your pantry, that cereals that are aggressively marketed to kids have the worst nutritional quality of all cereals, according to an analysis of 161 brands conducted last year.
The analysis, published in the Journal of American Dietetic Association, found that children’s cereals have more sugar, sodium, carbohydrates, and calories per gram than cereals not marketed to kids. They also have less protein and fiber.
On average, sugar accounts for more than one-third of the weight of children‘s cereals compared to less than one-quarter of adult cereals.
But parents continue to shell out for these nutritional disasters because the food industry spends about $229 million annually advertising them to children. Colorful cartoons and other cheery tricks stimulate your child into wanting these “fun” foods, but the damage they can do to your child’s health is no laughing matter.
In the last two decades, the prevalence of overweight adolescents has nearly tripled, and current statistics show 16 percent of children are overweight or obese. An excess of sugar and carbohydrates are two culprits contributing to this growing problem.

Cereal is Not a Healthy Breakfast

According to the analysis of 161 cereal brands noted above, one serving of cereal equated to 11 percent of the daily limit of added sugar for active boys, aged 14 to 18 years old, and an astounding 92 percent of the daily sugar intake for sedentary girls aged 9 to 13.
The problem with feeding your child foods high in added sugar is twofold — they contain little in terms of vitamins and minerals, and the calories they contain are not made up of important micronutrients needed for health and growth.
Reducing sugar intake should be on the top of your list regardless of whether your child is currently overweight or not, because it’s been proven over and over that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to:
High blood pressure and high cholesterol
Heart disease
Diabetes
Weight gain
Premature aging, and more

In fact, sugar is bad for your health in so many ways, I’ve compiled an entire list outlining 76 Ways in Which Sugar Can Damage Your Health!
But even if you’re not eating a children’s cereal — let’s say you’re eating a more “adult” oriented cereal that’s high in fiber and low in sugar — it is still not a healthy breakfast choice.
Why?
Because cereal is mostly grain, and grains rapidly break down to sugar in your body, stimulating insulin production. So, if you:
Are overweight
Have high cholesterol
Have high blood pressure
Have diabetes

… then you are best served avoiding cereal for breakfast.
If your nutritional type is carbohydrate oriented and you don’t have any of the above problems, then grains are a possible option for you. But, rest assured, if you indulge in grains to excess you are heading for one of the above diseases.
Further, to keep your energy up and feel satisfied, you should really strive to include a healthy source of protein and fat, according to your nutritional type, with your breakfast.
That is really what my nutrition plan is all about — AVOIDING grains, such as bagels, cereal and pancakes, and replacing them with high-quality proteins (such as eggs), healthy fats (INCLUDING saturated fat) and low glycemic complex carbs, mostly from veggies.

What is a Healthier Breakfast Option for Kids (and for You)?

It is very important that you start your day off with a healthy breakfast, as studies have shown that eating breakfast can have beneficial effects on:
Appetite
Insulin resistance
Energy metabolism

One study even found that obesity and insulin resistance syndrome rates were 35 percent to 50 percent lower among people who ate breakfast every day, compared to those who frequently skipped it.
But there’s more to it than simply not skipping the meal. You need to give your body high-quality fuel to run off of for the day. And sugary breakfast cereals do not qualify.
So what is an example of a healthy breakfast that will keep you feeling energized and at the top of your game for hours?
My primary recommendation for Carb and Mixed nutritional types is to prepare and consume fresh vegetable juice, making sure to also eat the pulp. (It’s loaded with so many valuable phytonutrients, it would be unwise to discard it.)
Veggie juice is a really simple breakfast alternative, and suitable even for your youngest ones. It’s also a good source of fiber — in fact, I recommend getting 50 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories consumed. If you want to add some protein and fat, try adding some raw cream, raw kefir or a raw egg or two.
Juicing may not be the best option for Protein types (like me), however, so if your child is a Protein type, you’d want to limit them to 10 ounces or less of raw juice each day, and restrict the vegetables to lower potassium varieties such as spinach and celery.
Prior to understanding Nutritional Typing I used to juice vegetables, but now my breakfast contains far more fat. I typically make a porridge with several ounces of fresh raw coconut cream (which I obtain locally as it’s not available commercially). Then I mix in 2-3 raw organic free-range eggs, some rice bran, and some raw organic nuts, ground organic hemp seeds and coconut milk. That typically keeps me going strong until lunch.
So please give some serious thoughts to what types of foods your child is eating for breakfast. Proper childhood nutrition is so important if you want to set the stage for lifelong health that I wrote an entire book on the subject called Generation XL: Raising Healthy, Intelligent Kids in a High-Tech, Junk-Food World.
It even includes 74 pages of kid-approved recipes, brimming with all-natural, healthy choices that will satisfy even your picky eaters. So if you’re looking for even more options to wean your kids off breakfast cereal, this book is an excellent place to find them.

Earlier this month, a study published in the journal Science answered a question that medical scientists had been asking since 2006, when they learned of a novel virus found in prostate tumors called xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV: Was it a human infection?
The new study provided overwhelming evidence that XMRV is a human gammaretrovirus — the third human retrovirus (after H.I.V. and human lymphotropic viruses, which cause leukemia and lymphoma). Infection is permanent and, yes, it can spread from person to person (though it is not yet known how the virus is transmitted).
That would have been news enough, but there was more. XMRV had been discovered in people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, a malady whose very existence has been a subject of debate for 25 years. For sufferers of this disease, the news has offered enormous hope. Being seriously ill for years, even decades, is nightmarish enough, but patients are also the targets of ridicule and hostility that stem from the perception that it is all in their heads. In the study, 67 percent of the 101 patients with the disease were found to have XMRV in their cells.
Many people don’t realize how severe this illness can be. It is marked by memory and cognition problems, and physical collapse after any mental or physical exertion. The various co-infections that occur only make matters worse. Many patients are bedridden. And recovery is rare. A significant number of patients have been ill for more than two decades.
It is estimated that more than a million Americans are seriously ill with the disease. (Not everyone infected with XMRV will necessarily get chronic fatigue syndrome — in the same way that not all of the 1.1 million Americans infected with HIV will get AIDS.)

One of the great scams of the industrial food cartel is the so-called “fresh” orange juice sold in supermarkets.

Some reality checks:

There is more vitamin c in a single orange than in a full glass of industrial orange juice.
Truly fresh orange juice only lasts a few days. It if last for weeks (or months), it’s an industrial product.
Until the Florida orange growers launched a campaign in the early 20th century to deal with their surplus crop, the only people who drank orange juice were Floridians who had a tree in their backyard. There is nothing particularly healthy or natural about drinking orange juice — and the industrial product is a total waste of money.

Cell phones are used by an estimated 275 million people in the United States and 4 billion worldwide.
A recent review of studies assessed whether there was epidemiologic evidence for an association between long-term cell phone usage and the risk of developing a brain tumor.
In order to be included in the analysis, studies were required to have been published in a peer-reviewed journal, included participants who had used cell phone for 10 or more years, and analyzed the side of the brain tumor relative to the side of the head preferred for cell phone usage. Eleven long-term epidemiologic studies fit the criteria.

The results indicated that using a cell phone for 10 or more years approximately doubles the risk of being diagnosed with a brain tumor on the same side of the head as that preferred for cell phone use.
Iowa senator Tom Harkin, newly empowered to investigate health matters as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has promised to probe deeply into any potential links between cell phone use and cancer.
Harkin, who took over the committee after the death of Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, said he was concerned no one has been able to prove cell phones do not cause cancer. A staffer said the senator became concerned by a report from the Environmental Working Group showing that radio wave emissions vary from one cell phone brand and model to another, as well as some reports suggesting there might be a link.

By Dr. Mercola

Your adrenal glands are each no bigger than a walnut and weigh less than a grape, yet are responsible for one of the most important functions in your body: managing stress.
“The adrenals are known as ‘the glands of stress,'” writes James Wilson in his book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. “It is their job to enable your body to deal with stress from every possible source, ranging from injury and disease to work and relationship problems. Your resiliency, energy, endurance and your very life all depend on their proper functioning.”[1]
When your adrenal glands are fatigued, a condition known as adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion, your entire body feels it and suffers from extreme exhaustion as well.
It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of adults experience adrenal fatigue during their lifetimes, yet it remains one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the United States.[2]

The Optimal Function of Your Adrenal Glands

Your body has two adrenal glands, located just above each of your kidneys. As part of your endocrine system, your adrenal glands secrete more than 50 hormones, many of which are essential for life and include:

Glucocorticoids. These hormones, which include cortisol, help your body convert food into energy, normalize blood sugar, respond to stress and maintain your immune system’s inflammatory response.

Mineralocorticoids. These hormones, which include aldosterone, help keep your blood pressure and blood volume normal by maintaining a proper balance of sodium, potassium and water in your body.[3]

Adrenaline. This hormone increases your heart rate and controls blood flow to your muscles and brain, along with helping with the conversion of glycogen to glucose in your liver.

Together, these hormones and others produced by your adrenal glands control such body functions as:[4]

Maintaining metabolic processes, such as managing blood sugar levels and regulating inflammation
Regulating your body’s balance of salt and water
Controlling your “fight or flight” response to stress
Maintaining pregnancy
Initiating and controlling sexual maturation during childhood and puberty
Producing sex steroids such as estrogen and testosterone

Ironically, although your adrenal glands are there, in large part, to help you cope with stress, too much of it is actually what causes their function to break down.
In other words, one of your adrenal glands most important tasks is to get your body ready for the “fight or flight” stress response, which means increasing adrenaline and other hormones.
As part of this response, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your digestion slows, and your body becomes ready to face a potential threat or challenge.
While this response is necessary and good when it’s needed, many of us are constantly faced with stressors (work, environmental toxins, not enough sleep, worry, relationship problems and more) and therefore are in this “fight or flight” mode for far too long — much longer than was ever intended from a biological standpoint.
The result is that your adrenal glands, faced with excessive stress and burden, become overworked and fatigued. Some common factors that put excess stress on your adrenals are:[5]

Anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, depression and other negative emotions
Overwork, including physical or mental strain
Excessive exercise
Sleep deprivation
Light-cycle disruption (such as working the night shift or often going to sleep late)

Surgery, trauma or injury
Chronic inflammation, infection, illness or pain
Temperature extremes
Toxic exposure
Nutritional deficiencies and/or severe allergies

Signs and Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue

When your adrenal glands become depleted, it leads to a decrease in certain hormone levels, particularly cortisol. The deficiencies in certain adrenal hormones will vary with each case, ranging from mild to severe.
In its most extreme form, this is referred to as Addison’s disease, a condition that causes muscle weakness, weight loss, low blood pressure and low blood sugar, and can be life threatening.
Fortunately, only about four persons per 100,000 develop Addison’s disease, which is due to autoimmune disease in most cases but can also develop after very severe stress.[6]
At the other end of the spectrum, as well as in between, lies adrenal fatigue (also known as hypoadrenia). Though the symptoms are less severe than in Addison’s disease, symptoms of adrenal fatigue can be debilitating. As Wilson writes:

“Non-Addison’s hypoadrenia (adrenal fatigue) is not usually severe enough to be featured on TV or to be considered a medical emergency. In fact, modern medicine does not even recognize it as a distinct syndrome. Nevertheless, it can wreak havoc with your life.
In the more serious cases of adrenal fatigue, the activity of the adrenal glands is so diminished that the person may have difficulty getting out of bed for more than a few hours per day. With each increment of reduction in adrenal function, every organ and system in your body is more profoundly affected.”[7]

Classic signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:

Fatigue and weakness, especially in the morning and afternoon
A suppressed immune system
Increased allergies
Muscle and bone loss and muscular weakness
Depression
Cravings for foods high in salt, sugar or fat
Hormonal imbalance
Skin problems
Autoimmune disorders
Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
Low sex drive
Lightheadedness when getting up from sitting or lying down
Decreased ability to handle stress
Trouble waking up in the morning, despite a full night’s sleep
Poor memory

Additionally, people with adrenal fatigue often get a burst of energy around 6 p.m., followed by sleepiness at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., which is often resisted. A “second wind” at 11 p.m. is then common, which often may keep you from falling asleep until 1 a.m.[8]
Further, those with adrenal fatigue often also have abnormal blood sugar levels and mental disturbances, such as increased fears and anxiety, and rely on coffee, soda and other forms of caffeine to keep them going.
As the names implies, the most common symptom of adrenal fatigue is unrelenting fatigue, a feeling of being run down or not able to keep up with your daily demands. And because fatigue is such a common symptom, the syndrome is very often missed or misdiagnosed by physicians.

The Common Medical Test for Adrenal Function Cannot Diagnose Adrenal Fatigue

Adding to the problem of misdiagnosis is the fact that doctors typically use an ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) test to check for problems with your adrenal glands. However, the test only recognizes extreme underproduction or overproduction of hormone levels, as shown by the top and bottom 2 percent of a bell curve.
Symptoms of adrenal malfunction, meanwhile, occur after 15 percent of the mean on both sides of the curve. So your adrenal glands could be functioning 20 percent below the mean, and your body experiencing symptoms of adrenal fatigue, and the standard test won’t recognize it.[9]
The test that will recognize adrenal fatigue, in all of its stages, is a salivary cortisol test. This is an inexpensive test you can purchase online and do at home, as no prescription is needed. However, if you suspect you have adrenal fatigue a knowledgeable natural health care provider can help you with diagnosis and treatment.

Natural, and Simple, Steps to Recover From Adrenal Fatigue

It takes time to burnout your adrenal glands, and as you might suspect it also takes some time to recover. You can expect:

Six to nine months of recovery time for minor adrenal fatigue
12 to 18 months for moderate adrenal fatigue
Up to 24 months for severe adrenal fatigue[10]

The good news is that natural treatments are very effective for this syndrome, and with time, patience, and the tips that follow it is possible to recover.

Probably the single most important area is to have powerful tools and strategies to address the current and past emotional traumas in your life. Prayer, meditation and meridian tapping techniques can be very helpful here. If you were to focus only on one area it would be best to concentrate in this area as this really is the central key to restoring your adrenal health.

Listen to your body and rest when you feel tired (this includes during the day by taking short naps or just laying down)

Sleep in (until 9 a.m. if you feel like it)

Exercise regularly using a comprehensive program of strength, aerobic, core, and interval training

Eat a healthy nutrient-dense diet like the one described in my nutrition plan, according to your Nutritional Type

Avoid stimulants like coffee and soda, as these can further exhaust your adrenal glands

Further, to maintain proper adrenal function it is imperative to control your blood sugar levels. If you are eating the right foods for your Nutritional Type, your blood sugar levels should balance out, and the following guidelines will also help:

Eat a small meal or snack every three to four hours
Eat within the first hour upon awakening
Eat a small snack near bedtime
Eat before becoming hungry. If hungry, you have already allowed yourself to run out of fuel (low blood sugar), which places additional stress on your adrenal glands

You may also want to see a physician well versed in bioidentical hormone replacement, and get tested to see if you could benefit from the use of DHEA. DHEA is a natural steroid and precursor hormone produced by the adrenals, and levels are often very low in people with adrenal fatigue. Keep in mind, of course, that DHEA is not a quick cure, and should not be used as a sole treatment.
Treating adrenal fatigue requires a whole-body approach, one that addresses the excess stress and unhealthy lifestyle habits that wore out your adrenals in the first place.
Interestingly the very first step in normalizing sex hormones, either male or female, is to first address the adrenal hormone system. For example if you were to only measure female hormones and then replace them with bioidentical hormone therapy, you will virtually be guaranteed to fail because the weakened adrenals will never allow the hormones to equilibrate properly.
Because your adrenal health is so important to your overall health and well-being, I highly recommend you work with a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner to find out if you have adrenal fatigue and then remedy it.
The tips above are an excellent starting point, however, and can be used by nearly everyone to help give your adrenal glands a healthy boost.

[1] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 3, 2002.
[2] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 6, 2002.
[3] MayoClinic.com Addison’s Disease http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/addisons-disease/DS00361/DSECTION=causes (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[4] National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “Adrenal Gland Disorders” http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/Adrenal_Gland_Disorders.cfm (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[5] Understanding Adrenal Function August 27, 2000, Mercola.com https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/08/27/adrenals.aspx (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[6] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 7, 2002.
[7] Wilson, James. “Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.” Smart Publications, p. 7, 2002.
[8] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[9] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)
[10] Veracity, Dani. “Recovering From Adrenal Fatigue: How Your Body Can Overcome Chronic Stress and Feel Energized Again.” Natural News, April 6, 2006 http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.html (Accessed June 11, 2009)

A collaborative team of international EMF activists has released a report detailing eleven design flaws of the 13-country, Telecom-funded Interphone study.
The exposé discusses research on cell phones and brain tumors, concluding that:

There is a risk of brain tumors from cell phone use
Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors
Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors

The Interphone study, begun in 1999, was intended to determine the risks of brain tumors, but its full publication has been held up for years. Components of this study published to date reveal what the authors call a ‘systemic-skew’, greatly underestimating brain tumor risk.
The design flaws include categorizing subjects who used portable phones (which emit the same microwave radiation as cell phones,) as ‘unexposed’; exclusion of many types of brain tumors; exclusion of people who had died, or were too ill to be interviewed as a consequence of their brain tumor; and exclusion of children and young adults, who are more vulnerable.
Ronald B. Herberman, MD, Director Emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute has stated,

“Based on substantial evidence, especially from industry-independent studies that long term exposure to radiofrequency radiation may lead to increased risk for brain tumors, I issued a precautionary advisory last year to faculty and staff of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Since then, my particular concern about exposure of children to radiofrequency has been supported by a report from Dr. Lennart Hardell. Some of my scientific colleagues have expressed skepticism about the reported biological effects, especially DNA0A damage by radiofequency radiation, because of the absence of a demonstrated underlying molecular mechanism.
However, based on the precautionary principle, I believe it is more prudent to take seriously the reports by multiple investigators that radiofrequency can damage DNA and increase the risk for brain tumors, and for industry-independent agencies to provide needed funding for detailed research to ascertain the molecular basis for such effects.”

Lloyd Morgan, lead author and member of the Bioelectromagnetics Society says,

“Exposure to cell phone radiation is the largest human health experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some 4 billion participants enrolled.
Science has shown increased risk of brain tumors from use of cell phones, as well as increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and leukemia.
The public must be informed.”

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Mayo Clinic have developed a computer model that is intended to determine the best time to begin using statin therapy in diabetes patients to help prevent heart disease and stroke.
According to the lead author, “The research is significant because patients with diabetes are at high risk for cardiovascular disease and statins are the single most commonly used treatment for patients at risk of heart disease and/or stroke.”
The new model incorporates patient-specific data. An established risk model calculates each patient’s probability of heart attack and stroke based on risk factors, such as their cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. This overall risk “score” is used to weigh the medical advantages of beginning statin therapy against the financial cost of the statins.